The Crescent Tool Company was founded in 1907, but it wasn’t until twenty years later that one man made it a household word. On his famous 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, Charles Lindbergh said that he took only “gasoline, sandwiches, a bottle of water, and a Crescent wrench and pliers.” How incredible! One simple tool that can do so much! Every home should have a Crescent wrench … and pliers … and a few other simple tools.
It only takes a few tools to do many do-it-yourself tasks around the house. A small investment in a few tools can save literally thousands of dollars over many years. Use those tools and figure out how to fix something, instead of hiring someone to fix it for you.
Trying to figure out the perfect gift for many occasions to give a son or daughter? Buy a tool box and put a couple of new tools in it. Then you can add a tool every now and then as another gift … and another and another. For a Christmas present this past year, I gave each of my three sons my favorite ratcheting driver that is a 13-in-1 tool. As an inspector, I use it on every single property I inspect.
Don’t have the right tool for a particular job? There are many times when you may not have a tool for a job that needs to be done around the house. Rather than hire someone to come and fix it, watch a video online to see if you can figure out how to fix it, and then go buy the tool you need for the job. The tool itself will usually cost much less than paying someone else to do it. When the job is done, you’ve got a new tool, the satisfaction of saving some money, and the pride of fixing it yourself!
Don’t let a simple job that requires a screwdriver, a set of pliers, or a wrench or socket intimidate you into thinking you can’t fix something. It’s really simple! When I was growing up, if there had been a category in school for being the least mechanically inclined, I would have been in the running for winning it. I watched my dad fix everything, but I felt stupid and inept when it came to fixing things. I guess I learned more than I thought I did, and then something clicked when I was in college.
During one semester in college for the Christmas season, I worked at a Sears Catalog Store. I think I paid more dollars for the Craftsman tools I bought (at an employee discount) than I earned in those few weeks. I still have some of those tools four decades later! Tools are a great investment! Tools are even something that can pass down from one generation to the next. When my dad passed away a few years ago, I became the proud owner of some of his tools. I think of him every time I see them on my pegboards and workbench. Good memories…
I hope you’re encouraged to put together a simple toolbox of the right tools for many small do-it-yourself tasks around the house and buy tools as gifts for other. Get tooled up my friends!
