in this video I'm going to show you all
of the tools we carry in our camper van
i'm joe from we're the Russos. one
question i get asked all the time is
what kind of tools do you have in your
camper van well today I'm gonna go
through all of those tools, some of their
uses and why I think they are vital for
van life the first couple things I'm
going to go through are things that I
carry on my person every day these are
what I call my everyday carry items
first one is this little it's kind of
like a credit card tool it's made by
night eyes it has a small ruler on the
side a little screwdriver a pin and of
course a bottle opener this thing comes
in handy all the time when I'm someplace
you need to crack open a bottle
no one has one I've got one in my wallet
at all times
my next tool that I use everyday
standard pocketknife I love it because
it has a clip I can put it in my pocket
keep it there it's easy to access this
is a very robust knife and it comes in
handy almost every single day something
to always have on you and finally is a
pen light this is made by Pelican it is
the 1920 extremely bright has two
settings you know I never thought I
would use a flashlight on a regular
basis I can't tell you how many times I
pull this thing out of my pocket if I'm
crawling around in the van and looking
in a storage cabinet for something this
comes out if we're walking at night
we've been someplace where the lights go
out I always have a flashlight and it's
so handy and as handy as all three of
these items are Kate carries every
single one on her person every day - if
I was only gonna carry one tool it would
be this little guy that pick quick
stubby this has six different tools on
it and they're all accessible by pulling
out the tool on top and pushing through
the one that you want to use now this
has two flathead screwdrivers two
Phillips head screwdrivers and two
square drives what I love about this is
most of the screws in this van are all
square drive so this is the tool I use
the most
and it's what I always reach for I keep
it in the glove box of the van because I
like to have it handy it's easy to use
and very simple now I'll start going
through everything I have in my kind of
toolkit here this is a Nantucket bag and
I found it really versatile for van life
because it's not hard sided and you can
actually squish it move it around to fit
in tough places and has all these
different pockets on it has a nice big
kind of recess in the middle straps to
tie it down if you need to and all sorts
of other things so I got rid of all of
my hard sided cases toolboxes and things
like that and every tool I have - the
ones I keep in my pockets
all right here I don't care where you
live what you live in you need a hammer
plain and simple and with a hammer you
need a roll of duct tape if you can't
fix it with duct tape and a hammer well
you're not gonna fix it so let's see I'm
gonna start on this side and just kind
of go around the bag show you what I
have different size zip ties I have the
large ones small and then kind of this
medium size never know when you're going
to need a zip tie to hold something down
small screwdrivers now since I have that
little pick quick I don't use these as
much but they're still nice to have
flathead Phillips a level exacto blade
and one thing I like to do here is I
like to take the blade out and actually
put it sharp side down so if I'm
reaching in I don't cut myself for those
tough to reach places a longer flat-head
screwdriver
and of course a longer Phillips oops
a tiny Phillips and of course my giant
flathead this is actually more than just
a screwdriver it can be used as a pry
bar and just to kind of get things out
really handy flat-head pliers with wire
cutters
I also keep needlenose pliers a set of
channel locks and a set of vise grips I
love these things I don't carry a set of
wrenches with me instead since I am so
limited on space I just carry one
adjustable wrench I've been able to do
everything I've needed to with this so
it's come in handy and it saves a lot of
space by having one tool that replaces a
whole set a dedicated pair of wire
cutters these are always important to
have around see I've got another Philips
Kate's asking why I have so many
Phillips I don't know I just happen to
have them
this was my actually my grandfather so
it got passed to my dad and then to me
and although I have this little guy I
keep this around as a nice memento plus
I always feel like I have my dad there
with me when I'm working on something
never get rid of this this little guy
has come in extremely handy as well it
is a quarter inch ratchet and what I've
done is since this is so small it's very
easy to throw in my kit and I bought a
set of let me see if I can find them
there we go so I can go from my little
quarter inch drive see to now I have a
3/8 drive and if I really need to go big
I can go all the way up to 1/2 inch on
this little guy I also keep an extension
little flexible unit so I can go around
a corner or angle if I have to and then
in this bag since I got rid of my hard
sided cases I just threw everything in a
little ziplock I have my metric sockets
