BAS

Kemper's basic tool - the one that does several jobs adequately rather than one job perfectly. A sensible first purchase.

BAS is Kemper's basic tool, and the name is honest about what it is. It is the general-purpose option: a tool that will smooth, shape and tidy well enough that a beginner is not stopped, without being the best tool for any of those three. That is a real virtue at the start, when you do not yet know which specialist you need. Once you do know, the specialists are better - but most people keep the basic tool anyway, because it is the one already in your hand.