Throw in a handful of zip ties along with the duct tape. I carry some jumper cables, too. And in the glove box, I have a cigarette-lighter* style voltage meter that I sometimes use on long trips to see how the charging system is doing. Might as well talk about the kneeling pad and the coveralls I toss in. Bentley manual doesn't take up much space. These items are for trips longer than a hundred miles or so, obviously.

* Oh yeah, you should think about doing something about the weird size cigarette lighter socket that Porsche supplied. I built a little box that holds 2 standard size sockets that goes on top of the console. One is for the GPS and the other is for anything else I want to use it for.

My dad always called "dykes" "linemans' pliers", so I do too.

For example, "look at those linemans' pliers playing softball over there".

Also, this has been discussed before:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/261337-essential-911-tools.html

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/194655-what-have-you-got-your-tool-kit.html

Us former British Car owners long ago faced this quandry and through many, many years of diligent research discovered that you only need 10 tools. Fortunately for you, our list is good for all Marques regardless of year.

"Forget the Snap-On Tools truck; its never been there when you need it. Besides there are only 10 things in this world you need to fix any car, any place, any time.

1. Duct Tape - Not just a tool, a veritable Swiss Army knife in stickum and plastic. It's safety wire, body material, radiator hose, upholstery, insulation, tow rope, and more - in an easy to carry package. Sure, there's prejudice surrounding duct tape in concours competitions, but in the real world, everything from LeMans-winning Porsches to Atlas rockets use it by the yard. The only thing that can get you out of more scrapes is a cell phone.

2. Vise-Grips locking pliers - Equally adept as a wrench, hammer, pliers, baling wire twister, breaker-off of frozen bolts and wiggle-it-till-it-falls-off tool. The heavy artillery of your tool box, locking pliers are the only tool designed expressly to fix things screwed up beyond repair.

3. Spray Lubricants - A considerably cheaper alternative to new doors, alternator, and other squeaky items. Slicker than pig phlegm, repeated soakings will allow the main hull bolts of the Andrea Doria to be removed by hand. Strangely enough, an integral part of these sprays is the infamous Little Red Tube that flies out of the nozzle if you look at it cross eyed (one of the 10 worst tools of all time).

4. Margarine Tubs with Clear Lids - If you spend all your time under the hood looking for a frendle pin that careened off the pertal valve when you knocked both off the air cleaner, it's because you eat butter. Real mechanics consume pounds of tasteless vegetable oil replicas just so they can use the empty tubs for parts containers afterward. (Some of course chuck the butter-colored goo altogether or use it to repack wheel bearings.)
Unlike air cleaners and radiator lips, margarine tubs aren't connected by a time/space wormhole to the Parallel Universe of Lost Frendle Pins.

5. Big Rock at the Side of the Road - Block up a tire. Smack corroded battery terminals. Pound out a dent. Bop noisy know-it-all types on the noodle. Scientists have yet to develop a hammer that packs the raw banging power of granite or limestone. This is the only tool with which a "Made in Malaysia" emblem is not synonymous with the user's maiming.

6. Plastic Zip Ties - After 20 years of lashing down stray hose and wiring with old bread ties, some genius brought a slightly slicked-up version to the auto parts market. Fifteen zip ties can transform a hulking mass of amateur- quality wiring from a working model of the Brazilian Rain Forest into something remotely resembling a wiring harness. Of course it works both ways. When buying a used car, subtract $100 for each zip tie under the hood.

7. Ridiculously Large Craftsman Screwdriver - Let's admit it. There's nothing better for prying, chiseling, lifting, breaking, splitting or mutilating than a huge flatbladed screwdriver, particularly when wielded with gusto and a big hammer. This is also the tool of choice for all filters so insanely located that they can only be removed by driving a stake in one side and out the other. If you break the screwdriver--and you will just like Dad and your shop teacher said--who cares, it has a lifetime guarantee.

8. Bailing Wire - Commonly known as MG muffler brackets, bailing wire holds anything that's too hot for tape or ties. Like duct tape, it's not recommended for concours contenders, since it works so well you'll never need to replace it with the right thing again. Bailing wire is a sentimental favorite in some circles, particularly with the MG, Triumph, and flathead Ford set.

