Review on Enhanced CAMO Marksman Hidden Fastening System by Rui Knain

I haven't tried the alternatives but "on paper" this seemed like the best option for installing hidden fasteners. I wouldn't say it's a particularly fast tool, but it should still be a lot faster than systems where you pre-drill holes separately with a jig and then install a screw. Likewise, the systems you install clips in also consume time as you mess around with clips at each attachment point. Some of the problems I encountered with this tool include: - Sometimes the screw would not drill a hole. It simply spun for 10 seconds or more before eventually biting into the wood when additional pressure was applied. I suspect that some of the screws are not cut correctly. The manufacturer recommends fastening the board at one end and working with each adjacent joist in turn, without missing a single one. In doing so, I have encountered several cases where the gap gradually decreased to the point where the tool spacer would no longer fit in the gap. To fix this I had to go back and loosen a few screws, finish attaching the board, then go back and tighten the screws again (without the help of a tool). one of those cases where the position of the plate is shifted by up to 1/8 inch when the screw is screwed into the beam. This indicates that something is wrong with the design. Either the screw needs a different drill design or the bracket needs a different design that will hook into the joist and hold the board in place more securely. To make up for this deficiency I have resorted to using clamps to hold the board in place during attachment in place, which slowed the process down even more.- The manufacturer doesn't offer a good solution when you need to mount a board that's too close to the structure so you can't fit the bracket and driver in the space or if you need to fasten a board that extends past the rim beam, you can usually hand hammer the fasteners perpendicularly through the face of the board. The heads are small enough not to be very visible, but this still defeats the purpose of not showing any fasteners on the deck surface. The light has a built in spacer but no mechanism to adjust this distance. When installing decking over a small area, you often need to adjust the spacing between planks so you don't have to tear a plank to fill part of the plank width. While you can insert your own separator block, this tool doesn't make it easy. Maybe the Pro version decides that way. (I also see that Home Depot now has compatible 3rd party screws (GRK mounts) which can be cheaper than CAMO screws.) Bottom line, despite the downsides, I would still use them on another project unless, something better is coming .