As the move into sailboat liveaboard life continues, I am facing a need to downsize my tool collection. My goal is to cruise with a competent set of tools but I will not have access to any shore-based storage area.

Ideas on best multi-wrench, multi-screwdriver, etc. gear?

Thanks.

Here's a few ideas:(I actually use these at work as well)
I couldn't find the ratcheting 1/4 inch drive from snap, also don't forget different size vice grips, a cordless drill, hand drill,drill bits and ezy outs for drilling out corroded screws on a boat.



2- 7 inch Knipex Plier Wrench and 1-10 inch Knipex Plier Wrench

http://search.thetoolwarehouse.net/?keyw...mp;GoSearch.y=0





1- GearWrench QuadBox

http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/shop/KD-85200.html



Screwdriver, Ratcheting, Magnetic, T-Handle, Long, 10"

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp?...amp;dir=catalog




Screwdriver, Ratcheting, Magnetic, T-Handle, Stubby

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp?...amp;dir=catalog



Back up hand drill

http://hand-tools.gillroys.com/Hand_Drills/10-1/2_IN_HAND_DRILL-s311567.html



10 screw extractors. Multiple-spline construction.
http://72.3.248.94/product/tabid/120/p-318110-10se.aspx

Dottie makes a couple of 15-in-1 screwdrivers, one with an orange handle and one with a greenish-gray handle. They each have different tips in them.

I use these every single day at work, I got them at ADI (an alarm equipment distributor) but they can likely be bought at other places.

I am wondering what you mean by a competent tool set.

I would suggest if you deal with rigging get a rigging knife with a turnbuckle key.
For wrenches I would say a good adjustable, a pair of vise grips, and a ratchet handle with the sockets to fit what nuts and bolts actually exist on your boat.
You are not likely to be tearing down and rebuilding your engine at sea but you might need to fix a pump or tighten a fan belt.

I would also suggest spare sockets for the two most commonly sized and most likely to get twisted nuts you have aboard.

And my recommendation for a good, extremely sturdy toolbox is a "fat .50" ammo can. I carry 3 of these, along with one bigger one, in my Jeep and they are as close as you can get to being indestructible.

Yeah, fat 50s are great, I have a few, including "red" ones for my first aid gear (with the white cross)

If you're using them as a tool box, throw a couple of moth balls in the bottom. Believe it or not, the stuff they outgass helps prevent rust! Also add some silica gell packs. Remember, that if the seals are good, ammo cans are water resistant (NOTHING is water proof)

Saltwater environment.

Often no significant or available electrical power.

"Competent" is clearly in the eye of the beholder.

The boat includes both metric and standard hardware.

Good stuff, please keep it coming!

Thread file. Keep it in a dry place well oiled.

Nail puller/prybar.

Liquid wrench.

http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-tools/thread-file/

Metric and standard? That's what Crescent wrenches are made for...;^)

But seriously, if you can, do an inventory of the sizes of nuts and bolt heads and either put together a kit of sockets and wrenches needed or get a pre-assembled kit in both metric and standard (SAE) sizes. Don't forget the extensions.

I'd probably have a 1/4" as well as a 3/8" kit onhand and limit the 1/2" and larger ratchets to those sizes that are specific to your needs. There are adapters that will allow you to mix and match some sockets but be careful of putting a large socket onto a small ratchet, the torque needed might be too much for the ratchet.

Those combo screwdrivers are really handy, especially the ones that can also be used as nut drivers.

The Gearwrench setup above looks really handy but I don't know if the metal quality is any good? Presumably it is if Falcon5000 uses them in a commercial/work setting.

The hand drill is a great idea, we've gotten so spoiled with rechargeable portable tools that we forget about the truly manual stuff sometimes.

I'd definitely get some Liquid Wrench or even better, the PB Blaster penetrant for sticky nuts and bolts. And those Knipex pliers are just the cats meow to a tool guy like me, I haven't convinced myself that I need them badly enough yet but I've used them and they just flat work.

hmmm...what was that website again...?

JohnE

P.S. get yourself some silicone "rescue tape", great stuff and it's even available at Harbor Freight.

If you were wanting a set of wrenches that will attack both metric and standard Metrinch are pretty good.
http://www.metrinch-tools.com/website/dealers.php?subnr=2

I would still say look around and just get the tools you need.
I know I tend to load up on gear to much and end up with items that only get used once in a blue moon.

I assume you have a glass hull. So do you have any patches for it?
How about emergency plugs, inner tubes and hose clamps in case a through hull decides to let go?

Again on the nuts and bolts, spares for the ones most likely to get stripped or lost.

A bit of coarse sand paper too.

I guess having a hacksaw would be too obvious to suggest, so how about a hammer.

