Seeing all the comments on the reminds me of the eternal junkyard question: Do you bring every tool you own or the bare minimum when hitting the junkyard?

When you spend enough time at the junkyard, you're going to find free tools on a regular basis.…

I can go either way, depending on what I'm looking for on any particular junkyard trip. My default junkyard toolbox, the one you've seen photographed next to so many , is the small S-K box on the right. I keep it stocked with the absolute bare minimum set of tools necessary to pull 95% of junkyard prizes, from trim pieces to complete engines, and I cull its contents with an obsessive backpacker-grade eye for weight and bulk reduction (my back starts to ache whenever I see guys trudging along like pack mules under the burden of a 5-gallon bucket full of 1" drive sockets and Archimedes' Choice™ prybars). Lately I've been going back and forth on the small hacksaw I sometimes bring, because there's really no substitute when you need to get that goddamn exhaust pipe out of the way… but it's a pain to have to remove the hacksaw to get at the tools beneath. Then there's the reality that just about everything in the yard is metric now, so do I really need more than just 7/16", 1/2", and 9/16" wrenches? In fact, do I really need any non-metric stuff?

When it comes time for a heavy-duty, all-day junkyard frenzy, I'll load up one or two of the big steel boxes, maybe put on a backpack for hauling small parts, and bungee everything onto a dolly. Cordless impact wrench? Mondo breaker bars? Hell, yes! But most of the time, I'm a junkyard toolbox minimalist. How about you?

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