Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/09/21/a-ratcheting-screwdriver-set-for-working-in-tight-spots.html
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I use one of these way more than I thought I would when I first got it. They are surprisingly functional.
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I bought one of these the last time it was on BB, and just used it last night. It’s one of those tools that I don’t need often, but when I need it, nothing else will do. This time, I was screwing a hanger in to the top of a door frame of our utility closet - there is only a few inches of clearance. Maybe my standard ratchet with 1/8th to hex adapter to hex bit would have fit, bit it would have been really tight - this worked like a charm.
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Very useful tool, though the one I have the bits have a small extension trim the back which lets you turn the bit without having to crank the handle. I find that occasionally rather handy
According to the picture, do you always have to keep a bit in the handle, though maybe is my OCD just flaring at the sloppy ad work.
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I had to replace a coolant flange on our Audi. That part resides halfway down the back of the engine with about three inches of clearance from the firewall. To visualize what the procedure looked like, I was lying on top of the engine for a couple hours, hugging it with both arms to reach behind it and working blind. This little ratchet saved the day because normal-sized tools wouldn’t fit back there.
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Ah, the Audi Service Position 
(for those not in on the joke, Audis are designed so the front bumper comes off/moves forward so you have acces to the front of the engine … this is the service position)
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The task I described was at the back of the engine so, fortunately, it didn’t require removing the front of the car. You’re right though, the “service position“ is ridiculous. When it came time to change the timing belt, just The thought of putting my car into the service position gave me the willies so I opted to have the work done by an independent Audi/VW shop instead.
My dad has a ratchet screwdriver, so I’d known about them since I was a kid, but I never saw them on sale, or saw anyone else with one and I didn’t know what they were called.
Then Mark posted about them a few years ago, and I picked up a cheap one. I’ve only needed it a couple of times, but those times there was practically no other way of getting the job done.
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