Evening all, What with all this kit we carry about,not to mention the expese of it,mainly test meters and power tools,whats the best way of marking it to stop Bob the Burglar from steeling your livelehood. Thought about using a soldering iron to 'etch' my postcode on it,or is there another equvilent method. Thought about using them UV pens but they aint full proof,anyone got any ideas? Most of us got tool cover but you cant put a price on the hassle factor of replacing them? Any one else got any better ideas,apart from putting Roger the Rottweiler in the van? Regards sf SF
hiya SF, Yes it TERRIFIES me, or did. I thought I had lost my old faithful sided cutters the other day, wept tears I did. Funny how these tools seem to become part of you after a while I am VERY attached to my side cutters (better than s e x they are!). Now ya may think me daft but what I do is lug the whole lot in and out of the house every day. Tried the German Shepherd bit and that didn't work, tried marking them but what's the point, gotta find em first before you can say ".. but they are mine, see!...
It is a cause for concern RR Its when you turn up for a job and someone takes a bit of an interest in say your De-Walt cordless,then your on Red alert. Worse thing as well if they cant steal your tools,hell we will just take the van!
The best way of securing a van was a mate who installed a false bottom in the back of an old escort. Basically he cut a peice of plywood the same size as the back of the van and installed it approx 300mm above the floor of the van. He made sure the windows on the back were clear so you could see through them and then put one single empty cardboard box on the top of the plywood in the back. All his tools were underneath the plywood nice and safe. If anyone looked in the back of the van during the night all they saw was an empty cardboard box Sorted.
Yeah CPW I have one of those as well, it's called a 'small tool' used for 'touching up' plaster work also used by archeologists.
I saw some microdots used to mark personal property. They come in sheets & are difficult to find without knowing where they are but show on a scanner if found. They come with your name address & postcode. Don't know what they would be like on most tools as they would be rubbed off but useful inside the box etc.
yeah i also engrave my tools with a soldering iron. also bring most nickable stuff in at night back your motor up against a wall Sometimes i have a small site box (van vault) in my motor have used different vehicles for work van est 4wd and done all these and a decent alarm but have still been caught out when ur busy you chuck stuff in and out and dont always use the box. When your jobbing ie carrying gear about rather than locked up on site you dont always want to unload all or enough of it .a constant problem! ps tool cover is good but claim sucessfully on it once and you may have probs renewing your policy
marking items is ok, why solder when you can engrave, UV pens are ok, and are permanent, but pen will rub off, engraving wont. problem is this like said is only good if police or any 1 find ure tools, and this never seems to happen these days
Engrave? Mark up with UV pen? Don't lose sight of the fact that they'll just nick the markings along with the tool in question - thats my exprience - My old compadre once asked me "why are you going to the trouble of marking your name on your pliers/screwdriver handle etc etc?". "Well its in case they get nicked". I replied. "Don't you think they'll nick your name along with your kit?" he asked........ Different methods work for different people I know, but if its going, its going One drastic solution would be for you to walk away from any job which involves working in a high risk area - St' Annes in Notts, Moss side in Manchester etc etc. No sure-fire solution here - sorry
no i agree, which is why i dont waste my time marking up now, i only make boxes with name so no conffsion with other trades i work along side with, (usualy honest!).
if a tool is particularly important to you make sure its covered in big splats of paint oily stains and swop the makers labels for skoda labels nobody will touch it then
HI FOLKS Like Sparkedout the company I work for tends to use " van vaults" ,(I think screwfix sell a similar item) we have had quite a few vans broken into but they never seem to go to the trouble(or noise ) of breaking into the van vault,their only weak point are the keys which can snap quite easily! hope this has been of some help.
What about a manually cranked megger, with the mechanism adapted to work off the opening of the rear doors. Chummy comes along, forces the doors open and hello 500V or 1000V..... I know - it wouldn't really work, but it's a fun idea...