I would make sure I had a packing puller and packing. The puller works well for a substitute as a cork screw.

Also a few larger inner tubes, for the rubber, and pipe clamps.

I would add some basic electrical tools and parts (eg. extra wire) or at least a way to test for continuity.

Also, if you opt for one of those multi-headed screwdrivers, get a duplicate set of heads. They don't always last that long, are easy to lose and a back-up set is small.

I like the inventory and get what you need approach for wrenches and sockets. Crescent wrenches or (shudder) vise grips are ok a lot of times but sometimes you just have to have a reasonable quality wrench or socket in the right size or you can make things oh so much worse. This also implies getting decent quality stuff. Snap On is probably overkill but don't go much lower than Craftsman. I would tend to get mostly combo wrenches and 3/8 drive sockets unless you have a specific needs for something else.

Same is true for screw drivers and other tools since on a boat the last thing you want to do is make a small problem a bigger one by rounding or stripping something. Especially if the "walk" back to the store will require holding your breath for more than a couple of minutes.

- Eric

Here's my short-list of the best of the best overall tool manufacturers in the world (in order of quality):

1) Baumann (Swiss)
2) Felo (German)
3) Snap-On (USA)
4) Wiha (industrial grade German)
5) C.K. (ceka-Swiss)

Specialty:

6) Brownells (USA)
7) Facom (mini-tools)

Any comments would be appreciated.

Who is the primary maker of the tools at the Ferrari factory? Rolls-Royce Motors?

I've seen pictures of the Ferrari factory where they are using USAG tools.

Due to my constant murphy state when working on things, my best tool source ends up being Crescent. LOL

Nice list, unfortunately I really can't afford to play at that level (well not and keep my other toys). Craftsman is good enough for a lot of basic mechanical jobs but I tend to prefer stepping up to at least Blackhawk (now known as Stanley ProTools) for some of the basics. I have some SnapOn and SK around also.

I have a lot of friends who swear by Craftsman with the statement it is good enough for NASCAR. Of course, nearly anything is good enough when you are working with barely worn, clean parts or you can afford the use vice grips and toss the blasted nut or bolt once it is out. These same friends are always shocked when they are done rounding or stripping something out (the joy of old, used, abused parts). Tolerances and design/finish make a big difference in tools and there is a reason that most of the guys getting paid to work on the family car use something better than Craftsman.

Used carefully you can usually get by with a crescent wrench, but then again used carefully you can usually get by with a folding knife. Sometimes you need the right tool for the job.

- Eric

Believe it or not, I was at a friends house, and had to do some work, and was impressed by the wrenches he had (a flex head ratchiting combo wrench) - fit and finsh nearly at the Snap-on level - say slightly better than Matco. I aked him where he got them. LOWES house brand!! Went out and bought a few (I must own 5-6 7/16, 1/2 and 9/16 wrenches - at least those 3 in every toolbox)

RE worn out old nuts/bolts etc. Something I learned way too late (like near the time I stopped messing with cars), I don't deal with old worn out bolts etc. If I'm doing a project, part of the budget is "New hardware". Say I'm doing drum brakes - not only will I buy new pads, but I figure every other time or so, the cylinders, adjusters, hoses, etc will get replaced (or overhauled at worst) - hardware goes in a parts cleaner, gets wire brushed, inspected, and if questionable, replaced

Doesn't hurt that Dad was a HVAC mechanic and collected more hardware than you can shake a stick at, and when I sorted it all, I made a list of "what is low" - and when I have to place an order with MSC/ENCO/McMaster etc, I'll pad out the order to either the minimum/free shipping/etc amounts by looking at the list and saying "Oh, throw in a box of N sized hardware"

I probably own a greater selection of 1/4" and down hardware than the average well stocked hardware store - stainless, Black Oxide, various lengths, head styles etc. Can't tell you how many times a neighbor will come over on a Sunday, hand me a screw, and say "you have something like this?" - I'd say 70% of the time I have an exact replacement, and another 20% I might have "well, I don't have it in bright steel, but I have it in oxide" Or "I don't have slot head, but I do have phillips (or hex or torx)", and I ask how many is in the set, and we replace them ALL, so they all match (reminds me, I have to order another box of stainless socket head cap screws)

One REALLY smart thing to do, if you do any mechanical work (and if you have some room on the boat) - go out and buy some "hardware assortments" - don't go for those ones "in the bins" the advertize in the backs of magazines - usually low quality and the "wrong stuff". Go to a place like MSC or McMaster, and order stuff

Start with catalog page
http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNPDFF?PMPAGE=1791
and work through pages in that area - say pages 2000 through 2009

If you want better grade, buy the American brands - Holochrome etc (usually not available in the assortment)

