[rescue] Tool kits?

[William Enestvedt]

Dave Kindred wrote:
>
> For basic screwdrivers, buy the red handled "specials" at
> Sears (usually $0.99 to $1.99 each).
>
   Sound advice, and that's what I carry in my bag -- but I sometimes
need to keep my tools at home. and we have...a purchasing Policy.
<horror movie SFX of the killer bursting into the room go here> It's
easier to bring in my own stuff, or order a $300 kit, than to get an "a
la carte" collection of tools from Sears expensed. (I sigh a lot.)
>
> When you find any equipment that uses something "special", go and
> buy more of those, they will also disappear.
>
   Very true. I'm the only Sun guy on campus, so I often label things
"Sun only" to keep them from, you know, ever being picked up. I also
label them "Stolen from Data Center" on at east two sides: shame, it
seems, is a very flexible and powerful deterrent!
>
> In this day and age remember both metric and non.  Cheap sockets are
> worse than nothing, go with the good ones.
>
   At home, my daughter's cheap steel bike has, I think, both standard
and metric nuts. God help me.
   And are you slagging off Harbor Freight specifically with that crack
about cheap sockets?!  :7)
   Years back I spent $8 for a tiny set of sockets and screw driver bits
that go into a finger-length ratchet handle. It looked like typical
Radio Shack junk that I expected to fail in a few weeks, but I use it to
this day. So you never know what's going to turn out to be a gem!
>
> Make sure you buy ones you like (strippers in particular), too many
> don't work well (at least for me).
>
   Want to name any good or bad brands?
>
> A couple of adjustable wrenches and pliers are useful when all else
> fails.  There are times when you need two of one size, so adjustables
> are handy in place of two sets of sockets or wrenches.
>
   Duly noted.
>
>     William> - Crimper for RJ45 & RJ11 (plus jacks!)
>
> Again be careful.  Make sure you buy one you are comfortable with.
>
   Hah! Around here, no one makes cables, they _order_ them.
>
> A toolbox with a lock if you expect the tools to be there
> when you need them.
>
   Like I said, I made up a bunch of "Sun only" and "UNIX-specifc"
labels to keep away the riff-raff. I love my Brother model 65 label
printer!
>
> A keyhole saw and drywall knife if you run any cables through
> walls.
>
   Actually, I'm not allowed to. :7) And especially not in the newly
remodeled Data Center!
>
> A flashlight or three.
>
   I have a Photon Freedom Micro light that I just bought, and I love
it: www.photonlight.com/products/freedom_micro (I even bought one for my
wife: we use them to sneak aroudn the house while the kids sleep, so we
don't have to turn on lights or blunder into furniture.)
>
> And of course, a large hammer.  You always need a large hammer :)
>
   My big brother says, "We'll need to implement a BFH solution."
"What's 'BFH' mean?" "A Big F****g Hammer."
   All good ideas, thanks for them. If I can't shop myself and get it
expensed, I'll just send an itemized, nine-page Purchase Requisition
through. (It worked for the fiberglass ladder from Lowe's!)
-wde
--
Will Enestvedt
UNIX System Administrator
Johnson & Wales University -- Providence, RI