I thought the new flexible camera rods were just a gimmick until a job in Asheville

For a while, I saw ads for those bendable camera rods you can snake through tricky flues and wrote them off as a toy. Then I got a call for a 1920s home in Asheville with three sharp bends in the clay liner. My old rigid camera just wouldn't make the turn. I borrowed a friend's Flexi-See model, which cost about $280, and gave it a shot. The thing bent almost 90 degrees and showed me a huge crack in the third bend that I would have completely missed. It saved me from giving an all-clear on a dangerous flue. Now I keep one in the truck. Has anyone else found a specific tool they didn't think they needed until one job changed their mind?

3 comments

3 Comments

richard_mason2mo ago

Classic case of a tool looking silly until it saves your butt. I had the same thing with a tiny inspection mirror on a stick. Laughed at it in the store, but it found a leak behind a boiler that cost me way more in callbacks.

ryan_stone16d ago

Three hundred bucks for a thermal camera and I still think it's mostly a gimmick for weekend warriors. You found one hot splice, good for you. How many times has it sat in your truck gathering dust while you could have used that money on materials or a better ladder? Tools like that create problems you didn't even know existed, making you look for ghosts in the walls. Next you'll be telling me a stud finder is a lifesaver, and we all know those things lie half the time.

the_jesse2mo ago

Man, that's a perfect example. It's wild how one weird job can totally change your mind on a piece of gear. I felt the same way about a thermal camera for a long time. Thought it was just for fancy show-offs. Then I used one to find a hot spot in a wall that turned out to be a scary electrical splice. Never would have seen it otherwise. Now I feel naked without it.