I'm a pipefitter by trade, so I'm used to working with tools. (Both mechanical and human). I'm looking at buying my own welding machine, beyond the 110v mig I have. I already have a pretty fair amount of tools. I do my own plumbing, electrical, carpentry, tile, roofing.
But I'm looking at adding more on. It goes beyond the Tim Taylor-guy mentality of more tools, ugh-ugh-ugh. I think times are going to get real tough in the future. And the more tools I have, will mean the more work I can do on the side to try to make ends meet.
In the not to distant future, I think very handy people, will be in demand. Maybe not for "regular" jobs, but in helping others just to survive.
Yep - earning some side cash is another benefit. There will always be boatloads of people that need help. Back in the 80s an electrician friend of mine studied his tail off to get his contractor’s license. His co-worker friends laughed at him...after all the company they worked for was loaded with work. You can guess the rest...the economy crashed, everyone was out of work - but my friend was able to simply start up his business (legally), keep it to small jobs, and do fine financially. Not a perfect analogy, but valid in principal.