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Comment by formerly_proven | Hacker News Reader

JIS is still a thing as well. Look a lot like Philips except that it's way easier than normal to cam out.

It's supposed to be much harder to cam out with JIS, unless you try to use a Philips screwdriver on a JIS screw (which will most definitely cam out and chew up). I treated myself to a JIS screwdriver, for the rare occasions I adjust my (Japanese) bicycle groupset.

JIS, as far as I know, is the technically superior cross-head design.

JIS screws will strip/cam out if you use a Philips, where I misunderstood this when replacing a rear lamp assembly on a 2016 Subaru, destroyed the JIS screw head where it had to be removed using the 10mm socket instead.

I've now used JIS bits for JIS screws and had no issues further than the initial.

Easier to cam out than Philips? Yuck!

It's generally better to cam out without wrecking the head than to cam out only under sufficient force as to tear up the slots.

Philips usually damage the head when camming out because as they cam out the total contact surface slowly goes to zero, so at some point the pressure exceeds the strength of the metal.

Right. In my experience, JIS screwdrivers lose contact faster if you're off-angle so they don't have the same opportunity to trash the head.

Exactly this - camming out as a protective feature is hugely over-blown and possibly totally false. In my experience, only the very cheapest of cheese-grade screws (a la Aliexpress) chew up without camming out.

camming out wasn't to protect the screws, it was to protect the sheet metal...

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