For the last three years I've been wearing this leather 3" wide belt with a leather tool pouch and klien canvas linemans bag. The pouch has about had it. So, I was looking for a new one. One kind in particular, I believe the name of the brand is called, 'tek-pak'.

Not sure though, I do remeber that it is made out of cordura and it is black. The pouch itself is small in width. Maybe some of ya'll out there know what I'm talking about. Speaking of tool belts, what do the rest of ya wear out in the feild?

Pants , with a hammer loop , and a small pouch with some pliers , and a few screw drivers .

I try to work light as I am right now up not being able to sleep with my aching back..... Everything heavier than this list above resides in a nearby tool box .

Gidday Luke,
I've had a Leather tool-holder for some years now and it is not wearing out.
It's a locally made thing, however.
It holds all sorts of things, let alone my tools for a given job.
Let me upload some pics in the morning of the thing.

I think my old one was made by AWP. The rivets are letting go. I'll look forward to your pictures though.

A Carhartt A09 "Nail Apron":



...for the light stuff ....

And an empty bucket for the rest - doubles as a seat.

I've got a set of "Boulder Bags" that you can carry a whole shop in. I hate 'em



Renosteinke turned me on to these, though. Skiller's Vest



They're (2) ordered and should be here in a couple of days. I'm anxious to see how they work.

I used to wear the belt with the Klien 5165 tool holder loaded with tools, but over time it just got too damn heavy and it had to go. That time came less than a year ago and now I just use a pouch from HD loaded with RX staples, green bonding screws, and wirenuts.

In my right side pants pocket I store my linemans pliers, front pocket utility knife, rear pocket flathead 'beefy' screwdriver, and tape measure. This makes it a whole lot easier to move around and get things done. The bucket is nearby and everything else I may need is in there, like for instance a flashlight or MC stripper.

My bucket also doubles as a seat and sometimes even as a step ladder!

I'll bite on this one.
That Carhart's tool apron is on the right track. Currently, I use a $5 canvas tool apron. I must credit one of my instructors, Feorge Stout, with this revelation. Most electricians seem to have been brainwashed with the idea that they must carry all of their tools on their hips constantly.
Maybe it fits the image. Watch Norm Abram on New Yankee Workshop. He always wears a tool belt. But when he needs a tool such as a plane, he picks it up off the workbench. He never seems to retrieve a tool from his toolbelt. It is strictly part of the costume.
George's point was that, no matter what you are doing, you only need two or three tools for the task at hand. For instance, if you are making up boxes, you just need wire strippers, a Phillips screwdriver and an Electrician's hammer ["Klein's"] for pre-twisting the wires. You don't need a Roto-Split nor a hammer nor a nut-driver So why carry all that up and down a ladder all day?
An overflowing toolbag represents ALL the tools the owner has. I'm beyond that. Now I have a nice, three tray red cart to carry all the ancilliary stuff. Must weigh 200 lbs. Can't carry all that in a tool pouch!

My apron is loaded as follows:
Left is slot for utility knife.
Then is big pocket for wire nuts and some LRTs.
Middle pocket happens to be berift of it's intended Tek screws. But that's what it's used for.
Right big canvas pocket is for junk like Caddy clips [Batwings]. Upper berth hase some spare 8-32 box screws. And a small pair of ViceGrip needle nose pliers and a long 1/4" hex extension bit, quick change. The last little pocket contains two small ChannelLock type grippers and a 6" half round file.
My rear hip pocket carries the current selection of tools of the task which rotates between my electrians hammer, electrian's chisel [AKA "screwdriver"], and wire strippers.
Also I carry a 3/8" cold chisel and open ended 3/8"/7/16" and 1/2"/9/16" wrenches in two other slots. These will handle most everything. The 1/2" wide X 12' tape measure ends up clipped to the middle pouch. Don't laugh -- conduit is only 10' long.
~PeterA

I'm a minimalist with a tool belt & I wish more small tool belts were available.

I keep four screwdrivers, reamer, strippers, small lineman's pliers, needlenose pliers, non-contact sensor, pencil, sharpie, retractable knife & a miniature crescent wrench.

Dave

Scott, you'll like the vest, however it is only an element of a system. It can carry only a very limited few small tools - but you can add to it. Add a hammer loop, or a small pouch like the one in my post or this one. Then you're sort of in business... What I like about it, if I'm not going to be using something, I can take that part off. Just velcro it on. Or move things from the vest to the pants. I can also switch it for certain tasks. I have a bunch of these nail liners with stuff for certain tasks. Wood screws, staples, self drillers, and 1/2" EMT straps. They drop into the pockets, so if all I'm gonna be doing for a while is lay out, strip it all off to just a tape, pencils, markers and all those 8x11 SK drawings..... Then running wire add some connectors or staples, splicing add the pouch... One bad thing about it is - You can get lost in them. Forget where you put something and you're patting yourself down.

Tool Pouch? I carry two, one has the carhartt logo on it, one doesn't


I was just taught to do most things with 4 tools - Kleins, channel locks, flat head and phillips head. They all fit into those 2 nice little pouches.

This particular model of tool pouch, has a bonus pocket to carry a fluke tester.

If I can't fix it with those 5 items, then it's specialized and we go get the right tool.

Otherwise, a tool belt and pouch is just a burden.

