Transcription
The Tool Check Plus is everyone's favorite EDC cool kit because it's small and well-organized. But I found the socket selection doesn't always fit all the bolts I run into.
After a ton of research, I found a way to seriously level up your Tool Check Plus. So we'll cover all the popular metric and Imperial bolt sizes out there.
Up until now, if I wanted to feel prepared, I'd carry a full set of quarter-inch Imperial and metric sockets, like I have in this custom EDC tool kit I made that covers all my bases. But I've been asking myself if I really need to carry all 20 sockets because it's so bulky. So I decided to get to the bottom of this by buying basically all the common things that I would find in the hardware store.
So I went to the aisle with all of the nuts and bolts, and I bought a bunch of different popular metric sizes and Imperial sizes. So I took all of these bolts that I bought, and I just mounted them to this 2x3. So I basically have the gauntlet; I have all the popular sizes that you will run into day-to-day. Now, now if you're working on a specific kind of car or machinery, of course, you're going to need different bolts. But I just wanted to start with what an everyday person might run into. So I have basically sizes: an M10, M8, M7, M6, M5, and 3/8, 5/16, and a quarter. The other two sizes that you might run into is an M12 and a ½ in. But honestly, these are such huge, beefy bolts that this is nothing that you're probably going to want to tackle with an EDC style tool kit; they're just too, too big.
So let's take a look at this and see what fits what. So this is the metric row, and this is the Imperial row. So let's start with the metric side of things. M10 actually has a 17 mm head, but unfortunately, a ¼ in socket set only really goes up to 14 mm. So a 17 mm bolt really is not something that we can support in a kit like this. Really, the maximum size that you're going to be dealing with here is an M8. So an M8 uses a 13 mm; that's a good fit. An M7 uses an 11; the M6 bolt uses a 10 mm; and the M5 uses an 8 mm. On the Imperial side of things, we have our 3/8, 5/16, and ¼ in. So the 3/8 uses a 9/16; the 5/16th uses a ½; and the ¼ in uses a 7/16. All of these other sizes that you see in this kit are really not commonly used. So these are sizes that you probably don't need to carry with you day-to-day, at least from an EDC perspective.
Now we can simplify this even more because there's some overlap between the Imperial and Metric sizes. This 13 mm metric will work perfectly fine on a ½ in Imperial. You can see there's a little bit more play here, but that's fine. However, the reverse is not true. So a ½ in Imperial socket is just a little bit too small to fit onto a 13 mm. That tells us that if you just want to carry one of these, go with the 13 mm metric. The 11 mm is also very close in size to the 7/16; in fact, they're interchangeable. But for the sake of simplicity, I'd go with the 11 mm to stay metric. This 9/16 in socket from the Imperial side of things can actually be fully replaced by a 14 mm socket that works just as well. So this proves my hunch that if you want to carry one set of sockets that will cover most situations, I would definitely go with a metric set.
So now we know we only need five sizes to cover the most common metric and Imperial bolts in the US: 8, 10, 11, 13, and 14 mm. How does that selection match up to what's included in the metric version of the Tool Check Plus? It has 5, ½, and 6 mm sockets that are both pretty tiny and not something I run into. So those will be replaced by more useful sizes. The 7 mm isn't super common, but I've seen them used on car interiors, so it's a keeper. The 8 and 10 mm are super popular sizes, so it's good they're included. The 11 mm size is missing, and that's useful for both M7 and 7/16 in bolt sizes, so that needs to be added. 12 mm sockets aren't a popular size at the hardware store but are used in certain vehicles, so that's also a keeper. The 13 mm size is great for M8 and 5/16 inch bolts, but it's missing the all-important 14 mm size to cover 3/8 in bolts.
So to level up the metric Tool Check Plus to cover the most common fasteners here in the US, I need to add two sockets: the 11 and 14 mm. Fortunately, Vera sells individual ¼ in sockets. The 11 mm cost $7, and the 14 mm was $9. To make room for the new sockets, I removed the 5, ½, and 6 mm sizes and shifted the sockets down the left side. With these, the 7, 8, 10, and 11 mm sockets are very tight because the rail ends, so you need to put the 10 in last. On the right side are the 12, 13, and 14 mm sockets. With all the sockets in, they're super tight, and it's metal on metal. To try and make some wiggle room, I used a heat gun to soften the plastic and push it back a bit and probably gained a millimeter or two. It's kind of risky, so adrenaline might have been a better option. You can definitely get by with color-coding and the number printed on each socket, but I'm a little obsessive, so I went ahead and printed out a label with all the new sizes.
Now my Tool Check Plus has a super-optimized set of seven sockets that handle all popular metric and Imperial bolts and fasteners in the ¼ in range. I've been wanting to get a clear answer on which sockets are essential for years now, and I'm really glad I spent the time to test this out, cuz now I feel confident in carrying less and knowing I can still cover a lot of ground. Now I'm no expert, so let me know down in the comments what I missed and how I can make this even better. Thanks everyone, till next time.