"on the go" kit

[Scorpion Regent]

What do you have for your traveling tool kit?  These would be the tools you either store in your car or truck or have ready to grab if you need tools for basic repairs in the field away from home or workshop.  This effectively the next step up from your MT and EDC.  It should be of a certain size and weight so that you can carry it all by yourself in one trip.  You can include how you carry it, bucket, tool bag, ammo box, tool wrap, hip box, milk crate, whatever.  What is this kit mainly used for, handy man repairs, automotive, hobby stuff, boating, camping or something else?
 
Here is what I have

A Doc Allen's Versa tool and a Ball head ratcheting bit driver w/ a assortment of small bits and 1/4" sockets
Pliers: Vise Grips, Channel locks, a pair of heavy duty linesman pliers
a 10" Crescent wrench
A ball peen hammer
A cats claw pry bar
a line level
a Clamp tight wire tool and a spool of stainless steel safety wire
A razor utility knife
a folding jab saw w/ an assortment of Sawzall blades
a painters multitool
I'll list things like tape, wire nuts, or other consumables later.

[BadMechanic]

I have a HF 130pc tool set. Just basic stuff. Also added sae and metric stubbys. My room is limited so I might have to change some things but I plan to make a good set of tools for offroading/camping.

[Scorpion Regent]

I have a HF 130pc tool set. Just basic stuff. Also added sae and metric stubbys. My room is limited so I might have to change some things but I plan to make a good set of tools for offroading/camping.

I suppose a store bought Chinese tool kit is better than nothing, but I was thinking more a long the lines of a kit you assembled yourself.  Tools you have used a lot, have the feel for and know the measure of, are more valuable.  Most of my tools I picked used and yet they of a higher quality than Harbor Freight.  HF is okay for somethings, but still not quite as good as they could be.  The Johnson bar I bought from them flexes, you would think that would be something that they couldn't get wrong.  I really appreciate a tool I find in a flea market or at a garage sale that I can tell may be over 40 years old, but has plenty of life left in it. 
 
FYI don't bother with SAE as far as automotive is concerned, it's all been metric for about thirty years now.  Unless you have a old truck, a muscle car or an old Harley it's all metric.  I think HF sells standard tools to Americans because people don't know any better and keep using SAE tools for rounding out metric fasteners, I'm sure that's how every rounded off drain plug I had to replace came to be.  I suppose things like appliances and housing fixtures might be SAE, but all I ever pack in my truck is metric.  My tool box at work has one drawer that's SAE, I open it maybe four times a year.  Maybe one of these days I'll make a wind chime out of some of my SAE wrenches and sockets.

[Vidar]

Back in the day I used to be on the go as part of the job, so I had a on the go kit in the car.

Most of it was stored in a big Stanley tool box on wheels, with additional small tidbits in a Raaco Carry Lite Reol.

In the Stanley were hand tools like 1/2" and 1/4" metric socket sets, Knipex Plier Wrenches and Cobras in a few sizes, cutters, double sets of 36mm down to about 22mm sized spanners, some locking pliers, various screwdrivers and bits, knife, a medium recoil-less sledge, an angle, head light, and drills bits and metric taps up to M12. The Stanley also held some powertools - drill, angle and straight grinder, heat gun, jigsaw and a soldering iron. There were good reasons why this thing was on wheels! (One was that it could roll into place in the car). 

The Carry Lite held mostly expendables like a variety of screws, nuts, electric tidbits. It is very nice for that for the right sized parts.

Additionally there were a few loose items in the car like a 90cm breaking bar (much loved and used!), 18mm rope, and some 5m long chain lever for drags and lifts. Once in a while a Fronius Magicwave would come along for stick or TIG welding, or a magnetic drill when holes in metal were expected.

These days, with no urgent come fix it calls, there aren't that many tools left in the car. A Knipex Plier Wrench, a Knipex Cobra, two screwdrivers, headlight, a battery charger, rope and a chain lever. The car kit is mostly about clothes, some extra gas and oil, a chocolate and a power bank. Used to be a knife there too, but some Norwegian court has said that is illegal. Go figure

[Scorpion Regent]

Back in the day I used to be on the go as part of the job, so I had a on the go kit in the car.

Most of it was stored in a big Stanley tool box on wheels, with additional small tidbits in a Raaco Carry Lite Reol.

