Some tools become so indispensable that they transcend the toolbox and enter the realm of every day carry: the things you carry with you every day to battle life’s little trials. And as motorcyclists, we know a thing or two about unexpected trials, don’t we?
Over the past few years of riding, I’ve experienced enough of my own trials to put together a small collection of items I like to call my every ride carry. I toss these in a pocket or into my tankbag before every ride.
My essentials: spare key, lighter, tweezers, and LED light.
Always have a spare key to your bike someplace easily accessible. On my daily commute, I keep my spare in my wallet, but on longer trips, I wear it on a lanyard around my neck.
The rest of the items were sourced from County Comm, purveyors of all kinds of interesting goodies. Click that link and you’ll easily lose a few hours once you figure out how to navigate their awful website. (Hint: click “What’s New” to see a list of everything they sell.) Don’t worry, I’ll wait!
The orange LED light is an ARES SO-LED, which has the best combination of features I’ve found on this type of light. The spring clip lets you attach the light to an object and the switch is a slider type that allows for hands-free use. The light can even rotate on the clip 360°. It’s bright, small, lightweight, and best of all, cheap.
The silver cylinder is a stainless steel peanut lighter.
The peanut lighter.
It's cute!
The US Issue tweezers were a recent addition that proved themselves worthy the first ride I took them on when Stacey was stung in the neck by a bee.
Everything is held together with an aircraft mechanic’s keyring, which is made out of a strong but thin cable held securely by a barrel-style closure.
I also carry a Leatherman Skeletool.
I like the Skeletool because it’s lightweight (5 oz) but still has pliers, a decent blade, and a bottle opener. On longer trips, or ones where I’ll be camping, I’ll bring my Leatherman Wave instead.
My latest addition might seem like overkill, but if I’m going to die, it’s damn well not going to be because I wasn’t prepared.
The Adventure Medical Kits Pocket Survival Pack (by Doug Ritter)
The Doug Ritter Pocket Survival Pack weighs just a few ounces and is slightly larger than a pack of cards. I can stick it in a pocket of my jacket and forget about it. You can click on the link for a full listing of the contents, but I might do a more complete review later on if there’s any interest. Call it overkill, but the peace of mind is worth it.
To me, “every ride carry” means the little things that may fit in a pocket but can make a big difference on a ride. Obviously, a full tool kit, tire repair kit, or suchlike are important too, but I see those in another category by themselves.
What do you consider part of your every ride carry?
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When the zombie infestation begins, I know whose house I am going to! You are prepared for anything!
When I go mountain biking, I typically carry a Skeletool as well, but sometimes a Wave if I cannot choose between a serrated or plain-edge blade. I also carry either the LM bit kit, or the bit extender with a few standard-sized hex bits.
I also carry a few feet of duct tape. Not because I think I’ll need it, but because I’ve never heard anybody say “darn, I wish I didn’t bring that duct tape with me!”
Thanks to my bike’s bulbous tail section, the following items are always stowed away and I never leave home w/o them. They’re with me for EVERY RIDE, even if it’s just around town.
- Stop and Go tire plug kit (used much more often than I’d like )
- Slime mini air compressor (ditto)
- The assorted tools that I’ve gathered which includes…
– 6 inch adjustable wrench
– a pair of good old fashioned pliers
– assorted metric allen wrenches
– 1/4 bit driver with screwdriver bits and 8mm thru 15mm sockets
– Fuses. I have multiples of every amp for my bike (a must carry IMO)
– Leatherman multi tool
– zip ties
– a spool of duct tape (wrapped around a pencil)
– a laminated card with my ICE info (In Case Of Emergency)
– a spare set of Etymotic ER6I earphones
On my key chain lives my bike key and a mini led flashlight. Inside my wallet and taped into each of my helmets is my ICE info. In whatever random pocket I have, I carry my Windmill Delta Stormproof lighter, gauranteed to ignite in winds up to 80mph, and it truly works (don’t ask how I know), but since I smoke I’d be carrying it anyway.
But if you’re talking about the little things that I stuff in my pockets or lack thereof, my every ride carry includes lip balm, Advil, my cellphone and my little point and shoot camera.
@Mike: In the event of the collapse of civilization, make your way to Corvallis, OR and look for a place called Bi-Mart. You and your loved ones can join us in rebuilding.
@ToolGuyd: Good call on the Leatherman bit set and the duct tape. I have a bit set packed with my Versatool, but a little duplication couldn’t hurt.
@soth: It’s utterly ridiculous you can fit that much stuff into the tail section of your bike.
I’m looking forward to other comments to this one. So far, all I carry with me is the factory toolkit and a Leatherman Crunch. To date, I’ve managed to do all maintenance with just these things but then again, I don’t have the riding miles that most others here have.
Stacy said – “It’s utterly ridiculous you can fit that much stuff into the tail section of your bike.”
Believe me, I wish that I couldn’t… that’s what I get for riding a whale. Or is it a pig? Okay, it’s a pigwhale.
A peanut lighter? Leave it to you Suzuki riders. If us Yamaha riders get stranded and have peanuts in our pockets, we’ll eat them instead of burning them for warmth!
Seriously, nice post. I have an emergency kit. Plus a first aid kit. Portable wrenches always seem to slip and injure fingers.
The only thing I carry with me on every ride is a knife. Mine is a foldable Benchmade that I can legally carry on me (3″ blade). I keep the factory tool kit on the bike and that contains most of the tools I would need for the bike. I don’t bother with tire sealer, etc. The list grows when I leave town for a couple days but I mostly plan for the route. If I am on well used roads then I will rely more on roadside assistance…otherwise I plan to go it alone.