9. Bonking Stick- This monstrous tuning fork with devilish pointy ends is technically known as a tie-rod separator, but how often do you separate tie-rod ends? Once every decade if you're lucky. Other than medieval combat, its real use is the all-purpose pplication of undue force, not unlike that of the huge flat-bladed screwdriver. Nature doesn't know the bent metal panel or frozen exhaust pipe that can stand up to a good bonking stick. (Can also be use to separate tie-rod ends in a pinch, of course, but does a lousy job of it).

10. A Cell Phone"

:D oh that was good for a laugh

Harry, a classic post! Thanks for the laugh!

On a side note, always carry a magnetic pick up tool and inspection mirror, and some 90 degree screwdrivers you'll use them at home too.

Since we seem to be in need of tool definitions...

DRILL PRESS: *A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, denting the freshly-painted project which you had carefully set in the corner where nothing could get to it.

WIRE WHEEL: *Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light . Also removes fingerprints and hard-earned calluses from fingers in about the time it takes you to say, 'Oh *****!'

SKIL SAW: *A portable cutting tool used to make studs too short.

PLIERS: *Used to round off bolt heads. Sometimes used in the creation of blood-blisters.

BELT SANDER: *An electric sanding tool commonly used to convert minor touch-up jobs into major refinishing jobs.

HACKSAW: *One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board principle... It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes.

VISE-GRIPS: *Generally used after pliers to completely round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

OXYACETYLENE TORCH: *Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable objects in your shop on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside the wheel hub out of which you want to remove a bearing race.

TABLE SAW: *A large stationary power tool commonly used to launch wood projectiles for testing wall integrity.

HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK: *Used for lowering an automobile to the ground after you have installed your new brake shoes, trapping the jack handle firmly under the bumper.

BAND SAW: *A large stationary power saw primarily used by most shops to cut good aluminum sheet into smaller pieces that more easily fit into the trash can after you cut on the inside of the line instead of the outside edge.

TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST: *A tool for testing the maximum tensile strength of everything you forgot to disconnect.

PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER: *Normally used to stab the vacuum seals under lids or for opening old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splashing oil on your shirt; but can also be used, as the name implies, to strip out Phillips screw heads.

STRAIGHT SCREWDRIVER: *A tool for opening paint cans. Sometimes used to convert common slotted screws into non-removable screws and butchering your palms.

PRY BAR: *A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part.

HOSE CUTTER: *A tool used to make hoses too short.

HAMMER: *Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the object we are trying to hit.It is especially valuable at being able to find the EXACT location of the thumb or index finger of the other hand.

UTILITY KNIFE: *Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well on contents such as seats, vinyl records, liquids in plastic bottles, collector magazines, refund checks, and rubber or plastic parts. Especially useful for slicing work clothes, but only while in use.

SON-OF-A-***** TOOL: *(A personal favorite!) **Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage while yelling 'Son of a *****!' at the top of your lungs. It is also, most often, the next tool that you will need.

And to keep this on topic, I agree with most of the advice although I will say that there is a fine line between "a few essentials" and needing a trailer to carry everything, therefore I subscribe to the minimalist theory. Few basic parts and a few basic tools. Most common things that can go wrong OR things that are not readily available at local FLAPS (eg, spare fuel pump relay). Anything else, the goal is to get the car back to the garage, so +1 on AAA card.

Edit: duplicate post oops!

I carry a set of metric wrenches, sockets and ratchet, multi-screwdriver, pulley wrenches, pliers etc. and a AAA card.

Also: emergency dash light, jump bag with basic stuff (BP cuff, bandaging, airway and IV kit, O2 cylinder, stethocope) radio, and my jumpsuit. Just can't bring myself to mount a bar light and siren on my car.
__________________

It seems there is a thread within a thread here. Maybe this will help put it to rest. Straight from the Klein tools website.

Lineman's Pliers
http://www.service.kleintools.com/Ma...9NETH_ICON.JPG

Diagonal-Cutting Pliers "Dykes"
http://www.service.kleintools.com/Ma...243-8_ICON.JPG

-J

I would call 'Lineman Pliers' a combo tool.....prolly a better idea for an emergency tool kit than a set of pliers and another set of dykes.....anywhoo.....on with the show.

Well, old Dad had it right, because he always had a set of Linesmans' Pliers, and he called 'em Linesmans' pliers.

I've had it wrong all these years, because I've been calling Dykes "sidecutters"

(And I imagine that there probably are tools called sidecutters out there.)

On with the show.

My dad always called them dykes, same here.