In the Stanley were hand tools like 1/2" and 1/4" metric socket sets, Knipex Plier Wrenches and Cobras in a few sizes, cutters, double sets of 36mm down to about 22mm sized spanners, some locking pliers, various screwdrivers and bits, knife, a medium recoil-less sledge, an angle, head light, and drills bits and metric taps up to M12. The Stanley also held some powertools - drill, angle and straight grinder, heat gun, jigsaw and a soldering iron. There were good reasons why this thing was on wheels! (One was that it could roll into place in the car). 

The Carry Lite held mostly expendables like a variety of screws, nuts, electric tidbits. It is very nice for that for the right sized parts.

Additionally there were a few loose items in the car like a 90cm breaking bar (much loved and used!), 18mm rope, and some 5m long chain lever for drags and lifts. Once in a while a Fronius Magicwave would come along for stick or TIG welding, or a magnetic drill when holes in metal were expected.

These days, with no urgent come fix it calls, there aren't that many tools left in the car. A Knipex Plier Wrench, a Knipex Cobra, two screwdrivers, headlight, a battery charger, rope and a chain lever. The car kit is mostly about clothes, some extra gas and oil, a chocolate and a power bank. Used to be a knife there too, but some Norwegian court has said that is illegal. Go figure

 
Damn nice set up.   I'm thinking, "You keep a chain lever in your car, but why?" , then I realized, Norway!  It's a pretty well rounded set of work tools.  If you don't mind my asking what did you work on?  Chocolate is a something I overlooked and yet so obvious, it improves morale, it's a form of currency and it's lunch!  I had to look up recoilless sledge, I know it as a dead blow hammer.  It's a nice tool to have, particularly if it comes in a Janus form (hard and soft faces).  I find a block of wood to soften blow if I don't have a "tender" hammer.  Your breaking bar that would be 1/2" drive or 3/4"?  that's very long, but there still a chance to slip a pipe over it for more.

[Vidar]

 
Damn nice set up.   I'm thinking, "You keep a chain lever in your car, but why?" , then I realized, Norway!  It's a pretty well rounded set of work tools.  If you don't mind my asking what did you work on?  Chocolate is a something I overlooked and yet so obvious, it improves morale, it's a form of currency and it's lunch!  I had to look up recoilless sledge, I know it as a dead blow hammer.  It's a nice tool to have, particularly if it comes in a Janus form (hard and soft faces).  I find a block of wood to soften blow if I don't have a "tender" hammer.  Your breaking bar that would be 1/2" drive or 3/4"?  that's very long, but there still a chance to slip a pipe over it for more.

Well, there were other weirder stuff too. One thing that did get used a lot was tissue paper for all kinds of spills and oils. Various tapes - duct tapes, electrical tape, self-vulcanizing tape.

Yes, 20-30 meters of rope and the chain lever tend to help once in a while. (Actually more helpful in the back of a snowmobile). The chocolate is more like emergency rations. Just nice to have if one get stuck for a while in storm. And it lasts forever in storage. Yes, Janus dead blow hammer (of the large kind) sounds just about right. My english is off sometimes. The breaking bar is funny - I actually meant a 90cm crowbar, but as you mentioned it I also had a meter long 3/4" breaking bar. It was usually not in the car though.

Back then part of the job was developing and building automated hydraulic machines. So everything from physical parts and assembly, via hydraulics and electrics, to sensors and computer control. (Which reminds me I also had this 30 meter long internet cable so I could connect to these things while still sitting dry in the car).

[Scorpion Regent]

Well, there were other weirder stuff too. One thing that did get used a lot was tissue paper for all kinds of spills and oils. Various tapes - duct tapes, electrical tape, self-vulcanizing tape.

Yes, 20-30 meters of rope and the chain lever tend to help once in a while. (Actually more helpful in the back of a snowmobile). The chocolate is more like emergency rations. Just nice to have if one get stuck for a while in storm. And it lasts forever in storage. Yes, Janus dead blow hammer (of the large kind) sounds just about right. My english is off sometimes. The breaking bar is funny - I actually meant a 90cm crowbar, but as you mentioned it I also had a meter long 3/4" breaking bar. It was usually not in the car though.

Back then part of the job was developing and building automated hydraulic machines. So everything from physical parts and assembly, via hydraulics and electrics, to sensors and computer control. (Which reminds me I also had this 30 meter long internet cable so I could connect to these things while still sitting dry in the car).

