Rural Lifestyle

Life in Rural America

Tag: hand tools

Tools For Homestead Cleanup Day

Homesteading
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Old metal bathtub to be hauled off

In the next few weeks some of my family members and some of my friends are meeting at the homestead for a cleanup day. The area we are cleaning up has not been used in close to 30 years. During that time various family members dropped off unwanted trash, such as a hot water heater, large box fan, tin, fence wire,,, and other odds and ends.

Pine trees, sweet gum and oak trees have been growing in this same area.

We have three things to take care of – clean the brush out, cut some small trees down and pull the metal trash out so it can be hauled to the recycler.

Stihl chainsaw with 18 inch bar

Chainsaw fuel and bar oil

Axe

Splitting maul

8 pound sledge hammer

Machete

Chains for pulling logs with the truck

Files – for sharpening axe and chainsaw

There is an oak tree down in the back of the field. The plan is to cut a 2 feet section of the trunk for a chopping block.

As we cut down some of the small pine trees, they will be cut into sections that can be split and thrown on the fire. Split wood burns better then non-split wood.

Stockpiling basic building materials

Preparedness Articles
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Chicken coop building materials

During my recent chicken coop project I realized how poorly I had stocked my basic building materials. When the first set of 2x4s were being put together, all I had was 8 penny nails. 8 penny might be fine for use in nail guns, but when you are using a hammer, 10 penny are much better. When the first walls were stood up, the nails were too short to hold the boards together. It was rather embarrassing when the wall fell apart as my wife and I were getting ready to put them together.

When the chicken coop project kicked off I quickly realized that I did not have the screws or nails that I needed.

The skil saw blade was dull, my good tape measure was at the camp, so I had to use my wifes semi-pink tape measure, my good framing square the tri-squre were at the camp, so I had to use an old rusted steel framing square.

The skil saw and the drill are fairly new so they worked well.

Lets Talk About Multitools

Survival Gear
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Multitools are one of my favorite tools to keep around the house, bug out bag, gun cleaning kit and tackle box. The thing about multitools, they have a great service to weight ratio. They weigh almost nothing, but are cram-packed full of useful tools – knife, file, scissors, saw, screwdrivers,,,,, just all kinds of useful stuff. Another thing that I like about multitools, is that they come in a wide range of sizes and prices.

The wide range of prices, sizes and features is what makes multitools so cool. If you want to buy a cheap multitool for your gun cleaning kit, there is probably one out there for you, if you want a small multitool for your tackle box, there is one out that will probably fit your needs.

While I was looking through my multitool setup, I realized that I had them arranged in 3 levels – primary, secondary, and tertiary.

My primary multitool is a Gerber – I do not even remember what model it is, its about 10 years old, has a knife, file, saw, scissors, and has a good pair of pliers built in. This this the tool that I bring on my hiking, camping and backpacking trips. When I need a multitool, this is the one that I usually go to.

Hand Tools For Urban Survival

Preparedness Articles, Survival Gear, Urban Survival
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In an urban survival situation, its important for units to be self supportive. This includes being able to do basic repairs to the home or structure the people are staying in and growing a home garden. This is where the hand tools come into the picture.

Hammers

Unlike an air powered nail gun, or an electric powered nail gun, this amazing device only works with the swing of an arm. You hold it in your hand, grasp firmly and swing.

Every urban survivalist should have several good quality hammers on hand. Do not try to get off cheap. Go ahead, spend the money and get a quality product.

It has been my (Kevin) personal experience that hammers made in the USA are of better quality then those made in China. Also, buying made in USA products helps keep the factories here in the states. That keeps the jobs local which means less people on government assistance. So, buy American and keep your neighbors with a job. Or pay higher taxes and buy your neighbors food stamps, its your choice.

Be sure to include framing hammers for fixing walls and roofs, 4 pound hammers and 8 pound hammers in your collection.

Kevin Felts © 2008 - 2018