compact travel tool set

[txj2go]

I decided to create a compact tool set for travel since I go to remote places. I needed compact since space is at a premium whether I'm alone or with another person and I need space for clothes, food and camping gear. I wanted to pack the tools into a relatively flat package so they could fit in the rear compartment or maybe under the folded down back seat. I can't pack everything in my garage but I wanted enough variety of tools for most repairs. My father has owned a garage for over 60 years and I worked there in high school and college so I have lots of experience with tools. Back then we did a lot more with SAE than metric so I don't know what metric sizes are needed and which ones aren't.

I bought a small Craftsman set on sale after Thanksgiving, a set or torx "sockets" on Amazon, and a cheap zipper bag on ebay. I had previously bought a set of metric wrenches from Harbor Freight. I dug through my crap and got out an old shoulder bag for the larger tools. I bought some cheap plastic socket rails on ebay. Besides the tools I just bought, I dug out extra pliers, screwdrivers, hammer, etc. from my home tools. Not shown in the photos is a long 1/2" breaker bar and 22mm deep socket that I already carry for lug nuts. I also have jumper cables, tow straps, Lithium Ion jumper pack and small 4 ton bottle jack. (My JLU is running on only one battery so the jump pack will work on it.)

Today I pulled out all of the tools that I intended to carry, mostly metric. I cut down the socket rails so they would fit in my zipper bag. With everything packaged it fits into a space 15" x 18" x 3" high. I don't know yet if under the rear seats or in the rear compartment is the best place, I'll figure that out the next time I pack for a long trip.

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[Heimkehr]

Having used them, tool rolls with pouches are indeed handy to carry a lot of tools in a compact package.

Here's a well-regarded tool roll for such a purpose, and here's a ChiCom copy of the U.S. product.

 

[txj2go]

Having used them, tool rolls with pouches are indeed handy to carry a lot of tools in a compact package.
Here's a well-regarded tool roll for such a purpose, and here's a ChiCom copy of the U.S. product.

Those bags look great, and maybe big enough for all my tools to fit, but the roll bag that I bought was only about $13. The fabric seems to be reasonable quality but the zippers are questionable. What I didn't realize at first is the zippers are short and that limits the maximum length that you can get into the bag. Most of my tools fit but you can see how short I had to cut the socket rails to fit. The longer tools I can fit into a separate bag so that works for me. Everything I bought new for this project was less than $150.
(I bought 2 of those tool roll bags and I use the other one inside the vehicle to carry my little gear such as flashlights, chargers, charge cables, spare batteries, knife, etc.)

 

[Deleted member 73239]

Best tool rolls and bags in the business IMHO. I have had one of their Shop Rolls for years and it still looks like new and holds a lot of tools.
https://adventuretoolcompany.com/

 

[Hotchyy]

Gonna plug jerkingthetrigger.com who sometimes does a detailed review on smaller useful tools.

 

[Shibadog]

I sincerely admire what you’re trying to do here, my only concern is that with the complex electronics on todays rigs I’m not certain the juice is worth the squeeze-specifically what could a guy really repair in the toolies on a current Jeep? if there is an operational issue with the vehicle, other than fuses, I’d think a guy’d be hard pressed To “fix” it without a code reader and even then…. I carry a few basics, just because I always have, a pack of fuses, a come-along, a long synthetic snatch strap and an entrenching tool. Back in the day you could monkey with the carb or distributor and make some field repairs. Today if the injection pump or ECU goes belly up you’re toast until you get new ones. I’d love to be able to fix things myself like we could “in the day”, but not certain it’s feasible.

 

[txj2go]

I sincerely admire what you’re trying to do here, my only concern is that with the complex electronics on todays rigs I’m not certain the juice is worth the squeeze-specifically what could a guy really repair in the toolies on a current Jeep? if there is an operational issue with the vehicle, other than fuses, I’d think a guy’d be hard pressed To “fix” it without a code reader and even then…. I carry a few basics, just because I always have, a pack of fuses, a come-along, a long synthetic snatch strap and an entrenching tool. Back in the day you could monkey with the carb or distributor and make some field repairs. Today if the injection pump or ECU goes belly up you’re toast until you get new ones. I’d love to be able to fix things myself like we could “in the day”, but not certain it’s feasible.

