As seen several times on many of his home repairs. His hammer is one that even the mighty THOR would envy to own. Unfortunately every time he tries to pound / fix something with his flashlights it looks like a 70's disco for about the first 10 seconds then it goes dark. Then he reaches for the hammer, sparks fly and it is announced that it is an electrical problem and it will have to wait till the morning.

Rantor is my hero. hahahahahahahahaha (love ya brother)

Just for the sake of amusement..

TOOLS EXPLAINED:

DRILL PRESS: A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, denting the freshly-painted project which you had carefully set in the corner where nothing could get to it.

WIRE WHEEL: Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light. It will also remove fingerprints and hard-earned calluses from fingers in about the time it takes you to say, "Oh crap"

ELECTRIC HAND DRILL: Normally used for spinning pop rivets in their holes until they melt.

SKILL SAW: A portable cutting tool used to make studs too short to use in your remodeling job.

PLIERS: Used to round off bolt heads. Sometimes used in the creation of blood-blisters.

BELT SANDER: An electric sanding tool commonly used to convert minor touch-up jobs into major refinishing jobs.

HACKSAW: One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board principle. It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes.

VISE-GRIPS: Generally used after pliers to completely round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

OXYACETYLENE TORCH: Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable objects in your shop on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside the wheel hub out of which you want to remove a bearing race.

TABLE SAW: A large stationary power tool commonly used to launch wood projectiles for testing wall integrity.

HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK: Used for lowering an automobile to the ground after you have installed your new brake shoes, trapping the jack handle firmly under the bumper.

BAND SAW: A large stationary power saw primarily used by most shops to cut good aluminum sheet into smaller pieces that more easily fit into the trash can after you cut on the inside of the line instead of the outside edge.

TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST: A tool for testing the maximum tensile strength of everything you forgot to disconnect.

PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER: Normally used to stab the vacuum seals under lids or for opening old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splashing oil on your shirt; but can also be used, as the name implies, to strip out Phillips screw heads.

STRAIGHT SCREWDRIVER: A tool for opening paint cans. Sometimes used to convert common slotted screws into non-removable screws and butchering your palms.

PRY BAR: A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part.

HOSE CUTTER: A tool used to make hoses too short.

HAMMER: Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the object we are trying to hit.

UTILITY KNIFE: Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well on contents such as seats, vinyl records, liquids in plastic bottles, collector magazines, refund checks, and rubber or plastic parts. Especially useful for slicing work clothes, but only while in use.

D**N-IT TOOL: Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage while yelling "D**M-IT" at the top of your lungs. It is also, most often, the next tool that you will need to finish your current project.

Rantor frequently comes over to my garage where I store all of the above tools and practice using them. That would explain why he was able to so accurately describe the uses and results of them. Like I said he is my hero.

"Same with chisels, I love mine, but I can't imagine people thikning, "I absolutely need a chisel right now!". I guess it would depend on the type of house you live in."

When you're in the middle of a recipe that calls for brown sugar and what you find in the cupboard is of construction-grade hardness, the best solution IME is a hammer and chisel.

I would add a hacksaw or one of those little copper pipe-cutters and maybe even a small torch with flux and solder. Or whatever it takes to make minor plumbing repairs to whatever type of pipes you have in your house. All of that stuff is very easy to use.

Exactly, an apartment dweller can do just fine with a small assortment of basic hand tools and maybe an electric drill. Anyone who owns a house though will need a LOT more stuff. At least the folks who like to be reasonably independent and have the skills to fix stuff around the house. In my experience, that requires mostly a basic set of metal- and woodworking tools. On the other hand, quick fixing most electrical stuff doesn't take a lot of hand tools so it's not such a big deal.

You also have to plan ahead. If you have a job that calls for a block plane you'll also need a decent bench and some clamps at the minimum. A bench vise is also absolutely necessary for any precision work. An angle grinder is probably too much for a lot of folks but in at least moderately skilled hands it's a really versatile tool.

I couldn't get by around my home without these four additions:

(1) Solidly built LED flashlight - both low power (small sized) and higher power models

(2) A Dremel Tool with lots of extra bits - cutters, grinders, sanders, etc.

(3) A utility knife you aren't afraid to use hard - therefore no "trophy knives" - I use a $10 stainless Mora for this

(4) Paracord

Thanks Ranter.
That was the best tool explanation I have read yet.

One of my twins accidently dropped his carabiner/compass in & figured it was a gonner so he might as well flush it.

Forget the plunger and the auger. I got to de-install/re-install the toilet for that one.

Regular stick welder.