not at hand

The first thing is to make sure that the things you try to avoid are not at hand.

From Slate ● Nov. 8, 2018

But sometimes the perfect implement is not at hand; we live half an hour from the nearest hardware store.

From New York Times ● Mar. 30, 2016

But the U.S.-Russia accord, although close, is still not at hand.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 18, 2010

Since his mother was not at hand, the request was refused.

From Time Magazine Archive

There is in them a depth of sentiment, a vividness of imagery, which would almost make us doubtful of their true origin, if the original were not at hand to compare with.

From Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara, Volume III (Commodore B. Von Wullerstorf-Urbair,) Undertaken by Order of the Imperial Government in the Years 1857, 1858, & 1859, Under the Immediate Auspices of His I. and R. Highness the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, Commander-In-Chief of the Austrian Navy. by Karl Ritter von Scherzer