If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. But with a proper arsenal of work equipment, you can approach any problem in a variety of ways. The sign of a good tool is that it does the job it was built for very well. But you’d be surprised by just how specialized they can get. It’s mind-boggling!

The r/specializedtools subreddit is a fascinating online community that documents some of the most bizarre, most niche tools that have ever been created. From steno machines and nuclear power plant demolishers to cyanometers (which measure the blueness of the sky) and beyond, it’s seriously incredible to see how inventive humankind can get. It’s so fascinating to learn all about the inventions and we couldn’t help but share the most interesting pics with you, dear Pandas.

Scroll down, upvote the pics that impressed you, and let us know which of these tools wowed you the most. Were there any that you knew about? Were you surprised to learn about any of these? We’d love to hear your thoughts, so grab your digital ink quills and swing by the comments. Meanwhile, you’ll find Bored Panda’s previous article about the sub right here.

#1 Scania P360 With A Penetrating “Scorpion Stinger” That Can Penetrate A Building To Deliver Water Directly Into A Fire Without Putting Firefighters In Danger

Image credits: Love4BlueMoon

#2 A Tool For Testing Smoke Alarms. It Covers The Unit Snugly Then Releases A Puff Of Smoke, From There A Bloke On The Control Panel Can Tell Whether It Is Working Properly Or Not

Image credits: A_Cat_Named_Frank

#3 The Cyanometer. A 230 Year Old Tool Used To Measure The Blueness Of The Sky.

Image credits: mks113

Most of these tools are interesting because they’re very rare. Or, rather, only people in very specific fields get to see and use them on a regular basis. For the rest of us, it’s like a visit to a museum full of (slightly alien) artifacts.

However, you could probably argue that every single profession demands that people use specialized tools (or, in this day and age, software, too). When you sit down and have a good long think, you might realize that you do a lot of things every day that most people have no clue about. You, on the other hand, are so used to it all that you barely notice it. We’re all experts in our own little fields. And our tools are unlike anyone else’s. 

#4 Network Cable Comber

Image credits: mitchellrj

#5 Ruler My Allergist Used For Measuring Welts On My Arm After An Allergy Test

Image credits: pestyfinesty

#6 Cleaning The Solar Panels

Image credits: astorres6030

The r/specializedtools subreddit is massively popular. Created in mid-February of 2015, it has grown a lot in the nearly-8 years since its founding. At the time of writing, the community was home to nearly 1.6 million redditors.

The unusual photos are probably what draws people in. After all, it’s hard to resist finding out the story behind some mysterious object that comes across our internet feeds. It’s like a splinter in your mind: you have to figure out what it is, what it does, and why it looks like it does. Curiosity is a very human emotion—and it’s a difficult beast to control.

#7 The Spider, An Aerial Lift For Getting Into Tight Spots

Image credits: Troooper0987

#8 Star Apple Parer And Slicer, 1871. One Of Three Known To Exist

Image credits: ajcpullcom

#9 An Optical Inspection Train

Image credits: dontbreaththis

The team of moderators who run the whole show has a small list of rules that the community members should follow. You would think that people would only post specialized tools on a subreddit that’s called r/specializedtools. Alas! That’s not the case. Some folks either post pics without any tools or share photos of tools that aren’t specialized.

However, tools don’t have to have just a single purpose. You should be fine as long as you don’t post something generic like a computer that can complete a seemingly endless number of tasks. In short: the more niche, the better.

#10 Beach Cleaning Robot Designed To Pick Up Small Pieces Of Garbage Hidden Beneath The Sand!

Image credits: Zblb

#11 A Stainless Steel Pallet Jack For Use Inside Clean Rooms

Image credits: PENISFIRE

#12 Space Mouse – A Mouse For 3D Model Navigation

Image credits: CaptainTasty57

Moreover, the sub’s mod team asks its members to avoid reposting photos that have been recently shared by other redditors. There’s also no room for any offensive content. Treat others kindly, be polite.

