# Don't Forget Tools



## Prepadoodle (May 28, 2013)

I rarely see tools discussed as a prepper necessity, but having the right tools would be pretty important if you expected to scrape out a living in any post-SHTF world.

Let's talk about what kinds of tools you might need.

Farming/Gardening tools: shovels, hoe, garden fork, sickle, shears, scythe, harvest baskets

Mechanic's tools: wrenches, socket set, hex keys, torx drivers, feeler gauges, screwdrivers, cold chisels, pin punches, hammers, needle nose pliers, vise grips, slip joint pliers

Carpentry tools: crosscut saw, coping saw, claw hammer, square, level, plumb bob, tape measure, auger and bits, staple gun

Electrical tools: multimeter, diagonal cutters, wire strippers, soldering iron and solder, crimpers, more screwdrivers

Demolition tools: sledge hammer, pry bars

Machinist/Fabrication tools: dial calipers, v-blocks, scales, surface plate, some sort of welding or brazing rig, aviation snips, files, anvil, more hammers, clamps, a vise, center punch, pin punches, transfer punches, screw transfer set, some way to drill holes

This is just a short list of stuff off the top of my head. It should be obvious that this stuff won't all fit into a BOB, and that not all of these items are absolutely essential. I would say that not having tools would put you in the stone age, but cavemen had tools. (Monkeys use tools too) If you you are serious about long term survival, you should think about the tools you will need.

Please add to this list as needed, thanks!


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## inceptor (Nov 19, 2012)

Heck, I thought this subject was a no-brainer. But then, you should see my garage.


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## Moonshinedave (Mar 28, 2013)

A good Axe, and a way to sharpen a good axe. I do not expect to be returned to the stone age, but if a person was, and could only grab one thing, you'll be hard pressed to find a better choice than a good axe, from a weapon, a building tool, and something to help cook food or keep you from freezing to death.


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

My other "passion" beyond prepping is woodworking - usually with hand tools since I am into making the 18th century furniture styles. So, just to add a few wood specific tools that I would not want to do without:

- A good set of bench chisels.

- A good set of Japanese saws (crosscut, rip, dovetail, and flushcut). The rip saw and the crosscut are usually the same saw in Japanese saws. One side is rip the other crosscut. What I like about them is they all cut on the draw stroke rather than the push stroke like an English saw. Thus, they are far more accurate and the kerf is much thinner.

- Several good sets of sharpening stones. I use Japanese water stones for my bench chisels, Arkansas oil stones for my carving chisels, and diamond stones for my turning chisels, saw blades, and router bits. If I had to pick only one forever, I would go with the Arkansas oil stones. The water stones work faster, but they also wear out MUCH faster since it is not the stone that cuts the metal, but rather the slurry that builds up on the stone as you sharpen.

- A set of good plane irons (blades). I would say a good set of hand planes, but those are crazy expensive (around $150+ each), so unless you are a hardcore woodworker who will use the planes today, that is a bit overpriced. But the irons are relatively cheap ($20-$40) each. And with a good iron, you can make the rest of the plane from wood, brass or hot rolled steel really easily.

- A set of scrapers. Scrapers were used instead of sandpaper until almost 1900. They tear the hell out of your stomach and front leg muscles if you are out of shape, but they also give a much better surface on your work than sandpaper. They are also a bit tough on the finger joints unless you make a jig for them, but that is at least tolerable.

Someday, I will write a post that is specific to woodworker prepping and what I think every prepper that expects to make his way post-SHTF as a woodworker should have on hand or be able to make.


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## HuntingHawk (Dec 16, 2012)

A cordless drill with some good bits & variety of screws & mean for recharging the batteries.


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## rickkyw1720pf (Nov 17, 2012)

Instead of a generator you may want to think about getting a welder/generator like a Miller Bobcat. Tools I think that are absolutely necessary to work on old vehicles with a lot of rusty bolts are. Welder, oxy acetylene torch with welding attachments air compressor and impact wrench and various air tools and penetrating oil. Another very handy thing to have is a Porto-Power Body Repair Kit with a 10 ton ram.


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## rickkyw1720pf (Nov 17, 2012)

HuntingHawk said:


> A cordless drill with some good bits & variety of screws & mean for recharging the batteries.


I am not sure about the cordless drill. I have regular drills that last 20 years under heavy use. But I haven't had much luck with cordless drills lasting more the a couple of years, usually it the batteries that go bad and new batteries cost as much as buying a new drill with batteries. The industry standard in drills seem to be Milwaukee 1/2in Magnum Hole Shooter.


