Best self contained tool kit

[Olddan1943]

I know a worker who has a back pack, every tool in its cubby hole. I dont recall him being stumped too often when working on my boat. When it has happened, he borrows my tools.

[frozenhawaiian]

the only self contained tool kit I have onboard is one of those socket sets that come in a hard case with a snap in slot for every piece, makes it a lot easier to keep things in order and it's easy to see if you left a socket down in whatever space you were working in just by looking at the case and making sure there aren't any vacant slots. the rest of my tool kit I assembled from working on the boat and assembling my kit based on my boats, it's rig, it's electical, plumbing and mechanical systems. just as with anything else on a boat where space is at a premium the idea is to have what you need and not a bunch of extraneous, unneeded clutter. for example on my boat I know that nothing on the boat uses torx head screws, so I don't bother keeping a set of torx head drivers aboard.

[muttskie]

I like these carry bags. I think I bought them at Home Depot. Excuse the mess.
I agree with starting with a good quality smallish set and adding all of the helpful goodies as time and need go by. I've distilled the bag down to one since this photo was taken.

[ValiantV]

As a former professional mechanic, I don't visit my boat without a large subset of my "big" tool chest and roller cab if Snap-On combination wrenches (metric and US), 3/8" drive sockets (shorts, deeps, metric, US) and a full set of quality screwdrivers, several pliers, vise-grips (real ones).

Point here (I think there is one) that a "tool set" - ready-made for whatever purpose they're marketed for - are usually cheap, clunky looks that will either fail you when you need them most, or - among other things - have such thick socket walls that they can't even fit into a tight spot.

As I learn my boat better, I will likely pare down what u drag to the boat. At present, I have what I need and more, and I can likely help out a slip neighbor even if he has completely different hardware.

Bottom line - cheap hand tools are great for hanging on a garage wall with the cute little silouette time show you when a pliers is missing, but for working when you need to fix something - they will let you down.

[S/V Alchemy]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

There is no one tool kit that I have ever seen that was worth having.
All I have ever seen were junk, and life is too short to use junk tools

Actually, I have found junk tools have a place: on deck and near the gunwales. The good tools stay below. Neptune seems to accept either offering, but I know which one I prefer to make.

Less jocularly, I have never regretted buying the best grade of tool I can afford, particularly those I need rarely, but absolutely.

[Falbala60]

WOW ! What is the weight of those, where to store and the effort you need to get a screwdriver. Isn't it better to have separate case
1 for for screwdrivers with the range of SS screws you need
1 for boxes, wrenches
1 for electrical w most furnitures
so they can be easily stored and retrived

Any suggestions ?

[Tornadosailing]

I have this set from Lowes on my boat, plus a carry bag for electrical tools and a few misc items. Plus a cordless drill set. Plus a hole saw set. Plus a jig saw.

Kobalt is cheap tools to be sure, but not as cheap as things get. I learned a long time ago that the really cheap stuff isn't worth having, but that good tools sink to the bottom just as fast. Good tools also rust just like the cheap stuff.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-80-P...hoCH1IQAvD_BwE

[boeing1]

I made up my own tool box kit for the boat. with tools for electrical as well for mechanical jobs, most tool kits have tools that you will probably never use and just rust.

[Colin A]

I guess like most on here my kit is random tools from everywhere. I do prefer the electrician style tools bags, and that's what I have carried myself (now and when I used to fix them for a living) for the past 20 years. At home and in the car I have plastic and metal toolboxes but I always prefer bags on the boat. Back in the day you could buy Craftsman Professional and SK tool sets not sure if you still can. They were aimed at kids going to trade school etc and were a decent value. I still have some tools from my Husky, Craftsman and SK sets I got when I left for trade school back in the day. Currently thanks to changes in the tool markets I'm amazed at how many pros I know who while still having mostly Snap on and Matco tools have started buying the Pittsuburgh pro series at Harbor freight. (yes the still sell junk but they have started selling middle quality stuff as well)

On the funny side. For a while I had one of these tool sets some one gave me.
https://www.greatnecksaw.com/2492189...-tool-set.html
I used to carry it with me when on friends boats or questionable road trips. While the tools were pretty bad quality wise I was amazed at how many little fixes they performed that kept our questionable trips moving. So much so that I bought another set I keep around for my little power boat.

