Has everyone considered tools? Guns are great (and fun to talk about) but they won't cut firewood or dig a garden! Here's a partial list, please add your thoughts.
Axes-at least 2 per person, with LOTS of handles
Shovels-
Rakes-Garden and leaf
Hoes-
Pick-axes-
Sledghammers-
Splitting Mauls-
Hammers- framing, masonery, roofing,
Hand Drills- with lots of Ass. bits
Chisels-
Rivet Gun- with bags and bags of Ass. rivets
Hand Plows- can be found at estate auctions
Small Tools-wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers, tin snips, wire cutters,
box knifes, tape measure, carpenter pencils, levels,
Squares
Come-a-longs- also log chains, heavy rope/cable
Hi-lift jack- has a 1,000 uses
Crowbars/Flat bars-
NAILS-lots of nail, screws, bolts, washers, nuts and excetra
Hand saws- bow, crosscut, 2-man. miter, keyhole, hacksaw
Spare Lumber- will be hard to make ASHTF, plywood, 2xs
Concrete Mix-some bags of quick-crete could be handy
Well that's all for now, tell me what you have that I forgot/don't know about.
You are obviously talking about the second and third phases of the post-apocalyptic period: Regroup and Reorganize, and Establish Settlements. You have a good list to use as a jumping-off point for discussion, and I'm pleased to see that you understand the concept of no electrical power. Lots of people that discuss the post-SHTF world don't get it.
I'd add these to your list:
"Yankee screwdriver," also called a push-drill. Brookstone used to sell them as part of their Shop-in-a-briefcase tool kits. Otherwise, they are not easily found, and their special bits that let you drill and turn sockets as well as screw things in and out are next to impossible to get. But the speed and versatility they add to your shop make them worth the effort to lay hands on one. Most store their bits in a hollow handle.
Crosscut saw and shop-size framing saw. These will allow you to take down trees neatly and turn logs into beams and heavy planks readily.
Ice saw. This looks the the result of a one night stand between a crosscut saw and a T-handled auger. If you live someplace where the ice gets to be at least a foot thick. you can use ice saws to harvest the ice in blocks. Lots of New England towns in the 19th Century made lots of money shipping blocks of winter ice all over the world in the days before refrigeration to preserve food. There used to be icehouses in most towns that stored and sold ice. You can do the same.
Hand planes. Useful for finish work and making tight joints, which you'll need for things like iceboxes.
Drawknives. In many ways they are more useful than planes. They're essential for coopering.
I spent 15days following Hurricane Ike without power. I now am the proud owner of 2 generator. 6000w and 1000w. I also bought 10 5 gal cans. That way I can make it 2 weeks w/o having to visit a gas station. I was thankful I made it through the post-hurricane gas crisis w/o having to wait in the insane lines. Next time I won't be fortunate...I'll be prepared.
Ive had to do quite a bit of maintenance off Grid, when it comes to getting stuff done nothing beats power tools and a sufficent size generator, Ive found that the 1k size generator isant good for much but running a Impact driver, power drill, or saw-z-all, (wont run a 7 inch circular saw to save your life!) get the 2k hand carry or bigger if you can!
Grass cutting impliments (weed whip, scythe, grass hook) and rake's 3 leaf,garden, field "manual",
Gas string trimmer works fast, brush cutter blade can cut off 2-3 inch saplings easy.
Remember physical exertion all takes energy to use, one slip with a manual tool and your laid up, better to use a power tool less physical fetuge(tools are to make quick work)
I like the little Shark Tooth hand saw gets things done fast,
garden fork tine scoop, d-handle tile spade, long handle shovel edge spade, hand post hole digger
Haveing a (Hand crank) speeder handle in 3/8" square drive is the original cordless screw gun(prefer the Proto ones has a mushroom head that can be palmed by one hand), can swap in 1/4" apex bit holder and run hex shanked drill bits, swap to a countersink, then a driver bit and crank in 3"deck screws,
calking gun, chalk line, surveyers cord,
hand drilling hammer good selection (double up) wood chisels,
ratcheting cargo straps,
1/2" poly rope (300')
chain binder's and binder chain 2-3 chains,
tow strap & tow skidder chain.
14" & bigger Pipe wrenches, monster size cresent wrenches,
3/4 inch scoket set with cheater bar for the breaker bar,
penetraing oils (tansmission fluid)
5 foot long chisel point steel bar (spud bar)
Block & tackle,
Gas powerd water pump ( 3" with 30' suction hose and2"x 300' discharge hose)
Mister funnel (water trap funnel) if fueling outta a 55gal drum(biggest source of water contamination) use a hand pump with attached water block filter housing, cam lock hose in 10 foot sections.
Last edited by Rex in OTZ; 04-27-2009 at 01:51 PM.
Being a tool freak,this thread has some good ideas for a new member.Keep in mind that visquene doesn't keep all that long,if its folded it has a tendency with age to split along the seams where it is folded.