as well as torque screws and various
other little things that I can attach to
my ratchet little file never know when
you're gonna need one of those and a
large file I also keep a bottle of
googan let's see let me go into my bag
this is a little LED light my mother
bought it for me to go camping but what
I found is when I'm working on something
I can pull it out and it gives great
light especially at night if I'm under
in one of the bays and I don't want to
hold a flashlight I just pull this up
and kind of light the space I also carry
a multimeter this is really handy if you
need to check let's say the solar coming
in or wires or leads if you're having an
electrical problem and you need to trace
it back to something this comes in very
handy and I always have one with me
besides the duct tape I also carry a
roll of gaffers tape this is very sticky
it's easily terrible and nice to have
also just some clear packing tape when I
need it a set of tiny screwdrivers for
working on glasses or just little
electronics thread seal for different
plumbing applications pair of leather
work gloves
Silicon lubricant spray rope wire these
are interesting but they almost look
like lid they're little picks they
almost look like the things that you
might use at a doctor's office they're
handy if you need to get into really
tight corners grab something or scrape
something off these are always good to
have now I have a couple of these but
this is a set of Allen wrenches so let's
see what else do I have in here yeah a
wire brush the reason I initially bought
this is our last frigerator was propane
powered and the vents would get clogged
up every now and again from debris so I
could take off the panel go in there
clean out the vents and we were good as
new so if you have a let's say like a
norcold propane fridge these are handy
to have around and they're cheap
inexpensive and you just toss them in
your bag let's see here's a random bolt
I have no idea why I have that and then
see little hose clamps of various sizes
and what I tend to do I know a lot of
guys are like this I've tried not to do
this in the van but when I come across
something like this bolt that I've had
for whatever reason I'll toss it in my
bag now I've been good about this but I
do have a collection of little screws
nuts bolts things like that and what
I've found is if something breaks and
you're out in the middle of nowhere you
need a screw or nut or something a lot
of times they come in handy and I like
to have them little spare parts here and
there I think that's about it a couple
little other odds and ends in here like
I had to fix some electrical stuff so
these are little what are the connectors
butt connectors
reflective tape heavy-duty lock some
anti-seize lubricant and a little single
Torx bit I bought this because I needed
it a special size so here it is this is
a little bonus item from Kate oh yes so
this is good should have brought this up
in the beginning tire pressure gauge we
like to check our tire pressure on a
regular basis so having one of these in
the glove box is essential this is an a
cue tire it's digital so far I found
that it works great we've gone to a few
tire shops and I've checked this against
the air gauges this tends to be within
1.5 psi of their gauges so it's pretty
well calibrated got to put everything
back in the order that I want it least
useful at the bottom most useful at the
top I've never actually pulled
everything out of here before so it's
gonna be difficult to try and figure out
where I want to put everything again
let's see I keep my tube bag and one of
the back Bay's of the himer there's an
open space I've kind of carved out a
little wedge but again the reason I love
this nantucket bag so much is because I
can pretty much squeeze it into any
space
I've had this bag over a decade it's
held up extremely well as you can see
it's like twisted around there is grease
dirt all over this thing but it is solid
and I've I've beat the you-know-what out
of this it is held up and what's cool is
you can actually do a little demo the
bag you can unzip it flip the bag inside
out so all your tools are in the inside
and then you can tie this up and carry
it like a tote you can even configure
the straps to go over your back like a
backpack I like to keep it this way
because when I put it in the bay what
I'll do is I'll turn to the side that I
think I'm gonna use the most so
typically this side with the
screwdrivers you know my zip ties and
all of my little wrenches and things
keep that on the outside so it's easy to
grab and I don't have to try and pull
this out to get to something I also tend
to leave the most important stuff like
my light on top so that I can just reach
in grab it feel around but that's pretty
much it I love this thing again this the
tire pressure monitor will go back into
the glove box and all of my other tools
like my credit card thing knife
flashlight go back in my pockets that is
it thank you guys so much for watching I
hope you enjoyed this video and finally
answered the question of what tools I
carry on the road in our campervan
we'll see you next time bye