[1Sunseeker]

I think it sort of depends on where you will be sailing/cruising. And how much money you have to invest in tools and their kit. If along the coast not so much if off shore you will need more of course and you need room to store them. I have most hand tools I need in one red three drawer steel case bought at Lowes' here in WA. Woodworking/drills/adhesives/nuts/bolts have their own small plastic cases picked up some where as needed. One 3/8" electric drill and one volt meter, 1 cable cutter for shrouds if I have to cut them. Most hand tools are Craftsman, not the best maybe but I am not a working mechanic. I was raised on a farm near De Soto, Iowa so I just have basic mechanical abilities. Since I am a costal cruiser I will not be that far from a real mechanic if something serious breaks. In that case I would only be applying first aid. Careful cleaning and oiling helps keep the rust away. If it breaks or slips bad toss it and buy better next time. Sunseeker

[1Sunseeker]

I forgot to mention, you will carry too many/heavy tool kits. You will seldom have the one you need so fly err sail by the seat of your pants and have a good preventive maintaince program and hope you don't need that special tool.

[DocHolliday]

Hello all: I'm a sailing and boating newby (no boat yet), just hanging out here soaking up information.

I'm also a degreed and licensed civil engineer with 52 years of detailed, busted-knuckle experience restoring and building old cars, hot rods, old Harleys and Indians, and old guns. My son is a professional mechanic at a Honda dealership with academic degrees in technology and home-schooled in greasy fingers. One of my grandfathers was a professional heavy equipment mechanic. So, in short, I have a lifetime of experience and enough tools ashore (including lathes and milling machine) to sink a battle ship. I give that back-story to provide context to my meager submission here.

In putting together a toolkit (my preferred approach) many great Craftsman-brand tools can be bought cheaply at garage sales. Many professional mechanics who don't want to owe their soul to the company store (ie Matco and SnapOn) rely on Craftsman tools, as they will do their job admirably for years. My tools are mostly Craftsman. I also have some Harbor Fright wrenches, sockets and misc that have been as good as Craftsman (I do try to buy American).

I wanted to point that there are some "one size fits all" sockets and wrenches that might seem "gimmicky" but occasionally could be useful offshore, although I would have them as backups and not my main stuff.

Depending on the size boat I end up with for passaging, I may well bring along my little Unimat lathe/mill too...

[Cheechako]

I have old Craftsman Sears (one set was my dad's and I'm 70!) and newer CS stuff too. The newer stuff just isnt as good. Still ok, but not sure it's any better than the better import stuff. The edges that contact the work aren't as fine and defined etc. as the originals. That matters sometimes on sockets and open/box wrenches.
I think a decent quality wrench + sockets set in a nice plastic box is a good way to start for sure. Focus on wrenches and sockets, dont worry about getting "extras" like pliars. Then add other stuff you need, good pliars, good screwdrivers with hardened tips, oddballs for your specific boat etc.. Be sure to get deep sockets and 6 point sockets.
A canvas tool bag for the most often used stuff is great. For complete wrenches and sockets etc, not great.
*Last of all, get a 1/4 socket screwdriver handle and keep a 5/16 x 6 point socket on it permanently for hose clamps. Also, pawn shops often have a bin full of sockets at maybe 50 cents each if you need oddballs or that 5/16 I just mentioned.

[mayberrybfd]

10 mm

[Dockhead]

Concerning the quality issue --

I find that the demand for quality is different, for different tools. They don't all have to be Snap-On.

There is a kind of mid-grade Chinese stuff sold under many brands which for many things is quite decent. I have a set of Halford combo wrenches and sockets which are perfectly fine. Snap-On ratchets are a nice luxury but I don't think you need the actual sockets, extensions, etc.

Where I find you need top quality is, first of all, screwdrivers. Even slightly less than top grade screwdrivers cause problems, booger up screw heads, and/or wear out quickly. I use some very expensive German screwdrivers the name of which I can't remember (Wera, I think), but they also have a kind of texture on the blades which greatly improves holding. Also be careful to use the exact right cross head screwdriver for the job -- Pozi and Phillips are NOT compatible. I have a big investment in screwdrivers.

Another thing where only the best will do is allen keys and torx drives. Even slightly less than the best can cause you trouble.

Pliers and the like can be mid grade stuff. Nippers and wire strippers need to be good ones -- I use German Knipex. Wire terminal crimpers need to be good ones -- I use expensive Swedish Pressmaster crimpers.

As someone said, Neptune swallows them all without discrimination, so the fewer really expensive tools you have, the better. This also means you ought to have backup for most of the commonly used stuff -- another reason not to try to make the whole set be Snap-On etc.

P.S. If you are in the U.S., and you can still buy Craftsman hand tools -- and if they are the same as what you could buy 30 or 40 years ago -- I think they were all very decent. My dad loved them and I grew up with them. I think he loved them for their lifetime guaranty , which he used from time to time to deal with tools he had abused. But as I recall they were very good indeed and not that much worse than Snap-On.