By Dick - 25 Feb 2024
Hi all,
We all have a tool bag onboard to which we get very attached and we are always trying to find the balance between having the tools we need and not carrying a hardware store along with us everywhere we go. Choices become even more challenging as I have yet to meet a tool I did not want to own. In addition, there are a wide range of skill among us, a wide range of interest, and differences dependent on how remote your cruising takes you. That said, the following are inexpensive and lightweight and would be an appreciated addition to every on-board tool bag.
Below are a few tools that have made a big difference in my on-board life that I feel fortunate to have “discovered”.
Source/suppliers are US, but my sense is that these items can be found most anywhere.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
Flush-cut diagonal cutters:
How many of us have had cuts, scars even, on our arms as a result if reaching into a dark area and being sliced up by a cut-off electrical wire tie? Or had a technician on board bring a blooded arm out swearing? Flush cut diagonal wire cutters (Xcelite, shearcutters, 170M) will prevent those injuries and are a tool ready-at-hand whenever I use wire ties (which is a lot as they are very handy for lots of jobs beyond securing electrical wires).
Tape:
I have skills in a number of areas, but, over the years, I have shown myself to be impressively inept at using heat shrink: whether on terminals or the slip over wire sort.
Another area of failure was the use of self-amalgamating tape. I was a sucker for those at boat shows (Atomic Tape is a memory) but in my hands the never worked the way they did in the demonstrations and never had the amalgamating last very long.
A discovery of 3M Scotch 2228 Rubber Mastic tape solved the above challenges. It stretches like crazy and has an adhesive which essentially bonds the tape together when wrapped. The stretching that even irregularities in the surface get completely covered.
For electrical connections, I make the connection with Kopr Shield or the like and the take a few inches of tape and wrap the connection. It has never leaked
It may seem like expensive stuff, but it goes a long way.
Endoscope:
It is a waterproof camera on the end of a long (12 foot?) stiff cable that broadcasts wi-fi pictures to a tablet/smart phone. I was given it to cut down on the need to don my dry suit etc. in the very cold water I have been cruising in these last few years to check zincs etc. It has served that function well. It also serves to look into dark corners for dropped stuff under the diesel (it has its own light that one can vary in intensity) and various end pieces that allow flexibility for special problem solving: like looking and tracking leaks in obscure places, looking in back of tanks for dropped parts, etc. etc.
I have not used it often, but when I have, it has really eased the chore (and made some possible) and accomplished seeing in important places I would not have been able to get to otherwise.
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