Trust the torque spec sheet, not the shop veteran's 'feel'

Last month I was rebuilding a carbon fork and the old timer at the shop swore his method of tightening the stem bolts 'by hand feel' was fine, said torque wrenches strip more threads than they save. I listened because he's been doing this since the 80s, and on the first ride the bars slipped forward at a red light in Portland. Scraped the top tube and nearly ate a bus. Checked his 'feel' with my wrench, it was 3 Nm under spec. He still insists his way works, but I re-did every bolt on my own bikes with the proper tool and haven't had a creak or slip since. Anyone else ever get burned by a veteran's shortcut that contradicts the manual?

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