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I originally wanted to call this section "Pieces of
string too short to save", after the punch line of a Maine story about a
notable packrat, who had a box in his attic with that label on it. The
idea is that you don't throw things away just because there's no apparent
use for them. In this context, there are a whole bunch of items that we
don't sell, and ideas that aren't in any of our books or tapes, and even
things that have nothing to do with rigging at all, but are too nifty or
unusual or odd to ignore.Back to Fairleads Index For example, I now lug half as many wrenches down the dock as I used to, because late one night in Atlantic City I watched an infommercial for "Metrinch" tools, which fit both English and Metric nuts and bolts. Yeah, yeah, most of the stuff you see on those spots are heavily-hyped sludge, but I took a chance and ordered a set. What I got was a "Snap-On"-quality set of wrenches and sockets that really, really work, even better than the Amazing Cap Snaffler or the Self-Sharpening Razor Blade. Really. So if you're tired of figuring out what size bolt head you're dealing with, or if the bolt head you're dealing with has been mashed and rounded because somebody else didn't have the right socket, hese are the tools for you. They come in a variety of kits, from the simple to the profound, and you don't even have to watch TV to find them; just order a catalog from:
Metric and Inch In One Tool, Inc. Moving on to something completely different, I've recently come across an item that arborists are crazy about, that might have applications in sailing and elsewhere: The Big Shot, a sort of slingshot writ large, that mounts on an 8' pole. Arborists use it to get lines into trees so they can climb up, but it could just as easily throw a heaving line to a dock or another vessel (or across a stream, or up into a building, or across a crevasse). It has a vertical range of about 100' and a horizontal range of about 280', and it looks like it would be easy to adapt to fit onto a boathook. For more information on the Big Shot, or just to see a beautiful catalog with many cross-pollination-to-sailing possibilities, write to:
Sherrill, Inc. And finally, how is it that so few riggers wear fishing vests to carry small items in? Instead, they spend inordinate amounts of time groping around in the bottom of their toolbox, looking for the thing they need, which has migrated to the least-accessible spot, under lots of other tools. In mine I always carry: anhydrous lanolin; Tef-gel; blue Loctite; 10' diameter/circumference tape measure; 50-power pocket microscope; dial caliper gauge; marking pen; pencil; notebook; rag; a stropsicle or two; a tube of 3M 101; T-handle screwdriver and bits; needle file set; ratchetting tap handle; spring-loaded center punch; a pair of our Rigger's Pliers; a tube of crazy glue; a fathom or two of 1/16" annealed stainless 1x7 seizing strand; a bit of green scrubby; and assorted bronze cottter pins. And there's still room for the machine screws, bolts, odd hardware, etc., that a given job might require. It sounds like a lot, but once you get a mental map of where everything is, you go to the right pocket automatically. The most comfortable vest I've found is Columbia's. I don't have the model name, but it's the one with the neoprene yoke, and 16 pockets. That's it for the first edition. I'll be updating this section next month. If you have some pieces of string of your own, please feel free to forward them to me at brion@briontoss.com.
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