You can store chocolate, forever?  Maybe the all the chocolate monsters were hunted to extinction in Norway.  Mine never lasts more than a month before the monster shows up.  I have chains and rope too, though I never thought of it as part of the tool kit.  Perhaps I need to broaden the topic: "Dude what's in our car?"  Another thing that's handy to have that does lots of things, old cardboard boxes flattened down into sheets: lie on them kneel on them, use them to catch drips or overspray, seat covers and floor mats, temporary insulation, windshield sunscreens and so many other uses. 
Your English is fine.  I imagine your crow bar is very similar to my Johnson bar, aka digging bar hopefully yours wasn't made in China and doesn't flex. Tool names are at best, fluid, example in point, I made up the name Janus hammer, but dead blow is a common enough term in the industry.  I have to say I really like the sound of recoilless hammer, it sounds like a weapon employed by space marines for zero G combat, dead blow by comparison sounds pretty, ... dead.
Sounds like a interesting job.

When I grow up I want a Burke bar.

[Vidar]

My timeless storage of chocolate is entirely dependent of bad memory. Luckily my bad memory is quite reliable  (I think it is an out of sight thing).

If you have to handle heavy stuff then rope and chain levers or similar is a necessity. I like chain levers because they are handy and quick and clean to hook up. Most suffer from short chains though, so I had mine exchanged to 5m chains. (Which was a bit much - around 3.5 meters would have been just about perfect for most things).

I'm not all that focused on staying on topic anyway. I actually have some old cardboardt oo at the back of the car - for exactly drips and grime. Elsewhere I've bought some cheap thin yoga mats: They are great if you avoid yoga and instead cut them into nice pieces for wherever you need something isolating or thin soft filler. (Tip to the wiser men; Check with wife if she actually had any ideas of yoga).

The crowbar is a Swedish Hultafors. It is made from hardened steel - same as in drill bits. It hasn't bent so far, and it has indeed been abused to the worst of my ability. Highly recommended - even at USD 150 or I still think of it as well spent money.

That is called a Burke bar? I got something very similar which is kind of a extra long (around 130-140cm) braeking bar with less aggresivly bent ends. I suspect it is indeed from China. I'm on my second one now. The first got bent in a hole and I had to cut it out. It is great for prying free stones from the tires of my pet excavator, stuck rocks in the ground and whatnot.

When I grow out I want a pickup or car with power outtake like on tractors so the engine can be used for all things that might need power - electric, hydraulic, pneumatic, mechanic, snowblowers, winches, etc etc. Dear Santa, make the car companies extend that bar from the engine through the fan and out to a standardized attachment point. (Wrong season now I guess).

[cody6268]

My timeless storage of chocolate is entirely dependent of bad memory. Luckily my bad memory is quite reliable  (I think it is an out of sight thing).

If you have to handle heavy stuff then rope and chain levers or similar is a necessity. I like chain levers because they are handy and quick and clean to hook up. Most suffer from short chains though, so I had mine exchanged to 5m chains. (Which was a bit much - around 3.5 meters would have been just about perfect for most things).

I'm not all that focused on staying on topic anyway. I actually have some old cardboardt oo at the back of the car - for exactly drips and grime. Elsewhere I've bought some cheap thin yoga mats: They are great if you avoid yoga and instead cut them into nice pieces for wherever you need something isolating or thin soft filler. (Tip to the wiser men; Check with wife if she actually had any ideas of yoga).

The crowbar is a Swedish Hultafors. It is made from hardened steel - same as in drill bits. It hasn't bent so far, and it has indeed been abused to the worst of my ability. Highly recommended - even at USD 150 or I still think of it as well spent money.

That is called a Burke bar? I got something very similar which is kind of a extra long (around 130-140cm) braeking bar with less aggresivly bent ends. I suspect it is indeed from China. I'm on my second one now. The first got bent in a hole and I had to cut it out. It is great for prying free stones from the tires of my pet excavator, stuck rocks in the ground and whatnot.

When I grow out I want a pickup or car with power outtake like on tractors so the engine can be used for all things that might need power - electric, hydraulic, pneumatic, mechanic, snowblowers, winches, etc etc. Dear Santa, make the car companies extend that bar from the engine through the fan and out to a standardized attachment point. (Wrong season now I guess).

The Defender used to, before it became yet another luxury crossover that won't even see a gravel road (I recently looked at the "base" model--as it sits, there are so many electronic doodads, it already is an insult to the Defender nameplate). I think one of the Jeeps we've got  ('48 CJ-3A) has a winch that runs off a PTO. 

Guess your only option would be the Unimog, but I think they're pretty expensive, even used (around here, 1980s examples are $30,000, but I suspect a lot of transportation, taxes, and fees are part of it). Some heavier duty trucks (and I suppose vans too) do have vertical PTOs for running things like tow truck winches, hydraulic pumps (for more modern wreckers, dump trucks, lifts, etc.), or fire pumps. But, those really can't run farm implements.

