Best $250 or under You’ve Spent On Your Boat?
- Thread starter Stizzla
- Start date
Buckethead905
Well-Known Member
Some wicked ideas on here so far boys and girls, nice thread Stizz. One of my best upgrades under $250 was part of a multi-speaker system, but seeing as though a subwoofer isn’t really “essential” to the function of the stereo system as a whole, I’ve classified it as it’s own upgrade. I’m not crazy about loud music, but sound quality is extremely important to me.
I needed a place somewhere in the cockpit/helm to mount the sub. Being a free-air sub it could be mounted anywhere without an inclosure, but the few places I tried either looked like junk or had the potential to interfere with the magnetic field of the compass/plotter/autopilot. Underneath the drivers seat had a locking door with a couple cubic feet of space that I didn’t really utilize very well, so I figured why not put the sub in there. I removed the door, went and bought the same white starboard for $10 out of the offcuts bin, cut, routered edges, copied the template over from the sub, drilled a few holes and couldn’t have turned out better.
I needed a place somewhere in the cockpit/helm to mount the sub. Being a free-air sub it could be mounted anywhere without an inclosure, but the few places I tried either looked like junk or had the potential to interfere with the magnetic field of the compass/plotter/autopilot. Underneath the drivers seat had a locking door with a couple cubic feet of space that I didn’t really utilize very well, so I figured why not put the sub in there. I removed the door, went and bought the same white starboard for $10 out of the offcuts bin, cut, routered edges, copied the template over from the sub, drilled a few holes and couldn’t have turned out better.
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Stizzla
Crew Member
Looks stellar there! Nice work
SaltyAlice
Well-Known Member
Hands down it was the intermittent windshield wipers for Salty Alice. Gone are the days of manually switching wipers on and off for light drizzle or spray.
Rain City
Crew Member
You got a restaurant going out of your garage?
Oly1
Well-Known Member
That pic of your little guy is awesome. Love seeing the smile with a nice fish. Way to bring him up with the fishing bug inside him. Future of this sport right there.
Oly
Oly1
Well-Known Member
CBsqrd
Well-Known Member
Couple tools that I use all the time.
7" Knipex pliers wrench. Will tighten pretty much any nut on your boat. If you've used one before you know how great they are. If not, they are like a combination of a crescent wrench and slip joint pliers, but better than both. Will replace a set of combination wrenches too and they work great for pinching barbs.
www.kmstools.com
Picquic Mariner screwdriver. Like a regular Picquic, but nickel plated bits for corrosion resistance.
picquic.ca
Morakniv w/ stainless blade. This is the knife that gets beat on doing all the ****** jobs - cutting gills, line, rope, etc. - so the fillet knife stays sharp for later. Cheap too so if you lose it its no big deal.
7" Knipex pliers wrench. Will tighten pretty much any nut on your boat. If you've used one before you know how great they are. If not, they are like a combination of a crescent wrench and slip joint pliers, but better than both. Will replace a set of combination wrenches too and they work great for pinching barbs.
Knipex 7" Plier Wrench
The smooth jaw grip from this Knipex Plier Wrench allow for a high degree of pressure making them ideal for tightening locknuts, snapping cable ties, and much more. They adjust at the touch of a button, and the zero backlash jaw design prevents damage to
Picquic Mariner screwdriver. Like a regular Picquic, but nickel plated bits for corrosion resistance.
Mariner
The MARINER is perfect for any boater and for any harsh environment. Its electroless nickel-plated bits resist corrosion and withstand sun, salt and damp conditions. The 3” power bits are precision-machined and hardened to stand up to heavy use. The 1/4" hex makes MARINER bits ideal for use in...
picquic.ca
Morakniv w/ stainless blade. This is the knife that gets beat on doing all the ****** jobs - cutting gills, line, rope, etc. - so the fillet knife stays sharp for later. Cheap too so if you lose it its no big deal.
Buckethead905
Well-Known Member
Absolutely, I’m on Skip if you’re hungry.
It’s nice having an inventory so we know what’s in there and can evenly pick away at things. Saves a lot of freezer burnt and wasted food we worked hard for.
Rain City
Crew Member
Great idea
Brando
Well-Known Member
The best
sly_karma
Crew Member
I'm 100% with you on the first two but haven't tried the third. I've bought at least a dozen of those PicQuic stainless drivers, all my employees have been given one and I carry one in my coveralls thigh pocket every day. Plus one in the truck console, another in each of my tool backpacks, and at least one with my wiring tools at the ski hill, one in the boat, etc. Hands down the best multi driver on the market. The 3" bits fit in a cordless impact and you can see at a glance if any are missing. The hex shaft reverses so you have 1/4" and 5/16" nut drivers at hand as well.Couple tools that I use all the time.
7" Knipex pliers wrench. Will tighten pretty much any nut on your boat. If you've used one before you know how great they are. If not, they are like a combination of a crescent wrench and slip joint pliers, but better than both. Will replace a set of combination wrenches too and they work great for pinching barbs.
Knipex 7" Plier Wrench
The smooth jaw grip from this Knipex Plier Wrench allow for a high degree of pressure making them ideal for tightening locknuts, snapping cable ties, and much more. They adjust at the touch of a button, and the zero backlash jaw design prevents damage to
Picquic Mariner screwdriver. Like a regular Picquic, but nickel plated bits for corrosion resistance.
Mariner
The MARINER is perfect for any boater and for any harsh environment. Its electroless nickel-plated bits resist corrosion and withstand sun, salt and damp conditions. The 3” power bits are precision-machined and hardened to stand up to heavy use. The 1/4" hex makes MARINER bits ideal for use in...
Morakniv w/ stainless blade. This is the knife that gets beat on doing all the ****** jobs - cutting gills, line, rope, etc. - so the fillet knife stays sharp for later. Cheap too so if you lose it its no big deal.
The Knipex crescent tool is another go to, I have almost as many of those as the picquic drivers. Super convenient for quickie jobs but of course the correct size wrench or socket is needed if more torque needs to be applied.
The Knipex tool also excels where crimped connectors require pressure applied with the jaws parallel to each other. Ordinary crimping tools and pliers have a single pivot point so the jaws are angled rather than parallel. I use 3M scotchlok or 'bean' gel filled connectors for solid wire splicing such as telecom cables, the parallel jaws are perfect for these.
happy hooker
Crew Member
Ive seen some pics of fisherdudes table, its great.
Fisherman Rob
Well-Known Member
Actually that reminds me, I upgraded the crappy little windshield wiper on my 17' DE with the largest parallel arm marine wiper that would fit. Made a huge difference. Lots of boats are sold with a basic wiper arm and the first time you get into a serious downpour, or have major sea spray in rough weather, you find out they suck! The parallel type give you way better visibility.
happy hooker
Crew Member
Sound quality, especially deep undistorted bass is essential, love it. I will do the same, havent found a spot yet. Looks like a pro install too.
searun
Well-Known Member
Aside from a nice bottle of single malt scotch...these rod racks are beauty - amazon $29