Cable ties. Just so many uses.

A multitool and a planner…

Vinegar-you can clean with it, cook with it, make salad dressings out of it, it works as an antiseptic and I swear that the home remedy of drinking 200 ml of a good apple cider vinegar to a 1/4 tsp of baking soda helps take care of acid reflux as well as ward off a cold. Duct tape is my other one. I carry a role with me every time I leave for Central Asia as you can’t find it there. It proved the most useful in sealing up my bedroom windows in a miserably cold winter.

I make all kinds of stuff out of wire coat hangers, All you need is a pair of pliers that can also cut the wire and you can fix nearly everything–and actually make useful gadgets–hangers, clamps, holders, door stops, light mounts, tool holders, etc., etc. The possibilities are endless.

I’d agree with duct tape — for things that have become unstuck and need to be stuck. I’d add to it WD40 — for things that have become stuck and need to be unstuck.
Is there really any other kind of problem that needs fixing?

vice grips, they do about anything.

I second the WD-40 nod, and I’ve found club soda to be a good stain remover, assuming you catch the stain right away. The carbonation in it gets rid of stains without harming sometimes delicate fabrics. And the old standby: duct tape. Gotta love the duct tape.

For those of us who spend a lot of time commuting:
Unscented baby wipes and Tide pen: must-haves in the car. Oh, and jumper cables, just in case.

An electric screwdriver and a hammer. (A friend with pick up truck is also useful.)

Visions of a young Steve Martin holding a bunch of “stuff” and saying, “And that’s ALL I need” come to mind…

Vice grips…3 sizes. They can be used as a hammer, a wrench, pliers, and occasionally vice grips. My grandfather put me onto them when I was a kid, and now they have a prominent place in my toolbox. I always need an extra pair of hands, and my VGs are it.
And WD-40. If the only tools you have are Vice Grips and WD-40, you’re golden.

I learnedabout vice grips in the my first church in rural Iowa. The farmers has two tool holsters, one for pliers and other vice grips. They fixed everything with those.

Coffee, chocolate, and WFMT.
Why bother worrying about things needing to be fixed when you have the things that are truly important? Ok, maybe that’s too sarcastic, but I’ve spent too much time as a musical instrument repairman and electronics hobbyist to not want a wide range of often specialized tools. I do have to admit that I get a little nervous when I can’t find my Swiss Army Knife, though.

WD-40 and here’s an “unofficial” website listing possible uses: http://www.wd40.com/pdfs/WD-40_2000UsesList.pdf
Of course, all you really need is coffee and chocolate: coffee to keep you going when trying to fix something, and chocolate to soothe you when you can’t fix it (or to celebrate when you can!).

McKinght? or MacGyver?
with that i’ll say swiss army knife and whatever else happens to be laying around…

I have hung fenders and hood back on more than one race car in the middle of a race with bungee cords and duct tape

A credit card.

My thumbdrive: It’s got everything on it I’ll ever need to work on, so all I have to do is look for a good cybercafe (one that’s got good coffee and chocolate, of course), and work on it.

Duct tape also makes a pretty good band-aid in a pinch, thus nullifying the need for the hydrocortisone