Tools for the Road

This blog's tagline is "tools, things and ideas". When I started writing it, as an exercise in putting my thoughts into essay form, I reached into my pocket and pulled out what I carry around. I wrote about those things as a start. Since then, I have written much more about ideas than tools and so I am trying to make up for that a bit.


Years in the making, the "kit".

My on-the-go tool kit is designed for general adjustment and repair of whatever I might encounter while out and about, as well as working on small things on the bench. It includes drivers, pliers, tweezers, probes, saws and visual aids and chemicals (such as adhesives and thread locker) all in a compact form.

If you click on the link under the picture, you can expand each of the four images into a larger and more satisfying size. You can probably identify quite a few of the items, but not all of them. The screwdriver set is a trusty Wiha roll kit, no longer made so far as I can tell. It is about 20 years old now, and is still my favorite. Wiha tools are very high quality and I have several of their screwdriver sets. I highly recommend them. In the roll are also a pair of excellent Swiss Erem tweezers*, and a "probe" I fabricated from a dental pick which serves many purposes included lock-pick and CD drawer ejector.

I am going to leave the other tools for later posts as I could write a few thousand words on what is in that kit and that's not a task for now. If you have any questions about the items in the photos, please use the address at the top of the blog sidebar and email me about it.

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* If you need some tweezers like them, check DealExtreme, but give yourself plenty of time because you won't be able to stop clicking.

A Real Multitool for the Pocket

This Father's Day my family gave me a great gift, a Skeletool. The Skeletool is the visually confusing next-generation multitool from Leatherman.


"Ooo... what is it? I mean, how do you open it?"

I already owned a Leatherman Wave and like it as much as I can like any multitool (which is limited, since they are never quite right). But the Wave is big and heavy and is definitely not comfortable in the pocket. The sheath has a nice horizontal carry option but it is still a burden and frankly rather geeky for EDC (Every Day Carry).

Enter Skeletool. Here's a minimalist multitool: knife, screwdriver(s), pliers, cutters (hard and soft wire), and the very important bottle opener which doubles as a 'biner to clip the tool to a convenient loop. (Or maybe the carabiner is the doubling as a bottle opener, this may remain an eternal debate...) In any case, here's a tool with the essentials that weighs in about about five ounces, is geek-sexy as all get out, and made very nicely. It's belt clip holds it nicely in the pocket, and while it is decidedly thicker and heavier than my 3" single-bladed folder, it is also has decidedly more utility.

The blade is beefy, and has a nice profile that provides a working point and a tip that works very well for things like package opening, and a broad body that does well on cutting line and straps. The screwdriver uses Leatherman's machined down 1/4 hex bits and offers two choices (two phillips and two straight edge) with spare bit storage in the handle that works well. The pliers/cutters benefit from the lessons Leatherman has learned from previous versions and feature a strong box joint and excellent fit and finish. The bottle opener works reasonably well, and the carabiner clip retains the cap, whether by serendipity or design I don't know.

So, bottom line, if you want a pocket-sized multitool that is eminently carry-able while providing genuine utility, take a look at a Skeletool. The price is reasonable for the quality, or, you can have six kids and wait a few years until they buy you one.

Tools for Old Eyes

I got my first pair of glasses at 30. Though the opthamologist said she didn't usually write a prescription for such a small correction, I insisted. You see, I had started spending a lot of time in front of a CRT and I had noticed a curious thing, the periods looked like little ringed planets, and the rings—parallel to the ground with a level head—moved to whatever angle my head was tilted.

This was disturbing to me. I'd always had excellent vision. I had to do something about it. So, off I went, to the opthamologist. It turns out, no surprise, that my problem was astigmatism. Combined with a need for considerably more light and some presbyopia, I now find that I need visual tools for everyday life.

The Bigger Picture

I have my glasses of course, but I also carry a Bausch & Lomb 10X Loupe with a Hastings Triplet lens. It is a lovely little piece of glass.



A 7X Version of the B&L Loupe, Which I also Own

A triplet is a compound lens, three separate lenses cemented together. This technique produces an exceptionally flat field and minimal chromatic aberration (distortions of color). A 10x loupe requires a bit of skill to use because it has a very short working distance. The B&L glass has a focal length 2.5 cm. This is the distance from the center of the lens to the point of focus. The working distance, measured from the face of the lens closest to the subject works out to only 2 cm, though, and your eye must be symmetrically placed on the other side of the glass. The depth of field is small, about 3 mm, so the position is critical. Learning to use it is well worth the effort, though. You can see things that are literally invisible otherwise. This approaches the magical. Aside from the practical benefits, there are new and interesting things about otherwise very familiar objects. Fun, fun, fun.

The B&L glass will run about $40.00 USD, but it is worth the investment. The ~$15.00 USD Belemo Triplet Loupe has excellent reviews, though I have never used it. It has a larger field, but in photos I detect aberrations at the edges so it may not be usefully larger. Still, the low price makes it attractive.

Shedding Some Light

As I mentioned before, I have become progressively dependent on more light (and the resulting higher contrast). Reading serial numbers, part numbers, and the like—particularly in the poor lighting of ordinary rooms—has become impossible.

The best solution I have found so far is my other constant companion, a Streamlight Stylus with a white LED. The 12 candela of lovely photon flux does the trick. The unreadable becomes readable, the indistinguishable becomes distinguished. It takes a good 10 years off my eyes.

The Stylus is a slim, pen-like light that will set you back around $15.00 USD including a set of batteries. At about 15 cm, it is somewhat longer than most pens, but it isn't so long that it can't find a home in your pocket. It is very well made with a drawn aluminum body with a machined brass threaded section for the screwdown aluminum top. It is certainly rugged and will stand up to being treated without special care and probably some abuse.

White LEDs are wonderful things, though they are so common today we take them for granted. A white LED is really a blue LED with a phosphor that is excited by the LED output. You can see the yellowish goop over the LED die, that is the phosphor. The tendency of white LEDs to be bluish, especially at the center is due to the underlying blue chip.

White LEDs require relatively high voltage to operate. Most LEDs are happy at 3V, which can be supplied by two cells. The white guys want at least 4V. This leaves manufacturers two options: use 3 cells in the light or a charge pump that trades current for voltage and steps up the 3V to something that makes the white LED more happy.

The Stylus takes the easier way out and uses three cells. Unfortunately, to make it slim enough to be a real pocketable light, Streamlight chose decidedly oddball and disturbingly expensive AAAA battery. Yes, that's four A's. You've probably never seen one, but imagine the next step from AA to AAA to... really small. The low current-hunger of the LED means a set of these little guys lasts a reasonably long time. Still, at around $4.00 USD for a set of 3, the battery situation is almost a show-stopper. Almost. Fortunately, there is a hackish solution.