Talking about Tools.

[dfelsent]

Hydraulic lug crimper for battery cables.
Proper crimp tool for BNC TNC and PL-259 connectors
Good wire strippers
Crimper for ring lugs
USB to serial converter for diagnosing NMEA connections
Temperature controlled soldering iron

[Olly75]

Magnetic screw holder
Boroscope

[svmariane]

Originally Posted by dfelsent

Hydraulic lug crimper for battery cables.

Really? Why? Just curious, but do you change your battery cables/terminals/connections so often that the cost of the tool offsets the price of having a battery shop do the job? Many other boaters asking for a bit of help installing new wiring or re-doing a prior job?

[svmariane]

Originally Posted by stormalong

Make that 1000 ohm resistor unless you want to burn them out quickly.

RE: LED indicator lights.

You're right. I stand corrected.

[Jim Cate]

Multi size Nicopress tool (not used so much since the advent of Dyneema.

Fan belt tensioning tool.

Spray can grease (chain lube)

Hand size butane torch and larger "Bernz-o-matic"torch

4 inch bench vise

micrometers

dental picks (sometimes dentists will give you ones that are broken on one end)

hemostats, straight and curved tip

bright headlamp (dunno how I lived before these came around!)

And the usual assortment of standard mechanic's tools, metric and imperial (haven't needed any Whitworth spanners yet on a yacht!)

No wonder the boat gets slower...

Jim

[dfelsent]

Originally Posted by svmariane

Really? Why? Just curious, but do you change your battery cables/terminals/connections so often that the cost of the tool offsets the price of having a battery shop do the job? Many other boaters asking for a bit of help installing new wiring or re-doing a prior job?

Upgrade wiring
New inverter installation
New alternator with higher current output.
Rebuild / reconfigure / replace battery bank
And that’s just 3 years in to my present boat.

I bought a TEMCo crimper on eBay for about $80 US.
Vs $20 for the hammer tool that I don’t quite trust.
I like the convenience of making cables aboard.

[pacific_voyager]

Originally Posted by svmariane

Really? Why? Just curious, but do you change your battery cables/terminals/connections so often that the cost of the tool offsets the price of having a battery shop do the job? Many other boaters asking for a bit of help installing new wiring or re-doing a prior job?

These hydraulic crimpers used to cost hundreds of dollars. I bought one with full set of dies from China for about $35. Totally worth it if you have any cables to crimp.

[pacific_voyager]

Milwaukee electric screwdriver with full set of machined hex shank screw and nut drivers. An anti-arthritis tool. This is possibly my favorite tool.

[organic snowman]

To cut the ends off of zip ties(tyraps)...Grab the garbage end with the end of a pair of linesman pliers, or any plier with flat ends. Then twist a couple of times...voila, no more sharp ends. Or use a pair of electronic side cutters. They work wonderful to cut them flush.

[henryk]

A wallet ! A big honking, heavy duty wallet that can hold 16 different credit cards and 30 grand in cash. You won't need the extra change pocket

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by pacific_voyager

Milwaukee electric screwdriver with full set of machined hex shank screw and nut drivers. An anti-arthritis tool. This is possibly my favorite tool.

Great idea, thanks. Do you know if you can get a full set of machined hex shank screw and nut drivers separately from a drill "set", or do they come separate from the drill as a "set" anyway?

[Olly75]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

Great idea, thanks. Do you know if you can get a full set of machined hex shank screw and nut drivers separately from a drill "set", or do they come separate from the drill as a "set" anyway?

yep you can get them all separtly. Also they have a set of extenders also very useful.

[dfelsent]

Originally Posted by Olly75

yep you can get them all separtly. Also they have a set of extenders also very useful.

Wihatools.com has nice stuff I good quality steel.
Things are often on sale.
Chapman manufacturing makes awesome bits and bit sets.

Neither is inexpensive. Both last forever, their market is professionals who make their living with their tools.

[Calif.Ted]

I carry a few "Torx Button Security" bits for the screws on Navpods in my bag.
Most used tool on the boat is a professional quality Klein bottle opener.
https://www.kleintools.com/catalog/r...-bottle-opener

[bobnlesley]

Over the years we've been cruising I would reckon that the tools that I've most often lent to other yachties are my impact-driver and one of my three three-legged pullers of assorted sizes.

My own 'must haves' - kept near/in the chart table are a good quality multi-tool a swiss army knife a reversible philips/flat-blade screwdriver (Honda m/cycle tool kits have the best I've found) duck tape, epoxy 5-minute glue and a length of wire coat-hanger.

I don't invest in high quality\top of the range hand tools - the expensive ones sink just as fast as the cheaper ones.