So I’ve been in the construction trade for 20 years. I started in apartment maintenance and did random odd jobs evenings and weekends. In 2011 I went out on my own focusing mostly on painting and flooring. From that day to present my career has constantly evolved. I’ve done everything from concrete to roofing to kitchen and bath remodels. I’ve built decks on million dollar homes and I’ve patched Sheetrock in section 8 housing. I’ve built custom themed cabins for air bnb rentals and I’ve laid cheap floor in single wide trailers. If you asked me today I’d tell you I’m a remodeling contractor. But the truth is I’ve got alot of experience doing alot of different things.
Today was a rare slow day and I ended up installing some under cabinet lighting at my house. I had what I refer to as my “general use “ tool bag in the house.
When I finished the project I decided to clean out all the random junk and trash that always accumulates in a tool bag you actually work out of. It’s a task I find myself doing about once a month.
With all the tools laid out on the counter it occurred to me. This is something that goes with me to every job I do. It comes off the truck every day and goes back on the truck at the end of every day. It’s the result of 20 years experience in the trade. It’s the things that get used on everything. It’s constantly evolving and it’s only fitting that two of the tools in this bag are among the first tools I bought 20 years ago.
Most people who don’t do this daily would think it’s the most random assortment of things ever but the guys out in the field see it as their lifeline.
There’s nothing in here that particularly expensive. The bag itself, yes it’s cheap. I replace it every couple years. The last time it got replaced it cost me less than $10 at Walmart. The bag before this a cheap craftsman from a Christmas sale at Ace hardware. The one before that was a Dewalt bag that came with a power tool. I purposefully use the small cheap bags because experience tells me if I buy a nice big one it will quickly get overloaded and become so heavy I choose to leave it in the truck and this defeating the entire purpose. It’s not about the container it’s about the contents.
I’m willing to bet that almost everyone on this site has a similar bag. The contents are likely different but each piece carefully selected to fit its users needs.
So what’s inside the bag?
6 inch Ridgid adjustable wrench
10 inch Kobalt adjustable wrench
10 inch Klein “channellocks”
Klein needle nose pliers with wire stripper
Klein lineman’s pliers
16 oz estwing hammer
3/4” wood chisel Creacent brand
Stanley speed square
Kobalt metric and sae hex keys
Irwin drywall saw
Ace hardware painters tool/scraper
Unbranded 1/2” cold chisel
Stanley nail set
Hyper tough pry bar
Craftsman 25’ tape
Klein torpedo level
Magnetic stud finder
Kobalt 6-in-1 screwdriver
Klein 16-in-1 screwdriver
Pencils
Milwaukee screwdriver bit set
Mibro drill bit set 1/16”-1/4”
Pipe thread compound
E6000 contact adhesive
Thread tape
Electrical tape
Masking tape
Dewalt 20v 794 atomic drill
Bag of randomness mostly drywall anchors and screws
Today was a rare slow day and I ended up installing some under cabinet lighting at my house. I had what I refer to as my “general use “ tool bag in the house.
When I finished the project I decided to clean out all the random junk and trash that always accumulates in a tool bag you actually work out of. It’s a task I find myself doing about once a month.
With all the tools laid out on the counter it occurred to me. This is something that goes with me to every job I do. It comes off the truck every day and goes back on the truck at the end of every day. It’s the result of 20 years experience in the trade. It’s the things that get used on everything. It’s constantly evolving and it’s only fitting that two of the tools in this bag are among the first tools I bought 20 years ago.
Most people who don’t do this daily would think it’s the most random assortment of things ever but the guys out in the field see it as their lifeline.
There’s nothing in here that particularly expensive. The bag itself, yes it’s cheap. I replace it every couple years. The last time it got replaced it cost me less than $10 at Walmart. The bag before this a cheap craftsman from a Christmas sale at Ace hardware. The one before that was a Dewalt bag that came with a power tool. I purposefully use the small cheap bags because experience tells me if I buy a nice big one it will quickly get overloaded and become so heavy I choose to leave it in the truck and this defeating the entire purpose. It’s not about the container it’s about the contents.
I’m willing to bet that almost everyone on this site has a similar bag. The contents are likely different but each piece carefully selected to fit its users needs.
So what’s inside the bag?
6 inch Ridgid adjustable wrench
10 inch Kobalt adjustable wrench
10 inch Klein “channellocks”
Klein needle nose pliers with wire stripper
Klein lineman’s pliers
16 oz estwing hammer
3/4” wood chisel Creacent brand
Stanley speed square
Kobalt metric and sae hex keys
Irwin drywall saw
Ace hardware painters tool/scraper
Unbranded 1/2” cold chisel
Stanley nail set
Hyper tough pry bar
Craftsman 25’ tape
Klein torpedo level
Magnetic stud finder
Kobalt 6-in-1 screwdriver
Klein 16-in-1 screwdriver
Pencils
Milwaukee screwdriver bit set
Mibro drill bit set 1/16”-1/4”
Pipe thread compound
E6000 contact adhesive
Thread tape
Electrical tape
Masking tape
Dewalt 20v 794 atomic drill
Bag of randomness mostly drywall anchors and screws
