Black & Decker 8-Inch Auto Wrench

Manually adjusting a wrench to fit particular nuts and bolts can be a real hassle, especially in tight spaces. Enter Black & Decker’s battery-powered Auto Wrench, a phenomenally handy tool that opens and closes with the push of a button. Boasting 220 foot-pounds of torque, this wrench is powerful enough to handle most household tasks, from car repair to fixing leaks.

The Auto Wrench is not meant to replace specialty tools like pipe or torque wrenches, but the jaws open wide enough (up to 1-1/4-inch) so that it could conceivably replace a range of manual wrenches sitting in your toolkit. This is an ideal product for someone looking to buy a wrench that’s both easy to use and versatile. At 8-inches, you could toss it in the silverware drawer and whip it out when you need it.

The area where this wrench really shines is in hard-to-reach spots where mobility is obscured, such as under sinks. A typical situation where the Auto Wrench would help might be one in which you’re awkwardly reaching for a nut underneath the kitchen faucet. With a comparable manual wrench, it’s conceivable you would fumble around with the adjusting mechanism for minutes on end, and then toss a fit. With the Auto Wrench, you’d simply press a button (positioned where you rest your thumb) and the jaws would open or close to your specifications.

We were a bit skeptical when we learned the Auto Wrench takes AA batteries and doesn’t include a rechargeable battery. This means you’ll need to keep some extra batteries around the house – or buy some rechargeable batteries -- if you use it frequently. However, the wrench isn’t a power hog by any means. Black & Decker says you can get 650 cycles out of two AA batteries, which should be plenty for most people.

Available at Amazon.com.