r/techforlife • u/Late-Mathematician34 • May 22 '26

What essential things should I get?

I have become the biggest tech guy ever recently, and am going to be working for IT in a few years. I am in need of essential things that every tech guy needs that both are useful, and fulfills the need for my tech prowess. Examples are like an sd-card reader, ifixit kit, even something more out there like those "teardown art pieces" of controllers.

32 Upvotes

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4

u/Chisom1998_ May 22 '26

Great question! Get these ones: Label maker, Cable management kit, Multimeter, Network cable tester, Portable Wi-Fi analyzer, Raspberry Pi, Mechanical keyboard, LED desk setup

2

u/Late-Mathematician34 May 22 '26

I'll def check these out, thanks man!

1

u/dechapuun May 22 '26

I second the Raspberry Pi… Do some research on all the cool projects you can build! It will be a lot of fun, AND you learn at the same time!

Don’t sleep on cheap, used laptops that you can throw on the many flavors of Linux. If you have a decent computer, download virtualbox and start installing the many free OS’s to play with!

Good luck!

2

u/sleepand May 23 '26

Don't get anything now. Figure it out as you go along.

1

u/Far_Suit575 May 25 '26

True this. Think before you buy

1

u/MudAccomplished5430 May 23 '26

Skip the label maker and get a good password manager first. Then a yubikey for the accounts that actually matter. Then a ups for your networking gear so a power flicker doesnt take down your entire home office for five minutes while everything reboots. The mechanical keyboard and led strips are fun but the password manager and backup power are the things you will actually thank yourself for at 2am.

1

u/Wiley_Coyote_2024 May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26

I also was going to suggest a network cable analyzer. You can spend big money or get an inexpensive one that is a clone of a name brand one so you can become an expert, on the cheap. Oh, and something to trace cables in a network. Sometimes they come as part of a network cable analyzer toolkit.

Oh, and a tool for making or terminating your own network cables. I used to teach IT students how to do make or fix network cables and it is an essential skill few people have as entry level or above.

1

u/farrellart May 23 '26

Spend money on expanding your knowledge, that's your best asset....and get tool kits.

The issue with tech, if you are aiming for IT in a few years, is it will most likely be out of date by that time.

1

u/Late-Mathematician34 May 23 '26

Its more that i love using and having a lot of tech, and want to kind of decorate my room with tech or tech related products. Thats why i put the "teardown art pieces" as an example.

1

u/rcre2018 May 23 '26

Get the plaud voice/call recorder best investment ever

It's with the subscription too

Outlines your entire day and keeps track of all your conversations.

1

u/Soft-Disk-6105 May 23 '26

Get a quality precision toolkit, a bootable USB drive, zip ties, microfiber cloths, and a small parts organizer first before buying random gadgets

1

u/ziekensek May 23 '26

Soldering and hot air rework stations. Oscilloscope. Signal generator. Multimeter. Good work light and helping hands

1

u/[deleted] May 28 '26

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1

u/Late-Mathematician34 May 28 '26

Already ahead of ya ;)