hi fixers it's MJ with iFixit and a
while back we did a video called worst
tech buy ever which I'll put a link to
right over here and it was a video
response to a fellow named Chris Pirillo
who did a video about his worst tech buy
it's kind of a casual video but it was
fun and we really liked hearing what you
guys had to say so
we thought we would sit down and do
another casual sort of video and
hopefully it'll be just as good as last
time
so I was listening to this podcast
called geek Friday with Dan benjamin in
faith Korpi and if you want to listen to
it we'll put a link down in the
description so you can give it a listen
I would recommend it
faith was wondering like if she would
have put together a geek emergency kit
what should go in the kit so of course
that got me to thinking if I weren't a
geek emergency what would I want in my
geek go-bag so after some thought I put
some things and make it go bag and I
would like to share them with you think
of it as kind of like a what's in your
purse video except you can swap my mini
toothbrush for a spudger so here we go
things in my geek go kit the first thing
I would put in there is a rocketship
just kidding it's not a toy it's an air
blower see it blows air the point is
that for something like an iPhone you
might think that your speaker is broken
when in fact there's just lint jammed in
the headphone jack so the iPhone thinks
there's headphones plugged in all the
time and it doesn't output the sound
from the bottom what you really need is
to shoot some air in there get the dust
out and then it works fine it's also
good for taking dust out of the dock
connector maybe of dust bunnies living
in your keyboard you need to clean your
laptop fan this is good for all of those
things you might also know this as a can
of compressed air the reason I would use
something like this is because as your
reusable unlike a can of compressed air
that eventually empties out and then you
have to throw it away and it's not good
for the planet so this is reusable but
if you've got a can of compressed air it
does the same job so the next thing in
my geek go bag ah I hate dirty
electronics and there's nothing worse
about like
going over to fix somebody's computer
and then seeing that it's just gnarly
and dirty and gross and I don't want to
touch it so the first thing I would do
is clean it off with some electronic
cleaning solution we used to have called
family claims because that's what we
sell here and a microfiber towel the
worst thing you can do is spend a bunch
of money on a nice laptop or something
and then ruin the screen by using a
crummy towel and like Lysol or something
like that you wouldn't do that you're
smarter than that but some people they
would so cleaning solution also would
make it go bag the next thing ah is an
ESD wrist strap or I like to call it an
ESD bracelet because isn't that
good-looking
nice bracelet right this is great for
grounding yourself when doing any kind
of electronics repair and it's so small
it's really easy to throw in the
emergency kit my next thing is ah you
don't know what this is probably you
might but I don't think you do it's
called an ice s amount and it is a
flexible metal opening tool this is
really good for anytime you would use a
credit card to Jimmy something open this
is really really good for opening up a
Mac Mini and it's much better than using
like a file down putty knife or
something because it does less damage to
the thing that you're working on so it's
small it's kind of fun to play with it
makes a good slingshot and my geek go
kid the next thing ah this is one of the
better ones is a bit driver kit because
it has I'll open it up most of the bits
I'm ever going to need in a geek
emergency and the driver is magnetized
so if I drop a screw if when I drop a
screw inside what I'm working on I can
just pick it up real easily don't have
to get my fingers in there so the bit
driver kit is very very useful it's also
portable if you think you're gonna be
working on specialty devices perhaps
iPhones it'd be good to carry your
specialty driver with you this is a
pentalobe driver we talked about this
pentalobe driver in the pendulum screws
a while back I keep doing this when I
mean a while back we'll put a link to it
right over here it's a good video you
should watch it but this is really good
for working on iphones with pencils
so carry whatever specialty driver you
need only a couple more things the boo I
always have a flashlight with me like on
my keychain I have a little LED
flashlight that's really powerful but if
you're serious about lighting and you
need it to be hands-free go with a
headlamp see you turn it and it goes on
really easy to use and it doesn't get
any dorkier than wearing a headlamp
while you're repairing electronics so
that's a good one to have with you okay
this one the ubiquitous spudger almost
every repair I've ever done I've needed
a plastic spreader for whether it's for
disconnecting tiny little connectors or
or prying things spiders are essential
so I'd have at least one with me also
for the like the two other girls maybe
that are watching it's really good for
putting your hair up so there's that
yeah take your lady friend up a spudger
and tell her it's a hair accessory
she'll think you're really thoughtful
she probably won't okay so the last
thing and it's my very favorite one this
bag which you've probably never seen
before because it's new and we invented
it
so it's called a thirsty bag and just
like the picture on the front would
indicate it is for drying out the
moisture from a waterlogged device so
let's say I drop my iPhone in the pool
after a brief moment of panic I would
stick it in the thirsty bag and this
would draw out the moisture from the
foam much better more efficiently than a
bag of rice would even way more
convenient because who just carries a
bag of rice with them this is the kind
of thing you'd want to pick up well in
advance of dropping your phone in the
toilet or something
I know those kinds of emergencies aren't
planned but if you're prepared and you
have one of these handy you'll look
super smart or if like your buddy has a
bone in his pocket and jumps in the pool
you will save the day it'll be his hero
if you want to get any of the stuff that
I talked about in my geek bag we will
put links to them down in the
description and I'm really curious to
hear what I missed because I'm sure I
forgot to include something and you guys
always have great suggestions so let me
know what else I should care
in my geeky mergency back and maybe
you've put one of these together
yourself and you just have great
suggestions so put them down in the
comments below or send me an email at
Melissa at ifixit.com thanks for
watching and I'm really eager to hear
what you guys have to say if you want to
e me subscribe to our channel to get all
these fun and important updates or
follow us on twitter at
twitter.com/zeromd