Have you ever walked by some junk in the wasteland and thought, "I'll bet there's some useful bits in that, why can't I get them out?"
Are you ever in need of some crafting material that should be common to find, but can't until you unlock the gadgets in Big MT's Sink player house?
Have you ever collected a bunch of junk and had to haul it back to The Sink in order to break it down into crafting component and ammo? 

Well, look no further. What I have here is the Prospector's Tool. A specially crafted tool to help even the most average of wastelanders be able to find crafting components in all kinds of, otherwise useless, junk.

Simply put, the Prospector's Tool will allow you to see some junk and turn it into usable crafting components instantly. It'll help you repair your armor and weapons. It will help you create mods for your weapons. It can teach your companions to be pack brahmin. It'll help you clean up the wasteland and make caps while doing it.

The player is given the Prospector's Tool upon starting or loading a game via a quest script. You will be notified of receiving the tool. You will also be given a note (see readme file). The best way to use the Prospector's Tool is to hotkey it. It doesn't use any wearable locations so it won't cause you to unequip any items. When used on a scrappable object, it will make a sound then the appropriate crafting or ammo items will be added to your, or your follower's, inventory. The Prospector's Tool can be found in the Aid section of your inventory. It is a consumable item that will auto replenish itself. However, it is not perfect so you are given 5 to start with in the event the script fails to give you another, allowing you to safely keep the item hotkeyed. In the event you should happen to lose all your items, through scripted quest event or such, you will also have a workbench crafting recipe to craft a set of 5 more for the cost of 1 bottle cap.

v2.1 introduces three new items to the Prospector's Tool creating a sort-of kit. Using some scraps of wood and some old tools, you can now create the Prospector's Tool Box. The Prospector's Tool Box, activated with the Prospector's Tool, allows you to craft and repair items anywhere. Using and old hot plate, some copper wires and a battery, you can create the Prospector's Hot Plate. The Prospector's Hot Plate will allow you to cook up meals and chems anywhere. Lastly there are the Prospector's Lock Picks. Using a few bobby pins, some copper wire and glue to hold it all together allows you to craft the Prospector's Lock Pick. Each lock pick will unlock any generic lock or terminal. This means if the lock doesn't require a key, or the terminal doesn't require a password, the Prospector's Lock Pick will unlock it.

In v2.0 much has changed behind the scenes. Many items have been added to the list of scrappable objects. You can now scrap almost any vehicle, including planes. You can have your follower carry all your scrap components and have quick access to their inventory. You can scrap and/or loot dead robots. Have a look at the v2.0 changelog for all the details.

In v1.5 you can now scrap dead robots. For the moment what you get from dead robots is all the same regardless of what type of robot it is. Bear in mind that once you scrap the robot, it and it's contents are gone, so you should be sure to loot whatever you want from them first. v1.5 also introduces the craftable consumable Prospector's Tool item. In case you lose your equipable tool, or it doesn't work with the mods you use, this consumable tool should work for you. The recipe calls for 1 bottle cap and gives you 5 Prospector's Tool in your Aid category. They will self replenish, but in the case you lose them through a scripted event that takes all your items, or something similar, you can easily craft new ones. As with the original, this version's best use, and ease of use, comes from it being hotkeyed.

In v1.4 and forward you can elect to have your followers carry all your scrapped junk. This should even work with custom followers as long as they have been added to NPCFollowersLIST. Use caution with this because you can set this on an NPC that is not actively your follower. To reset this option so the items will appear in your inventory simply use the Prospector's Tool on any non-follower or creature. The Prospector's Tool also adds in some new crafting recipes. With v1.4 you can now scrap a variety of tires to make crafting rubber, which is used in some of the new weapon mod recipes. Speaking of which, v1.4 adds in a workbench crafting recipe for each of the vanilla weapon mods, some of which uses materials only obtained from scrapping in-game items using the Prospector's Tool.


See the Prospector's Tool in action. 
v1.0


v1.2


Added Recipes
Prospector's Tool Recipes
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Breakdown - Mini Nuke (1 Mini Nuke) {Explosives 90}= 1 Scrap Metal, 1 Nuclear Material
Empty Soda Bottle {Repair 25} = 2 Crafting Glass
Glass Pitcher {Repair 25} = 3 Crafting Glass
Milk Crate {Repair 25} = 2 Plank of Wood
Muddy Tire {Repair 25} = 3 Crafting Rubber
Prospector's Hot Plate {Repair 25} = 1 Hot Plate, 4 Copper Wire, 1 Fission Battery
Prospector's Lock Pick {Lockpick 25} = 5 Bobby Pin, 1 Copper Wire, 1 Wonderglue
<Prospector's Tool> = 1 Bottle Cap
Prospector's Tool Box {Repair 50} = 6 Plank of Wood, 1 Hammer, 1 Wrench, 1 Duct Tape, 1 Wonderglue
Scrap Electronics {Repair 25} = 1 Copper Wires, 1 Scrap Metal
Sunset Sarsaparilla Crate {Repair 25} = 2 Plank of Wood
Tin Can {Repair 25} = 1 Scrap Metal

Prospector's Tool Recipes - Weapons
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Proton Throwing Axe {Melee Weapons 50} = 1 Plank of Wood, 2 Fission Battery, 1 Pilot Light, 1 Scrap Metal, 1 Scrap Electronics, 1 Copper Wire
Shishkebab {Energy Weapons 50} = 1 Motorcycle Gas Tank, 1 Motorcycle Handbrake, 1 Scrap Metal, 1 Lawn Mower Blade, 1 Copper Wires, 200 Flamer Fuel
Throwing Hatchet {Melee Weapons 50} = 1 Plank of Wood, 2 Scrap Metal
Throwing Knife {Melee Weapons 50} = 1 Plank of Wood, 1 Scrap Metal
Throwing Spear {Melee Weapons 75} = 2 Plank of Wood, 2 Scrap Metal

Prospector's Tool Recipes - Ammo
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Mini Nuke {Explosives 75} = 1 Scrap Metal, 1 Wonderglue, 1 Nuclear Material

Prospector's Tool Recipes - Weapon Mods
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All vanilla weapon mods have a recipe.


Version history:
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See Changelogs at the top of the page.

My New Vegas Mods:
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Second Perk per Level
Mine Now. Stake Your Claim.
Prospector's Tool