Meanwhile, when making a post, be sure to explain exactly what the tool or device does. Don’t opt for clickbait. Oh, and don’t use the subreddit as a means of promoting any products that you sell or profit from.

#13 Temporary Traffic Light

Image credits: RinShimizu

#14 Saw This Escalator Hoist

Image credits: GeorgeMeowington

#15 Yarn Winder In Action

Image credits: 3askaryyy

You could argue that without tools, we aren’t human. However, there are quite a few species that actually use tools as they see fit. For instance, chimpanzees are capable of making spears to hunt other primates.

Meanwhile, orangutans have been known to make improvised whistles from bundles of leaves in the wild. They use these to ward off predators, according to Live Science.

#16 Manual Dough Divider

Image credits: aloofloofah

#17 Key For Turning An Orthodontic Palate Expander

Image credits: ChrystynaS

#18 Contraption Used In Churches To Fill Up Multiple Communion Cups At Once.

Image credits: Jiggy_Kitty

However, it’s not just primates and apes that can use tools. Crows, for example, craft their feathers, twigs, and leaves into tools. They’re also known to drop stones in pitchers to raise the water level inside of them so they can have a drink.

#19 This Is A Steno Machine, Used For Recording Words Verbatim At Speeds Over 225 Words Per Minute. Used In Court Rooms And Legal Depositions.

Image credits: Polygraph-Eyes7

#20 A Whole Set Of Non-Sparking Beryllium Copper Wrenches For Working With Hydrogen. Anyone Want To Guess The Cost?

Image credits: Poofengle

#21 Remote-Controlled Special Excavator To Demolish Cooling Towers Of Nuclear Power Plants

Image credits: Peisis

Meanwhile, elephants, dolphins, octopi, and otters are also known to use tools for getting rid of pests, uncovering prey underwater, for shelter, and cracking open shells, respectively.

So while the tools that we use are far, far more complex than what can be found in the animal kingdom, we also shouldn’t imagine that human beings hold a monopoly on them.

#22 The Costco Food Court Table Dolly

Image credits: kurtthewurt

#23 This Elevator That My Installation Crew Is Using To Hoist Photovoltaic Panels Up To The Second Story Rooftop

Image credits: na3than

#24 Non Sparking Pipe Wrenches. And Channel Locks Just In Case. About $1600.00 In This Picture

Image credits: leldai2447

Our ancient ancestors developed the first stone tools at least 2.6 million years ago. The Smithsonian explains that during the Early Stone Age, early humans made hammerstones, stone cores, and shark stone flakes.

1.76 million years ago, these evolved into handaxes and other large cutting tools.

#25 Met A Truffle Hunter In The Peloponnese Mts. And Got A Chance To Snap A Pic Of His Truffle Shovels! The Flat One Is For White Truffles Which Tent To Grow In Softer Soil, And The More Spear Shaped Is For Black Truffles Which Are Found Deeper And In More Rocky Soil

Image credits: flex_inthemind

#26 Pickle Lifter. It Came Inside The Jar

Image credits: mkvelash

#27 Hydraulic Post Driver With Country Upgrade

Image credits: onlyuseful

By the Middle Stone Age, 200,000 years ago, the range of tools exploded in its variety. Suddenly, you could find spears and scrapers for preparing hide, wood, and other materials. By the Later Stone Age, people began using more diverse crafting materials. From bone and ivory to antlers and stone. Different groups began developing their own specific cultures and ways of making things.

#28 Hip Clamp: A Tool To Help A Cow Stand Up

Image credits: TheMexicanJuan

#29 Tool Used By Georgian Bakers To Remove Bread From The Oven

Image credits: Smart_Sell7885

#30 Time-Release Fin Clip Cam For Sharks

Image credits: aloofloofah

#31 Large Wave Flume At A Wave Research Lab

Image credits: aloofloofah

#32 Paper Crumpler For Padding Boxes To Ship

Image credits: SandPaperPocketPussy

#33 Olives Harvester

Image credits: [deleted]

#34 Machine For Removing Tree Stumps

Image credits: [deleted]

#35 A Shoe Testing Machine From The 1940s

Image credits: jonpeeji

#36 A Nail Making Machine In Action!

