What Will Be The Most Useful Tools To Have? (farm, grain, house)
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If TSHTF, what tools will you need? Which will be indispensable, which will be luxuries, and which will be a total waste of time, given that the power grid may be down, and gasoline either unavailable or too pricey?
Being a sort of tool freak guy myself, I sat down and made a list of some of the activities that my family and I would have to engage in to keep some semblance of a comfortable life. I was a bit shocked to find how many tools we'd need that we either don't have, or don't even know where to find.
What tools would you need to purify water, till a garden, take care of livestock? How about cutting wood or constructing a small out building? What kind of stoves (both heating and cooking) would you be considering? How would you grind home-grown grain? Start a fire? Provide for lighting, both inside and out? Manage injuries and illnesses? So much to think about!
Personally, I think that sharp cutting tools will be very much in demand -- things like chain saws, axes, bow saws, circular and carpentry saws, knives and pruners, loppers, scissors, hatchets, etc. This is just one category all by itself!
Would like to see some ideas here, that we can all share with each other, and maybe some of us will come up with ideas that others will find helpful. You tool guys and gals, enjoy yourselves and have at it!
A water filter or tablets would take care of water.
My grandparents tilled a garden for many years with nothing buy a simple hoe.
Livestock? If you're not doing it now, I don't see you starting when the TSHTF.
Outside lighting? Probably not gonna be any. Inside lighting? A judicious use of candles and the fireplace. A few people may be able to rig up some type of wind generator. You need to expect your comfort level to drop considerably. You should have a plan that does not require the use of any power, electricity, etc.
You need some good hand saws, nails, hammers, axes, wedges, etc.
There are a lot of threads on here already that discuss a number of the issues you have raised.
Joe is right. A lot depends on comfort levels. If there is no power you can scratch them chain saws. gas stations don't pump gas with no power.
I moved to where I am in Dec 06. There was no garden there wasn't any soil for a garden, but there is now and I made the soil composting like a mad man. I still am, and I guess at this point I am addicted to composting in amounts of apx 12 cu yd's a season.
The garden area is 60x100 now. Watering that area is just barley do-able by hand from a brook.
But in shtf what else will I have to do?
I hand dug up the hard pan, and carried off rock, so whats there can be maintained by hand as is. Last week I tripped on a tool I don't know the name of. It has 5 tines like a farm hourse drawn rake, or like lance heads curved in under itself. The date is Dec 25 1900! It might be a cultivator.
Water can be boiled..... Fire can be from flint and steel for 2nd fire, and for first fire a bow drill works. A bow drill can be combined for the char making part for those who can't manage a bow drill for the whole thing. In other words a flint and steel needs something charred.
I am not talking moon metal gimicks called flint and steel I mean the real thing.
I have a lot of hand tools now, but am missing some I sure would like.
I would like a one man slave whip, and a 2 man slave whip, plus a 2 man rip saw. (Pit saw)
I old rivet forge insures you can have tools at your own making.
A treadle sewiing machine would be handy. Mine is for making tall boots, but can make anything any other machine can make in clothings.
Manage injuries and illnesses is going to be a pproblem for everyone, maybe to include doctors. A doctor with no access to meds is nearly useless. With out hand surgical tools and meds he is doomed to knowing what the matter is, but helpless to do much about anything serious.
In a real shtf life expectancy will drop. Getting hurt bad will have a whole other meaning.
Night time illumination will be a problem. Simple fat lamps can work in some situations. I make these from sea shells, a bit of moss, and raccoon fat. It takes about 3 to be able to read in the dark.
People will find their modern homes are almost useless in shtf. If you live somewhere heat is required a decent wood stove will be a must have. Fire places just waste wood and really don't make much heat. That heat just goes out the chimbley.
A lad i 'borrowed' a house that was closed up for winter. It had a working fire place, and if I closed off the rest of the house which I did with blankets in the door ways I could almost heat that one room. As I slept on the floor, one side was too hot, and if I rolled over it was too cold and I could see my breath. I either brought water, or melted snow to get water. It was a cool place to shack up for skiing none the less.
