I've talked about my tool fetish before. It's a big reason I call myself a technopagan.

A well-made tool thrums under my fingertips. It doesn't matter if it's a obsidian knife or a ball-peen hammer, a good tool just wants to be used. Or at least that is how my mind and body react.

I can't sit quietly without handling something. When I was a kid, I drove my female relatives nuts because I would play almost unconsciously with their chotckies and knickknacks and playpretties. It's better these days, I usually carry something with me.

So of course something like this Popular Mechanics article gets me going. I start comparing what I have with the suggestions and planning to get what I think I need. I'm not so hot at plumbing and carpentry, and I don't always think in those terms.

I've said before it's not just a fetish in the magickal sense, although it certainly is that. I have a physical response to certain tools that borders on the sexual. That thrum thrills me in ways I can't really explain well.

So of course when I am feeling low. it's time to break out the tools. To sort them ever carefully. To touch them. To surround myself with them. And yes, I know that has more than a hint of OCD and it's probably related to my Asperger syndrome. It doesn't matter. It happens most when I am stressed and it helps me to cope.

Besides the basic tools which live in my tool boxes, I carry tool pouches. I've experimented with several over the years and settled on what I felt was a pretty good system.

My Number 2 tool pouch was small and inconspicuous enough to live on my belt for every day use, while my Number 1 tool pouch lived in the side pocket of my computer bag. I recently upgraded my Micro-Plus™ 8-in-1multitool with a Micro-Max™ 19-in-1 multitool. That's the second upgrade to that particular tool.

That got me to thinking. Although there is nothing like a tool designed for the purpose, I have almost enough tools to go with three tool pouches instead of two. If I made my "everyday" pouch Number 3 and my computer bag pouch Number two, I still have a bulky tool pouch and a few special tools that could be Number 1. All I would need is a upgraded Leatherman with a few extra bits and I am good to go.

I'll admit I am more particular when it comes to my magick kits. I've yet to come up with a general purpose one, I usually end up picking and choosing based on the situation.

Still, a tool fetish is a tool fetish. And my "mundane" tools are not only useful, but they can calm me down without attracting too much extra attention. Books still beat out tools to spend money on, but not by much.

So watch around. If you ever see a guy in glasses with a short beard and hair pulled back in a bear tail mumbling over a small selection of multitools, it just might be me.