Originally Posted by tetonrider

i have a smaller case and (a) i have never taken a crank off to travel with a bike and (b) even so... no.

torque wrenches can be valuable (but i've also seen people not know how to properly use one and destroy parts... "but i used a torque wrench!!"); they are not essential. after enough time a person can get used to calibrate their hands. in fact, that is often better as you can get a more subtle feel for what is going (e.g., if something is cross-threading or providing more resistance than it should).

for most cranks, the right answer is "really tight."

i find that people don't often understand the common specs for bolts (Nm), but if you look up a value in ft-lbs or in-lbs they get it.

ex: 6 Nm doesn't mean much, but 4.5 ft-lbs does. (4.5 pounds of downward force with a 12" lever/wrench.) or, if you have a 4" allen wrench, that 4.5 ft lbs is 13.5 pounds @ 4".

that 40 Nm crankset needs ~50# @ ~6".

most of us have a general feel for pounds.