The Pareto principle, minimalism, and stuff

[Dream of Freedom]

With as much as I've heard about minimalism, I've surprisingly heard little about how many uses each item has. I am convinced that MacGyver could make a rocket ship with WD-40, duct tape, wire ties, super glue, and a multi-tool . If 80% of the work can be done with 20% of the stuff, what stuff would you have?

[stand@desk]

You need to allow a bit of redundancy in ERE and minimalism. For psychological comfort and convenience. Being too efficient is a mistake. Being 80% efficient is better. Nassim Taleb believes in some redundancy.

[Campitor]

Resiliency requires being universal in your approach to learning and skill acquisition so you can handle the most likely scenarios that may come your way. What you need to focus on will vary according to geography, i.e., an Inuit in Northern Alaska will need a different skill set than a Tamil in the Indian subcontinent.

Once you decide what skillset you need to learn, then you apply the Pareto principal so you learn the most useful ones quickly. Once you mastered the “20%” then you can determine which 80% can enhance what you already know.

There are a handful of knots that are very useful for most applications such as a bowline, sheet bend, fishermen’s knot, clove hitch, truckers hitch, etc. But there may be a time where an alpine butterfly or Prussik hitch may save your life.

[Alphaville]

If 80% of the work can be done with 20% of the stuff, what stuff would you have?

are we talking about work tools? or “objects” for living?

not sure which you want.

for living, i’ve noticed that my ipad, my reading glasses and a pair of headphones cover A LOT.

[Dream of Freedom]

I guess I am trying to get at what is just the most crazy useful items/substances/materials are.

[Alphaville]

oh! really the most crazy useful thing known to civilization right now is the smartphone. i use an ipad for the same functions because i have a small/cheap smartphone and i like a big screen. but yeah... the smartphone is the greatest tool ever. a smartphone and a swiss army knife can take you a loooooooong way.

[Campitor]

I guess I am trying to get at what is just the most crazy useful items are.

Since your original post was in regards to MacGyverying solutions, here is my list of “crazy useful” items:

• Hammer
• Channel Lock Pliers
• Ryoba Saw
• Lubricant
• 4in1 screwdriver
• Drill
• Electric Saw (because handsaws suck at cutting plywood)
• Pocket multi tool because they are very useful to have when real tools aren’t available
• computer repair kit because you can fix electronics and eyeglasses
• 2 pipe wrenches
• Pipe cutter
• A torch for soldering.
• Framing Square or speed square
• Catspaw nail puller
• Chisels
• Mason’s twine
• tape measure

I could frame, sheet, wire, and plumb a house with the aforementioned tools as well as repairing just about anything home related or making other home building tools.

Car repair requires a different list.

[basuragomi]

Tools that reside in the top of my toolbox from constant use:

• End-cutting pliers
• Shears
• Vicegrips
• Adjustable spanner
• Vernier calipers
• Swappable-bit ratcheting screwdriver
• Craft/utility knife
• Safety glasses

However, these tools are useful because they can manipulate a wide variety of stuff. If I had to get by on 20% of the stuff, I'd probably switch to doing everything out of sheet metal and box beams - since then I'd be able to build more tools as needed. A smaller, focused toolset that is fully-featured for a very narrow range of input materials. It's a very different strategy from having generalist tools.

[Dream of Freedom]

Ya there's so many things you can do with a smartphone. As far as tools man a drill can do so many things. Drill holes, drive screws, they sell sanding attachments, cutting wheels, and they even have scouring pad attachments for like cleaning your bathtub and stuff.

[Alphaville]

oh just saw the edit + responses

for physical tools then, i seem to use a pen knife, an allen key, a tape measure and pliers *all the time*

as for substances... air+water above all

then refined coconut oil i guess. you can fry with it or eat it for calories, you can apply it to the skin, you can lubricate mechanical parts with it in a pinch, and it doesn’t go rancid for months (years?)

acetic acid is the same thing in that you can eat it (distilled vinegar is not great, but works in a pinch), you can use it for medicinal preparations, you can clean glass and other things with it. i buy highly comcentrated though (45%) so i keep away from the kitchen (and i don’t trust because don’t know if it’s food grade even when diluted to 5%). great for drains.

etyl alcohol is the same way: depending on dilution, you can drink it, you can use it as a disinfectant, an industrial cleaner, a fuel, and a lubricant (eg to remove bicycle grips)

sodium bicarbonate as chemical buffer, cooking supply, mild abrasive, water softener, etc

for other cleaners, i like bronner’s sal-suds better than their soap. being a detergent it works well in hard water, it leaves no residue, it extends enormously (a tablespoon for a load of laundry), and i use it for cleaning spray, dishwasher, clothes washing including wool, floor cleaning.


cloth! hah. so many uses for cloth. light cotton canvas would be my #1 choice if forsaking all others. or maybe the stuff of japanese towels with is a gauze fortified with... silk threads? light, breathable, highly absorbent, only problem is a bit $$. canvas could be made water resistant with coconut oil i’m thinking...

[Hristo Botev]

for other cleaners, i like bronner’s sal-suds better than their soap. being a detergent it works well in hard water, it leaves no residue, it extends enormously (a tablespoon for a load of laundry), and i use it for cleaning spray, dishwasher, clothes washing including wool, floor cleaning.

Can I ask about the difference between Bronner's soap and sal-suds? I've just (like, a week ago) started using Bronner's soap, and I really like how versatile it is; so what's the deal with the "sal-suds"?

[Alphaville]

Can I ask about the difference between Bronner's soap and sal-suds? I've just (like, a week ago) started using Bronner's soap, and I really like how versatile it is; so what's the deal with the "sal-suds"?

soap is made by boiling a triglyceride (fat) with a base (e.g lye). bronners which is castile soap is made with olive oil (spain being a legendary olive oil producer since the romans). it tends to leave residue and it tends to be quite alkaline (which is why it’s no good for wool or silk apparently).

sal-suds being a detergent (not a soap) strips oils better, leaves no residue, works well in hard water, has a pH closer to neutral than soap
...

oh, here: from the horse’s mouth: https://www.lisabronner.com/sal-suds-or ... d-you-use/

that’s where i found info about it originally. a bit too wordy but ok.

here more concise:

https://www.quirkyscience.com/differenc ... detergent/

ETA: found that bronner’s “castile” is actually made with hemp oil now.