I forgot about gardening tools. Once again in order of most used to least
Lawnmower
Weedwacker/edger (wire trimmer)
Greens can if your area has a greens collection program
Loppers or hedge trimmers depending on flora
Pushbroom
Leaf/grass rake

In keeping with the "Natural Disasters & Large-Scale Emergencies" theme of this sub-forum, what tools might be necessary in a post Natural Disaster or Large-Scale Emergency?

Prybars...Think collapsed buildings (I live in earthquake country). Leather gloves, hard hats, dust masks. Steel toed boots would not be out of place. Special tools for shutting off gas, if necessary in your area.

Rope, flashlights, and a sturdy knife (sharpened prybar philosophy) and sharpener.

EDIT: Keep the prybar where you can get to it if the house shifts in a quake.

Excellent point. I keep one under the bed, and one in the tool shed.

Also, Tarps!! Lots of nails, a few hammers, a sledgehammer, tons of TP and paper towels, plastic garbage bags, five gallon buckets for various "functions", and bleach. I have also heard that a pickle bar (car tool) is a good thing to have.

This was covered quite a while ago. I just do not remember when. It was interesting to see what came up.

My $.02

Here's the link to the earlier thread on this topics Emergency Tools.

I keep a prybar and two aspirin handy in case my tongue freezes to the snowblower.

Buy a toolbox. Then, buy a tool at a time as you need them. Fill up your toolbox in due time. Here are some basic tools I've acquired over the years: screwdrivers, hammers, mallets, wrenches, Allen wrenches, socket wrenches, pliers, needle nose pliers, tweezers, corded drill, drill bits, duct tape, ruler, electrical tape, measuring tape, epoxy, super glue, leveler.

You could also buy a large set of tools. However, keep in mind you WILL have to deal with lost/misplaced/stolen tools. If you buy a large set of tools, replacing tools can be annoying because you'll have to break the original set. In contrast, if you buy tools individually from the beginning, replacing tools will be uneventful.

Back to the original post...



I don't think the original poster is buying tools to be used regularly in his profession. There's no need for a high-end Dewalt cordless drill. Like me, the original poster will probably use a drill about 2 times per year. With such little usage of a cheap cordless drill, rechargeable batteries will be worthless at the exact time the cordless drill is needed. Based on personal experience as a guy who does NOT use drills for a living, I no longer buy cordless drills.

In contrast, a corded drill always works at full power every single time. A corded drill is also less expensive than a comparable cordless drill. I bought a Black & Decker corded drill for about $25 from Walmart about 3 years ago. It hauls way more ass than any cordless drill in the same price range. If I leave it alone for 20 years, I'm confident it will still work at full power like new. I've never had a problem with finding a power outlet.

A drill is not on my list of survival items. I don't need to go out of my way to make sure I have drilling ability during a power failure. I'll just wait for the power to come back on to finish my drilling project.