Our Van Life Tool Kit: What Tools Do We Travel With?

Do You Need a Van Life Tool Kit?

Absolutely. Every van lifer should have some level of “van life tool kit” on board. Our homes on wheels go through an earthquake a day as we drive around, especially off road. This makes things prone to loosening, or even breaking. We guarantee you that there will come a point that you are off grid, and something goes wrong (big, or small!). Being able to fix things on your own will not only save you money, but also time and stress of having to find someone who can fix your specific van build.

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Our Van Life Tool Kit

In this guide, we are sharing what we personally carry as van lifers. Your specific van life tool kit may vary depending on how you travel as well as, what you are comfortable working with. We will leave comments along the way to help you decide what is best for you to carry in your personal van life tool kit.

Tool Kit = Packout

In order to keep our basic tools organized, we made space for a Packout in our garage. For us, this works great as we often do fixes, or travel van building gigs that require taking all our tools out. Our Packout carries all of our tools except our recovery, and campsite gear.

General Tools for Your Van Life Tool Kit

Screw Drivers [ Magnetic Tipped Flat Head and Phillips ]
Scissors
3M Double Sided VHB Tape
Headlamp
Tape Measure
Needle Nose Pliers
Socket Wrench Set [ Craftsman, Dewalt ]
Drill Bit Set
Cordless Drill [ Ryobi, Milwaukee, Dewalt ]
Cordless Impact Driver [Ryobi, Milwaukee, Dewalt]
Extra Battery + Charger for Drills
Travel Sewing Kit
Utility Knife

Tools for Electrical System

Electrical Tape
Handheld Wire Stripper and Crimper tool
Spare GFCI Outlet
- Yes, we’ve replaced one of these while boon-docking!
WAGO connectors
- Be sure to get the right number of connections. We use 3 a lot.
Multimeter
Spare wire
- We carry 16/2 because this is what we use in a few places.
- Use this electrical calculator for your needs
Spare ring terminals (left over from your build)
- 16-14
- 12-10

Tools for 80/20

Tools for Plumbing Systen

Spare water filters
Plumbers Tape
Spring Clamp Tools
- Only if you have a hydronic heating system.

For Off Roading / Emergency Situations

Traction Boards
- GoTreads (we like these because they double as leveling blocks)
- MaxTrax
Portable Air Compressor (we use the VIAIR 300P-RVS)
Tire Deflator
- We use this to control our airing down.
Portable Jump Start Kit
- Sometimes there isn’t someone around to jumpstart a dead battery!

For Setting Up Camp

Often times, we need tools at campsites for firewood collection, clearing trees, and splitting wood. Here is what we keep on board for making campsites more home-y:

Axe
- For wood splitting
Silky Saws
- Tsurugi Curved Handsaw – for firewood collection
- Katanaboy 500mm – for large trees, especially blocking road
Campfire Cooking Grate

Time to Construct Your Van Life Tool Kit

That’s all for our van life tool kit. Now, it is time to construct yours! Start with the “general tools” and then add spare parts / replacements that you utilized for your van build. This includes electrical connectors, bolts, etc. After that, go through some common repairs you might need to do, and be sure you have the tools to complete them.

Generally, you should know the weak points of your conversion if you did it yourself 🙂