Hand tool travel kit

[mdough6]

Hey everyone,

New to the forums here. Searched around a bit and didn't see a intro forum so I thought I would combine with a search forum.

Well judging from the amount of expeirenced individuals I figured some has to know what is a good travel kit of hand tools for making pipes. Now by travel kit I'm talking about something small and utility enough that I could shove it into my rucksack while I'm out in the field. Any advice would be great!

Phenominal stuff on here by the way. Way better than the pipe I made with a pocket knife and screw driver out of a pine tree branch:D

[Sasquatch]

Umm, assuming you have a drilled block, rasps and sandpaper do a lot of work. But we all use lathes and drill presses and table saws and stuff....

[smokindawg]

I'd second the rasps and sandpaper. Not really sure what I could add to that. I do have a few specialized tools that I've come up with that I use that I'd carry as well.

If your going to be where there might be electric, I'd also suggest a dremel or dremel type tool.

[KurtHuhn]

One thing I would not suggest is carving knives or anything like that. Briar will dull them very quickly, whichis why more pipe "carvers" use grinding tools to remove wood.

I agree with the guys above - files and rasps work well, and are probably the only non-powered hand tools I would suggest.

[Bosaiya]

I have several kits depending on where I'll be, how much time I think I'll have, and how far I have to carry them. The smallest is just a scrap of sandpaper. If I'm going to be hiking for a while I will carry a carving knife (chisel) or two. From there add a rasp, more knives, files, etc. It really depends on the circumstances. I have several leather roll-ups I made in different sizes and configurations to hold a variety of hand tools.

As with most things in life I would suggest starting with a very small kit of whatever suits your fancy and learning to use the tools you have at hand. Once you know them inside and out add another. Don't make the mistake of assuming that a new tool will be the solution to whatever problem might confront you. This is easier to say than do, of course, and I am my own worst enemy. I usually end up carrying around far more tools than I could ever hope to use thinking that if I could just fit one more in all would be well.

Simplify, simplify...