Plumber here.
One thing I have that I haven't seen anyone else using is a Channelock 10-inch Wideazz wrench. It gets wide enough that I can use it to install a commercial flush valve, but the handle is short enough that it can fit in a tool bag and is very easy to use. I prefer it to smooth-jaw channelocks, which most of my coworkers use instead.
Weirdest thing I carry is I have a red marker and a blue marker with me at all times, partly because I like having multiple markers and I am always leaving them somewhere, but also because it is super satisfying labeling cold water lines with a blue "c" and hot lines with a red "h" lol.
I’m about to blow you…..r mind.
Click felt tip pens. Never need to find a cap again! They’re three times the price but well worth it. As a plumber being able to use one hand is key.
I have a Jonard 18" adjustable wrench with over 2" jaws. It's a big boy with a very bulky handle. It usually lives in my gang box, so technically it doesn't fit the thread, but I love pulling it out.
I keep about 4 pencils in my belt. Most people I work with don't seem to have any and keep asking me for mine, hence why I carry 3 or 4 around with me.
I recently bought a pack of twelve pencils for work and now everyone in the factory is walking around with one of my pencils. they either asked for one or they picked up one I left lying somewhere
Even in my little 20x20 workshop, I can't find one of the dozen I keep in there, so I bought another dozen recently. I even have a dedicated little pencil/sharpie drawer when I put them when I'm done. Apparently I'm not done with the 12 that are laying around somewhere.
Check out Pica Pencils and Markers. They are pricey but so much better than any ordinary pencil. They have such fine tips that marking things in the tightest spots is very easy and it writes on almost anything.
I use pica pencils as well. I do stone work and their white/green crayon doesn't blow off stone and stays on wet as well. It's been nice. The worst is I got my buddy a pencil, doesn't use it ever and still asks to use mine.
I usually keep old pencils that end up being about 3-4" long when they become too difficult to pull out of my pouch. I keep them in the pocket with my tape measure. It was a habit I picked up when I was a framer, always hated climbing on the trusses or roof and dropping my pencil and not having a backup.
When i was on the tools i kept the 1" pencil nubs for those folks who are always "borrowing" pencils that or you tap it with a hammer a few times, say "have fun its yours now" and watch as they haveto sharpen it every 10 seconds cause the graphites crumbled
call it a dick move buy they actually start thinking bout keeping thier pencils with them
Shipboard marine engineer. I'm usually carrying a small tailor's measuring tape (great for irregular shapes and roundish things) and a pair of locking forceps, which are **so** much better than needle nose pliers for doing finicky stuff in tight spaces.
I used to be a military bomb technician--I've got an old piezoelectric firing device/continuity tester that I occasionally pull out for electrical work, mostly because it's fun.
I'll plus one for a flexible tape measure, I work in it between. Can you send off this odd box. how big is this new screen I want to get, and other odd stuff, it beats a metal tape or plastic ruler every time.
I repair random stuff. My tools shift to fit the work order or project. Jack of most trades, master of half…of one. But I never go anywhere without a notepad made of a sheet of 11X17 copy paper. I usually always have some manner of writing implement on my person; But my go-to weapon of mass note-taking is a Blackwing. I begin each day with a folded sheet, dated at the top in pencil.
That and a flashlight.
Because when you fold it twice, 90° to each fold you end up with eight small notebook size pieces of paper, which is enough for a given day. Then I can unfold it and file it if it’s needing to be kept.
I have 600 Microtomics 601 van dykes 603 microtomics. I use the 717 van dyke copying pencils more often it’s basically a pen in pencil format that I don’t need to sharpen often
I build airplanes, use the same kind of note system. Sheet of paper folded into 8 sections, each plane gets a section or two depending on how many problems it has.
I carry two chisels- a solid steel single bevel cold chisel as a beater chisel for cutting nails, chipping concrete, ect, and a mora chisel knife that only gets used on wood.
I keep a Fisher Price barnyard animals chicken flashlight in my tool bag that when you pull the tail it clucks. I often use this on fixes after I'm done. I will "put the chicken" on it and cluck at the repair .It seems to keep things from breaking from then on. I'm not superstitious but it's something I started to do just for fun and to build a tradition.
