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Sometimes, even if you don’t need anything in particular, it’s fun to visit your local hardware store like Tractor Supply just to see what’s available. If you have a little bit of cash burning a hole in your pocket, you may be surprised at how many smaller purchases you can puzzle into a budget. If you look carefully, you can find products for less than $20, or even under $10.
Of course, you shouldn’t just buy random implements because they’re cheap; you should grab stuff you actually need. Say, for example, you enjoy working in or near your home garage, whether on automotive projects, DIY pursuits, or assorted small repairs. If you browse around your local Tractor Supply, you may be surprised by how many garage-handy products you can find for less than $20 a pop, including work gloves, wheel chocks, toolboxes, and flashlights. You can find just about everything you need to give your setup a small yet tangible upgrade without spending more than your car cost in the process.
Wells Lamont HydraHyde Insulated Work Gloves
Work gloves are a must-have piece of safety equipment for home mechanics and garage enthusiasts. There’s no shortage of projects and work in the garage where you could get your fingers caught and scraped, so proper hand protection is king. Good work gloves are easy to find, but if you want to go the extra mile, something that also keeps you warm in winter is nice. For such purposes, the Wells Lamont HydraHyde Insulated Work Gloves are an option, and they’re available at Tractor Supply for $19.99.
These gloves, according to their store page, are made of leather that’s undergone a special tanning process that increases its breathability and water resistance. They’re made of 100% split leather cowhide and are designed to stay dry, soft, and breathable all day, plus warm thanks to a layer of 100-gram 3M Thinsulate insulation. They also feature a slip-on elastic wrist cuff for a secure fit and a reinforced leather palm patch for strong grip.
Camco RV Wheel Chocks with Rope
If you have a larger vehicle in or near your garage, like an RV or something comparable, such as a trailer, it’s important to keep those large loads securely chocked while you’re working on them. If anything suddenly starts rolling while you’re working, you could be in serious danger. To keep large vehicles and loads safely secured in place, try employing a Camco RV Wheel Chock, available for $11.99 apiece at Tractor Supply.
These thick wheel chocks are made of hard plastic with baked-in UV protection to keep them from getting brittle and melty in harsh sunlight. They’re designed to keep removable RV trailers in place while you’re removing them from or hitching them to a vehicle so they don’t accidentally roll away or bump into anything. They can safely hold tires up to 26 inches in diameter and have built-in ropes you can use to safely pull them out without having to put your hand right under a tire. Note that these chocks are intended only for consumer-grade vehicles and trailers, not commercial-grade truck trailers.
Wrap-It MagSnap Magnetic Snap Wristband
If you’re fixing or disassembling something in your garage, you’re probably going to end up with a bunch of small components and fasteners scattered all over your work table. If you just leave those things sitting loose, there’s a risk they could roll off and get lost in a dark corner, or otherwise get trapped behind large objects. To reduce that risk, it’s best to keep small metal components firmly in place, and nothing holds them better than a magnet. This is the perfect use case for the Wrap-It MagSnap Magnetic Snap Wristband, available at Tractor Supply for $16.99.
This wristband is jokingly likened to the slap bracelets that were popular with kids in the ’80s and ’90s. It’s a mesh wristband that wraps and snaps firmly around your wrist and, thanks to the 15 magnets hidden within its lining, holds tight to any small metal bits you stick to it. It’s designed to hold a variety of components, such as screws, nuts, bolts, and washers; if you have anything that isn’t magnetic, there’s a pocket on the end of the wristband for other odds and ends.
JobSmart 2-Drawer Mini Tool Box
Something any garage mechanic could use is another place to store a few more tools and components. Of course, once you start buying large tool cabinets and the like, you swiftly run out of space for additional storage. In those situations, the best course of action is to opt for smaller boxes that you can stack on a table or within another cabinet. For small-scale storage, Tractor Supply offers the JobSmart 2-Drawer Mini Tool Box, available for $19.99.
This little tool box features two full-extension sliding drawers, plus a top storage compartment, to store frequently used small implements like screwdrivers, wrenches, and assorted fasteners. It’s made of powder-coated steel for general-purpose resilience, and the sliding drawers have magnetic locking mechanisms to help keep them firmly closed when not in use. As an added perk, it comes in several colors, including red, blue, black, and pink.
COAST RL5 Headlamp
Working on projects in a garage doesn’t always mean you get to work at a well-lit table. For example, if you’re working on the underside of your car, it’s probably going to be pretty dark down there, and you can’t very well hold a flashlight with both hands occupied with tools. For that reason, it pays to have a good hands-free lighting solution in your garage repertoire, like the COAST RL5 Headlamp, available at Tractor Supply for $19.99.
This headlamp comes with dual-beam light settings, letting you switch between flood, spot, or combined beams at low, medium, and high settings, generating a maximum of 550 lumens for comprehensive illumination in most situations. It also has red and green light modes if you’re trying to preserve your night vision while working in the dark. Its body has an IP54 rating for protection against water and dust, so errant drops or caked-on dust are less of a concern, while its silicone-lined strap helps it sit comfortably on your head. It draws power from three AAA batteries, which can last approximately 9 hours of continuous use, though it can also be upgraded with a COAST-branded rechargeable battery.