No, this isn’t a photo of my garage, but it’s not THAT far off either. The secret to a garage is tools and you simply can’t have enough of them. About the time that you think that you don’t need another one, you find something that you can’t live without.

Not everyone has a garage. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t have tools of various types.  A firearm is a tool, for example. Even in nations where firearms are prohibited, you can have tools – like an axe. Or several axes.

This is a Sunday Sermonette
SURVEY
Do you sneak home with a new tool in a paper bag to hide it from the old ball and chain?
Do tool and firearms catalogues replace porn in your life?
Do you have fantasies of just buying a Snap-On truck?
Do you check ammo prices on-line to see if you can squeeze another penny a round out of your next purchase?
Do you have a project car in your garage that you haven’t quite started on, but that you are buying parts for?
Do some drawers in your tool chest contain firearms components or magazines? 
Do you have special wet stones and leather strops to sharpen your knives and other edged tools? Do you sharpen your hunting arrowheads after each use/kill?
If you find yourself answering “yes” or if you would like to answer “yes”, just stay here at Virtual Mirage and hang out. 

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

46 COMMENTS

  2. LL, are you vying Phil over at Bustedknuckles for old tool heads and gun freaks? If so I enjoy what your take on it, it is better then porn for us old farts… tools and guns that never complain, never ask us to clean the biddy and don't care what time we get back. Only better is the loyal dog.

  3. There is no need for firearm tools in my garage. I bought a brand new Taurus .357 Mag revolver many years ago, never fired it. I just clean it every 6 months, and put it back into its secret place. With the grace of the Good Lord above, this unit will NEVER see a round travel down its 4" barrel. Accordingly, it's good to go, no tools needed. "Why do you have a gun, when you don't fire it, Fredd?" Because it's better to have a gun and not need it, than to need a gun and not have it. I didn't make that up, but it sure is true.

    And most of the other questions above, I answer 'no', hopefully that doesn't disqualify me as a guy with a butt load of tools in his garage. And also no, you can't eat off the floor, there's a 'patina' to it that would taint that Whataburger you dropped.

  8. I don't have a garage, though I plan to in my next domicile. Now to the survey.
    1. No need to sneak. She feels I need a hobby as long as it doesn't crash the budget.
    2. Yes
    3. No.
    4. Absolutely.
    5. No garage. No project car. Maybe some day.
    6. Of course. Probably enough to build another rifle.
    7. Yes. Dull Knife is a good name for a Cheyenne, but not for a tool.
    8. I've fiddle a bit with archery but never got into it.
    Looks like I get to stick around. Thanks.

  9. Here is a photo showing part of my work bench. It was close enough to use in this thread about work benches–

    calguns.net/calgunforum/showpost.php?p=21413920&postcount=10

    Rifle is my first AR build here in Texas. Yeah, when the dust cover opens, it reads "PLAN B". On to the questions.

    Do tool and firearms catalogues replace porn in your life?
    Not yet. You're never too old to look.

    Do you have fantasies of just buying a Snap-On truck?
    No.

    Do you check ammo prices on-line to see if you can squeeze another penny a round out of your next purchase?
    Absolutely. Brownells. Discount/sale + free shipping + no sales tax for Texas residents.

    Do you have a project car in your garage that you haven't quite started on, but that you are buying parts for?
    No. But I did change out the battery in my Silverado a few months back.

    Do some drawers in your tool chest contain firearms components or magazines?
    Yes, most of them.

    Do you have special wet stones and leather strops to sharpen your knives and other edged tools?
    Yes.

    Do you sharpen your hunting arrowheads after each use/kill?
    Don't do archery. I do have a small bayonet collection.

    In the photo, you can just see the head of wrench behind the top left corner of the computer monitor. It is an old double end "S" wrench that I found while digging in our back yard in CA. I cleaned it up, spray painted it, and hung it on the wall. I love old hand tools and the self sufficiency they represent.

  10. Oops, forgot this one.

    Do you sneak home with a new tool in a paper bag to hide it from the old ball and chain?
    Nope, no need. Wife and I are both DYI types.

  12. I have a small poster in my garage.
    A man's garage is his sanctuary.
    I turned the heat on yesterday to do some hammer spring work on my Security Six.Then figure out why one mag works the hold open on my Luger and the other doesn't.
    Both efforts were very satisfying.
    Was just on a number of ammo sites yesterday to find the best deal on .22LR.
    It may be that the local Dunhams has the best deal. Cabelas is 20 minutes away and the pricing I saw online was not promising.
    I look forward to every issue of The American Rifleman, and read no other "men's" magazine.

    The project car sits outside forlornly.
    As does the project boat, which is the higher priority.
    I sneak no tools, the better half bookkeeper sees all the Amazon and Home Depot receipts.

  13. No garage but a big storage rental. Otherwise, guilty on most points.

    Haven't replaced any of the firearms lost in that terrible boating accident on Horsetooth Reservoir. Need to remedy that.

  14. Yes to most of the above.

    One of the things I do is visit local pawn shops and buy old hatchets. Then I sharpen 'em up after a good refurb. They typically cost two bucks, and go in the truck's tool box with the rig ammo.

    But that's just me.

  15. Hot tip for tool and parts junkies.
    In every metro area there will be suppliers of used industrial racking, like we see in box stores. They are available in a wide variety of sizes and can really transform a garage or workshop. In some circumstances they can even perform the miracle of saving enough space to allow a car! to parked in the garage. Cut some plywood to span the rails and space them to accept a 5 gallon pail or whatever else you need to fit.
    Tools. Lot's of fantastic bargains out there, maybe the DIY market is drying up as the younger set does not have the space, or interest in fixing things. Even new, there has been a radical drop in pricing of good equipment at the home shop-small biz level. And the east has put some severe competition on the market- the new Taiwan hand tools are pretty good.
    Manual (non cnc) industrial machines are scrap price, too big for home shop and too slow for production- a person with the space and power can get some really smoking deals if they can assess the machines condition.

  23. Everyone has to roll their own way. It's only the Democrats who want to make you do things one way or another. Most of us just want tools and to be left alone to enjoy them.

  42. Snap-On as a business isn't all that expensive. $5K franchise fee, $50K net worth requirement. ~$20K initial investment.

  46. Our garage is a mess, but I don't mess with it because it's my husband's domain. You guys would get along with Mr. Cube just fine.

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