I'm glad I tossed in a pair of channellock tongue n groove pliers into my tool bag today

[jd_1138]

A friend had me over today at a house he just bought: a fixer upper he will live in with his gf. My tools are not organized, but I quickly put together a set in a tool bag.

Main thing was the attic access panel trim pieces were hanging down with nails sticking out. One side still attached to ceiling with a small strip of duct tape. Looked ugly and is dangerous. The actual panel was leaning against wall. And the previous owner had tried to just duct tape it and it didn't hold. I should have hunted for my nice Torx screws but instead just stopped and bought Phillips screws at a local Ace.

I drilled pilot holes but one of the screws stripped out and was an inch out. Channellocks to the rescue. I used them to rotate the screw in and more or less flush.

Then he asked if I could get the garage man door to shut. I had to work in the dark because the power is still off. I could barely see. Channellocks to the rescue again. I used them to grab the top of the door pins and hammered from below to get the pins out. Then I removed some wood at the bottom so the door would shut. I used the multi tool for that.

Always always always have tongue and groove pliers with you. They can save you on a job and keep you from having to drive home for other tools (or to grab your Channellocks). I need to organize my tools and get my general bag together. Some of the tools made their way to other bags/boxes.

 

[nadogail]

Sometimes the use of a "Channell Hammer", can resolve many problems.

 

[jd_1138]

Sometimes the use of a "Channell Hammer", can resolve many problems.

And it can literally save one's life if you're under attack. I wouldn't wanna be on the business end (accounts receivable) of a medium or larger pair.

 

[MoonRise]

Water pump pliers and vise grip pliers may not always be the 'right' tool for the task, but they can sometimes be a tool that helps you to git-er-done.

But dude, you stripped out the Phillips head of the screw and used the pliers to drive the screw IN?

Rampaging, er shuffling, zombie horde approaching and that screw has to be installed before they get to you? OK, use the pliers to install the screw the rest of the way in.

Otherwise, use the pliers to take the damaged screw OUT and then install a new undamaged screw.

And a flashlight is really handy.

 

[RTM]

But dude, you stripped out the Phillips head of the screw and used the pliers to drive the screw IN?

I was at a beach event last Saturday, and the guy in the both next to me dropped the Starz bit out of his screwdriver while assembling his display. As he had 15 minutes left to get it together, I loaned him water pump pliers, the only thing that would drive it in my bag. He was pleased, I was grimacing.

I had already dropped my 15" prybar, and only 1" was visible, so I knew searching was going to be futile.

I have no idea how he got the display back in the vehicle after that.

That reaffirmed my decision to not carry bit tools for my dog scooter.

 

[gahrajmahal]

If you were wearing your Panther vision lighted ball cap you would have had light right where you needed it and it doesn’t look stupid like some ******** headlamp. The on/off switch is right in the brim and if it is cold out you could be wearing the lighted beanie. But, I don’t own one of those.

 

[jd_1138]

Water pump pliers and vise grip pliers may not always be the 'right' tool for the task, but they can sometimes be a tool that helps you to git-er-done.

But dude, you stripped out the Phillips head of the screw and used the pliers to drive the screw IN?

Rampaging, er shuffling, zombie horde approaching and that screw has to be installed before they get to you? OK, use the pliers to install the screw the rest of the way in.

Otherwise, use the pliers to take the damaged screw OUT and then install a new undamaged screw.

And a flashlight is really handy.

Problem is I only had enough screws to screw in the trim. Like I said I screwed up pardon the pun from get go for not locating my good Torx screws and using some cheap Ace Hardware ones.

And the power was out and it was really dark in hallway. Of course no flashlight. And no working plumbing. Had to use the bathroom so I didn't want to linger. I was careful. Perfect? No.

And I was not charging him. I did fix a problem they had so there's that. The screw is out far enough so I can remove it and replace in the future under better conditions. But the screw is in deep enough to where it's not noticeable. The trim is up and looking nice. The access panel is in its place.

Those of us who work for free to help friends/relatives without basic carpentry and mechanical skills sometimes aren't perfect and make compromises. Heck I've seen some "professionally" done work that would blow your mind. I'm sure you have too.

And they're getting paid and have a truck or van full of basic materials/supplies (or should have).

I left my 5 foot a frame ladder there so when I go back I can fix it. Also they can use it for hanging pics or putting in bulbs.

 

[N8sToolz]

For most of my life I hated the regular slip joint pliers. Probably because I always had the cheapest ones from whatever tool kit they came from. I bought the 3 piece plier set from snap on one day, needle nose, slip joint and side cutters. I think they are my most used pliers now a days. Grab them for anything and the snap on ones really hold on well, im sure the icon ones aren't far behind too. Then the talon pliers started showing up and they took it to another level. I rarely grab channel lock water pump pliers, and if I do I'm going for cobra's.

I have my handyman tool bag that I keep a lot of common use tools in. It's installed cabinets to closet and appliances. I've even done boat winterizing and lawnmower with it. I should probably do a loadout one day.

All my vehicles have a small collection of cheap or rejected tools for just in case roadside or if I ever have to fix something out and about.

 

[MoonRise]

I was going to mention running out of replacement screws, but thought ''Nah, who buys the smallest pack of fasteners with just enough for the task without accounting for dropping one or more, or factory mangled ones, or field mangling some, or just having some spares for other tasks or for later?'