1December 2021
Welcome back guys and as you may know
I'm a journeyman plumber and today I want to show you my top 10 favorite
everyday carry tools! So starting with number 1, the adjustable pliers. your
adjustable pliers are a stable for your EDC. You'll be using them for many things
such as screwing nuts, tightening small pipes and many other uses. You'll want to
get a dependable brands such as Channel Lock or Knipex or Knipex as some may
call them, as they'll be going through a lot of hard labor, so keep that in mind.
Next up, the adjustable wrench. You'll want to have an adjustable wrench for a
few reasons. First, it has a smooth jaw. Unlike the
adjustable pliers which are meant to grip on things, these are meant for either
finishing work or just an everyday wrench, and secondly, some models have a hole at the end for hanging them, but I use it to make offsets in threaded rod
when something is in the way. Number 3 is a tape measure. There are plenty of tape
measures out there but my most trusted brand is Stanley. Stanley tape measures,
Fat Max's to be more precise, have been great to me in the past years and I
can't complain.
They're durable under all conditions and the price is very
competitive, but this is my opinion and you should experiment on your own to see
what suits you best. If you aren't in the United States, I suggest getting an
Imperial and Metric tape measure as often, your plumber will give you Metric
measurements, so I strongly suggest it. Number 4 is a torpedo level. If you
want things to be straight, you'll need a level on your person at all times.
Sometimes, you'll need to install a vertical waterline and other times, a
drain which requires a slope. In both cases, you're gonna need a torpedo level
and my personal choice for torpedo levels are ones with strong magnets, easy
to read vials and a solid body construction.
I don't suggest getting the
"creme de la creme" of all levels as they're more prone to getting stolen, but
rather one that's more affordable such as a Fat Max or a Milwaukee. Next up is
a box cutter or utility knife. I always keep mine in a leather pouch I
have on my right side so it's easily accessible when I receive an order or
whatnot.
There are many different types and sizes of box cutters such as these,
but my "go to" knife and everyday carry is this one. Olfa makes great solid
knives and the blades are very sharp and for those who don't know why the blades
are ridged like they are. here's why. When you snap a segment off, you get a new cutting-edge which is a very neat feature and a lot of people don't know
of. Number 6 is a marker. I tried all kinds of different markers and I always
tend to carry the same two types, a permanent Sharpie type marker and a
chalk crayon. I always find myself needing to mark on concrete and I don't
find that a permanent marker is appropriate for two things, the floor
might not need any finish so the client will be stuck with a mark on the floor
and it kills your marker because of the dust. So for concrete, I use my chalk
crayon and gyproc and other surfaces, my permanent marker.
Number seven is a
hammer. You'll need a hammer for all sorts of things like punching in
anchors, to chipping off loose concrete. I've been using a Stanley 8-ounce hammer
with flat claws like this one I find that it's the perfect weight to power
ratio for what a plumber needs to do on an everyday job. I usually carry mine in
a tote but you could get a hook that goes on your belt and carry it around
with you all day depending on what you're doing. Number 8 is a multi-bit
screwdriver. As a plumber you don't want to be carrying around eight different
screwdrivers in your tool bag or pouch, so I suggest getting this. Picquic is
my preferred brand but Milwaukee and other brands make good multi-bit drivers
as well. A cool thing with these is you could use your driver bits on a drill,
something that can't be done with a normal screw driver. At number 9 is a
tube cutter. You'll wanna two models in your toolbox, a small one and a
big one. The small cutter can go from 1/8" to 1" which is
perfect for tight spots and the bigger model such as this one can go from 5/8" to 2 1/8", for bigger pipes.
Plus, most models have built-in
reamers in them to ream your pipes. And in last position, pipe wrenches. You're gonna
be needing a minimum of 2 so I suggest getting aluminum models seeing weight
could be an issue. Your pipe wrenches will be your work horses and they'll be
taking a lot of abuse so get a good brand like Rigid or Lennox, they'll pay
for themselves in the long run. I've had mine for 8 years and they're still
running strong. I hope this video guides some of your apprentices that are new
out of school and that are willing to do plumbing as a career. As always, if you
like these videos, subscribe to the channel and like the videos to help us
creators make more, until the next video, thanks for watching!.