Tools concentrate in predictable places: home garages and sheds, vehicle trunks and truck beds, building maintenance closets, construction sites, farm equipment sheds, restaurant kitchens and janitor closets. Start with garages and sheds, the richest general source, and open locked closets with a pry bar, but treat every chemical container, gas cylinder and rodent nest you meet in those same places as a hazard in its own right.
Part of Tool Identification & Repair
Tools collect in predictable places, and those same places usually hold fuel, solvents, gas cylinders and rodent nests as well.
Search Where People Kept Tools, Not Where They Left Them
Residential garages and sheds. The richest general-purpose source (parent article). Look for wall-mounted pegboards, rolling tool cabinets and workbenches with drawers. They also hold fuel, paint, solvents, pesticides and propane cylinders.
Vehicle trunks and truck beds. Tire irons, jack handles, jumper cables and emergency kits. Pickup trucks often carry toolboxes. A vehicle also gives you the fuel and battery hazards covered at Vehicle & Machinery Cannibalization.
Maintenance closets. Every commercial building has one. They are usually locked, and contain cleaning supplies, basic hand tools and often a well-stocked toolbox. Cleaning chemicals are the hazard here.
Construction sites. Active sites before the collapse may have left power tools, hand tools, hardware, lumber and heavy equipment behind. Unfinished structures are also unstable.
Farm equipment sheds. Wrenches, pliers, wire, fencing tools, welding equipment and grinding wheels. Look for chemical stores, fuel and sharp or moving machine parts.
Restaurant kitchens. Heavy-duty knives (commercial chef knives are excellent), sharpening steels and heavy pots, plus propane connections.
Janitor closets in schools and offices. Basic tools, buckets, mops whose handles are useful poles, and cleaning chemicals.
What You Need
- A pry bar or crowbar to open locked closets and cabinets.
- A torch (flashlight) with a sealed switch, not a flame, for dark spaces; see the warning below.
- Gloves, boots, eye protection and a dust mask for rodent droppings.
- Bags or crates to sort what you find into categories.
Method: Work A Place In The Same Order Every Time
Step 1: Look before you enter. Check for damage, smell for gas and fuel from the doorway, and listen. A sharp fuel or gas smell means do not go in; ventilate first if you can do it from outside.
Step 2: Open doors from the side. Stand beside the door, not in front of it, in case something shifts.
Step 3: Search by surface. Pegboard and wall racks first, then benches and drawers, then shelves and floor corners, then overhead racks.
Step 4: Open locked closets with the pry bar placed at the latch side. Go slowly: forcing a door in a damaged frame can bring the frame down.
Step 5: Take the toolbox and what is nearby together, then move outside before sorting.
Step 6: Note chemicals and cylinders and leave them in place or move them outdoors with care; they matter in their own right (see Priority Salvage List).
Common Mistakes
- Opening drawers by hand without looking. Blades, nails and bits are loose in drawers.
- Searching in a poorly ventilated garage that smells of fuel. Vapour collects low.
- Using a flame to see. A candle or lighter in a space that may hold fuel vapour or propane can ignite it.
- Missing the vehicle in the garage. Its trunk and glovebox hold tools.
Safety
Garages and sheds also hold fuel vapour, gas and chemicals
Garages commonly contain gasoline, solvents and propane, and their vapours collect low and ignite from a spark or flame. Never light a match, lighter or candle to see in an enclosed space, and never test the air with a flame; use a daylight opening or a sealed torch, and ventilate before you go in. Avoid breathing dust from rodent droppings, wear a dust mask, and do not mix cleaning chemicals; some combinations give off toxic gas.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Recognizing Improvised Tool Sources — raw stock hiding in the same places
- Combine with: Tool Categories by Function — what to look for once you are in