college tool list

[JD6619A]

It was like that when I was in college, the dorms had very lacking security and the rooms were easily broken into (in most cases if i forgot my keys i could jimmy the door with a card) I didn't keep much in the room except for my TV, bar fridge and coffee maker. Um my laptop i usually hid in one of the drawers when I wasnt using it. as far as tools I kept them in the car in a 3 drawer portable box in the trunk of my Jetta. I had the basics such as screwdrivers, socket sets 1/2" 3/8" and 1/4", a bunch of pliers 2 hammers, multimeter, tape, tie-wraps.

I wasn't far away from home so I did my oil changes at home and anything that I couldn't readily do at school. They didn't allow us to work in the parking lots due to liability concerns (they were dicks about it too). Since I was in a place where the weather was cold enough in the winter I bought one of those booster packs and I kept it hidden in my room at the college plugged in.


I have to agree a college dorm isn't the place to keep many valuables in. unless you are insured for it keep it at home and keep your tools in the trunk of the car or truck or whatever.

 

[Blue]

Forget doing work on your car at college. By all means be prepared for breakdowns and such, but otherwise, do it back at the folks place, or pay to have it done. Its just too much of a pain in the *** to be wrenching on something in a dorm parking lot. Not to mention, if you're studying Mechanical Engineering, you need to be concentrating on that instead of working on your car. Make sure your car's maintenance is up to snuff before you go (good battery, good tires, etc), and it should be good. Get AAA and/or Dad's AMEX for road breakdown emergencies.

Speaking of which, if you’re studying Mechanical Engineering, there are all sorts of BETTER ways to get your gearhead fix on. Go find out what some of the clubs are at the school. Go find the SAE club. They have all sorts of cool competitions (building race cars, Unmanned aircraft, etc). The bigger the school, the more cool clubs. I’ve seen glider clubs and skydiving clubs. Bottom line, there are much better ways to get your gearhead fix than changing your oil in the parking lot.

OK, now that we got that out of the way, here's some thoughts on what you need for your college tool list, based on personal experience getting and engineering degree at a large university. Opinion only, YMMV:

You're a Red-Blooded American Gearhead engineering student, in the dorm. You need a Gerber/Leatherman multitool. You're going to be building/rigging all sorts of crazy ****, and those things come in handy. When you’re putting together a beer bong, potato cannon. beer cannon, or whatever, a nice multitool in your desk drawer is handy.

Standard set of electrical tools: side cutters, wire strippers, electrical tape, fuses etc. It’s not a true dorm room, unless it has about 40 different pieces of electronics in it. This stuff comes in handy, and a good set of wire strippers are a heck of a lot better than stripping speaker wire with your teeth.

A good drill, and a big set of bits (Phillips, and hex pits, especially): You’re in college. That’s going to mean buying cheap build-it-yourself furniture from Wal-Mart, and all those things go together with about 14 dozen hex screws. It’s much better to have your own set, than to have to deal with the crappy Chinese tool they give you. Not to mention when you decide that your dorm-issue desk is a POS, and you want to get rid of it, and the facilities people won’t take it, it’s much easier to take it apart and stuff it in the trash with a drill and a Phillips bit.

Get a dozen cheap sets of hex keys. On move in day, and for the first couple weeks of school, everyone is going to be buying that cheap-*** WalMart/Ikea furniture. People will ask to borrow your tools, and it’s a heck of a lot easier to loan out a $2.00 set of Harbor Freight hex keys, than to loan out your nice Snappy’s or Craftsman. Great way to meet people too.

Come to think of it, being known as the guy with the tools and know-how in the dorms is a great way to meet chicks. Keep that in mind.

You have a station wagon. Good man. Get some ropes and straps. You’re gonna be hauling stuff. Beer kegs, used furniture from the thrift store, etc. Speaking of which, don’t be a lame *** and get a futon like everyone else. Get on Craigslist, and find and old couch or love seat. Be the only guy in the dorms with a real couch.

Got it? Good. Study hard. Play hard.

Some wise words: Don't let schoolwork and get in the way of college.

 

[scrubcakes]

I'm a sophomore EE college student, you definitely want to be prepared for breakdowns, but I don't recommend working on your car there unless the issue prevents your car from driving.

Most of what I keep in the trunk: 3/8'' ratchet and Metric socket set, 3/8'' metric hex key sockets, extensions/universal joints, 1/2'' breaker bar, 1/2'' metric impact sockets, good screwdriver set, multimeter, fuses/fusable links, hammer, vice grips, crescent hammer(wrench), duct tape, zip ties, fuel filter, spare belts and hoses, spare starter, alternator, fuel pump, bottle or scissor jack, wire cutters, vehicle specific nut and bolt assortment, oil, antifreeze, brake fluid, nitrile gloves, flashlight, 1/2'' torque wrench for lugnuts. Wire & wire strippers, soldering iron, solder, heatshrink, crimp terminals, jumper cables, more things I can't remember... Interestingly enough I've used most of the above at school, I have a 30 year old diesel Benz, 1986 turbo subaru...

When my 1986 subaru's fuel pump seized in the dead of winter, I was able to change it out in the dorm parking lot quickly at -10 degrees F... vice grip to clamp the supply line off, screwdriver for the hose clamps, 10mm ratchet for rusty bracket bolts, zip ties for new fuel pump... Good to go!

Be the handy car guy in the dorms, it is a great way to meet chicks, lol

Volvo 240 wagon is a good choice for a college car. Be sure to keep on top of your studies and try to be at the top of the class.

 

[Big Pete]

If you're doing a Mech Eng course, you aren't going to need tools (apart from maybe the Leatherman, which should never leave your side), at least not for coursework. MechEng is mostly about using your brains not your hands.

As has been said before, join the clubs and societies in the first year and see whats about, after that when you've got to know some likeminded guys, rent a house with a garage between 3 or 4 of you.

Be careful tho, because its easy to get distracted into building bikes or cars rather than practising how to do bending moment diagrams or thermodynamics calcs

 

[jamesemery728]

Sounds like everyone else has the tool list covered. My 2 cents would be:
-only keep the bare minimum at school and keep it locked up out of sight.
-if you live off campus many apartment complex's have a "no working on cars" policy as part of the lease, you will have to work around the "parking lot police" and residents that will want to turn you in if they step in a pile of grease or oil that you left for them to walk in.
-limit your car work to basic maintainence, oil changes, minor breakdowns, do all the other things when you go home. You will be amazed at how little time you are going to have. Study hard and concentrate on school, you will have the rest of your life to collect all the tools you will ever need.
-Good Luck.

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Having finished my first year of college, I can assure you of 2 things.


1. You WILL NOT want to keep tools in your dorm/apartment/whatever unless it is an off campus apartment. Even so, security is lacking in most of these places and if you have room mates, it is inevitable that somebody will leave the door open at some point when you arn't around

2. Chances are your university will not be down with you working on your car in a parking lot.

What I suggest, is keeping a small took box in your trunk. It isnt so much about having the box itself organized. Just put sockets on metal racks, and jam pack whatever you can into the box.

When my car was due for a oil change or needed work, I just came home. Not worth the trouble at school. Trust me.

I suspect you've graduated college by now, any additional experiences to share regarding college tool and related?

My son is a Sr. at Purdue, he keeps his tools in his pickup toolbox, and a small set in the dorm room, locked up. I did the same, but with access to the ISU School of Technology through my job as a lab and later graduate assistant, most professors were very fair with loaning tools to their employees that they could trust would take due care with the university's assets.