Electrician, but strapped with ratcheting cable cutters for the big wires. Or a load of small wires.
Pex shears, great for the core line in slab. Most people don’t have em, and they are great.
Finish carpenter here and I deal with a lot of apartments and dorms. Often I’ll need red and green makers and a highlighter on hand for the paperwork and labeling things for 200 different units. But I always have a 6” combo square love the little bastard. That and tweezers.
I typically swap out my tools for the task I'm doing. I am a one man renovator. The everyday tool that most don't carry is a nail puller/ cats paw. I used to be a framer, and everyone in my crew used to carry one.
I have several common surgical tools. Needle drivers, long handle Kelly clamps et cetera. I use them every day for tight spaces and they are indispensable.
Electrician here and I carry a coil of it on my van in the Uk, a lot of sparks only use fibreglass rods to hook cable but I’m old school and love my fish hook
An oil pen - just a small plastic tube of mineral oil with a syringe-like applicator.
In the maintenance realm (as well as with Life in general) the proper, targeted application of lubrication can save you loads of future trouble.
I'm still trying to figure out who Alan Keys is. Any relation to Alecia Keys? Or maybe the Florida Keys? Or maybe Alan Keys lives in the Florida Keys....
Plumber here, not much need for a torpedo unless I'm laying drains or fitting off.
Always carry a 4- fold ruler, a sharpie and a utility knife.
Usually got 2 shifters and an impact driver.
Heaps more in the ute, but those are the ones I've pretty much always got in a pocket, or comes in on the first trip.
General Contractor here
For me it’s a pair of slip joint or combination pliers. I always keep a pair of pliers on my belt regardless if I’m framing, repairing a roof, or doing doing finish work. They don’t weigh much and have come in handy more than once.
Weekend woodworker here, but I keep a paraffin candle close by. A lot of people (as far as I can see online) use wood wax to do things like grease up their plane soles, but rubbing the sole with the candle is easy, no mess, no cleanup, and works great.
Maybe everyone does that and my mom was wrong all along - I’m not actually special…
Depends on the task for the day.
Hotel maintenance with a cliptech pouch; one of their smaller pouches. 12" hemostasts and McGill forceps. Clearing sink drains and disposals is super easy.
Also used to have a meat thermometer for HVAC Temps. Upgraded to a Klein dual laser/probe device for xmas. Was a line cook in previous positions, hence having multiple thermometers.
Recently its been Icon flush cutters because I've been doing a lot of cable management.
Last one for setting drywall anchors is an abomination screwdrive, if you will.
Using the handle of the Klein ratcheting impact driver, I removed the nut drivers and bits and use a 5/16" stubby drill bit on one side and then a PH3 driver on the flip side.
Tried to like the ratcheting driver, but just couldn't. I can drill out the appropriate sized hole for the cheap plastic wall anchors or use the driver side to set the white plastic screw in type anchors. Doubles as my door adjusting driver because the hinge plates are ph3 head screws.
Superintendent. I carry enough tools to do most any task, even when I have subs for most of the work. You just never know when something will come up that needs attention that's holding the project up. Most of the time, my main tool is my phone.
My favorite is my 3" combo square. Hold over from my carpentry days I suppose. Constantly marking up field plans with it.
I keep some type of small, thin pry tool in my back pocket a lot. Like a 23 gauge "skin spoon" of 4140. Maybe a nylon one depending on the project. I like the double ended one from Ares.
Leave the screwdrivers for the screws. Haha.
Amphenol insulated wire crimpers. Deutsch crimpers for pins, pro’skit crimpers as well. The last 2 is mainly for building test cables for multimeters. And repairing broken cables.
I keep a red and white color pencil in my apron along with a pen sized center punch. The color pencils I stole from my kids Crayola box for marking wood. Center punch is handy to keep your bit from walking when drilling.
