T i m presented the following explanation :
I was asked to advise a lad who was considering doing his own car
servicing about the tools he would need and I put 'torque wrench'
right up there. The point is, if you are 'new' to that game you may
have no idea what 20 ft/lb feels like and therefore there is a good
chance you could damage something.

But just like any subject there are 'tools for the job' and the saying
'you can manage what you can measure is no less true for tightening a
sump nut (especially where they are known to be 'fragile') or testing
a battery or broadband speed.

Now, *when* you know what you are doing you can sometimes get away
using less than optimal tools (especially needs-must etc) and I have
often tested my Leatherman PST II Multitool to what I thought would be
beyond it's limits (including where I should have used a spanner).

For tightening a fixing, you are best avoiding using sockets and a
ratchet - better to use a correct sized spanner. A correctly sized
spanner will normally be shorter for the smaller sizes, at least giving
some protection from applying to much torque.