Must Have Tools

Unless you plan on diving into the woods somewhere so far from civilization that you never expect to see a human habitation or machine again you will need tools. Even in the woods there are tools that you will need.

I think that the one gotta have tool that can be used for so many things would be vice grip pliers. I always modify mine with a V groove ground in the teeth of the jaws that runs back top front perpendicular to the normal teeth. This lets you grab and hold things securely sticking straight out in front.

These tools can be used as wrenches, pliers naturally, a vice, a handle for a knife or saw with that front facing groove, skinning grabbers and just about anything else you can imagine. I have a lot of these by in general the ones that get the most use are the 6" and the 4" . The 10" is great also but a lot heavier.

Another tool that is nice to have is some form of adjustable wrench. I have one that is rather odd in that it is a 10" adjustable wrench, a hammer and by reversing the movable jaw a pipe wrench. Other than this a 6" wrench works fine and anything too big for it you grab with the vice grips.

I know that they are heavy but a pry bar is a must. I have found that in this case price really does matter. A cheap one will bend and be useless OR it will be needlessly heavy to bo the work that a smaller lighter bar can do if the metal is better and treated better. Now days there are actually specialty bars made with multiple uses in mind. I have a Fubar that is a combination pry bar, nail puller and a hatchet. It is a little heavy but has a lot of potential.

There are a lot of screwdrivers these days that you can put all manner of bits in. I like those but for prepper use I have a leatherman wave set that has about any bit that you might ever need. The bits are somewhat flat instead of pentagonal like most. This makes them a lot smaller to carry and they also fit real well in that groove that I grind in my 4" vice grip pliers.

A good set of files and rasps with a good stone hone lets you maintain your edged tools and with a couple of rather special use tools like a draw knife you can keep handles on them. Another tool in this line that you WILL need is a way to drill holes in the wood. This was done in the past with gimlets and augers. All manner of old style wood working tools can be awful nice but for portability the gimlets, a draw knife and a scorp are hard to beat. Throw in a saw or assorted saw and you have the basics covered.

Getting into locked places may well be a common need in an apocalyptic world. If you know how to use them a set of lock picks and shims is pretty handy but there isn't much that is locked that a big hammer, a crow bar or bolt cutters won't handle a lot faster.

There are lots of others tools what would you place at the top of your must have list?

 

I have a lot of old tools. Most of them are in almost like new condition. I buy them at garage sales and such and imagine they were the treasures of men like me that have gone on and their kids just see them as old useless tools. I picked up a brace and bits in a wooden bo a few years ago for 5 dollars that was fabulous. Now days most men and women that are handy are also addicted to power tools. I know that I am. Nonetheless I know what they would be worth if the power went off.

 

OMG! It's such a true story. My husband recently started to look for cool DIY ideas for wooden goods and the only problem popped up it was how to find a good saw for it. He used to use saws for everything like 10 years ago, so now they're all old and nobody has the replacement parts. So we found https://allaboutsaws.com/best-table-saw and have never been that happy before XD PS: the source also has some DIY ideas

 

I have a 10" benchtop table saw. It is great for ripping but not so good for crosscutting. The Table just isn't large enough for that. HOWEVER, I have a 10" compound slide miter saw that will cross cut up to a 4 X 12 at 90 degrees. I love it for cutting shelving and chopping off 2 X 4s when I'm making things.

In the world of portable tools I have to tell you, I love my sawzall reciprocating saw. It isn't for fine finish work but it WILL do nearly anything from demolition work through all manner of rough carpentry or pruning all depending on the blade you put on it.

Sawzall.... https://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DCS38...e=UTF8&qid=1523314343&sr=1-2&keywords=sawzall

Compound slide miter saw... https://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Po...spons&keywords=compound+slide+miter+saw&psc=1

 

Basically the wood working tools you will need are of the coarser sort. You are going to be dealing with timber rather than lumber. You will need to be able to cut and shape logs a lot more often than you will need to do the fine work like cabinetry and such.

The size saws that you will want are in part dependent on how many people you will have working with you. There is no need to have a big cross cut saw that will let you cut down and then cut up a huge tree that you can't hope to move or handle. Basically if you are going solo or just a small familly group you will be mostly working with logs a foot or a foot and a half (30 to 45 cm) in diameter so there is no need for a 60" two man crosscut saw. I have a couple of 36" bow type and a 24" buck saw that will do most of the rough work I will need to do.

