7 Tools Every Adventurer Should Own

A great number of things are put together with hex screws instead of Phillips or standard. In many cases the Optics on your rifle may be assembled with hex screws. Hex screws come in a large number of sizes so having a set would make sense. I use SAE metric and torx drivers daily

Edit: these are all head types you could run in screwdriver designs. And each one has multiple sizes.

 

You could use this in place of a fore. i found it a valuable tool in wood working better then regular chisel , better than buttoning a knife.

 

did you forget the crowbar?

 

My list of 7 is tempered by my own experience, what my ancestors verbally passed down, and what I have read about life on the American frontier during the 1700's & 1800's.
#1. A sturdy stout belt worn sheath knife.
#2. A dependable firearm with appropriate ammunition.
#3. An axe, one that actually fits you.
#4. Shovel, round nosed, and long handle.
#5. Mattock with pick on one end.
#6. Hammer, carpenters claw type.
#7. Brace and bits.
Our modern world is spoiled by easy acquisition of steel tools which were not readily available in prior times. Iron was predominant in the pre-Civil War era, as before the Bessemer Process of making steel. I read that Lewis Wetzel walked 20 miles to "borrow" a nail from a settler to be used in a shooting match held in Wheeling WV during the late 1700's. Iron was rare on the frontier and steel even rarer, wood and bone were made to do what we do with steel now. Things like gluts to split wood, mauls, and even shovels were made of wood, hoes were also wooden or bone, the scapula from a deer was used. You should be able to survive with some comfort if you have a belt knife, though many frontiersmen would have listed an axe as the #1 tool. Axes are still used to hunt wild boar in some tropical areas, and make a good close in defensive weapon, besides being useful in harvesting wood and construction. It has been recorded that frontiersmen when asked if they had to choose between a rifle and an axe, the majority said they would abandon their rifles to have the axe. Axes fit people like bicycles, one size does not equate to an appropriate tool for you, so make sure your handle is the right length for your body and has the proper angle if one is needed.
My ancestors were riflemen back into the 1700's and passed down a legacy of the importance of rifle marksmanship, which we were taught as children. Though rifle design and technology has changed, the basic tenant of one shot to kill is still the same. I was taught that only rich people owned shotguns, as the ammunition was considered expensive and heavy compared to a round for a rifle. I still don't own a shotgun, and probably never will, and can attend any chores that need a firearm with a rifle, and remember to salvage that bullet as it can be melted down and used again. I can see where most would pick a shotgun these days, as rifle marksmanship seems to be lacking in the general population as evidenced when I attend a shooting range.
General digging can be accomplished with a shovel, but on thick clayey and rocky soils the mattock will be your best friend. In clearing a forested area full of roots the chisel end might be better than the pick end for chopping through all those roots. It can also serve as a hoe, though it is a bit heavy and a different technique is used rather than the copping motion used with hoes.
As for hammers, a claw hammer as all around is hard to beat. You will of course be building a forge to take advantage of natural iron ores or salvaged steel that is all over the planet now. You will have to use a large rock as your anvil, unless you can locate a big piece of iron or steel to use. Your claw hammer will have to serve as a blacksmiths hammer, but be aware that those claws can break off if sorely abused, and might do some damage to you if they do.
Finally with brace and bits you can bore holes in wood, and build a drill press using a counterweight, and accomplish much in the way of construction and putting holes in metal.
#8. Saw - your choice, as it depends on what you intend to do. A good crosscut or a hacksaw with an assortment of blades would certainly be useful. Untill they allow 8 tools, you will have to do all your wood cutting with your axe, sorry.
I think our adventurer would be well equipped with this assortment of tools, how about you?

 

Reminds me of an argument i had with another guy about the mission to mars. I told him he would spend the first year building tools good enough to build better tools. "Just try to build an anvil forge and hammer from Martian sand, without an anvil, hammer and forge to start with". Building tools is a progression, where no steps can be skipped. Yes, it can be done, but it will take a lot of time and effort to start from ground zero.

 

Standard "duck" tape, these days, is pretty junky. And, as already pointed out, when it gets wet, it starts falling off of whatever you taped. Gorilla tape, on the other hand, is the closest I've found to the rolls of red tape we used, in the Navy nuclear power program. to seal the yellow poly bags with rad waste in them. Even without gloves on, that stuff was damn difficult to undo, once it was taped onto something!

So far as a multi-tool goes, I still prefer my Gerber multi-plier, with the heavy pliers jaws (versus the needle nose). A decent selection of tools, they'll all lock open, the wire cutter utilizes a 3-sided carbide blade (so once one edge is dulled, you can put a sharp edge out, then once again after that one), and I can deploy the pliers with one hand, with just the flick of a wrist. Oh yeah, and it was half the price of that Leatherman!

 

I had that question about many of the items as I only had one! (two if you give me points for regular duct tape instead of gorilla brand). I don't know if I'm just out of it but I have NEVER needed a sewing awl. I have never even wished I had one or been in a situation where I would need one.

 

I always carry one in my saddlebags, as does most every cowboy I know that ventures into the back country on horseback. They can be real handy for making repairs. Long story, but I used the waxed thread from one to close a C section I had to perform by coleman light on a young heifer one snowy night. They both made it and the vet said the sutures looked pretty good when he was able to make it up to check on her

 

I knew it! you do have cow manure on your boots! And here you been lying like a rug pretending to be a southern boy!

 

Colorada Cowboy swayed south by feminine wiles

 

No cowboy leaves home without fence pliers!