I spent 15days following Hurricane Ike without power. I now am the proud owner of 2 generator. 6000w and 1000w. I also bought 10 5 gal cans. That way I can make it 2 weeks w/o having to visit a gas station. I was thankful I made it through the post-hurricane gas crisis w/o having to wait in the insane lines. Next time I won't be fortunate...I'll be prepared.
+1 on the generators. we were prepared with extra propane, charcoal, etc. Very easy to get when there isnt any hurricane bearing down on you. HEB has 2 bags for $10 for the start of the season. It stores easy and does double duty.
The 1000w generator is actually for tailgating. For $100, I couldn't pass it up. In a pinch I can at least let a neighbor borrow it to keep their fridge cold and watch TV. 2 weeks with no power was a depressing experience.
most of my planning is lightweight and with a backpack on my back, i have heard people say that that thinking could get someone in trouble but my theroy is that since i don't have a high paying job i am going to plan for the last resort and once i get that done then work up,
well my point is that i have heard some things
axes and hatchets while good can be dangerous even in experienced hands, so if possible a saw would most likely be better.
My shovel is probably just going to be one of the military grade folding shovels for lightweight and even if you are thinking car evac it will save space and weight so you can carry more items, Pickaxe, since I am planning for backpack only and I may find my self in the wilderness what I am planning to get is one of those hatchet size tools that has a pick on one side and a chisel shapped blade on the other side, this would be to easy the building of shelters in the wilderness I am also planning on having a multitool with some wire cutters and needle nose players, and of course a screwdriver or two and that will pretty much be my tools, I can’t build a house with it but it will make being a wanderer much easier and it would weigh probably 8 or so pounds and if I can fit it in my kit a nice lightweight saw for cutting down saplings for a fire, or dead branches off of a tree orsomething but not something that can cut down a couple trees if needed.
I had received as a door prize a folding mil-type shovel, carried it in the truck for a couple years till I got stuck then I needed a real shovel to get- er-done!
I let my kids use that little folding weenie shovel to dig some snow tunnels with it, it came back totally thrashed all the rivets working the head wouldent stay locked straight, it just dident hold up, they swiped my short D-handle spade from the snowmobile sled, 'It worked lotts better Dad!'
Get a 'Cold Steel' spade it even has a cutting edge on the side the blade so it could act as a hatchet, I actually seen them hucking them little shovels at a wood block like throwing knives or hatchets they actually stuck in deep!
Rex, in World War I the Marines took the entrenching shovels they were issued and sharpened the edges when they had nothing else to do. They carried the sharpened shovels with them when they assaulted German trenches. By all accounts they were frightfully effective close-in weapons.
I don't know if the steel in modern shovels will take and hold an edge, but it's something worth thinkiing about.
I remember reading All's Quiet on the Western Front?? a book of WWI the german used a sharpened trenching spade in just sort of manner to dispatch a opponet, The cold steel product has some sort of catchey name like Spetznatz shovel or something like that, "cold steel" markets this as a cutting tool and in there DVD, they sever what appers to be a rather thick Ships Dock line with a swing, they also hucked it at a stump like a throwing axe.
Ive found that the made in china entrenching tools are made specificly for those silly americans to buy, they do every job half assedly, the shovel doesent stay locked straight, the saw edge is dull out the box, its too short unless your tunnling out of Stalag 13!
If your set on buying a military type multi function tool buy a actual military surpluse tool and leave the made in china wally world sluff on the shelf.
Nothing sucks worse than a short handled shovel, let alone one thats too small to do anything, when I dig I want to get it done today, not fart around with little 1/5 size shovel fulls of soil that a typical garden trowl would out perform, even better the trapping tools built for trapping would be better they are built for working and are welded not riveted.
Last edited by Rex in OTZ; 05-06-2009 at 04:40 PM.
i am set on a small spade or a folding tool andi already passed over the one at walmart in order to get a quality one, and once i get a quality one i am gonna find some place to practice making those old world war 2 and 1, single or double person entrenchments.
A lot of these are more like farm maintenance tools, which would really only be necessary either for maintaining a homestead during a major SHTF event, or founding one during the recovery phase of a REALLLY big one (like, mass nukes, etc).
But for me, my most basic tools are a hatchet, a machete, a folding shovel (it was the cheap one from Harbor Freight, but I've already used it twice in freeing stuck vehicles and it has been very sturdy and worked as well as expected) and a hammer kept in the back of my Samurai. I have a relatively simple set of tools and then my vehicle recovery gear, but other than that I don't really have anything else.
The only thing I really want to add is a power inverter. The running engine won't be as efficient as a generator, but it will allow me to do simple things like cook and such out of my vehicle, which would probably be my second home away from home in a really bad SHTF event if my current bug-out locations were unavailable.
Well, I am on a farm and won't bug out, they'll drag me out maybe, but I'm not leaving voluntarily, so I need lots of tools to operate efficiently. I do keep a BOB, but that's just because I'm the sort who backs up his back-ups, LOL!