Along with Axes both pole and double bit you will need an adz. That is a tool that looks like a heavy grubbing hoe that you use to flatten and trim a log. A froe is a long heavy straight blade with a handle at 90 degrees from the blade with the edge down. With a froe you can split short logs making thin flat planks that you can use for shingles and sidings. You set the froe on the top of a short block and then baton it down and through the block.

For small work you will need a draw knife and a scorp along with a way to drill holes. In a world where nails are hard to come by pegs work fine if you have a way to make holes.

 

In my house I've a couple of tool boxes. I've filled my outdoor shop. And, we have a storage unit. I've given a bunch of tools to my youngest son back in my home state. I discovered two weeks past that I had seven extra screwdrivers in the house ... I'm taking them to the shop ... I guess.

My tools are beat to sh##. Some were my dad's. I have a couple of hand-crank drills and a bunch of antiquated stuff used before power tools. And yes, I use the old sh## all the time. My dad and his brothers hoarded tools ... all manner of bizarre stuff ... that they actually used.

A slide rule got me through physics when the rich kids could afford Texas Instruments & Huey Pecker calculators. I never got comfortable with reverse Polish notation.

I may not be Tool Time Tim, but I'm not far behind.

Not even changing my own oil in my cars. Paid my dues. Crawled under them too many times. I can get down there, but I can't get back up. Qualified for expert again (100 years after doing it the first time) at a local military facility when living in another state not that many years back. I was all proud of myself, but had to get two young (shaving yet?) soldiers to help me get up from kneeling position. God's sense of humor is brutal.

 

LOL, I basically live in a compound. I have three shops, two two car carports that I have my big things in and under and a third one under construction in the back that is going to be an outdoor kitchen of sorts with Smokers, grills, rocket stoves a chiminea, a picnic table and a long prep table.

I have three generations of hand tools and come from a long line of tool users and craftsmen. One of the shops is dedicated to machines and machine tools. One is dedicated to things like leather work, wood carving, fly tying and fishing stuff. The third is for my wife and her arts and crafts.

Bugging in will work because I have everything that I need to turn my place into a death trap for attackers and will make it a killing field with lots of great places for them to hide that will blow up and kill them.

 

I actually like hand tools best--easier to control, quieter, and often lighter. Dad had a wonderful collection of hand tools he lost during one of our travels in the 1970s. He missed his brace and bits, and now that he's gone, so do I.

 

I have and use my Grandfathers brace and bit. It is over 100 years old and still as strong as ever. Many of my older tools are probably over a century old and a couple of my axes may be close to 200 years old. I am an old packrat from a large line of packrats. On the wall in my kitchen is a small cast iron pot with three little legs that my Great, great, great Grandfather carried during the civil war He was at Shiloh and Gettysburg. Beside my front door is his old belgian double barrels muzzle loading shotgun. I like old stuff it has history in it and allows me to feel in touch with my roots.

 

A brace and bit along with some other woodworking tools are definitely part of my INCH kit. With those tools, it is easier to build long term shelter even by yourself. A couple wood chisels, saws, rasps, a come along and other such tools make life much easier.

 

And the "support systems" such as:

a couple of WD-40 "No-Mess Pen"s
a couple tubes of anhydrous graphite eg "Reelslick" brand
an anti-corrosion chemical spray or liquid - Corrosion control on tools here is a matter of routine.
a sap-removal compound - forgot chemical name or typical brands - to clean teeth of telescoping pole saw / tree pruner.

 

for me must have would be a forge, anvil, hammer and tongs.

 

I was thinking about this earlier today. A good bench vise would be a must have tool.

 

A big bench vise with a nice anvil built in. Oh yeah. Can't carry that in my inch bag though lol

 

we are thinking alike on the tools named . Many will freeze to death without primitive wood gathering tools to keep a fire burning . Very important for cooking food . I have several never used two man cross cut saws . One man heavy duty saws with extra blades .Those one man saws seem to get the blades bent easily . Several axes and splitting malls to attack the fire wood issue .