Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Don't Forget the Nails and Other Little Things

A lot of kits and advice talk about the big flashy important things: guns and food. But often neglect the little things.

A good tool kit will need things like hammers and screwdrivers but do you have nails and screws? If you have a saw do you have a file and stone to keep it sharp and some oil to keep it from rusting.

Have you taken the time to think though all the maintenance requirements your main supplies need?

How many cartoons are there that have a character stuck on a deserted island with lots of canned food but no can opener? The old saying of 2 is 1 and 1 is none is something to remember. Do you have at least two can openers? You could cut the can open with a Ginzu but that has its own hazards.

Like a taking care of a good pair of leather shoes, you need the right things to take care of them; like leather cleaner, shoe polish, rags and brushes. Guns need cleaning rods, patches, and lubricants.

Your car has things that need replacing from time to time; belts, hoses, and filters. You might want to try doing it at least once so you know how to do it. Keep the old ones in the trunk as spares with the tools needed to do the job. Just in case you have to do it on the side of the road.

How about at home? Do you have the stuff and knowledge needed to fix, for example, a broken pipe, like a pipe cutter, small length of pipe, connectors and soldering supplies?

What else do you think you would need on hand?