The Minimal Tool Kit

[knottybuoyz]

I've added a couple of rolls of Rescue Tape to my kit.

[bvimatelot]

Originally Posted by J Ventura

The majority of the boats I sail are brand new , many times they are launched and handed over and there's not even a spare sheet let alone a tool kit . The safety gear is usually part of the commissioning but tools are not , so the skippers need to carry theirs . Along the years skippers will bring the tool kit down to the minimum , or one's interpretation of "minimum".

I am flying tomorrow to the Virgin Islands to join a new boat and the person who was to inform me about the inventory couldn't do it , so in the likelyhood that there is nothing on board I am packing my tool kit and took this picture. Not shown , and things that I don't go without , are a multimeter , a climbing harness , a hacksaw and a spool of thin line , plus the epirb , a selection of fuses and bulbs , and all charts . This passage will be 1500' but I have crossed the Atlantic several times with this as my tool kit on empty boats . My philosophy is that I don't need to re-fit or fix everything that breaks or fails , I need to prevent that , and get the boat safely to the next harbor when things break , and for that these tools have so far been enough , this is my minimum.

Apart from Duct tape and WD 40 the most useful "non tool" I havbe found is a wire coat hangar. The number of wires I've been able to thread and the holes that I have been able to unclog has been amazing. Tony

[boatman61]

My take everywhere tools are all held in a 'Riggers Multi-sheath' which is worn on a belt round the waist... 1 knife, 1 reversible screwdriver, 1pair pliers, 1 spike with shackle key, 1 adjustable spanner, 1 electrical screwdriver.
Covers a wide range of tasks...

[rebel heart]

I have about four distinct tool kits, some compromising multiple bags. There's the woodworking one, the engine one, the fiberglass/epoxy one, the varnishing/painting one, the "oddities" one for stuff like the vice and the tap and dye set, a big tupperware of power tools, and my "generic" tool kit.

Rebel Heart - The boat and her crew - Pictures - Tools & Repair*Items

I know you're size constrained because you're flying out there but I love knowing I have a lot of tools to do a lot of jobs.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by dcstrng

I've pretty much carried something like this (metric, whitworth or SAE) for years and if I ever get stranded, I'm hoping someone will know what to do with `em...

LOL
...........

[barnakiel]

Big challenge.

No matter how well I shop every time I find I need something I do not have yet.

A screwdriver and pliers, in any case.

b.

[J Ventura]

Thanks for all the suggestions and insights , tools are a good subject .
We are lucky to live in days of technology that creates such great tools like the mighty Leatherman and the magical Duct Tape which is somewhat like The Force : It has a dark side , a light side and binds the Universe together.
What I know is that it pays to buy the highest quality tolls one can afford ( not exactly my case , but I try) and look after them , because the salt will ruin them if they are not cleaned .
And that adapting a tool to a job ( like a hammer to do the job of a mallet or a big screwdriver to remove an oil filter ) is ok only if we don't end up breaking what we are trying to fix. The more tools you have the more tempted you are to use them and that is not necessarily a good thing while offshore. For instance , I have tools to adjust turnbuckles and I carry an assortment of pins and all , but that doesn't make it a good idea to go and tune the rig under sail , first because I'm not a rigger , second I'm new to the boat , third , I am satisfied that no safety or integrity is compromised and last , port is a couple of days away. Leave the rig alone.
But the most important thing for me is that a good job done ashore where you can have access to every tool and expertise is what keeps tool usage to a minimum offshore.

[bobnlesley]

I'd always add a wire coat-hanger to the list. I also think you might be light in the hammer department too; the one in the photo looks to be a metric one, if it was me, I'd always carry an AF one too, though don't bother with a Whitworth one as well, you'll never use it.

[Chief Engineer]

Makes them out of Sunbrella.

I have them in Red, White and Blue

Originally Posted by hellosailor

jv, where did you get the tool roll? They're just about impossible to find these days, or else priced like monogrammed luggage.

[barnakiel]

Yes, definitely, at least two hammers, and two screw-drivers. We found the normal one (the one you turn to the right to screw in, and to the left - to unscrew) to work the other way round in the Southern Hemisphere. Much easier to have a southern hemisphere screw-driver at hand if you ever want to sail places like Australia or the Southern Ocean.

b.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Chief Engineer

... I have them in Red, White and Blue

I’ll bet the Chief actually has 3 of them, one each in Red, White, and Blue; rather than two of them (one Red & one White & Blue).


An English professor wrote the words, “A woman without her man is nothing” on the blackboard and directed the students to punctuate it correctly.

The men wrote: “A woman, without her man, is nothing.”

The women wrote: “A woman: without her, man is nothing.”

Punctuation matters.

[RedBellies]

Let's eat, Grandma!
or
Let's eat Grandma!

[Blue Crab]

These kinds of errors jump off the page at some of us. It's a curse.

[Jetexas]

My two most-used tools are by FAR robogrip pliers and an electric screwdriver.

[svcambria]

OK, JVentura has already gone but can read this upon return...
As SailFastTri suggests, loose the hammer and include wire stripper/crimps. Also loose the MagLite, you can get as much useful light from the smaller auto-shop lights. And perhaps replace the big crescent wrench with an Al pipe wrench and some smaller crescent wrenches (ASE or metric, your choice! - which could also replace the box end set). Might also consider crow's feet (used on socket wrenches) instead of box ends. And don't leave home without duct tape... Forget the fuses and lights - boats vary too much to make those useful in a traveling toolkit. And I like to carry a 100' of 1/8" Dacron line, simply amazing how many times that has come in useful... And did someone mention duct tape?

Michael