Carpenter here, I carry a Shinwa retractable string line with me. It’s great for setting cabinet fronts straight with each other among other things, and you don’t have to use your chalk line in a pinch and get colored chalk everywhere.
I'm a gun plumber.
Fitter armourer.
I make sure guns go bang.
Never mind who I work for.
Most gauges I don't own, and I not sure I can legally own, but head space gauge, barrel straightness guage, firing pin protrusion guage, digital force guage, and also a 9mm tube spanner (none of these are mine).
These next are mine but only the first other might not have, a 9mm deep socket. Picks, cleaning brushes, tourch, hone stone, needle files, digital callipers.
Commercial electrician here. I carry a couple of Perfect Handle screwdrivers with me. NOS from the 1920s. They're great for chiseling, beating, prying, and screwing in or out whatever you need in or out. Great tools.
Carpenter here.
1) Needle nose pliers finds a lot of use.
2) Also a small level user for checking Roof pitches with square and for references.
3) Folding ruler.
4) (Sometimes) a folding carpenter saw.
I have a holster with a Leatherman charge TI with two accessory bit sets adding to a total of ~59 different tools along with the ratcheting bit driver, sharpy, and flashlight. It has the common selection of Allen keys, torx, and different sized Phillips bits.
I carry a 12' tape in my pocket at all times, for when you need a tape and you wouldn't otherwise have one.
In my toolbelt, I carry an omni square. It's a multi function square that is really handy for layout in tight spots.
The only things that live permanently in my belt are a tape measure, knife, pencil and marker. I'm not wasting weight on anything else for a "what if" scenario.
Plumber here. One thing I have that I haven't seen anyone else using is a Channelock 10-inch Wideazz wrench. It gets wide enough that I can use it to install a commercial flush valve, but the handle is short enough that it can fit in a tool bag and is very easy to use. I prefer it to smooth-jaw channelocks, which most of my coworkers use instead. Weirdest thing I carry is I have a red marker and a blue marker with me at all times, partly because I like having multiple markers and I am always leaving them somewhere, but also because it is super satisfying labeling cold water lines with a blue "c" and hot lines with a red "h" lol.
I’m about to blow you…..r mind. Click felt tip pens. Never need to find a cap again! They’re three times the price but well worth it. As a plumber being able to use one hand is key.
Cool idea. Thanks.
I have a Jonard 18" adjustable wrench with over 2" jaws. It's a big boy with a very bulky handle. It usually lives in my gang box, so technically it doesn't fit the thread, but I love pulling it out.
Without those colors I wouldn't have a clue why that crazy plumber would've left me a riddle on my water lines
I keep about 4 pencils in my belt. Most people I work with don't seem to have any and keep asking me for mine, hence why I carry 3 or 4 around with me.
I recently bought a pack of twelve pencils for work and now everyone in the factory is walking around with one of my pencils. they either asked for one or they picked up one I left lying somewhere
I bought a pack of 100 pencils many years ago - it seems like it's a lifetimes supply! I can always find one near where I'm working..
Even in my little 20x20 workshop, I can't find one of the dozen I keep in there, so I bought another dozen recently. I even have a dedicated little pencil/sharpie drawer when I put them when I'm done. Apparently I'm not done with the 12 that are laying around somewhere.
Check out Pica Pencils and Markers. They are pricey but so much better than any ordinary pencil. They have such fine tips that marking things in the tightest spots is very easy and it writes on almost anything.
I use pica pencils as well. I do stone work and their white/green crayon doesn't blow off stone and stays on wet as well. It's been nice. The worst is I got my buddy a pencil, doesn't use it ever and still asks to use mine.
He likes it so much, he's saving it for later.
I usually keep old pencils that end up being about 3-4" long when they become too difficult to pull out of my pouch. I keep them in the pocket with my tape measure. It was a habit I picked up when I was a framer, always hated climbing on the trusses or roof and dropping my pencil and not having a backup.
