Tool Kit for cruising

[The Garbone]

Soft tool bags are the trick for the boat. I have lots of tools in the garage but bought a soft bag w tools online for what you would pay just for the bag at Home Depot.

I also bought a small metal drill bit guide that allows you to make pretty decent 90degree holes without a press. Thing works great.

[Thames 4 Blood]

Thanks, I will take the soft bag advice and get one ( or two or three :-) ). I also have a dremmel so thats in the kit.

[IMAnonymous]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Most cruisers have far too many tools. They are a waste of money and space.

If you really need a Double Overhead Extenabale Racheting Inverse Spanner just jump on the VHF and half a dozen idiots will have carted one unused around the world and will be delighted for you to use it, for free.

I have three tool bags and 1 tool box.
The bags:
Screwdrivers
Electrical, strippers, crimpers etc
Spanners and sockets.

In the tool box are old screws, bits and bobs and crap and junk.

Only additional is a cordless drill.

The things I have found great are boxes of mixed stainless machine screws and nuts, and a similar box of mixed SS selt tapping screws similar to the photo below

I happen to agree here, especially if you have a weight sensitive boat or space sensitive. A motorcycle tool kit will fit into an empty popcan and has screwdrivers, wrenches, pliers, fuses, electrical connectors, and a injector removal tool. I carry a foldup Gerber multi -tool on my left hip that's half the size of a wallet. On my right hip I carry the oldest, most used utility tool in history - a 13" stainless steel Bowie knife (You can use one of those things everyday.). Add one set of channel locks (two if you have compression fittings) and pocket crescent wrench to get into small spaces (copper lines). Add a spare oil injector, a fiberglass repair kit, a small can of penetrating oil, another of Marvel Mystery oil, and I can fit it all in an area the size of a box of cheerios. Add a jar of screws, nuts, bolts, and wire connectors (plus wire) and hoseclamps, and I've covered most of my bases for repairs that I know how to make. If I was going to add anything I suppose it would be a socket set and an impact wrench. I saw other people list several things here that I might pick up because they sound like a good idea but have never actually had to use either. My rule of thumb is, if I haven't used it in the last two years, I don't need it (Example: I've been carrying an extra 100 feet of rope for years that has yet to have a knot tied in it but I can't bring myself to leave it behind - a boat without an extra rope?). Anyway, the subject was leaving stuff behind and not bringing extra along and I have to be very weight/space conscious. Someone else may be in the same "boat".

[zeehag]

i use hard tool boxes as cloth molds and rots in bilges, where in my tools are kept.

[IMAnonymous]

Originally Posted by zeehag

i use hard tool boxes as cloth molds and rots in bilges, where in my tools are kept.

I hope you don't have a wood boat!

[jgbrown]

3 good crescent wrenches(1 large, 1 small, one at a right angle made 100 years ago in England.
1 pair needle nose vice grips large.(10x more useful than regular).
1 pair linesman pliers
1 aluminum handled pipe wrench

1picquick regular screwdriver
1 small
1 stubby
Lube all bits immediately, they rust.

A small ratchet that takes the above bits
My 12v impact driver will too.

1 megapro multi bit screwdriver(stainless bits)

1 large flat head screwdriver
1 pair wirecutters/strippers/bolt cutters ancor brand

1 pair ratcheting crimpers for heat shrink connectors.

Small flashlight
Headlight
(Both same battery)

Fiberoptic camera
Mechanics grabber tool.

Olfa knife

12v Dewalt impact driver
12v dewalt drill
Best as far as I'm concerned. Best repair depots too.
1 dewalt bit set with extension, my secret weapon for hose clamps
1 right angle driver for impact
1 set drill bits hex shank
1 set norse drill bits in waterproof container.

Milwaukee heat gun(has feet and a cool down function.

Butane soldering torch(the good kind, adjustable with several tips I forget brand)

Stainless steel safety wire 1 spool.

1 multi meter



This is my main tool bag.
That and a basic set of ratchets and wrenches is all I really need.

Minimum:
1 picquick stubby
1 megapro screwdriver
2 crescent wrenches
Flashlight.
Olfa knife.
These I use every single day, the rest every week at least. Seldom anything more, it all fits in one shoulder bag. We refit and repair big power boats all day.
Secialty tools left out.

[simonpickard]

All you need is this.

Chinese Military Shovel WJQ-308 (HQ + Full length) - YouTube

[seandepagnier]

You can fix anything with a monkey wrench, vice grips and a hammer. I learned this in mexico

[levm]

Most items are very well covered, two tools which are useful are an extra long flat blade screwdriver to work on the jabsco head pumps, the other one is the long spring like tool (forgot the name) you use to retrieve small objects which fall into a tight/hard to reach spots.

[jgbrown]

Originally Posted by levm

Most items are very well covered, two tools which are useful are an extra long flat blade screwdriver to work on the jabsco head pumps, the other one is the long spring like tool (forgot the name) you use to retrieve small objects which fall into a tight/hard to reach spots.

+1 to both. I couldn't remember the name for it either. That and a fiber optic camera(or inspection camera I guess since it seems to me the lens and led are at the end). Saves many things from the bilge.

[SVNeko]

All the dremel stuff. I have the drill-y thing, but I use the Fein saw and circular saw much more. They take up much less space than the full-size stuff and generally get the job done.

[Stu Jackson]

I only use a tool bag for going onto other people's boats. Our nav station is our tool bag, I added kitchenware dividers and keep everything in there except for our plastic ratchet set and box/open end wrenches. The most important part of any tool kit (ther than the bags which I find it hard to find stuff in) is that they LOCK every piece. I once bought a great tool set but none of the components locked in. Never brought it to the boat again.

[jcapo]

+1 on a Dremel tool. I've used it far more than I thought I would.

[Dos Gatos]

I would suggest the tool box be made of plastic, not steel. Also, I used a soldering iron more than any other tool. Two years cruising and the electrical degrades. I had to remake connections on wiring as well as electronics. Even re-soldering junctions on the laptop motherboard.

[landonshaw]

Oil wrench for your oil filter, soldering gun for those electric jobs, bearing puller, I need this for my prop to get at the anode and my wheel to get at the auto pilot ring. I have a device to pick up screws that I drop into small areas, has fingers on it, also one that can pick up magnetic items. along with much of the stuff already covered.