by Nocke » May 8th, 2018, 5:49 pm
My pockets are most often in a pair of Carhart double knee black work jeans because I work outside in all kinds of weather and I've discovered 30 years ago that it's cheaper and more useful to buy 1 $56 pair of jeans than the 2 or three pair of $20 jeans I'd need to replace them.
On a work day:
Front L: Wallet, small pocket knife, change
R side: 8″ adjustable wrench, 7/16 and half wrenches
Front R: 1/4″, 5/16″, 3/8″ nut driver bits, chapstick, Altoids, 4″ lockback knife
Watch pocket: spare keys, lighter
R side: 11 in 1 Klein screw stick, Knipex 6″ pliers
Left rear: Misc. Fasteners/parts as needed
Right rear: main key ring
Belt L: phone case & phone
Belt R: Leatherman tool, Minimag flashlight
The belt itself is a well worn but polished heavy black leather 1 1/2″ beast that I could use to bind a small rhino with. It's also been used as a hand lead for horses and stray dogs.
I often clank a bit as I walk.
Both knives are strictly tools rather than fighting impliments. The small one (for stripping small wires, cleaning motor shafts, cleaning circuit traces, etc) is a little 3″ long Case folding knife with a clip, spey, and drop point blades. The larger (for opening packaging, and heavier work) is a 4″ blade lock back with replaceable blades. The flat on the back of the blade is also sharpish… square edge vs cutting… as I use it for stripping rust off motor and drive shafts and deburring pipes. Both are kept “scary sharp” at all times, and there's a set of 3 diamond stones in the truck if they need a touch-up. (There's also one on the Leatherman tool). I won't loan out my knives because I learned early on that the vast majority of folks don't know how to use or care for knives and will hurt themselves with a properly cared for knife. On the rare occasions when I used to loan them out it wasn't at all uncommon for me to warn the person that they're kept sharp (it's only fair after all), the person would check the edge, close the knife, LOOK at me, hand it back, and go find something else. It's also not terribly uncommon to see me touching up a screw driver or a drill bit on one of the diamond stones if it starts slipping. Clients and newish workers always seem to find that interesting. The spare truck keys in the watch pocket may seem a bit odd, but over the decades they've saved me several thousands of dollars in tow truck lock out fees and lost labor time. They also made life interesting for one scuzzball mechanic who tried to “hold” my keys after I'd paid him for a tire change but he suddenly decided he wanted more than we'd agreed on. The look on his face was priceless as he tailed me when I got in and drove off.. right to the local cop shop. :} Yea… I'm THAT kind of Asshole. The lighter is a standard cheapo Bic with the safety spring idiocy removed so I can use it even with gloves on. It's use for cigarettes, heat shrink, and lighting either of the 2 torches (1 Brazing, 1 Welding) I use almost daily. I've also used it to stress test control board traces for solder cracks and bad I/O chips… (power down, heat the trace junction, power up, if it now works the pad needs re-soldered… (DON'T try this at home kids!). In “civies”: It's a pair of regular 5 pocket jeans without the driver bits and the small pocket knife; while the tools stay in the truck. I still carry the Leatherman tool and mini Maglite.