Essential handicapping tools: 2) The heavy-duty stapler

We old-school paper-and-pen handicappers have an attachment to the physical tools of our trade similar to the way later-comers love their laptops. We have our favorites and we never stop pimping them.

Such is the way with the heavy duty stapler that you see in the picture. What so great about these things, you ask? You'll know if you've ever tried stapling a 70-page form guide together with the dinky little one that sits on your desk That's right, 70 pages. We're talking about Brisnet Ultimate PPs With Comments here, and they can run at least that over a 10-race card or - more likely - a 12-race contest. Now that's a stack of paper and needs a serious piece of hardware to handle it.

We'll get to the Brisnet Ultimates over the next few posts. But before that you'd better get yourself a heavy-duty stapler - we recommend the Bostitch Model PHD-60 that takes Stanley Bostitch SB35PHD staples. Those babies will penetrate the thickest stack of PPs you can download without burning your printer out - and yes, more in later posts on printing tips. Attaching more than 50 pages takes a little muscle, but just put it on the floor and push hard. This thing can take a lot of punishment.

Of course, you could just download the PPs onto your laptop and scroll down through the pages without touching a sheet of paper and therefore never needing to shell out $20 for one of these things. But that would miss the visceral thrill of the form guide, and for old-school types that's a part of the overall fun. Small price to pay.