Appreciation post: the $60 wiggle-test rig I built in my garage in Tulsa saved my keester on a GNS 530 install
Back when I started in this trade we didn't have fancy pin pushers, just a cheap crimper and a lot of patience, and I built a little wiggle rig out of scrap for sixty bucks that I still use today. Stuck it on a harness last month and it caught a loose pin that would've cost me a whole afternoon of pulling panels. What low buck tools have stuck with you through all the newer gear?
Ha, my fancy tool story is that I bought a $200 pin pusher and lost it in a hangar within a month. The scrap rig still works and I still have it. Mine is just a chunk of 2x4 with some alligator clips and a toggle switch, nothing special. The cheap stuff wins because you can beat on it and not care. Sixty bucks versus a tool truck payment is a joke of a choice.