Small dorm room tool kit for my niece.

[GaryM909]

The hammer I gave my daughter was a stubby claw hammer. The handle was only about 6" long. When she moved into her apartment I swapped it out for a regular claw hammer. I basically threw it in just in case.

 

[engineer2]

We had 3 in college and policies vary by school dorm or apartment. Some would charge students for every dent, nail hole, or spot of dirt (FU Illinois colleges and apartments). Some didn't bother (thank you Mizzou!). Tools would generally get loaned out and disappear.

 

[Robinson1]

I’m looking at this from a different perspective. I’m a residential contractor specializing in remodeling. I also do a lot of property maintenance for a friend who rents air bnbs. On my work truck in the drivers door pocket I keep 4 tools. Those tools are a 10 inch adjustable, 430 channel lock, 6 in 1 screwdriver and a tape measure. I use that stuff so often I don’t even bother putting them back in the tool boxes. Heck most days I grab them as I’m getting out of the truck. If you’re doing a minimalist tool kit for a residential building those 4 tools is where I’d start

 

[mikey03]

Demolition flat head screwdriver since she prob doesn’t know how to use tools or if she did she’d already have her own tools with her. And girls who don’t know how to use tools will use them wrong and brake them. So the demo screwdriver is pretty indestructible tbh

but then also a set of harbor freight plastic pry bars since she might want to pry something apart that she doesn’t want to mark up

hex key set for cheap furniture honestly I might just give a metric set of L-keys and skip SAE since she’ll get confused going back and forth and maybe use the wrong size and prob will be metric anyway

Maybe a robo grip pliers you find cheap used for a few bucks, could be useful to open jars

 

[Notgrownup]

One of those little case with all the bits you need with a little driver handle. A 2 ton press, 6” spiral cut joiner, 220 V wire feed MiG welder… I’ll think of something else. It’s early and I haven’t had my coffee yet.

 

[Ohio Andy]

One of those little case with all the bits you need with a little driver handle. A 2 ton press, 6” spiral cut joiner, 220 V wire feed MiG welder… I’ll think of something else. It’s early and I haven’t had my coffee yet.

Chop saw, use that for everything.

 

[mrb1]

Depending on the school, and her course of study, these might come in handy.

.

 

[Ohio Andy]

Screw driver 6 in 1 or similar. I like the megapro Amiga 7 bit for size cost and bit selection. It is about $7 on eBay right now. I prefer the pbswiss in handle, but the price is high for that.

SMall(ish) hammer.

TApe measure 8 to 12 foot)

Some kind of plier or wrench.

There is your minimal.

Overkill maybe you get something like..... A small craftsman 1/4 drive bit set with sockets for $40. Or even from harbor freight for $30 it is all there but larger

https://www.harborfreight.com/hand-tools/tool-sets/tool-kits/tool-set-with-case-130-piece-64263.html

 

[mitusa]

Band-aids and some anti-septic ...maybe some handcleaner?

 

[tarbellb]

Nothing like a bunch of old men trying to figure what a young woman "must" need

 

[Ohio Andy]

Nothing like a bunch of old men trying to figure what a young woman "must" need

My daughter would make her own tool chest ask me to pay for it, and the first thing in would be a knife.

 

[f121]

What jobs do you expect a young lady in a dorm to be doing? It’s been a few years, but when I was in dorms they came fully furnished, you were fined if you nailed stuff to the walls, and there was a janitor/maintance guy that fixed stuff if it broke. I think I took a Stanley 6-in-1 screwdriver for taking computers apart, but now everyone has laptops and iPads that would be redundant.

Life in dorms was blissfully free of having to repair things.

 

[MovingAlong]

I'm putting together a little tool kit for my niece who will be going to college next fall. I'm going to have an adjustable wrench in small pair of vise grips a pair of wire cutters, some zip ties and a roll of duct tape and a small bottle of wd 40, tearmender adhesive in a sewing kit. Any other recommendations for guys who have done this before? Basically it's going to be in a smaller plastic ammo box. Needless to say I'm not going to be putting great stuff in there as stuff tends to develop feet in a dorm room, but like at Harbor Freight I got a Precision screwdriver kit with replaceable bits and a few other odds and ends so far.

In a door room you're working on stuck door hardware, sloppy fitting drawers, wobbly bed frames, securing power strips patching holes and replacing outlet covers.

Zip ties are great, but be sure you get flush cut side cutters and not regular wire cutters.

Swap out the duct tape for painters tape - longest release times you can buy.

Add a 10 in 1 screwdriver, putty knife, spackle and you should be good to go.

Spray paint all tools orange for easy of identification but also plan for (and budget for) regular replacement tools.

 

[Ohio Andy]

What jobs do you expect a young lady in a dorm to be doing? It’s been a few years, but when I was in dorms they came fully furnished, you were fined if you nailed stuff to the walls, and there was a janitor/maintance guy that fixed stuff if it broke. I think I took a Stanley 6-in-1 screwdriver for taking computers apart, but now everyone has laptops and iPads that would be redundant.

Life in dorms was blissfully free of having to repair things.

The beds I installed didn't attached to anything, they had a platform and then the beds went on top of the platform but the platform had legs. Platform was wide enough that it filled the room so it might lean against the wall for support

my experience says that different locations have a different level of support for fixing things... My oldest daughter would probably just fix it herself. My other daughter, well, not so much.

I lived in an apartment and they were installing new better light fixtures that required them to break out dry wall and run power to other locations. When I got married I told the maintenance guy that I was leaving for a week or so and that if he installed the new lights I would fix the walls and paint it myself. So he installed the lights and when I got back I fixed the drywall and painted it myself.

Sure, many college kids are absolutely useless. but others May actually be able to fix things. In some places maintenance is great, and others not so much.

And sometimes when you have a problem at 2:00 in the morning, it's nice to be able to do something to control the problem Even if you don't fix it yourself.

Someone became locked in a bathroom because of a broken door knob. Luckily the girls had a Small, not very good tool chest with some basic tools in it. So I was able to fix the door well enough that it could be opened and closed until maintenance came out a day or two later. To be fair though, she was not able to fix that door herself... On the other hand, I married her over 20 years ago.

 

[rust in the eye]

Nice gesture but do you figure she'd actually use any tools?
That Ikea set suggested looks to be useful enough for anything likely encountered in a dorm room.
If she has a car perhaps a AAA membership and sleuth out a repair shop near her that is trustworthy rather than tools. She's going to college so she won't have to fix her own car.

 

[jimbothecricket]

My younger sister (senior living in a dorm at a residential college) has and uses a Klein multibit ratcheting screwdriver, a small 1/4 ratchet with a 10mm socket (her car has mysterious electrical problems that go away if she disconnects the battery for a bit), a cheap set of allen keys, a decent LED flashlight, and a can of WD-40. I gave her all of them except the WD-40.
I took a lot more tools than that when I was a college freshman. I fixed a lot of bikes for friends and myself. My most used/favorite were a pair of needlenose pliers, a pair of slip joint pliers, various beater flathead screwdrivers, and a #2 Phillips. All my tools at that time were from cleaning out my grandfather's garage after he died.