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## Prepadoodle (May 28, 2013)

Inor, oh hell yes. I used to make reproductions of antiques too, and had a fine selection of planes including quite a few molding planes. Keep yer router, give me the gentle swoosh swoosh swoosh of a well tuned plane any day. 

We might as well add a spokeshave and drawknife to the list too.

As Moonshinedave mentioned, a good axe is a must have. Might as well add some way to move logs too: block and tackle, good ropes, come-along, and a good cant hook.


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## Prepadoodle (May 28, 2013)

I'm getting this mental image of a stone age man walking past a big pile of rocks and acting like a modern man in the Craftsman tool section of Sears. His wife, disgusted, says, "I'll never get you out of here, if you want me, I'll be looking at the the furs."


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## MrsInor (Apr 15, 2013)

Prepadoodle - thanks for a great laugh.


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## Prepadoodle (May 28, 2013)

You're welcome.


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## Tundra Dweller (May 18, 2013)

This i would love to see.. I think i am set up pretty well for wood working (i hate noise in my shop so i prefer hand tools) But i am sure i am missing a few things..



Inor said:


> My other "passion" beyond prepping is woodworking - usually with hand tools since I am into making the 18th century furniture styles. So, just to add a few wood specific tools that I would not want to do without:
> 
> - A good set of bench chisels.
> 
> ...


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

Tundra Dweller said:


> This i would love to see.. I think i am set up pretty well for wood working (i hate noise in my shop so i prefer hand tools) But i am sure i am missing a few things..


And I thought I was the only weirdo left that invested literally thousands of dollars in woodworking machines only to spend the next decade trying to figure out how to build everything I wanted without using them.


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

Prepadoodle said:


> Inor, oh hell yes. I used to make reproductions of antiques too, and had a fine selection of planes including quite a few molding planes. Keep yer router, give me the gentle swoosh swoosh swoosh of a well tuned plane any day.
> 
> We might as well add a spokeshave and drawknife to the list too.


I find very few things in the shop as satisfying as playing with the spokeshaves Mrs Inor gave me for Christmas several years ago.









Unless it is playing with the shoulder plane she gave me the year after that:









Now you all know why I tolerate the endless abuse she gives me... :razz:


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## bigdogbuc (Mar 23, 2012)

I was like "Oh crap! I forgot about tools!" Then I saw your list and realized about all I'm missing are some basic garden tools. Whew. I feel better. Though I would like to get a hand powered drill. Assuming electricity is gone and having no luck with the cordless drills, a hand crank one would be my best bet.


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## Prepadoodle (May 28, 2013)

bigdogbuc said:


> I was like "Oh crap! I forgot about tools!" Then I saw your list and realized about all I'm missing are some basic garden tools. Whew. I feel better. Though I would like to get a hand powered drill. Assuming electricity is gone and having no luck with the cordless drills, a hand crank one would be my best bet.


And all these tools are stashed at your BOL?


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## Prepadoodle (May 28, 2013)

Another good set of tools would be tools to work leather. Scrapers, those pointy pokey things to make holes, big needles, strong thread, and whatever you use to cut/trim leather. As you can tell, I'm quite the expert on leather working. <cough>


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

Plus a good thick piece of tanned leather and some red and green jeweler's rouge work well for putting a final edge on knives or any other instrument that needs to be razor sharp.


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## Prepadoodle (May 28, 2013)

Inor, strop it, yer killing me.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Working on that for some time.
Saws for cutting down trees Axes.
Have acquired a foot powered drill press and leather sewing machine and a large collecting of hand tools.
Once again all Item that have a use SHTF or not


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

Prepadoodle said:


> Inor, strop it, yer killing me.


That is REALLY bad!


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## Prepadoodle (May 28, 2013)

Speaking of planes.... I used to have a bunch pf antique planes. I'm trying to think of the name of one of them, maybe someone can help...

It was a big wooden body plane with a notch on the back and a handle and knob up front. The way it was explained to me when I bought it was that the master woodworker would use the front handles to guide it while the apprentice would put a stick in the notch and push like hell.

It's much longer than a scrub plane, longer than most jack planes, about the size of a big jointer plane, but used much earlier in the process. Anyone know the name of this kind of plane?


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## bigdogbuc (Mar 23, 2012)

Prepadoodle said:


> And all these tools are stashed at your BOL?


Yep. Right downstairs.  I have too many kids to bug out, so buggin' in is where it's at!


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## inceptor (Nov 19, 2012)

About all I am missing is a hand drill. Veritas has one I really like, I just have to get off my butt and order it.