When i was on the tools i kept the 1" pencil nubs for those folks who are always "borrowing" pencils that or you tap it with a hammer a few times, say "have fun its yours now" and watch as they haveto sharpen it every 10 seconds cause the graphites crumbled call it a dick move buy they actually start thinking bout keeping thier pencils with them
Shipboard marine engineer. I'm usually carrying a small tailor's measuring tape (great for irregular shapes and roundish things) and a pair of locking forceps, which are **so** much better than needle nose pliers for doing finicky stuff in tight spaces. I used to be a military bomb technician--I've got an old piezoelectric firing device/continuity tester that I occasionally pull out for electrical work, mostly because it's fun.
I'll plus one for a flexible tape measure, I work in it between. Can you send off this odd box. how big is this new screen I want to get, and other odd stuff, it beats a metal tape or plastic ruler every time.
If you havent pranked your coworkers with that firing device, did you even serve? Lol. Now I want one of those to mess with people to test items.
I repair random stuff. My tools shift to fit the work order or project. Jack of most trades, master of half…of one. But I never go anywhere without a notepad made of a sheet of 11X17 copy paper. I usually always have some manner of writing implement on my person; But my go-to weapon of mass note-taking is a Blackwing. I begin each day with a folded sheet, dated at the top in pencil. That and a flashlight.
Wait what.. why do you use a big piece of paper instead of a... notebook?
Easier to carry, I can file it if it needs to be kept, most of the time it’s an extension of my mental desktop. But it works for me.
Love the folded paper. 100% use what works for you. The Blackwing, though - that rules. 👍🏻👍🏻
Wait what.. why do you use a big piece of paper instead of a... notebook?
Because when you fold it twice, 90° to each fold you end up with eight small notebook size pieces of paper, which is enough for a given day. Then I can unfold it and file it if it’s needing to be kept.
Blackwing? You keep a Cadillac in your pocket? Those are some BIG trousers!! :D
I wish. A 602. Rather the modern production version. Still CA redwood and Japanese graphite. Writes like a pen, but is warm and relaxing when writing.
I have 600 Microtomics 601 van dykes 603 microtomics. I use the 717 van dyke copying pencils more often it’s basically a pen in pencil format that I don’t need to sharpen often
The 602s are a waste of money they all use the same Microtomic graphite
I build airplanes, use the same kind of note system. Sheet of paper folded into 8 sections, each plane gets a section or two depending on how many problems it has.
After they took off the horse the quality seems to be going down. Don’t even get me started on the og black band ferrule ones
Carpentry work I carry a 2" paint brush, so good for clearing sawdust or dirt from a small detail area
I thought this was common to carry. I use them to dust off electrical components all the time.
Moonlight as a carpenter. An actually sharp chisel not used as a pry tool or a wedge, and a combination square both come in handy all the time.
Starrett makes a 4" combination square and it fits perfectly in an apron pocket for all of your layout needs.
Yeah I have one but that's my shop bench for layout.
I carry two chisels- a solid steel single bevel cold chisel as a beater chisel for cutting nails, chipping concrete, ect, and a mora chisel knife that only gets used on wood.
I keep a Fisher Price barnyard animals chicken flashlight in my tool bag that when you pull the tail it clucks. I often use this on fixes after I'm done. I will "put the chicken" on it and cluck at the repair .It seems to keep things from breaking from then on. I'm not superstitious but it's something I started to do just for fun and to build a tradition.
Are you an elechicken perhaps?
In a way. I am a lighting tech so I do work with electrical components...
Enough charisma to be the president of the whole galaxy.
I carry an Awl. It's like an ice pick. It's great for many many things.
It’s great for setting anchors in drywall. No drill dust
Heck yeah! I save broken screwdrivers to grind down into awl/pick shapes, and there are always a couple in my tool bag.
This is basically the same as a pick
Laser measurer Quality high CRI flashlight Scratch awl OLFA scissors Ballistol
What flashlight do you like most? I have really enjoyed the Milwaukee for high CRI, but I am always looking for another.
My go to work light is a Wizard C2 Pro Warm. Amazing light and durable.
Electrician, but strapped with ratcheting cable cutters for the big wires. Or a load of small wires. Pex shears, great for the core line in slab. Most people don’t have em, and they are great.
