Josh McGaffigan, Staff Reviewer and Writer

Josh McGaffigan

Staff Reviewer & Writer, Pro Tool Reviews

Josh McGaffigan has spent more than two decades as a working tradesman across some of the most demanding industries, actually using the tools he now reviews. Automotive. Concrete. Civil engineering. Metalworking. When he writes that a tool performs under pressure, he’s drawing on his real-world expertise and experience—something most reviewers lack.

STAFF REVIEWER & WRITER | 20+ YEARS TRADE EXPERIENCE | LINKEDIN

More About Josh

Most tool reviewers come to the job from media, marketing, or the enthusiast world. Josh McGaffigan came from the trades. Before ever writing a single word for Pro Tool Reviews, Josh had spent years working multiple jobs where having the right tool meant the difference between getting the job done and dealing with very real (and often costly) consequences. That background forms the foundation of everything he writes.

His trade experience spans an unusually wide range. In fact, we often make fun of the fact that Josh has had more jobs than birthdays (this is a gross exaggeration). On the automotive side, Josh has diagnosed and repaired luxury consumer vehicles, using a variety of both power and precision cordless, pneumatic, and diagnostic tools. On the concrete and civil engineering side, he has core-drilled commercial properties for structural surveys. This is the kind of work that demands tools with consistent power delivery and absolutely zero tolerance for vibration or torque control issues. His metalworking background and ranching experience round out a resume that covers nearly every major tool category PTR covers.

If a tool is going to fail, it’ll typically tell you, but only if you’re using it for serious work. Any tool can drill, cut, or saw, but only professional-grade tools are made to do it all day long, 6 days a week.”

The breadth of Josh’s hands-on background makes him particularly valuable when it comes to testing tools in the 2600-square-foot PTR shop. Where many reviewers excel in a single trade or tool category, Josh has the experience to assess an angle grinder one day and test out a lawn mower the next. That cross-trade experience is rare, and it shows in his reviews.

PRO TOOL REVIEWS ON YOUTUBE
Josh works closely with the PTR video team to produce hands-on tool demonstrations and reviews for the Pro Tool Reviews YouTube channel. His on-camera style is direct and practical and focuses on showing viewers what a tool actually does on the jobsite, not parroting what’s written on the spec sheet. He’s equally comfortable in front of the camera for head-to-head videos as he is behind the bench.

Testing & Video Work at PTR

At Pro Tool Reviews, Josh tests as much as he writes. He co-leads PTR’s hands-on, head-to-head tool comparisons alongside our resident contractor and tool personality, Tom Gaige. This lets him lend his trades-trained perspective to the methodology and execution of both written and video reviews. Whether it’s participating in an all-out drill comparison or a category-defining best string-trimmer article, Josh is typically in the thick of it. His overarching goal is to contribute and write helpful content that helps professional and serious DIYers make confident purchasing decisions.

With more than 550 published articles spanning power tools, hand tools, outdoor power equipment, and workwear, Josh represents a large part of what makes PTR coverage so influential. His articles span everything from compact cordless ratchets for tight engine bays to commercial-grade OPE for landscaping pros, again reflecting the breadth of his diverse work experience.

Outside the Shop

Away from the test bench, Josh is a husband and father first. His family is, as he puts it, where his priorities actually live. He’s also, by his own admission, a terrible golfer. This might be the one domain where his decades of hands-on precision have yet to pay dividends. Josh is based in Central Florida, where he manages a shop full of tools just waiting to be put through their paces.

What Josh brings to PTR can’t be taught in a journalism program or learned from a product spec sheet. It comes from years of showing up to a jobsite, picking up a tool, and finding out the hard way what it can (and can’t) do. Pros coming to Pro Tool Reviews to learn about the newest tools and how they perform can trust his take.