One thing that I've noticed over the years is that the longer one is in the trade, the fewer tools Everyone carries. The Master who had the greatest influence on me carried a pair of dikes and a common screwdriver and got more done than anyone else with 18 tools at hand. My sciatic nerve gets pinched when I wear a conventional pouch, causing a portion of my left leg to go numb after about 20 minutes. I bought an Ideal square pouch, now carry about twice the tools that the old hip pouch carried, it's too heavy to be practical, but the commodious interior allows me to have room for a beer bottle on those rare Saturday afternoons wiring up Rock n Roll concert stuff.

I have experimented with a few pocket pouches such as Duluth Trading sells, that seems to be the right direction, whatever the task, you really don't need but a few items to get it accomplished. I have some blue plastic caddys such as Malco (the sheetmetal & tinners supply folks) and they give me room for parts and tools for the job at hand, and are especially valuable when crawling under/over in residential.

At my most efficient, I had the conventional leather Klein pouch, a canvas riggers bag and a canvas parachute bag from Duluth.

In the parachure bag I carry a carefully arranged selection of stuff as follows:
1.) # 6 screws & blue/org scotchloks. 2.)Yellow wingnuts and # 8 screws. 3.)Red scotchloks & green wingnuts w/ # 10 screws. 4.)Grey & Blue scotchloks with a few # 12 & 1/4" screws. 5.) Romex connectors and a handful of various nails. 6.)Plastic RX staples. This selection has evolved over 10 years and puts almost every common piece/part at my fingertips. The pockets have both machine and pan head sheet metal screws.
Now the riggers bag mostly stays on the truck and I put the tools of the day into the Ideal pouch, then work out of it. I am still figuring out how to make this work, the conventional pouch on my hip allowed me to reach for the tool without looking, as I knew where every tool was and could feel the correct one with my finger tips.

Have you ever noticed how tool pouches are carried?

90% of the time, the "rool belts" I see have but a single overstuffed pouch... and are carried with the belt slung over one shoulder. Once at the work site, it gets plopped on the floor.

MAYBE- the pouch needs a 'make-over.' Perhaps, starting with a belt intended for the shoulder (no purse jokes, please!)
Next, perhaps it should be constructed so as to stand upright on the floor. A variation of the picture frame fold-out flap would work.
More 'tubes' intended for things like screwdrivers, nut drivers, etc. A place for a 'stick' meter.

Reno,

I used this one, or one like it for years


it let's you carry it with the handle or the strap over the shoulder, set it on the floor, etc.

but, mostly it would stay in my truck. I preferred my two 'pouches' over carrying this thing.

[This message has been edited by mahlere (edited 10-14-2006).]

I use a CLC toolbelt with suspenders. Hang a lot of pipe up in a lift and like to have my tools at my fingertips. I hook a milk crate on the lift railing for the cordless screw gun, Hatchet, clamps, tek screws and fittings. I don't like to bend over 1000 times a day to pick stuff up.

I have the Klein pouch that has a spot for 2 screwdrivers,pliers and strippers and the dykes go in the back pocket. All the "stuff goes in the carpenters leather apron. Tape measure in the middle,wire nuts in the large right, sheetrock screws in the small right, staples in the front left, Large left is a catch all: tape, large wire nuts,small wire nuts and the best thing an old Altoids tin that has various 6-32,8-32 and ground screws in it. I have a Veto Pro Pack (medium size) that I love. That has needle nose,channel locks (just 1)adjustable wrench,nut drivers,rotosplitters,hammer.meter and stud finder. This set up is working ok. The truck has everything else.

I agree Peter, and I wonder why some of us must carry those 30' tape measures? Heavy as a brick, I also have only a 12' tape that I carry around now.

Maybe I need to learn to only carry the essentials. Kliens, couple screwdrivers, and some '33' & keep everything else close by on a cart.

Hey Mahlere, I have a bag just like that. I love the thing, got rid of the tool box for it. Everythings right there, out in the open. Instead of buried under a pile in the bottom of a tool box.

I carried one like Mahlere for several years until my tools wore thru the material and scratched a customers floor.

Now I carry a Veto Pro Pak
http://www.toolsandaccessories.com/a-B00009K77K/Default.aspx

It's heavy but holds everything. Works good for resi service calls. Carries what you'll need for a quick trip from the truck to the customers door and reduces the number of trips back to the truck. It's not something you'll carry very far. I think it weighs 12 lbs empty.

Mostly, I carry a 10 in 1 Klien screwdriver, side cutters, and needle nose in my pockets.


[This message has been edited by PE&Master (edited 10-16-2006).]

I use a CLC backpack with pockets on it. Inside is a Klein zipper bag with hand tools. Ther's loose stuff like ty-wraps, folding rule, level, etc. in the bag too. When it's on your back you still have two free hands to carry a ladder and stuff. When I get to the place I'm working I only use my pockets. The bag is there if I need something else.

I didn't tell you what is in the tool belt:

Rightside top: Lineman's & Klien 10-in-1
Rightside bottom: a few wirenuts

Leftside top: Smokes, lighter, sunflowerseeds, maybe binoculars (for looking at the secretarys on the street or the boats in the bay)
Leftside bottom: Nothing

The whole purpose of my toolbelt is to carry my "stuff"..not tools

Amazing what tool advice you can find in Forbes magazine!

I followed their suggestion - how the stylish yacht owner sclepps his tool about - to www.toolpak.com .

These folks offer a vest, #94350, as well as several 'backpack' type carriers, starting with their original model, #90650.

I have the pack Yanici talks about; I have not found it all that great for my uses.
I do use the carrier Mahlere posted; it works well.

My problem has been more with parts storage, than tool transport- especially when atop a ladder. So far, I have found the Skiller's pants and vest to be great!

My "tool pouch" is any available flat surface.