Rant: The number of folks who think a knee kicker is just a fancy hammer

I was helping a friend's crew in Boise last month, and their new guy was trying to stretch a whole room by just whacking the kicker as hard as he could. He looked at me and said, 'This thing is junk, it won't grab.' I had to show him it's all in the angle and the short, sharp taps, not brute force. Has anyone else had to give that basic lesson lately?

4 comments

4 Comments

robert_anderson692mo ago

Watched a guy at a supply house demo a kicker once by just slamming it into a concrete floor over and over. He was trying to prove it was tough, but all I could think about was the bent teeth and the poor carpet it would eventually mangle. Some people just don't get that tools have a specific job.

morgan_ramirez1mo ago

Wait, did he think the carpet was gonna get scared and just lie down flat if he yelled at it enough? I mean, you can't just beat the fibers into submission, that's how you end up with a lumpy mess and a broken tool. Maybe it's just me, but watching someone do that feels like seeing a person try to dig a hole with a spoon because they think shovels are for weaklings.

danielw881mo ago

Yeah, seen that too. Hugo's got a point about stubborn spots, but man, some guys treat every job like it needs a sledgehammer.

hugo_schmidt2mo ago

Honestly, sometimes you just gotta whack it. If a gentle tap isn't grabbing that stubborn carpet, a good solid hit gets the job done. Not everything needs to be a finesse move.

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