Maybe a 12 volt gennie can be wind rigged. I think I can, but haven't tried. It would charge a car battery, when the wind was strong enough to turn simple blades, and might be able to be run off man power. The idea would be to turn bearing mounted gennie that don't offer a lot of bushing friction. The belt drive for the wind side would have to spin the gennie at 2,800 rpm, as would a man power pully. This could be no less than 4 to 1 ratio. A pedal bike also might have parts to scavange for this idea.
Each individual situation will be different. A lot of creativity will be demanded.
Being a sort of tool freak guy myself, I sat down and made a list of some of the activities that my family and I would have to engage in to keep some semblance of a comfortable life. I was a bit shocked to find how many tools we'd need that we either don't have, or don't even know where to find.
Personally, I think that sharp cutting tools will be very much in demand -- things like chain saws, axes, bow saws, circular and carpentry saws, knives and pruners, loppers, scissors, hatchets, etc. This is just one category all by itself
I'm also a bit of a tool freak. My garage is pretty well stocked in that regard. Ignoring the particulars of any specific hypothetical, and just answering generally:
Landscaping tools: I have an whole garage full of them. I pretty much know already which tend to be the most commonly used tools for the widest variety of jobs a person may come across, reflected in list below.
If I had to grab 5 of the most all-purpose tools to throw in a truck, it would probably be:
(1) Pointed long handled shovel,
(2) Short-handled spaded shovel (most important tool),
(3) Hard rake,
(4) Mattock (second most important tool),
(5) and maybe cultivator, which is essential for gardening. I prefer it to a hoe.
If I could throw in a soft leaf rake, that might be a bonus, but that's more of a finishing and clean-up tool than a true working tool. I have like 50 other landscaping tools besides that.... lopping shears, hand clippers, several blowers, the works.... but to avoid redundancy, I end it there. If I'm bringing an axe or construction saw with me anyway, I don't really need redundant gear.
Carpentry tools: I also have a whole garage full of carpentry tools. Most of them require mains power, so that's not all that helpful, but still.... plenty of non-powered tools to bring along.
If I had to grab a few tools from my garage to pack up, they might be:
(1) 2 foot framing square [I could probably make due with (2)] .
(2) Small 45 degree square
(3) Midweight Hammer
(4) 2 or 4 foot level. I'd sure hate to leave my 6 or 8 footer behind, but I suspect they would just be more trouble than they are worth, even though I tend to use my bigger ones more than my smaller ones.
(5) Mid weight axe and my Gerber Backpaxe
(6) 100 foot roll of poly sheeting
(7) Brace and bit
(8) Rip hand saw
(9) Bow saw.
(10) Tape measure.
(11) Chalk line (doubles as string line)
(12) One or two chisels.
I have a couple 45 pound boxes of nails and railroad tie spikes of various sizes, along with tons of rebar of all different lengths. Whether I would bring any of that would be entirely situational dependent.
A lightweight/high-strength rope and lightweight pulley system that I got from Harbor Freight might come with me also, as it could be useful for lifting logs or branches.
Also, I have a small box of clear plastic plumbing tubing (about 50 feet) with a very compact plumbing box that has miscellaneous fittings that could come along. Might be useful for a makeshift water system.
This somewhat assumes that my goal is to actually build something substantial. And since we're doing tool-talk, I figure I might as well just make that my hypothetical.
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The reality of it is, I would just grab every damn thing I could and pack it in my car or truck, and wherever I ended up, I'd sort through it at a later time, as to what I might actually bring with me to a final destination.
If need be, I can probably easily whittle that carpentry tools list down to stuff that just fits in my quite large 4000 cubic-inch backpack. I'd ditch the 2 foot square and see what else doesn't fit..... but most of what is listed can easily get stuffed into, or on, my pack.
Unfortunately, I don't have a prayer of carrying any of those landscaping tools if I had to hump it on foot, other than maybe the spaded shovel, which is light and small enough.
Last edited by FreedomThroughAnarchism; 02-23-2011 at 06:13 PM..
Interesting thread, it does make you think what you would actually need.
A good knife is a given for eating, processing game, peeling vegetables, making tools.
A good single bit ax or double bit ax for cutting timber, chopping wood, building shelters.
A good hand ax for finer work and the back may be used as a hammer. A shingle ax is a good choice for it's versitility.