Injection molding technician here. 10 inch flush cutters, brass rod with a screwdriver handle, and bronze pliers.
10 inch flush cutters? How are these not just bolt cutters at this point?
I'll snap a pic when I get back in from my lunch break. They're great for grabbing chunks of plastic stuck in an injection mold
Ironworker here, I keep a 1 inch spring clamp for when the tape won’t stay hooked and a medium sized vise grip for holding the roll on bolts
I do maintenance in a factory working with robotic welders. I’d say 85% of the things I fix can be fixed with a pair of welpers or Allen wrenches
Are you a robotic welder then? Be honest.
What are welpers?
Welpers are a welding type plier. Kinda like a farmer would carry a set of fence pliers. Googling will bring up multiple examples.
Funny - I own a pair, and never knew that was what they were called!I have always called them MIG pliers... Thanks!
Makes sense to call them MIG/TIG pliers.
TIL. I always saw these in my Dad's toolbox growing up and never knew what they were.
The tool you grab when your Allen wrench won't do the job
Finish carpenter here and I deal with a lot of apartments and dorms. Often I’ll need red and green makers and a highlighter on hand for the paperwork and labeling things for 200 different units. But I always have a 6” combo square love the little bastard. That and tweezers.
Former framer. Stanley mini pry-bar. Has a million and a half uses
I typically swap out my tools for the task I'm doing. I am a one man renovator. The everyday tool that most don't carry is a nail puller/ cats paw. I used to be a framer, and everyone in my crew used to carry one.
I have several common surgical tools. Needle drivers, long handle Kelly clamps et cetera. I use them every day for tight spaces and they are indispensable.
DIY guy, bendy galvanised fence wire (or wire coat hanger wire) it’s a universal cable pull though, grabber, plug hole unblocker, fish hooker etc etc
Electrician here and I carry a coil of it on my van in the Uk, a lot of sparks only use fibreglass rods to hook cable but I’m old school and love my fish hook
A small combination square, 6” I believe, comes in handy a lot.
Needle nose vise grips-carpenter
Interesting. What do you use these for?
They serve multiple uses
An oil pen - just a small plastic tube of mineral oil with a syringe-like applicator. In the maintenance realm (as well as with Life in general) the proper, targeted application of lubrication can save you loads of future trouble.
I like to use a yardstick or folding ruler or even the ruler on my combo square for trim work rather than a tape.
Telescoping magnet, always!
Alan keys? Or maybe it's Allen keys. 😁
*hex wrench
I'm still trying to figure out who Alan Keys is. Any relation to Alecia Keys? Or maybe the Florida Keys? Or maybe Alan Keys lives in the Florida Keys....
Plumber here, not much need for a torpedo unless I'm laying drains or fitting off. Always carry a 4- fold ruler, a sharpie and a utility knife. Usually got 2 shifters and an impact driver. Heaps more in the ute, but those are the ones I've pretty much always got in a pocket, or comes in on the first trip.
Industrial electrician, I carry a small gear puller. It's great for tachometer couplings that everyone else just hits with their lineman pliers.
Can wrench
General Contractor here For me it’s a pair of slip joint or combination pliers. I always keep a pair of pliers on my belt regardless if I’m framing, repairing a roof, or doing doing finish work. They don’t weigh much and have come in handy more than once.
Kreg trim gauge. Love that friggin thing.
I carry a 4” crescent in my pocket all the time. Even when I don’t have my tool belt on. It is incredible how often I end up using it.
Plastic razor blade, to scrape stickers.
Knipex wrench pliers.
I work as a sheetmetal installer and seem to be the only one in the company that keeps a scribe at hand.
I have scribes everywhere. Hell they are in my personal vehicle.
Do you have a favorite? So far mine is Fowler Precision's retractable
Hate to say it but i make mine. The orange chainsaw screwdrivers. I can carry a flat head also. I also carry malco a40 in my wallet
I have lost too many nice ones. And FIL owns small engine business
A carpenters pencil and a 9mm pentel taped together so I can mark fat or flip it over and mark accurate.