Image credits: lilicucu

#37 Pokey-Picker-Upper Tool Invented By A Highway Maintenance Worker To Pick Up Metal Shards Along Shoulders

Image credits: chaseoes

#38 30 Year Old Cheese Slicer

Image credits: sniffinberries34

#39 Jig For Chalking The Hip And Waist Widths For The Pleated Section Of A Kilt. Also Has Guide Lines For Accurate Alignment To The Tartan Pattern

Image credits: micasa_es_miproblema

#40 Violin Peg Fitting Tools

Image credits: Vivid_blue

#41 Non-Metallic Pliers For Pulling Fuses

Image credits: Fingalien

#42 These Special Tweezers Are Used For Removing Nose Pads From Eyeglasses

Image credits: HeySquirrelFriends

#43 For When You Get Off The Water Rides

Image credits: Fast-Money1290

#44 Huge Bottoming Drill-Tap We Made Today

Image credits: lsmith1988

#45 This Truck For Servicing Street Lamps

Image credits: sp00nix

#46 Howitzer, 105mm Artillery Gun, Used By Ski Patrol To Clear Avalanche Hazards

Image credits: aloofloofah

#47 Mosaic Glass Cutter Press

Image credits: spinagon

#48 A Ballnut

Image credits: UsernameGenerik

#49 This Snowman Maker

Image credits: QuarantinedRabbit

#50 Electric Shunting Buggy We Use In Our Manufacturing Plant 36v

Image credits: Only_Vermicelli_201

#51 Shaping A Helical Gear

Image credits: judgemeordont

#52 UV Microphone Sterilizer

Image credits: Frog23

#53 Hollowing Out A Clogg

Image credits: FandRB

#54 Book Cleaning Tool

Image credits: NerdWhoLikesTrees

#55 Road Bollard Cleaner

Image credits: The_Techsan

#56 Rolex Microstella Tool

Image credits: jshepardini

#57 DIY Door Painting Frame

Image credits: DodgyUsername

#58 Mountain Index For Identifying Nearby Peaks In Rocky Mountain Np

Image credits: youngrichyoung

#59 This Thing To Clean A Kitchen Hand Whisk

Image credits: mangowhymango

#60 You’ve Seen A Soldering Iron, But What About A Reloadable Soldering Gun?

Image credits: Gagliardinter

#61 I’ll Raise Your 30 Year Old Cheese Slicer For This 30 Year Old Hard Boiled Egg Slicer

Image credits: Bubbly_Equipment_940

#62 Automatic Acoustic Measurement Tapping Machine

Image credits: ThisIsDK

#63 Bung Wrench – If You Have A Really Tight Bung Hole I Suggest Investing In This Wrench

Image credits: 7burrito

#64 A Rug Sewing Machine

Image credits: bhxuk

#65 Laser Railway Rail Profile Scanner – Absolute Single Purpose Machine

Image credits: lescalais

#66 This Farming Robot Zaps Weeds With Precision Lasers

Image credits: SmtDnny5

#67 Old Poppy Seed Grinder That My Mom Uses When Baking Poppy Seed Rolls

Image credits: zzzjimmy

#68 The Picker, You Drive Over The Balls On The Range And It Picks Them Up

Image credits: Lonely_Boii_

#69 Automatic Pizza Cutter

Image credits: Waddup10

#70 Poppy Seed Mill

Image credits: FanZag

#71 Nasa Glenn Research Center Reinvented The Wheel Using Shape Memory Alloy Tires