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## Deebo (Oct 27, 2012)

rickkyw1720pf said:


> I am not sure about the cordless drill. I have regular drills that last 20 years under heavy use. But I haven't had much luck with cordless drills lasting more the a couple of years, usually it the batteries that go bad and new batteries cost as much as buying a new drill with batteries. The industry standard in drills seem to be Milwaukee 1/2in Magnum Hole Shooter.


Rickky, this is so true, I was going throu batteries like crazy at work, then was gonna try to rebuild one, but instead I saw this 10 or 11 year old kid on youtube, he explained that "corrosion" on the contacts inside the batteries made them very sluggish to charge and quick to run dry. His solution is "arcing" the battery by quickly unplugging and plugging in the battery charger with battery connected. he did it about six times. I had several craftsman and ryobi batteries that wouldnt charge for nothing, so I tried it, and it worked..Someone with more computer savy might find this young man on youtube and copy and post it.


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## inceptor (Nov 19, 2012)

Deebo said:


> Rickky, this is so true, I was going throu batteries like crazy at work, then was gonna try to rebuild one, but instead I saw this 10 or 11 year old kid on youtube, he explained that "corrosion" on the contacts inside the batteries made them very sluggish to charge and quick to run dry. His solution is "arcing" the battery by quickly unplugging and plugging in the battery charger with battery connected. he did it about six times. I had several craftsman and ryobi batteries that wouldnt charge for nothing, so I tried it, and it worked..Someone with more computer savy might find this young man on youtube and copy and post it.


Mmmmmm............gonna have to give that a try.


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## Prepadoodle (May 28, 2013)




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## pastornator (Apr 5, 2013)

For Ni-Cad batteries ONLY (not lithium ion or lead acid) tool batteries, use a wire feed MIG welder to re-stabilize the cells. I've done this hundreds of times on my own and other's batteries so this is actual experience speaking. 

Simply hook welder ground to negative battery terminal (small jumper wire w/alligator clip works great) and then turn on welder, set to max amps, touch welding wire to the positive terminal of the battery and pull the trigger to send a charge through the battery. 

Sounds like, "OMG a welder will blow you and the battery into eternity," but in reality it is all rather underwhelming, except that the welder sends roughly 30 volts at around 20-30 amps through the battery and no other spark, etc. What happens is that the somewhat higher voltage and amperage of the welder removes the stubborn surface charge and also tends to deal with any internal crystalization that destroys battery life. 

In most cases a dead battery will become immediately operable and will take a full charge again. Recommend a full charge cycle after zapping with the welder. I've picked up a bunch of cheap yard sale tools and made them work using this process. 

You can read of it on indestructables or see it on YouTube.


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## Mudder.Mitch (Jan 24, 2013)

Lithium battery's suck if your useing them any amount trust me I'm an electrician use my drills all day and I can not stand the lithium they don't hold a charge near as long and don't have as much guts just what I have experienced any ways


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## Tundra Dweller (May 18, 2013)

Inor said:


> I find very few things in the shop as satisfying as playing with the spokeshaves Mrs Inor gave me for Christmas several years ago.
> 
> View attachment 2290
> 
> ...


I play with a spoke shave and my draw knife often to see what i can make.. The shavings make great fire starter for the winter for the wood stove..


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## Tundra Dweller (May 18, 2013)

Inor said:


> And I thought I was the only weirdo left that invested literally thousands of dollars in woodworking machines only to spend the next decade trying to figure out how to build everything I wanted without using them.


Im in the process of building a shop with power from over head shafts feeding the tools with belts... Will take some time to get it finished. I'm using a old JD Stationary engine to run it all.


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

Tundra Dweller said:


> Im in the process of building a shop with power from over head shafts feeding the tools with belts... Will take some time to get it finished. I'm using a old JD Stationary engine to run it all.


Please send pictures! That is freakin' brilliant! I got to tour an Amish shop in Lancaster County, PA that had a similar setup although they were of course using compressed air. That was very cool to see.


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## tango (Apr 12, 2013)

Tundra, that is very old school thinking, I like it.
Many years ago when I was a young machinist, I took a job in a shop with overhead shaft power.
That was the way then.


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## alterego (Jan 27, 2013)

I have a crazy amount of tools, so after reading this list I thought I would give a minimal list that could be packed.

1. A fold up style military shovel, that will double over for a pick axe
2. A 24" long hatchet, that has a hammer head
3. A survival knife, 

The end.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

Don't forget to have a set of precision screwdrivers and punches that are necessary to disassemble your guns for cleaning and maintenance as well as a set of small screwdrivers for glasses and other small items. 

I have over $75000 in tools and machinery - most of that in hand tools but there is some air and large tools too. I could do most of what I need with a lot less but while the world continues I use what I have to do the things I enjoy.


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