I’ve just been offered the contents of an old friends garage now he no longer has the vitality to do his own mechanical work. The reason is two fold, one he just doesn’t have the capability to actually do the mechanical work required any longer and the other is he knows that with a modern car there is very little you can do on your own without a lot of very expensive kit. Just as the manufacturers planned. So why keep the tools.
So there I am in the garage looking at the kit that he has. I already have a lot of the basic stuff but with him refurbishing old cars as a hobby he has a lot of tools that I don’t have that I simply never used, or if I did need them I popped around to his and used them there. There is a lot of tools there for performing tasks on vehicles that I don’t know what they or for and can’t see me using.
In true prepper fashion though I took the lot home with me to my garage which is now looking a lot more like a storeroom and a storeroom like you see in the films where you open the door to face a big pile of stuff just waiting to fall out when you try to tug at anything.
As I was sorting the tools, you can never have too many spanners, screwdrivers, sockets, err… double flaring kits? WTF? I thought to myself, well I don’t know what it is but it must be of use to someone when we are working on vehicles after an event. So I kept it. Don’t know what it is or what it is used for but the item in boxed in my garage.
Keeping items I don’t know what they are for made me thing. Am I starting to hoard things under the guise of prepping? I do have hundreds of items that I hope I will never use and I do keep more things than I throw out. I do consider what they are and have given away or thrown out without a second thought items that I know I will never use.
Hoarding is a misused word that is used to put a negative spin on people like use putting things aside for the future. I ignore that and to me hoarding is keeping things for keeping things sake, like years worth of newspapers that are of no use or broken electronics that you cannot repair.
Tools though are handy for a lot of different uses and I do have a lot of those. At the very least I could barter my double flaring tool when I meet someone that knows what to do with it.
I need more space for my preps.
you will be called a hoarder when the unprepared come for your stores AFTER TSHTF.
flaring is usually to do with making up brake pipes/hydraulic lines….interesting bit of kit
A double flaring kit is used when one is reparing/replacing brake lines or transmission cooling lines.
If you want to know how to use it try here http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_5002780_use-double-flaring-tool.html
I have always regarded tools and equipment as an investment and as such should be maintained and in a sense cherished because some day you or someone else will need the use of them when sod’s law kicks in.
When everything is proceeding as ‘normal’ then they can either save you some money or indeed earn you some money if you know how to use them. However you do reach a time when you have to decide just how many screwdrivers is enough.
“Tools though are handy for a lot of different uses and I do have a lot of those. At the very least I could barter my double flaring tool when I meet someone that knows what to do with it.”
My tool flares all by itself but I have got some cream for it.
Thanks for the pointers to the flaring kit information. Like everything else in life when you know it is simple enough.
NR, That cream is a placebo. I’m afraid you need get that fixed for your blood pressure. Some snips are here if you need them. 🙂
Placebo isn’t he a Spanish tenor?
Such a fine line and it comes down to essential or not but that has a time factor attached to it. It’s a tough call on what to keep and what must go.
Better hoard a couple thousand litres of petrol/diesel while you’re at it then.
Clive,
If only I had the room.
Clive, don’t waste your money on storing petrol and diesel. It has a short shelf life before the biofuel elements in it start to break down.
A better and cheaper option is to convert to LPG and get a tank with a wet leg which you can fuel a car from. There are tax implications if you tell your supplier it’s for a road vehicle but that can’t be helped unless you’re on a small holding or something. If you have a petrol/LPG powered off road vehicle such as quad tractor or forklift you can buy gas at the standard wholesale rate for domestic heating. Your supplier will rent as many inter-connected tanks to you as you want within reason.
PS, keep the best of the tools and only part with stuff that’s sub standard or duplicated. One day you’ll be sure to need them. I’m a hoarder and proud!