I don’t know if it’s a regional, cultural, generational, or whatever thing, but when I was growing up there was always one drawer in the kitchen that had tools in it — things like a small hammer, regular pliers, a screwdriver or two, a tape measure, and a random collection of fasteners including nails, screws, and rubber bands. The kitchen tool drawer in my grandmother’s house had this neat little hammer with a handle that unscrewed to reveal a set of nested screwdrivers (still available here). I don’t know how useful it was, but it sure piqued my early Toolmonger brain.

Our kitchen tool drawer has the items pictured above (plus a few other goodies such as a box cutter, various pens and markers, and some cup hooks). The small screwdriver with the red ball top next to the 4″ Crescent wrench is an Easydriver that I’ve had for years (it’s apparently back and “improved” as shown here). By the way, I have found that 4″ Crescent wrench to be very handy for tightening and loosening cable TV F-type connectors as it fits easily into small spaces and helps prevent me from over torquing. The small curved Kelly forceps — courtesy of my wife, the retired-but-still-volunteering RN — are used for all sorts of clamping and part retrievals. And, of course, you have your standard beat-up old screwdrivers, one each slotted and Phillips, plus a spare ¼” nut driver just in case, a tape measure, the requisite small hammer, a larger generic Crescent wrench, and a set of small screwdrivers.

So do you have a kitchen tool drawer? What’s in it? Or should I just totter off into the sunset mumbling about the good ole days when if you needed a tool while you were in the kitchen there was a damn drawer of them?