[Vidar]

The Defender used to, before it became yet another luxury crossover that won't even see a gravel road (I recently looked at the "base" model--as it sits, there are so many electronic doodads, it already is an insult to the Defender nameplate). I think one of the Jeeps we've got  ('48 CJ-3A) has a winch that runs off a PTO. 

Guess your only option would be the Unimog, but I think they're pretty expensive, even used (around here, 1980s examples are $30,000, but I suspect a lot of transportation, taxes, and fees are part of it). Some heavier duty trucks (and I suppose vans too) do have vertical PTOs for running things like tow truck winches, hydraulic pumps (for more modern wreckers, dump trucks, lifts, etc.), or fire pumps. But, those really can't run farm implements.

I didn't know that about Defenders. Too bad it is gone then - it might have made more sense than yet another too polished/ expensive for actual use crossover thing.

Unimogs are certainly expensive around here too. And on the heavy side as well, so would take a heavy truck driver license I assume. Guess I'm stuck with the excavator for now - it is real nice for most things, but with a top speed of 40km/h it isn't really for going very far.

[Vidar]

a Clamp tight wire tool and a spool of stainless steel safety wire

That one was new to me - seems like a handy thing for various tasks.

[Scorpion Regent]

If you have to handle heavy stuff then rope and chain levers or similar is a necessity. I like chain levers because they are handy and quick and clean to hook up. Most suffer from short chains though, so I had mine exchanged to 5m chains. (Which was a bit much - around 3.5 meters would have been just about perfect for most things).

I'm not all that focused on staying on topic anyway. I actually have some old cardboardt oo at the back of the car - for exactly drips and grime. Elsewhere I've bought some cheap thin yoga mats: They are great if you avoid yoga and instead cut them into nice pieces for wherever you need something isolating or thin soft filler. (Tip to the wiser men; Check with wife if she actually had any ideas of yoga).

The crowbar is a Swedish Hultafors. It is made from hardened steel - same as in drill bits. It hasn't bent so far, and it has indeed been abused to the worst of my ability. Highly recommended - even at USD 150 or I still think of it as well spent money.

That is called a Burke bar? I got something very similar which is kind of a extra long (around 130-140cm) braeking bar with less aggresivly bent ends. I suspect it is indeed from China. I'm on my second one now. The first got bent in a hole and I had to cut it out. It is great for prying free stones from the tires of my pet excavator, stuck rocks in the ground and whatnot.

When I grow out I want a pickup or car with power outtake like on tractors so the engine can be used for all things that might need power - electric, hydraulic, pneumatic, mechanic, snowblowers, winches, etc etc. Dear Santa, make the car companies extend that bar from the engine through the fan and out to a standardized attachment point. (Wrong season now I guess).

I inherited my chain lever from my uncle, in America they are often mistakenly called Come Alongs, which are usually cable winches.  I haven't used it very much but when I did it was very useful.  Until I got it I had to make do with a seven ton ratchet strap, which worked, but could be awkward. 
Funny now that you have mentioned it I did have a yoga mat in the back of the truck for a while and it was useful.  I probably wrapped it around something and when that thing left my truck so did the mat. 
The long bar with a round point on one end and a chisel head on the other is a digging bar.  The other is a tamping bar.  The tool in the video is a Burke bar. 
Power take off from the transmission are terribly useful.  I know, because I used to drive a tow truck. and they all about the PTO.  To find a vehicle with one you have to look for a proper truck, not a SUV.  Sometimes you can find and heavier pick up trucks and four wheel drive vehicles with PTO's for winches.  I haven't had much exposure to Unimogs, but what I've seen I really liked.  Civilian Humvees are for wannabes, people who get things done go for Unimogs.

[ezdog]

I don't work at Home or Workshop but rather at the spot where I need to do work and so all of my tools are Go Ready all the time.

I have small portable easy carry stuff always ready for basic troubleshooting ad install work and I have Trucks & Trailers loaded and/or waiting to be for anything else that might come up.

I just returned from several weeks in the mountains where I was sent before Xmas at the last minute with just what I could carry on a plane and it was a partial pain in the butt but I am so used to putting it together at the last moment that I got the job done anyway.

Of course I also ended up driving both there and back as plans rarely survive the events on the ground too but I work at other peoples houses and business so it all has to be ready to go all the time.

[Vidar]

I don't work at Home or Workshop but rather at the spot where I need to do work and so all of my tools are Go Ready all the time.

I have small portable easy carry stuff always ready for basic troubleshooting ad install work and I have Trucks & Trailers loaded and/or waiting to be for anything else that might come up.

