Essential tools

BlueChip

BlueChip

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I have just been reading how the shuttle crew have successfully carried out their repairs in space - they even had a hacksaw and duct tape ready.

SWMBO is always complaining that I have two under berth lockers and a galley drawer filled with spares and tools, (in my view you cannot have too many) - yet I still can't find the one I need.

How many tools do you carry and what's the most useful item?
 
We were living on board while we finished the build so for the next 4 years had enough tools to build her again from scratch. This year I decided to cut down on weight and reduced it to two lockers and two toolboxes so now I'm forever making notes of the tools I need to bring down next time.

At the other end of the scale I heard of one of the french singlehanders who caries only a screwdriver and a mole wrench on the bais that if it's too big a job to fix with those, he's lost the race anyway!
 
Loads and loads...

Most useful..... a pair of needle nosed pliers..... with a close second being a screwdriver with interchangeable bits, and loads and loads of different bits... its amazing how much easier a screw is to tighten/undo with the correct bit....
 
Aw 'eck.... well I'm not going to do Cherbourg with you then, as you obviously don't go fast enough.....

As an addition to the above... whats the most useless tool you carry?

My confession is to carrying a rip saw and brake pipe flaring tool...... (don't ask!)
 
my most useless tool is a special arttachment for a slide hammer which i giot someone to make for thirty quid, but it's rubbish and doesn't work. However, i haven't the heart to throw it out.
 
Re: Essential tools re space shuttle tiles

as j vine said this morning 'its not rocket science is it'
 
Re: Essential tools re space shuttle tiles

I have a mate who fixes boats for a living. He has a leatherman.

Correction, he has had a series of leathermen. They last an average of three months before they go back under the lifetime warranty. He often gets grabbed as he walks down the pontoon "Can you have a quick look at my...?" and he reckons 75% of these jobs get sorted on the spot with the leatherman.

I'd get one myself, but the cheap ones that you don't lose aren't any good and the splash as the expensive ones that work go over the side is so distressing /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
Re: Essential tools re space shuttle tiles

[ QUOTE ]
I have a mate who fixes boats for a living. He has a leatherman.

[/ QUOTE ]
As we were getting ready to take off for Australia I discovered the backrest of my seat was knackered. I called the hostie who immediately found a couple of engineers. Their toolkit consisted of - you've guessed it - a Leatherman.
 
95% of all jobs can be fixed with one or more of the following:

screwdriver with selection of ends
adjustable spanner
hacksaw
hammer
duct tape
araldite.


There that should lighten the tool box!
 
[ QUOTE ]
95% of all jobs can be fixed with one or more of the following:

screwdriver with selection of ends
adjustable spanner
hacksaw
hammer
duct tape
araldite.


There that should lighten the tool box!

[/ QUOTE ]
No way... it's those 5% I need all the other tools for... gas-powered soldering iron; plumbers wiggly thing for undoing inaccessible nuts; circlip pliers for the one and only time I changed the seals on teh water pump; spare bits of pipe for the engine; grp repair kit; paint; plus loads of other really useful stuff..... /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
95% of all jobs can be fixed with one or more of the following:

screwdriver with selection of ends
adjustable spanner
hacksaw
hammer
duct tape
araldite.


[/ QUOTE ]

I'm sure it is an oversight on your part, but you forgot to mention cable-ties. Once added to your list, you have the perfect tool-kit.
 
Re: Essential tools re space shuttle tiles

A cheapo combi-tool ( Leatherman substitute ) from a builders' merchant at under £10 - for mending the PCBs in my GPS and GMDSS radio - with a wrist-string.

A hacksaw frame and a set of 'sealed against the wet' new, sharp blades - including a couple edged with tungsten carbide grit - for rebuilding the heads.

An RAF Instrument Fitters' #2 Hammer, for adjusting the diesel injectors.

A £9 razor-sharp saw-toothed 12"-blade pruning knife from a garden centre - for cutting away some piratical crab-fisherman's livelihood from around my rudder and prop. Also for slicing up the bread and cheese.

Last but not least, industrial-strength 'Marigolds'. See above.

BTW, didn't the crew of Apollo 13 carry and use a sextant to get back, when *their* electrics failed on 'em? Is there a lesson for us here?
 
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