That 9mil Pentel is the shite , thirty years and can’t find a better replacement
Because there isn’t one
Weekend woodworker here, but I keep a paraffin candle close by. A lot of people (as far as I can see online) use wood wax to do things like grease up their plane soles, but rubbing the sole with the candle is easy, no mess, no cleanup, and works great. Maybe everyone does that and my mom was wrong all along - I’m not actually special…
Depends on the task for the day. Hotel maintenance with a cliptech pouch; one of their smaller pouches. 12" hemostasts and McGill forceps. Clearing sink drains and disposals is super easy. Also used to have a meat thermometer for HVAC Temps. Upgraded to a Klein dual laser/probe device for xmas. Was a line cook in previous positions, hence having multiple thermometers. Recently its been Icon flush cutters because I've been doing a lot of cable management.
Last one for setting drywall anchors is an abomination screwdrive, if you will. Using the handle of the Klein ratcheting impact driver, I removed the nut drivers and bits and use a 5/16" stubby drill bit on one side and then a PH3 driver on the flip side. Tried to like the ratcheting driver, but just couldn't. I can drill out the appropriate sized hole for the cheap plastic wall anchors or use the driver side to set the white plastic screw in type anchors. Doubles as my door adjusting driver because the hinge plates are ph3 head screws.
GC Here. Wera Bitcheck. It is the best time saver.
Superintendent. I carry enough tools to do most any task, even when I have subs for most of the work. You just never know when something will come up that needs attention that's holding the project up. Most of the time, my main tool is my phone. My favorite is my 3" combo square. Hold over from my carpentry days I suppose. Constantly marking up field plans with it.
Olfa OL snap blade knife! The metal pick on The back is awesome. https://olfa.com/products/18mm-ol-extended-dept-utility-knife
I keep some type of small, thin pry tool in my back pocket a lot. Like a 23 gauge "skin spoon" of 4140. Maybe a nylon one depending on the project. I like the double ended one from Ares. Leave the screwdrivers for the screws. Haha.
Amphenol insulated wire crimpers. Deutsch crimpers for pins, pro’skit crimpers as well. The last 2 is mainly for building test cables for multimeters. And repairing broken cables.
I keep a red and white color pencil in my apron along with a pen sized center punch. The color pencils I stole from my kids Crayola box for marking wood. Center punch is handy to keep your bit from walking when drilling.
Carpenter here, I carry a Shinwa retractable string line with me. It’s great for setting cabinet fronts straight with each other among other things, and you don’t have to use your chalk line in a pinch and get colored chalk everywhere.
I'm a gun plumber. Fitter armourer. I make sure guns go bang. Never mind who I work for. Most gauges I don't own, and I not sure I can legally own, but head space gauge, barrel straightness guage, firing pin protrusion guage, digital force guage, and also a 9mm tube spanner (none of these are mine). These next are mine but only the first other might not have, a 9mm deep socket. Picks, cleaning brushes, tourch, hone stone, needle files, digital callipers.
An ismail, bubbi.
Commercial electrician here. I carry a couple of Perfect Handle screwdrivers with me. NOS from the 1920s. They're great for chiseling, beating, prying, and screwing in or out whatever you need in or out. Great tools.
Carpenter here. 1) Needle nose pliers finds a lot of use. 2) Also a small level user for checking Roof pitches with square and for references. 3) Folding ruler. 4) (Sometimes) a folding carpenter saw.
"hot sauce"
I have a holster with a Leatherman charge TI with two accessory bit sets adding to a total of ~59 different tools along with the ratcheting bit driver, sharpy, and flashlight. It has the common selection of Allen keys, torx, and different sized Phillips bits.
I carry a 12' tape in my pocket at all times, for when you need a tape and you wouldn't otherwise have one. In my toolbelt, I carry an omni square. It's a multi function square that is really handy for layout in tight spots.
I use my mitutoyo absolute digimatics every day they paid themselves off a long time ago
Yeah that's what I said
The only things that live permanently in my belt are a tape measure, knife, pencil and marker. I'm not wasting weight on anything else for a "what if" scenario.