There are toolboxes and toolkits, so why not a Toolcord©?
I’ve been carrying the P-38 can opener for over 40 years and about 14 years ago I tied it to an aluminum bottle opener I found in San Francisco (the black has since pretty much worn off it). I liked the symmetry: can opener and bottle opener on a cord.
Then I bought the stainless-steel, plain-edged Spyderco Ladybug a year or so ago and put it on my key ring. And thanks to a recent thread here about mini pry bars, I bought a two-inch Pico Widgy Pry Bar (thanks, Forumites – another tool of questionable but must-have value :D ) – so I slipped that on my key ring too.
But the other night I had to leave my keys with a parking attendant, so I had to wind the knife and pry bar off the ring before handing the keys over (although, looking back, I could have pulled my key off instead – who knows what goes through the minds of men when the pressure’s on and the attendants are waiting).
It doesn’t matter, though; I still wanted a better solution for the tools now that there were four of them. Since I liked the can opener and bottle opener tied to each other, it made sense just to expand this solution and put all the tools in one place. So I dug out the 2mm cord and went to work last night.
I’ve always liked the Figure-Eight knot – it looks nice and tidy and interesting. So I used that for each of the loops through the tools, with the can opener and bottle opener tied at each end of one cord, and the Ladybug and pry bar to each end of a second cord. Then I just folded the two cords in the middle and did a simple overhand knot – and added an Italian carabiner for Continental flair and light weight.
The Toolcord comes in at 69 grams, or 2.43 ounces. I can dump it in the bottom of dress trousers, or clip the carabiner to a belt loop and let the tools hang inside a jeans pocket, or clip it to a ring inside my camera bag.
You could also put each tool on its own cord with a Figure-Eight-knotted loop at each end. That way you could slip each of the tools onto the carabiner and take them off for individual use. I decided against that. I like keeping everything together and frankly you don’t normally use these tools for more than about ten seconds a time anyway.
Photo: Nothing professional because it would never have gotten done if I’d had to drag out the light tent and set up the lights. So I flipped the bed quilt over, laid everything out and took the photo with a Sigma DP2 with natural light coming in from two directions. Then a little post-processing.
If it gives you an idea for your own Toolcord… well, that was the idea. :cool:
Cheers,
Don
