Power tools on the trail

[Antichrist]

A winch.
A chainsaw sometimes, if I'm in areas with larger timber or there have been recent tornadoes.

 

[WSS]

Glad that one of us had a Premier Power Welder on board when the spring hanger separated from the frame on this YJ:

Nice! We carry a ReadyWelder 24v welder. Welds 16ga to 5/8" with ease.

 

[Brewtus]

On our most recent trip on the OBCDR, I brought along my new 18V Milwaukee Drill and Driver combo kit. It was the first time I'd brought it along and it was a darned good thing I did. One of our trucks ripped his 4 link apart out on the trail. Was able to drill two 3/8" holes through 2" of hardened steel to get some cannibalized bolts through the joint that had come apart. It took about 30 minutes of drilling, a whole battery's worth of charge, and a whole can of WD-40, but it got us all home.

I suspect Skyjacker got a nasty-gram when he got home. I still need to send Milwaukee a thank you for being awesome email. Highly recommend these drills.

 

[Peter_n_Margaret]

Rattle gun, drill, angle grinder, sawz-all (all 18V Milwaukee) plus charger (powered by 1300W 12V-240V PSW inverter from solar charged AGM batteries) and a 24VDC 'Readywelder 2' mig welder.
You will need a very big air system to match 18V tools.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

 

[alia176]

So what power tools do you take with you?

My answer is none! Philosophically, power tools are for projects on my driveway, not for repairing a field fix. When someone breaks down on the trail, they have all the time in the world. However, I am fortunate enough to have a York OBA so I could use a die grinder for cutting if it was absolutely necessary. I carry a hacksaw but maybe I should also carry a pneumatic hack saw too? I also carry a MIG spool gun for battery operated welding in an emergency.

I'm also not a rock crawler with a rig that has one off custom things and this isn't Pirate 4x4 site! Weight and size of contents matter when you're living out of your rig, as I do on camping trips. Granted, I'm my 80 is an overgrown pig but I "try" to watch my weight whenever I can.

I have a buddy with a GX who keeps breaking CVs so he carries a 20v impact gun and I can see why he needs it. He does have a habit of chewing through CVs

I suppose at what point do you draw the line - carry jack stands, alum floor jacks, rechargeable impact guns, etc? Just my opinion, no disrespect intended.

Wait, does an IR temp gun count as a power tool? I do carry one of those and may need a tiny inverter for my coffee bean grinder if I want to grind beans quickly vs taking 60 sec or so. You know, first world problems as most of these are on this website.

 

[SDDiver5]

Woah, awesome bump.

 

[Ultima Thule]

Not really any power tools, although I did wish I'd had an electric chainsaw once last year, cut through the down limbs with a Silky saw, but the electric would have been quicker. Less cardio though, lol.

We do not rock crawl, mostly doing forest service roads, or as we call them North Carolina interstates. So little chance of damage to the new $56k Jeep.

I do carry recovery straps/shackles, and a Viair 300P with tire repair kit. Those two bags pretty much live in my Jeep. Axe and hatch, Glock shovel. gloves, tarp, etc. all stay there too.

 

[Metcalf]

My answer is none! Philosophically, power tools are for projects on my driveway, not for repairing a field fix. When someone breaks down on the trail, they have all the time in the world. However, I am fortunate enough to have a York OBA so I could use a die grinder for cutting if it was absolutely necessary. I carry a hacksaw but maybe I should also carry a pneumatic hack saw too? I also carry a MIG spool gun for battery operated welding in an emergency.

I can think of a few things that are super valuable and hard to do with 'hand' tools and time.

-Cutting metal. You might be able to hacksaw through some stuff and shape with a file, but even a small 'grinder' makes these issues so much easier and quicker, especially on hardened metal that is pretty common on vehicles....axles shafts, bearings, spindles, gears, etc.

-Drilling. I guess you could use an old hand brace to drill something, but a power drill makes it all simple. These days you can even get 1/4" hex drill bit sets that fit right in a small impact to make things even more dual purpose. Being able to drill out a snapped bolt or stud makes is very handy, I know I had a set of Toyota hub studs fail on the Rubicon last season. An 1/8" carbide drill bit makes that pretty easy.

-Welding. When things go wrong, being able to stick metal back together is a HUGE advantage. While this isn't just a 'power-tool' just yet, I don't think we are too far off from it. In a basic form it doesn't take much though, just a few batteries, cables, and some electrodes.