I just returned from several weeks in the mountains where I was sent before Xmas at the last minute with just what I could carry on a plane and it was a partial pain in the butt but I am so used to putting it together at the last moment that I got the job done anyway.

Of course I also ended up driving both there and back as plans rarely survive the events on the ground too but I work at other peoples houses and business so it all has to be ready to go all the time.

 

I imagine airline luggage limits aren't very tool friendly.

[ezdog]

I imagine airline luggage limits aren't very tool friendly.

Thats an understatement and of course every single time that I check tools they are pilfered through thoroughly by the TSA here too.
I am OK with them inspecting them for sure but I wish that they could be more careful when putting them back in the box!

Just a cost of doing the work though for them and for me I suppose?

If I have time and know in advance I will ship instead of checking but that is hardly a perfect alternative either and in the end I am usually thrilled to drive regardless of how long the trip.

I ended up driving for 5 days this time and got back home late on Xmas eve.

And I was lucky considering the weather that I both Hit and was able to Dodge!

[Vidar]

I once tried storing an extra set of most normal tools needed for the machine at a customers site. The logic being that their people could then easier do small stuff, and I would have less to prepare and drag along if needed. It worked ok for a few weeks. Then the tools started getting used for whatever else they needed them for, but crucially didn't get put back afterwards.

By the time I gave up on that concept there was a only some taps, spanners and a few small screwdrivers left. About USD 1000 in hand tools just evaporated. Even the toolbox itself was gone.

[ezdog]

I once tried storing an extra set of most normal tools needed for the machine at a customers site. The logic being that their people could then easier do small stuff, and I would have less to prepare and drag along if needed. It worked ok for a few weeks. Then the tools started getting used for whatever else they needed them for, but crucially didn't get put back afterwards.

By the time I gave up on that concept there was a only some taps, spanners and a few small screwdrivers left. About USD 1000 in hand tools just evaporated. Even the toolbox itself was gone.

No good deed goes unpunished as they say.

[Scorpion Regent]

I once tried storing an extra set of most normal tools needed for the machine at a customers site. The logic being that their people could then easier do small stuff, and I would have less to prepare and drag along if needed. It worked ok for a few weeks. Then the tools started getting used for whatever else they needed them for, but crucially didn't get put back afterwards.

By the time I gave up on that concept there was a only some taps, spanners and a few small screwdrivers left. About USD 1000 in hand tools just evaporated. Even the toolbox itself was gone.

Some customers aren't worth the money.

[Scorpion Regent]

So I started the evolution thread, "Dude, what's in your car?"
https://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,83653.0.html
I'm not saying we have to shift there, but it's an option.

[cody6268]

I once tried storing an extra set of most normal tools needed for the machine at a customers site. The logic being that their people could then easier do small stuff, and I would have less to prepare and drag along if needed. It worked ok for a few weeks. Then the tools started getting used for whatever else they needed them for, but crucially didn't get put back afterwards.

By the time I gave up on that concept there was a only some taps, spanners and a few small screwdrivers left. About USD 1000 in hand tools just evaporated. Even the toolbox itself was gone.

And even sticking locks on the stuff doesn't help. My Dad had the keys to the farm shop. I changed the lock, without realizing one boneheaded thing. The lock I'd gotten out of a case of bulk "Keyed Alike" industrial Master Lock padlocks. We'd leased a place below us for one summer, and had bought one case each of keyed different and keyed alike padlocks from the local mine/industrial supply. The landowner demanded she keep the keys and locks, then sold the place the next year. My father then befriended the guy that bought the place, and then used his keys to get back into the farm shop. I'm trying to convince my Granddad, that, instead of the hinged plywood door we have on the shop now, that instead, we need a sturdy garage door. Someone (I'm guessing my Dad or his kleptomaniac wife) pried the hasp off the door.  Outer basement door is locked, house door is locked, door leading from my Granddad's workshop to the main part of the basement is locked. My toolboxes are both locked. Still, I bet they could get into them. Where's a good Doberman Pinscher when you need them? All I have is a small  (but aggressive to strangers) mutt who is mostly Corgi.

[Scorpion Regent]

And even sticking locks on the stuff doesn't help.  The lock I'd gotten out of a case of bulk "Keyed Alike" industrial Master Lock padlocks.

Sticking Master padlocks certainly doesn't help.  If you watch Lock Picking Lawyer on Youtube you'll see how easy it is to defeat Master Locks.  Yes, a dog is one of the best ways to for keep thieves away.