Anyone got nifty toys for their toolbox?
Posted: Wed Nov 24, 2010 11:53 am
Xmas is coming and my S.O. is bugging me for gift ideas.
Anyone out there got any suggestions for non-obvious but useful things they have been glad to have in their van at the right moment?
I'm talking about stuff small enough to keep in the van, rather than at home where it does no good when you break down somewhere.
My thoughts from the electrical side...:
- Get a cheap multimeter from Princess Auto (they are less than $15 now and smaller than a paperback book). Learn the real basics about voltage and resistance and how to check them. If you're new to this stuff and leery about getting a zap, unless you do a dead short across the battery terminals (learn what that is too!!) there is nothing in car electrics that can really hurt you - it's not like the 120Volts stuff in your house, and you can troubleshoot so many common problems quickly and easily with this simple tool.
- Along those lines, get two specific rolls of tape from Home Despot or the like. Many companies make them, but only buy stuff made by 3M. It costs a wee bit more, but trust me - they make the good stuff:
>> One roll of vinyl electrical tape. Good for wrapping up wire connections where you know it will stay dry. It is inexpensive for a roll, and will stand things rubbing gently against it.
>> One roll of rubber splicing tape. It is a bigger heavier roll of rubber tape that you stretch out to about double its length as you tightly wrap it on. Great for helping keep the water out of fixes under the hood.
- Get a small container of wire-nuts/marettes (Home Despot sells a small grab bag for about $7 I think). If you want to connect two wires together, they are a handy way to go.
- Spend the money to get a small pair of good, sharp, made-in-Germany side-cutters for cutting and stripping electrical wires. The really cheap ones at Princess Auto have no sharp edge to them. You only need a small pair and can find them for around $15. Use them *only* for cutting wire and they will stay sharp forever. Active Components near Boundary & 1st in Vancouver has a good selection; many other places do too.
- Costco sells retina-burningly-bright LED flashlights for about $15/pair. Hide at least one with a spare set of batteries in your van away from the kids (flashlights are kid magnets; you parents out there know what I mean).
Anyone else got ideas?
Tony.
Anyone out there got any suggestions for non-obvious but useful things they have been glad to have in their van at the right moment?
I'm talking about stuff small enough to keep in the van, rather than at home where it does no good when you break down somewhere.
My thoughts from the electrical side...:
- Get a cheap multimeter from Princess Auto (they are less than $15 now and smaller than a paperback book). Learn the real basics about voltage and resistance and how to check them. If you're new to this stuff and leery about getting a zap, unless you do a dead short across the battery terminals (learn what that is too!!) there is nothing in car electrics that can really hurt you - it's not like the 120Volts stuff in your house, and you can troubleshoot so many common problems quickly and easily with this simple tool.
- Along those lines, get two specific rolls of tape from Home Despot or the like. Many companies make them, but only buy stuff made by 3M. It costs a wee bit more, but trust me - they make the good stuff:
>> One roll of vinyl electrical tape. Good for wrapping up wire connections where you know it will stay dry. It is inexpensive for a roll, and will stand things rubbing gently against it.
>> One roll of rubber splicing tape. It is a bigger heavier roll of rubber tape that you stretch out to about double its length as you tightly wrap it on. Great for helping keep the water out of fixes under the hood.
- Get a small container of wire-nuts/marettes (Home Despot sells a small grab bag for about $7 I think). If you want to connect two wires together, they are a handy way to go.
- Spend the money to get a small pair of good, sharp, made-in-Germany side-cutters for cutting and stripping electrical wires. The really cheap ones at Princess Auto have no sharp edge to them. You only need a small pair and can find them for around $15. Use them *only* for cutting wire and they will stay sharp forever. Active Components near Boundary & 1st in Vancouver has a good selection; many other places do too.
- Costco sells retina-burningly-bright LED flashlights for about $15/pair. Hide at least one with a spare set of batteries in your van away from the kids (flashlights are kid magnets; you parents out there know what I mean).
Anyone else got ideas?
Tony.
