BACK TO BASICS nated by it and he let me take a close look at it. At the time, I was getting annoyed from constantly digging for tools at the bottom of my tool bag. This bag is an LC model, made by the Veto Pro Pac company in Connecticut. “VETO” stands for vertical tool orientation, and folks, it works. The owner/ inventor is Roger Brouard, a carpenter of 25+ years. I haven’t met him, but I suspect the guy is a genius, because he seems to have thought of everything. His website is vetopropac.com, and I en- courage you to take a look at all the options. You’ll also want to look what’s in the “Why VETO” tab, where he explains how and why he came up with the idea. I especially appreciate this statement: “Who are you going to trust to design a tool bag ? A guy with colored pencils or a guy with a ham- mer?” That hits the nail right on the head (pun intended). Take a close look at my bag (Figure 4), which I’ve had for several years. Right be- low the handle you’ll see two Velcro circles. The shoulder strap has Velcro too, and at- taches to those circles to keep it out of the way when not in use. There are two zippered pockets, a couple of D rings, and five snaps on the outside flap. You can hang a framing hammer through the large D ring if you need to. A regular- size hammer fits inside the bag. When you open the bag, you can fold the flap down and it snaps into itself twice to keep it out of the way (Figure 5). Figure 5 shows a zippered pocket at the top, which I use to store spade bits. There are tons of tool pockets in various sizes on both sides of the bag. I’ve removed some of my tools to give you an idea of the way the pockets are laid out. There’s space in front of the bottom pockets, and I normally keep several hole saws there and sometimes my 18-volt battery drill as well. The bag is soſt sided but has a middle panel attached to the handle and the bot- WWW.ALOA.ORG tom of the bag. This panel keeps the bag upright without sagging. The bottom of the bag (Figure 6) is heavy-duty plastic similar to a sheet rock bucket. This is a great feature that allows you to put the bag down on wet surfaces without having to worry about your expensive tools getting wet. Figures 7 and 8 show the sides of the bag. One side has a holder for a tape measure, and the other has pen pockets and a loop for elec- trical tape. Notice the large rings to attach the shoulder strap, to which I’ve clipp carabiner and a ring of keys. I love this bag and I’d recommend i anybody. It’s extremely sturdy and w made. You can customize your tools way you want, and they stay where yo them — even if you drop the bag. Your to are always visible and close at hand. No m going nuts looking for them. Other Goodies I recently purchased one of Veto’s Tech P backpack tool kits and a model LP-3 tool pouch (Figure 9). I’m still setting them up with the tools I want to carry in them, but I wanted you to see them. Go to Veto’s website and watch some of the videos they’ve made about each of their tool bags and learn about them in detail. I can tell you that these two items are also extremely well made. The backpack has a heavy plastic bottom and the same kind of top-to-bottom panel that’s in the regular tool bag. The pack stands on its own without falling over, like other backpacks. I’ve tried other types of tool backpacks in the past, and I’ve found that they weren’t really padded well; everything I carried dug into my back. You won’t have that problem here. I wanted the backpack because I do a lot of work in New York City, where parking is oſten difficult to find. I’ll oſten wind up walking several blocks from my truck to the job. The pack allows me to carry every- thing I’ll need to do the work and still keep my hands free for a ladder, other tools or Figures 9 and 10. Veto’s Tech Pack back- pack tool kit and LP-3 tool pouch are also great items for on-the-go locksmiths. material. If you find yourself walking long distances with your tools, or you just want to keep your hands free, you can’t go wrong with Pro Pac. The tool pouch is for those times when I need to work from a ladder or in a tight place. The LP-3 is designed with a belt clip that can attach to the tape measure bracket on my LC tool bag (Figure 10) so it doesn’t get lost. You can also thread your belt through it and wear it that way, or carry it with its removable handle. Wiersielis, CPL, CFDI, ore than a quarter y of experience, hav- rked in most phases e trade throughout the ork metropolitan area. APRIL 2014 KEYNOTES 55
