An electrician's go-bag is not the bag the rep showed you at the trade show. It's a Veto Pro Pac OT-XL or a Klein tradesman tote that's been with the guy four years, has paint on it, has Wago connectors stuck to the bottom, and weighs about thirty pounds before he picks up a single tool.
Top layer is what you reach for ten times an hour. Lineman's pliers, Klein 9-inch with the fish tape eye. Side cutters. A pair of strippers — guys are split between Klein 11055 and the Knipex 12 62 180, and we sell both because the argument is going to keep happening. Wire nuts in three sizes, but more often Wagos now because the inspectors stopped giving anyone a hard time about them. A Sharpie, two of them, because one always walks off.
Meters live in their own pocket. A Fluke T6-1000 if he's commercial, a Klein MM700 if he came up residential. A non-contact tester clipped to his shirt pocket — the Fluke 1AC II or the Klein NCVT-3P with the flashlight. Anyone who doesn't carry a non-contact has either been doing this thirty years or is about to learn an expensive lesson.
Then it's the consumables and the things you forget you need until you don't have them. Electrical tape — Scotch 33+ in black, and a couple rolls in colors for phasing. Fish tape, the steel one for in-wall and a fiberglass for fishing through insulation. A torpedo level, the small Stabila with magnets. Tape measure — most guys carry a 25-footer because a 16 won't reach across a service panel and a 30 is just heavy.
Drilling and cutting: a Milwaukee M12 right-angle drill if you're doing residential rewires, and the standard M18 with a Milwaukee Hole Dozer kit for commercial. A Greenlee knockout punch if you're a commercial guy, but most of us borrow the foreman's. A reciprocating saw doesn't go in the bag — it lives in the truck.
"Carrying weight you don't use is how you destroy your shoulder by 50."
PPE is in there too, even if it's the part guys forget. Class 0 rubber gloves with leather protectors if you're hot-working, hard hat with a brim, safety glasses (Z87, please, not the dollar-store ones), and ear pro for when you're cutting EMT all afternoon. We'll yell at you about the gloves until you wear them.
Boots aren't in the bag — they're on your feet. Most union electricians I see come in for the Thorogood 814-4200 American Heritage 6-inch in brown. EH-rated, soft toe (because composite for an electrician is fine but most guys want soft for the feel), and they last two years if you take care of them. The Carolina CA1809 is the other one — bigger guys with wide feet love that boot.
Pants depend on the man. Carhartt Rugged Flex Rigby double-front for guys who kneel on concrete pulling wire all day. Dickies 874s if you're slim and don't care about reinforcement. A real growing crowd in FR Carhartt FRB001 because more sites require arc-rated PPE than used to.
What's NOT in the bag, and people get this wrong: a hammer (you don't need it that much, keep it in the truck), a full set of Allen keys (carry the four sizes you actually use), and a folding ruler (a tape replaced this in 1987). Carrying weight you don't use is how you destroy your shoulder by 50.
If you're putting your first go-bag together, come in and we'll walk through it. We've seen what holds up, what survives a drop down a riser, and what's a $90 mistake. The Veto isn't cheap but it's the last bag most guys buy.