When it comes to gear, weight is a huge factor.
The more weight you can shave off of what you have to carry, the better off you are, and the longer you can travel without stopping. When it comes to emergency tools, it is always a great idea to have a wide array of sockets and sizes. Unfortunately sockets are extremely heavy for their size.
This weekend I was digging through my toolbox looking for a specific 10mm socket and I absolutely couldn’t find it. This led me to the second downfall of a socket set, organization and finding them.
Unless you have one of the long socket organizers, odds are they are all tossed in a toolbox that you will need to rummage through and spend a painstaking amount of time looking for (case in point: it took me a good 10 minutes to find that one socket).
I realized that in an after-crisis scenario, you will need to be able to build or rebuild any number of things quickly. During a crisis you may need to dismantle a gate if going over it is not an option. I decided that I wanted to have a small tool that could handle a variety of sizes of nuts and bolts. I immediately thought of a pair of vice grips After only a few minutes of “testing” I realized that vice grips tire your hands entirely too quickly to be of any value.
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I took a trip to home depot to see what I could find, and when I saw the gator grip, it was like a blast from the past. I suddenly remembered all of the late night infomercials showing off the abilities of the gator grip and how “ great” it was. At around 15.00 I decided to go for it, and this is what I’ve noted about it so far:
Pros:
-Compact
-Lightweight
-Multiple sizes in one
-Chrome plated and rust resistant
– Great on rusted or broken heads
-Comes with a power adapter to attach it to an electric drill
-One year warranty from the factory
Cons:
-Deep set and will not reach tight spaces
-Only has 150 ft lbs of torque (not recommended for over tightened bolts)
– Only works well on bolt heads, if you have a nut that is recessed onto the bolt it will strip the threads on the bolt and make it useless
All in all this is a decent tool for light duty work, and if combined with a vice grip or crescent wrench and a couple of screwdrivers, would make a perfect “in a pinch” all in one tool kit. If you feel like the 150 ft-lbs. of torque isn’t enough for what you need. Gator Grip also offers the King Gator. It is quite a bit larger and boasts 450 ft-lbs. of torque.
Have you used the King Gator? I am trying to decide if that one is worth purchasing as well.
Check out these related articles from our site:
Everyday Uses For Your Emergency Survival Kit
10 Multipurpose Items for Your Bug Out Bag
Gerber Gator Jr Has Teeth