Another good source I found, but it's been years since I bought - every once in a while, back when ebay was small enough that you could actually look through ever listing in hardware every day, I'd find someone selling "drops" Hardware that was accidently dropped on the floor at some big plant or hardware Mfg. It actually doesn't pay for them to sit down and sort them, so they will get thrown in big mixed bins and sold - I was buying what would have been mil-spec stainless hardware, 1/4" and down by the pound, I think I bought 5-6 lbs. I spend a lot of time when I had time to kill sorting the hardware - I'd walk around with a bunch of zip lock bags, and "gee, I have to wait for the MD, lets sort some screws" etc

Another good one - if you know a good mechanic who travels the road - see if hell let you raid his "Hell Box". Usually a box of misc hardware, screws, everything, that he tends to pick up. They tend to just throw spares in there. One of my chores when Dad was working was to (every couple of months) Sort the box, and put things away "Misc 3/8" bolts", Misc fuses, Wire Nuts, etc etc

Another one - I rarely throw out mechanical "stuff" without stripping it. I can't tell you how many bearings from hard drives (GOOD Magnets), small screws etc I've gotten that way

Somewhere I read that those lowes tools are made at the same factory as snap on and maybe even the same assembly line.

I tend to keep small parts too. Just scrapped an epson printer that as given to me, even if I fixed it since it was an epson it was going to be useless since I don;t print often enough to prevent the clogging issue so its parts got sorted into the gears, motors, screws buckets.

Just remember what ever you buy, you said your on a boat and you will need tools you can depend on in an emergency. So what ever your selection is, remember to get quality and durability, stranded out at sea with heavy waves pounding you trying to get a engine back up sucks and sometimes every moment can count. It's like taking a spot or an ACR plb with you 100 miles out in the ocean, which one has the best chance to get you home. Cost Vs Reliability.

The Kobalt line from Lowes is no longer made by the JHWilliams which is a subsidiary of Snap On. Current production of Kobalt tools are made by Danaher which makes most of the Craftsman tool line. Still good tools but not quite the same finish quality of the Williams tools.

And KG2V is right about the ratcheting combo wrenches, have already acquired several sets including the flex heads. All of the ratcheting combination wrenches are made under license from Gearwrench IIRC, so it doesn't seem to matter which brand you buy.

Thanks for the tip on the Lowes house brand, I'll have to go check them out.

Most of my better tools (SnapOn and Blackhawk wrenches and sockets) date from my days working in the local garage to earn $ for school (and other less noble pursuits ). The challenge when working on other peoples cars is that most people don't take good care of their car and usually some other ham handed mechanic (not from the shop I worked in of course) has done a great job of messing things up. By this time the customer just wants to replace X (whatever it is) as cheaply as possible and all these little extras are just a way to run the price up, you know, so just reuse the originals. Sometimes you can convince em by getting them to look under the hood but don't count on it. Of course this is one of many reasons why I am no longer working in a garage (well except on my cars and a few close friends). Hmm that sounds a bit jaded but I'll let it ride.

- Eric

I understand that, have never worked in an automotive shop but i have seen how "other people" take care of their cars and even worse the "repairs" some shops do. But i do turn wrenches for friends and family so i have a few tools. And i consider my SnapOn tools to be top shelf and worth the money for some things i also have some tools in the other end of the scale that i purchased on sale at Harbor Freight. But i avoid the Harbor Freight wrenches because they tend to be knuckle busters unless you need a cheap wrench to modify with a torch and a grinder.

When I first got married and went to change the oil in my wife's car for the first time the drain plug head was so messes up it took me hours of filing and squeezing on visegrips then hammering them trying to get it out, I don't let anyone work on my vehicles unless I have to.

I've looked at some of those ratcheting wrenches and while they may all come from the same idea the quality of the machining differs, the snap on ones felt a lot smoother and tighter than the sears ones.

Bless me for being cheap.
I buy a lot of high quality older tools at flea markets, pawn shops and estate sales.
The good name brands from years ago outlived their original owners and none of their kids want them.

This is especially true with sockets and box end wrenches. So buy your ratchet handle new because ratchet handles wear out. Then you can spend 30 dollars on loose sockets and wrenches, instead of about 300 dollars on them as a brand new set.

Again, I like the mix and match option that gives me. I find that a full socket set is a waste in most vehicles when you really only want 3 or 4 different sizes of sockets, with 3/8, 7/16, 1/2 or 9/16ths being the most likely imperial sizes or the same basic wrenches in metric.
The special wrenches like for spark plugs and wheel lugs are best purchased separately too.

If you are not careful it is really easy to buy too many tools and end up with thousands of dollars tied up in gear you will only use once or twice in your life.

This thread is a pretty excellent discussion of tools to have and use.