Tools of the trade

[Mark Wieber]

No brainer here

I am right there with responses one and two. Bottle opener, and cork screw.Ok, what about Channel Locks?A good pair of Pliers, Side Cutters (dikes),two adjustable wrenches, Screw Drivers (phillips and Standard), a plastic funnel, Box of rubber gloves, utility knife. Duct Tape, Plastic tie wraps and a folding saw. These live on the boat.Other tools, that get the most use, are my vacuum pump and filter wrench, a Craftsman combination wrench set, pry bar, and the assorted tools for waxing, cleaning, painting, polishing, scrubing, brushing, drinking, cooking, eating, and drinking some more

 

[Pete]

My No-Name Multi-Blade...

...multifunction knife does it all! Best invention ever.

 

[SailboatOwners.com]

Final results

Final results for the Quick Quiz ending September 11, 2005:The tool I reach for most often on my boat is:46% A multifunction, multiblade, folding knife33% Other16% Socket/driver set05% Electric drill

 

[Gaz]

For sure......

For sure the most important tool is a knife and by extension the most used tool is a multitool with a knife blade in amongst the tools.Go Leatherman!

 

[Mark Wieber]

Lighten up Louis!

We are talking about tools here. With the exception of a few bad days, all my tools get most of thier use at the dock.If you are suggesting that a glass of wine, or an ice cold bottle of beer can not enhance the boating experience, you need to change religions. The first miracle Jesus performed was turning water into wine (after they ran out), and the first thing Noah did when the ark landed was plant a vinyard.The mantra is "everthing in moderation". I will stick to my answer.

 

[Barry Needalman]

Vice Grips

The small locking plier gets the most use on my boat. I've got a variety of locking pliers including needle nose. I chose a multi-tool that included a locking plier.The 12v system seems to be the least reliable of anything on the boat. There is always at least one cabin light not working. A good multimeter is essential. A long wire with alligator clips at both ends is very useful.

 

[JC on Bainbridge]

Once we are done with this long list

and put everything onboard, I think we may have to raise the waterline, again. ;d

 

[pimerese]

... And now for something completely different

There has been a lot of good tool advise listed here. I keep a pretty large inventory of tools on my boat and use them mostly at dockside. Most of the items mentioned, I have on board.My set of "boat tools" is seperate from my set of "home tools". I often evaluate an upcoming job ahead of time and carefully plan for what I need toolwise and partswise. When I need a tool from my home set to do a particular job I shuttle it to the boat and return it home when the job is done. If I see I am using a lot of any particular home tool,I consider buying another to keep exclusively on the boat.For a while now it seems my Dremil kit is the one item that stands out as getting shuttled back and fourth a great deal. Even though it is a power tool it just has so many uses at the boat. You can use it to sand, polish, cut, grind, engrave, trim, drill, you name it. My boat is an vintage 84. Every year I do small gelcoat repairs. Nothing gouges out gelcoat cracks like a Dremil.