In most cases, when you need to drill something, you’re going to reach for a power drill. I’m not going to deny that. However, there may be times when you’d want to reach instead for a manual tool, such as…

1. There’s a power outage and you either can’t plug your drill in or recharge its battery.
2. You need to work on something quickly and quietly — say, while the family’s watching TV.
3. The job is a small one and not worth breaking out anything complicated to get it done.
4. Perhaps you just prefer the precision a hand-powered tool offers.

For those times, the Weichuan hand drill fits the bill. It sports a tough steel cast construction with a double pinion gear design for smooth operation. The 3-jaw chuck is easy to secure tight with the included key, so it’ll work well with even the smallest bits in your toolbox. The ¼”-capacity version ($25) accepts 0.6mm–6mm bits, while the ⅜”-capacity one ($27) accepts 1.5mm–10mm. You can use either one for drilling into wood, soft metals, PVC pipe, or fiberglass with ease.

When you’re done with the drill, the end of the hollow ABS plastic handle opens up so you can store standby drill bits inside. All in all, this is a highly handy (get it?) and dependable tool to have in your kit.