The Bare Necessities of Any Man’s Toolbox

A good toolbox is more than just a place to store tools in the garage or a closet, it can be a lifeline to solving a lot of problems both in a house, on the road, or in a car engine. While there are hundreds of hand tools available, certain tools are more critical items to have available in a toolbox at all times. These include:

• A pair of good screwdrivers – Both flathead and Phillips-style screwdrivers are necessary. These come in varying sizes, but a standard length of either screwdriver should be in the toolbox at a minimum.
• A metric/standard socket set and wrench – The socket wrench set gives an owner the ability to quickly loosen and tighten down a variety of bolt and nut sizes. This becomes particularly handy when having to work on a car part or plumbing part with bolts and nuts. Larger wrenches would just damage the hardware, but the socket set will fit exactly allowing easy loosening and tightening.
• A complete crescent/spanner wrench set – Not every nut and bolt can be reached with a socket wrench. Furthermore, some need to be tightened by hand so as not to strip the hardware by over-tightening. A good crescent wrench set solves this problem, having a correct size wrench for most hardware sizes.
• A good hammer and a rubber mallet – Sometimes things just need a good whack with brute strength. Both the hammer and rubber mallet can do the job. However, the rubber mallet works well when the owner doesn’t want to damage what is hit but does want to get it to budge. Having both gives a tool owner the option.
• An air pressure gauge and tire pump – Just like when going on a bike ride as a kid, a tire gauge and tire pump come in handy when having to inflate a car tire or a wheelbarrow tire for garden use. Without these two tools, it’s near impossible to get a tire working again without a car insurance roadside assistance plan or an air pump machine.
• A plumber’s wrench or adjustable crescent wrench – Either of these wrenches will work as long as they are large and adjustable. The goal is to always have a wrench for twisting large nuts or washers that standard wrenches can’t handle.
• Steel cable-cutting snippers – A good pair of snippers comes in handy whether making short work of electrical wiring or dealing with stubborn steel cable. Normal cutters and scissors won’t work. The toolbox needs to have good metal-cutting snippers to get the job done.
• A folding hand shovel – If stuck in the snow or out somewhere in the country, a good shovel comes in handy for a number of reasons including shelter, digging a fire pit, or even managing going to the bathroom. It may sound funny, but when a person needs relief that shovel can come in handy digging an impromptu pit.

With the above tools, a mechanic or handyman can solve a number of problems quickly. Owners just need to remember personal safety or at least look into a basic health insurance plan in case something goes wrong.

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