Toolin’ Down the Road

When we decided to spend retirement full-timing in our Airstream, not only did we have to downsize our household and personal possessions, but we had to reduce the number of tools we took with us.  Today Tom writes  about what went into deciding what tools to take with us when we hit the road……

Downsizing the garage tools, after a forty years of accumulating them, took some thought. Some of the tools were my Dad’s, some were my oldest brother’s, who had upgraded to high quality mechanic’s tools over the years. Others were ones I bought over the years, over several homes and two marriages, to tackle various jobs and projects. I took a long look at the pegboard covered walls of our garage, and thought carefully about a vagabond life, where something might break miles from the nearest hint of civilization, what my skills were, and what it would take to at least band-aid a problem to hobble down the road.

        

Some were obvious. A pole saw was not needed, nor was the crosscut and rip saws my Dad had used when building his first house, the one I grew up in. Not easy to let them go, as the memories would flood in, of how he taught me the basics of carpentry, plumbing, and electrical wiring. At least, those were the obvious lessons. Down deeper, Dad was teaching me how to be a father, showing patience as the young mind asked questions and the young hands ruined a pricey piece of lumber. Never the less, these would go into the sale. More practical tools were kept, such a set of socket wrenches, and a hand crank socket handle, which could lower the stabilizers faster than an electric drill. But the cordless drill was kept, and the Craftsman corded electric drill he gave me that first married Christmas so many years ago, went to the sale. The miter box went, the odd and ends screwdrivers went, but the newer, intact tip ones were saved. A couple of adjustable wrenches, large and small, came along for the ride, a nice hammer for the tool box, and a second one, with a bright orange handle, stayed in the boot drawer for tent stakes. Orange shows up nice in the gathering dusk, making it easier to find. Pliers, needle nose and regular, a mini hacksaw, the soldering iron, all came along. I soon had the collection shown on the picnic table, all of which fit into one small toolbox, which fits nicely in the “attic”. The attic is a lockable tool box on the truck, wherein lives a few other tools, along with the boards and blocks needed to level the trailer on just about any site. A four-way spinner lug wrench, a torque wrench, and a buck saw, reside here as well. Over a year of living full-time in the Silver ‘Rita, the choices made that day in the garage have held up well. I found it useful to have some duplicates inside the trailer, such as a set of screwdrivers, a pliers and a small adjustable wrench. There are screws, nuts and bolts inside which work loose, and need tightening, but may not be worth putting on shoes or a coat, to retrieve a tool box from the attic, but should be attended to before it develops to a big problem.

I just finished a job, of adjusting the shower handle hot water limiter adjustment, which needed various sized allen wrenches. Now, the shower gets nice and hot, not just lukewarm. Then, with that folding set of allen wrenches in hand, did another little chore on the Hensley hitch, to lube the pivot arms. Somewhere, somehow, I set the allen wrenches down instead of returning them to the tool box. Hopefully, someone has given them a new home, and, I will remember to buy a replacement before I am hundreds of miles from a store and immobilized by a set screw needing adjustment….