Tool Rack Attachment

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Thanks, Fishhound. Seeing some of your innovations while I was at your place taking pics of your craft gave me an idea. That was, to make an exterior rack for my most commonly used tools, rather than having to dig in pockets for them whenever I need them.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I use longnose pliers a lot. I also have occasional use of a knife. Hopefully, I get to use my Berkeley lip grippers a lot, but not as often as I would like to. It is sometimes aggravating to have to dig around in a tackle pocket on my tube to try to find any of them, wondering if I might have left them home or lost them over the side during the last use. It happens.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]So, I got a 14" piece of the 4" plastic baseboard material I am also trying for mounting my rod tubes, and fashioned a "qwik-attach" tool rack to hang on my rod arm side, opposite the rod rack side. I cut a 4" piece of 1/2" PVC for the pliers holder, and two 5" pieces of 1.5" PVC for both the knife and the lip gripper. I used a small rotary drill (Dremel) with a drum sanding tool to form notches in each side of the tubes to hold the tools in place.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have worked with attaching PVC tubes to flat surfaces before. I use strap fasteners to hold the tubes on my rod rack, but needed to drill and screw these, to make them fit right. I drilled 3/8" holes on one side of the PVC first, after lining up where I wanted them and in what position. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Then, I attached them one by one, by drilling only one small hole in the back of the PVC and one pilot hole for the screw on the 1/2" thick plastic baseboard. I then lined up the holes, and used the 3/8 hole to fit a power driver through to screw in the 1/2" long machine screw.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Once I had one of the screws in place, I measured the distance (on center) between the two large holes in the front of the PVC, and marked the spot for the second screw on the back of the baseboard. Then, I drilled a pilot hole through both the baseboard and the PVC (after careful positioning). The second screw went in and secured the mount.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I also drilled two 3/8 inch holes at the upper corners to allow threading the 1/4" nylon rope. I attached a quick snap on either end of the rope, to allow me to stick them through the side D rings and snap them in place at the ideal position. You leave some extra rope on one snap to allow adjustment in position. Be sure to burn the ends of the nylon rope to prevent unraveling.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]The rack worked like a champ on the first run. The only drawback was having to look over the side of the tube to be sure I was "hitting the hole" when I put my pliers back in. It worked okay by feel, but I feel safer watching them go in the slot, rather than finding them missing on my next reach.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]I used a fillet knife with a hard plastic sheath to stuff down into the PVC. I used it several times to trim bait and it was handy to have it readily available, rather than having to unsnap my former knife from the protective sheath I used...to keep it from coming out of the sheath inside my tackle pocket. Uncovered knife blades can be hazardous to angler and craft too.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]With the lip gripper, I found accidentally that the wrist cord can be pushed down through the PVC tube first and then brought back up to hook over the two knobs on the handle. Extra holding security, but something else to wrestle with in the heat of battle. Once I was launched, I undid the strap to make for quicker access. Came in handy on controlling a couple of big kittyfish too.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I envision another generation of tool rack, made to rise higher, like the rod tubes, for easier access. I'm workin' on it.[/#0000ff]
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[hlmn]

You know TubeDude you better talk them into making a bigger fat cat real soon before you run out of room to hang things on.[]
But that is a cool idea. one idea I had was you might want to tether the tools to the rack with say some large mono so if you do drop them. its an easy retrieve
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Preventative tethering is a good thought, but the "solution" (to potential loss) can create more problems. Mono has a way of reaching out and tangling everything within range. Not good. Stretch cord or retractable reels are okay too, but they only stretch so far. No matter what kind of safety attachment you use, you limit yourself to being able to use the tool only within the length of the tether.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Sadly, the "cure" (tool rack) does increase the possibility of loss of the tools, simply because they are out there and exposed. I either have to live with occasional loss, at the tradeoff of convenience, or go back to the inconvenience of having to rummage around in the pockets whenever I need the tools.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The first trip out, it worked fine and there were no "fatalities". Let's see how it works over time. I already have my idea for being able to raise it up a few inches and increase stability too. Watch this space.[/#0000ff]
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[Fishhound]

Howdy TubeDude,

Your welcome. It was a trial run of the rod/sonar system that inspired me to add the handy dandy tools portion. I found my self wrestling with an 8 # cat and had to dig and fumble for devices in a Fish Cat 4 pocket that also had an open tackle box because I was setting up my second pole with a bottom bouncer(lindy rigged) when the cat came a calling. That's when I thought it up - I also created a pretty good way to attach a stinger(the rope kind with the spike on one end and a ring on the other) to my tube.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]The tool rack idea works great. It was just too low and I had to look over the side of the pocket to see the tools. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]So, I split a 8" piece of 1/2" PVC with a jigsaw, and screwed one half to each side facing down. I spaced them at 13" on center, which makes them fit into the D rings on the side of the SFC perfectly. They slide down into the D rings, snug up tight, and put the rack up where I can see the tools.[/#0000ff]

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[#0000ff]Only problem now is that the lip gripper is too high and I bump my arm on it. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I'll keep working on it.[/#0000ff]
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[Fishhound]

Try moving the grippers to the spot where the pliers are and vice versa - I found that putting the taller items further back kept them more out of the way for me. I also noticed that you have room to remount the whole set-up back a little more by just adjusting where you've attached the PVC to the board - you might have to use a different board now that it has been already cut. Just an idea. My set-up has undergone several remodels for the same reasons.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Thanks for the input. I had already considered changing the order of the tools, but I use my pliers most and need to keep them handy. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]One idea I am working on now is a single piece of 1.5 inch PVC, with holes cut down through it to accomodate the tools...on an angle, so that they face either forward or backward.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Will post up the results when I get a working model.[/#0000ff]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Okay, I mostly solved the problem with some of the tools sticking up too high. I put the longer items on each end...slanted outward to lower the height. It works great.[/#0000ff]



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