A D VI C E
M U S T-H AV E E ME R G E NC Y G E AR
TOOLS
CHOOSE
WISELY
In a perfect world
we’d all have a magic
toolbag with every
tool imaginable in it,
but you’re far better
off having the tools
needed to do the job,
rather than a bunch of
speciality gear. Offroad
tool kits don’t need to
be the fanciest on the
tracks. Everything you
need to do the job and
nothing more.
A PLAN
There’s an old saying, ‘we don’t rise to
our level of expectations, we fall to the
level of our training’, and it couldn’t be
any truer than with remote touring. If you
have a plan and know exactly what to do
if something goes wrong, then you’re in a
much better situation than if you plan on
winging it and hoping for the best.
The next time you’ve got a free 10
minutes sit down with a notepad and
pen and run through the likely issues
you could face out of phone reception
and think about how you’d handle each
one. Simple issues like collapsed wheel
bearings might mean packing the parts
and the tools. A rear axle failure could
mean disconnecting the driveshaft and
driving home in front-wheel drive. Your
plan might be using the repeater stations
on your UHF and hoping help hears you,
or jumping on the satellite phone to the
nearest 4WD recovery crew with credit
card in hand.
64
ADVENTURES
It’s easy to get caught up in a
shopping spree and buy every
tool known to man for your next
adventure, and hey, who doesn’t
want a pull scale for setting bearing
pre-load and a depth gauge in case
you need to readjust your diff gears
halfway up the Canning Stock
Route. The problem is all that stuff
adds weight and takes up space.
If you’re in a bind it’s not going
to matter if your wheel bearings
were tightened up with the proper
socket, or a hammer and chisel; the
important part is being able to do
the repair to get you back on the
track. Make a list of the failures that
might happen and what tools are
required to do the job. Then try and
cut that list in half. You’ll find a lot of
tools can perform double duties; for
example, do you need that soft-face
hammer, or will a lumpy do the job
with a rag over the end? Likewise, a
10 and 12mm combination spanner
can replace two individual ones.