Finally getting paranoid about losing my tool inventory, went to a pawn shop yesterday for a remodel quote for their office area. While there, I checked over the stuff in the store, and was amazed a the large number of tools that they had (and the prices — jeez, hope they really like to deal). Plus many tool thefts in the newspaper police column lately. D*mn crack heads.
I took this morning off, and spent the time engraving my drivers license number on all my power tools, and got them all marked with my color – blue – and uglied them up some with the paint. My dl# is very obvious on every tool, plus I made my mark in all the tools, so I can still I.D. the item if my number is destroyed. (I made up a couple of metal stamps, one for heating with the torch and melting into the plastic, and one hardened for impact into aluminum tool bases.) The design is an equilateral triangle, about 0.25″ on the side, with a dot in the middle of it. (BIL has a machine shop at work, he actually did the work. At least I watched, so that counts as doing it myself, right?)
Tonight, I plan to make an itemized list, with model#, serial number, etc, along with digital photos.
I guess that I’m making a challenge to all y’all that ain’t done this yet. Do it!
Edited 3/17/2003 5:38:39 PM ET by ProBozo
Replies
excellent ideas pro, been doing just those myself for years and just recently added the digital camera idea also, my insurance guy gets a perfect inventory every renewal.
as far as engraving? well most thieves are too dumb to realize at the moment that what they are scooping is unsaleable, so dont know how useful that is( i do it anyway)
pawnshops? anybody who buys anything at apawnshop where previous ownership cannot be proven is as criminal as the person who stole it in the first place, in canada its called possesion of stolen property and is indictable
knew a guy once who bragged about buying stolen tools from a fence(saved lots of money!!) changed his thinking when thay all dissappeared one night
ive been ripped off twice in 15 years and thank god for insurance
prevention? dont know. make it hard so they go steal someone elses stuff?
give away crack on streetcorners?, i do alarm system, tool id, inventory, photos, insurance, dont know what else i can do
A summer painting outfit did the house years ago, and one of the "painters" lifted a whole bunch of stuff.
I had my name on all the stuff I owned.
Police went to the pawn shops and saw my name, took the stuff back.
Since this guy had no ID, why would they take it in the first place and give him money?
Idiots.Quality repairs for your home.
Aaron the HandymanVancouver, Canada
thats why i wont deal with pawn shops, i could be buying something today stolen from a friend yesterday, and around here all of us small contractors are friends willing to help one another and no way am i going to support that underground economy
here in ontario, photo id is required for selling to a pawnshop so where does the problem lie?
answer to your question? GREED
Forget the written list.
Oh yea the paint, I use the touch up sticks of paint from cars that I've sold. It is traceable back to the 199x Grand prix red.
Take the video camera and talk about the tools as you film them. Then walk thru the rest of the house and tape everything of importance to you.
Finally put the tape (original) in the safety deposit box with your birth,insurance, stock certs, etc certificates. For 20 bucks a year it is the best security you'll find.
Unfortunitly those crackheads make things misserable for us all. In our area, the pawn shops are closely watched. I have seen some good deals in pawn shops, but most are over priced unless it has been on the shelf for along time. I had a guy that was working on a job and his parents were in a car accident and he had to get back to Mass. and didn't have any money. He went to a pawn shop and gave him about 10 cents on the dollar. He later told me that that was the worst mistake he ever made and he would have rather sold them to me or someone else for the same price. He had no hard feelings. Too bad nobody knew about his situation untill it was too late. All of us local subs would have scrounged up enough money to pay for his air fair and he would have still have his tools. This brings me to my point: not everthing is stolen at a pawn shop, some of ti is other people's misfortune
I went back soon after I made my post, and edited it to make it clear that I was there on business, and not the business of buying stuff from there.
BTW, my policy is to never pay more than half of the "new" (discount, street) price for anything used. Considering having a new one, with warranty, etc, is not worth it against a used item, unless I get it for at least half price.
Also, another thing that brought my ID'ing craze to be is a couple weeks ago, I was home for lunch, and caught C.O.P.S. on cable -- they had busted a guy, and his garage was packed full of tools he had stolen. Most of it had no identifying information.
Unfortunately, I've had a little experience with this problem. The most important thing you can do aside from making sure your tools are easily identifiable is make sure you can provide the police with the serial numbers. That's about the only way they can identify them.
Here's my approach:
Engrave every tool with my name and dl number, and if possible also in an inconspicuous spot that the average crankhead won't look. I like the idea of "branding" your tools with a special symbol unique to you, as well. That's a good one.
Video Tape everything (this is more for the insurance people).
Keep a spreadsheet (mine is in Excel) with the type of tool, mfg, model number, serial number, date of purchase, place of purchase, purchase price, and where the "hidden marking" might be. This will provide the police with everything they need to identify your tools and it's as easy as printing it out or putting it on a disc that they can transfer to their computers and reports. Just keep it updated. Every time you buy a tool, take the serial number info and write it on the receipt and enter it into your spreadsheet. Just make sure you keep a good copy of it in a safe place.
Miles