A good wood chisel. With a chisel and ax you can use mortise and tennon joints for building and cutting holes for pegs that can be whittled with the knife or hand ax so you don't need nails.
A good bow saw for all the obvious reasons.
I wouldn't carry a level or square as the egyptians found ways to build the pyramids using an aframe and an f frame and a weight and string (plum bob) to find level. Worked for them and the materials for making them are all around.
Most gardening implements can be made from wood or bone such as a scapula or shoulder blade attached to a pole becomes a hoe. I would bring a good spade though as steel is much better for digging than wood, but wood works.
A plow can be made from wood, or stone can be attached to make a blade for better cutting, but you still need something to pull the plow.
If you want to combine tools, the firefighters polanski combines an ax with a ground breaking tool, or it could be sharpened and used as an adz for shaping logs.
Knowing how to carve and knap stone will allow you to make eating utensils such as bowls and spoons, hunting tackle by making bows and arrows, spears and atl-atls.
Stone can make axes, knives, arrowheads, can grind grain, squeeze oil out of fat or crush fruits, break bones to get the marrow for soup, scrape hides for making leather, anything you need to keep going. Stone can even make you a good house or shelter with minimal knowledge or shaping required. Clay can serve as mortar for setting stone in walls, so you have all the materials you need just lying around. Stone can shape or cut stone too, but a hammer or back of a hand ax works better.
Knowledge is the best tool. What you carry in your head is the best tool for survival.
Medical supplies, well you can get some medicine from plants, but you really have to know what you are doing or you will poision yourself as many plants in small quantities have medicianal properties, but in even moderate amounts can be very toxic.
If you aren't around people, most of the medical knowledge you will find handy would be how to stop bleeding, set bone, or stich up holes in your hide. Pulling a tooth would also be good.
You won't have the knowledge skill or ablity to do major surgery on yourself or others, so I wouldn't even consider that as a possiblity. Old things that used to kill like appendisitis that are now a quick operation, would come back and kill again. Some people have the ability to operate, but wouldn't have anesthetics so the operation would be beyond painful.
Knowing what to eat and how to preserve foods would help reduce the toxins that cause food poisoning in all it's forms.
Going from a 21st century existence to what would basically be a paleolithic hunter gatherer would be a huge transition for anybody. Some could cope and others won't.
The tools you carry help make life easier, but in the end it is your will to survive and adapt that will carry you through any situation. That is your best tool and best chance to survive
Great ideas, everyone! I've already added several things to my own list (some of which I'm sure I have around here someplace...) from your suggestions.
I disagree that lighting up outdoors would be a no-go. I just bought 4-12V LED spotlights (560 lumens each)to mount at the 4 corners of any structure, and connect all to a single 12V battery. This could sit in the attic, charged with no more than a 25w solar panel. All the units would be locked into the "on" position on the switches, and the juice applied remotely with a switch from downstairs. Hear a noise? Flip the switch! This should be a fun project!
Well everyone has plenty of their own ideas, all very noteworthy, none of them I would shrug off.
Lately, I am thinking like 'Primitive Pete'
How can I make modern convienences work...the old-fashioned way?
The one thing that keeps coming back to me is power to drive something mechanical.
I have concluded that plenty of useful equipment, machines, etc. can be driven with a bicycle. The more speeds, the better. All you would need to do is secure it in place with the right belts, pulleys and gearing....and VOILA, perpetual power (provided you keep pedalin)
So, if there is 'one' thing that would be the most useful in a variety of ways, I vote the Bike.
I have a big collection of antique lamps of all sorts: burning fluid (mix of alcohol and turpentine in a specific ratio), whale oil, lard, grease, acetylene, gas, gasoline, kerosene...
I figure something will be at hand for at least one of them, whether it's wood gas from a gasifier, fat from a bear or such, vegetable oil to burn in the whale oil lamps, or some kerosene still around...
For outdoor lighting, use lanterns (oil, gas, candle, etc.), or torches...
Micro-hydro power or steam power could prove useful for a power supply...
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The more speeds, the better. All you would need to do is secure it in place with the right belts, pulleys and gearing....and VOILA, perpetual power (provided you keep pedalin) 
