11 Tools Every Electrician Should Own, Aragorn vs. Anakin, and More

Thursday, November 5th, 2026

Good morning! Welcome to The Tradesman, a 5-minute newsletter tailored just for America’s tradesmen.

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Electricians, we've got a challenge for you. (Plumbers and HVAC techs, we'll get to you later.)

A buddy wants to become an electrician and asks for help stocking his first toolbox. What 11 tools would you tell him he absolutely needs?

Got your list? Good.

Now compare it with SlashGear's list of essential electrician tools.

Some of their choices might surprise you. So might a few things that didn't make the cut.

What did they get right, and what did they miss?

Fellow HVAC techs, we have a video for you.

Saturday Night Live and Shane Gillis recently put out an HVAC sketch that might hit a little too close to home for anyone in the business, especially those who work with residential units.

It's super funny, but there's a lesson buried in the laughs.

An HVAC business coach with 30 years of experience breaks down the sketch, pointing out what technicians and business owners can learn about customer service, sales, and building trust.

Read the coach's breakdown of the sketch.

Republicans took a beating Tuesday.

Democrats won control of both the House and Senate, flipping Republican-held Senate seats in states including Texas, Kansas, Iowa, and both Carolinas. Ohio also elected Democrat Sherrod Brown to the U.S. Senate.

That's a big political shift. But does it mean everything is about to change?

Not necessarily.

Midterm elections often favor the party that's out of the White House. What's different this time is how far the pendulum swung.

With Democrats controlling Congress and Republicans holding the White House, passing major legislation could become much tougher. Expect more political battles, more investigations, and plenty of finger-pointing.

For working Americans, the bigger questions involve taxes, wages, energy costs, and the economy.

Whether you're celebrating, disappointed, or just tired of politics, one thing hasn't changed: The alarm clock still goes off tomorrow.

See the election results and congressional breakdown.

Who would you rather be: Darth Vader or the king of Middle-earth?

That's the debate making the rounds on X, where a post comparing Anakin Skywalker from Star Wars with Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings has people taking sides.

Both men faced enormous pressure. Both were expected to save the day.

But when things got ugly, they took very different paths.

Anakin gave in to fear and anger, eventually becoming Darth Vader. Aragorn stuck to his principles, accepted responsibility, and helped save Middle-earth.

Of course, Anakin has his defenders. Some argue his circumstances help explain why he turned to the dark side.

Others say that's exactly the point: Being a good man means doing the right thing even when life gets tough.

So who's got it right? Is Anakin a victim of his circumstances, or should he have taken a page from Aragorn's playbook?

Insert Question