Image credits: Buzobuzobuzo

#72 Steel Wire Seperator

Image credits: onlyuseful

#73 Heat Shield Counter-Bore Tool. Needed To Attach A Nuclear Warhead To A Minuteman III Icbm

Image credits: Roofofcar

#74 Micrometers For Blind Machinists, With The Numbers In Braille

Image credits: your_mom_is_availabl

#75 The Bull Ditch Plow Was Constructed By A Cooperative To Stop The Town Of Maxwell From Flooding. More In Coments

Image credits: worldiscubik

#76 This Roller For The Seran Wrap At My Job

Image credits: Hije5

#77 Brass Instrument Mouthpiece Puller

Image credits: inglorious_beats

#78 Construction Calculator For Feet, Inches, And Sixteenths

Image credits: simple_twice

#79 “Tweetie”, A Machine For Moving The Trains At The National Rail Museum In York, UK

Image credits: VerticalDepth

#80 These Pin Gauges We Use To Measure Accuracy Of Small Bore/Hole Sizes

Image credits: DVS_Nature

#81 This Giant Vaccum For Sucking Up Fall Leaves

Image credits: thisonelife83

#82 Three Axis Multi-Anvil Press. Used For High-Pressure Low Temperature Experimental Mineralogy

Image credits: CarbonaraFlamejante

#83 Venitian Blind Cleaner

Image credits: Jtbraun91

#84 Blade Removal Tool For Deli Slicer

Image credits: PuzzleheadedLunch199

#85 Thread Cutting Scissors That You Can Keep In Your Hand Without Having To Take Them Off After Each Snip. Huge Time Saver And Very Ergonomic!

Image credits: micasa_es_miproblema

#86 A Violin Corner Rib Clamp

Image credits: peat_reek

#87 Handheld Liquid Nitrogen Sprayer For Freezing (And Then Usually Removing) Unwanted Growths On Your Skin

Image credits: micasa_es_miproblema

#88 The Tools They Used Engrave The Stanley Cup And Other Hockey Cups All By Hand. Toronto Hockey Hall Of Fame

Image credits: samyruno

#89 Chestnut Pan

Image credits: chuego

#90 Sundial Realized For Lazcari Sicily With Equation Of Time

Image credits: ki4clz

#91 Wall Mounted Doll Holder For Use In American Girl Store Restrooms

Image credits: greyblacknavytan

#92 Electric Honey Decapping Knife

Image credits: flufftartponcho

#93 A Sliding Chair To Help Disabled People Into The Sea

Image credits: The_good_kid

#94 A Tool Used By Chefs To Check Precise Knife Cuts

Image credits: AirForceBalls

#95 UK TV Detector Van

Image credits: charterbroker

#96 Not Fisher Price, But Insulated Ratchet And Plastic Drivers For Working On Evs

Image credits: KAPUTNIK1714

#97 This Training Device To Help Football Players Aim Their Kicks

Image credits: 5_Frog_Margin

#98 1926 Fordson Snowmotor

Image credits: XoCCeT

#99 Powered Onion Dicer

Image credits: Lazylion2

#100 Tool To Pull Up The Bumpers At My Local Bowling Alley

Image credits: ThrivalOfficial

#101 Proof/Alcohol Meter For Distillers

Image credits: andylovesburritos

#102 This Cleaner At Work Is Only For Kool Aid

Image credits: Academic_Nectarine94

#103 Manual Copper Pipe Cutter

Image credits: foreignuserirl

#104 Copper-Ended Double Head Hammer For Driving Steel Pins Into Trusses For Lighting Rigs. The Copper Is Softer Than The Steel And So Doesn’t Damage The Pins

Image credits: Professional_Yak2807

#105 Brand New C2 Cable Lasher For Affixing Cables To Strand On Telephone Poles. Custom Stickers For Fun

#106 Cleaning Out Nanna’s House And Found This. It’s Used To Hold Slices Of Cheese

#107 This Dolly Can Only Lift Those Buckets And Nothing Else

Source: boredpanda.com