To a great extent you are correct. A lot of repairs, even if we knew the problem, would require sourcing a new component. However if a shock breaks, or an end link or something like that I could at least disconnect it and get it out of the way.
I was once in a strange town returning from a trip when my battery crapped out. Nearby was a garden store and we were stopped in their parking lot trying to figure out what to do. The store was closed but someone was inside working on the books and came out to see what we were doing. Turned out they were part hardware store and sold car batteries, so I bought a battery, installed it with the tools I was carrying, and we were on our way.
I've been on trips with my cousin and his friends way out of town in his converted school bus, and on two different trips we got stranded in the dark with no headlights. Both times I used the multitool in my pocket to fix his headlights so we could continue.
So yes I might get stuck with a vehicle that won't start or run and not be able to fix it, but there might be other nuisances that I can fix, so I'm going to carry some amount of tools with me.

 

[Shibadog]

To a great extent you are correct. A lot of repairs, even if we knew the problem, would require sourcing a new component. However if a shock breaks, or an end link or something like that I could at least disconnect it and get it out of the way.
I was once in a strange town returning from a trip when my battery crapped out. Nearby was a garden store and we were stopped in their parking lot trying to figure out what to do. The store was closed but someone was inside working on the books and came out to see what we were doing. Turned out they were part hardware store and sold car batteries, so I bought a battery, installed it with the tools I was carrying, and we were on our way.
I've been on trips with my cousin and his friends way out of town in his converted school bus, and on two different trips we got stranded in the dark with no headlights. Both times I used the multitool in my pocket to fix his headlights so we could continue.
So yes I might get stuck with a vehicle that won't start or run and not be able to fix it, but there might be other nuisances that I can fix, so I'm going to carry some amount of tools with me.

I’ve had similar experiences-years ago an air cooled VW throttle broke 150 miles from home on a Sunday night. Wired the carb 3/4 open and made it home. Another time the arm holding the generator on an IH Scout broke. Wired the unit up to keep it and the wiring away from the fan and made it 3 miles back to a road and then 20 to home (battery was just about done by then but I made it home. A few good tools can save your bacon-just a lot less that’s doable on new rigs.

 

[txj2go]

I’ve had similar experiences-years ago an air cooled VW throttle broke 150 miles from home on a Sunday night. Wired the carb 3/4 open and made it home. Another time the arm holding the generator on an IH Scout broke. Wired the unit up to keep it and the wiring away from the fan and made it 3 miles back to a road and then 20 to home (battery was just about done by then but I made it home. A few good tools can save your bacon-just a lot less that’s doable on new rigs.

Here's something that's not doable on modern cars-
many years ago I was driving a pickup to another state to deliver to a customer. At some point the distributor came loose and rotated, severely delaying the ignition timing. I was in barren West Texas and pulled off the road next to a small barn with tractors and stuff around. I figured out the problem, rooted around behind the barn and found a scrap of baling wire, then used it to hold the distributor in position so I could continue. With tools I could have tightened the clamp to hold the distributor in position.

I didn't go into the history but when working as a mechanic I had assembled my own little set of SnapOn tools that I used. During college and on I always carried them around with me. At some point I realized that the replacement cost was very high so I bought a much less expensive set of USA Craftsman to carry around with me and left the SnapOn at home. These days I don't do as much mechanic work and have the old Craftsman tools in my roll around tool box, so now I bought the cheap Chinese Craftsman and Harbor Freight tools to carry in the Jeep. I was intending to buy a larger set of Husky or Kobalt but for some reason the stock in local stores has been very low and what I was looking for wasn't available. The cheaper Crafstman set had essentially the same pieces that I wanted with less filler so that's why I bought chinese Craftsman.

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