I came across an old thread on the Contractor Talk forum where a member asked an interesting question: “Have you ever walked into a pawn shop looking for tools… and saw some of your own tools that had been stolen?” The answers are what you’d expect. In some cases, yes; others had found their stolen tools at the pawn shop. Many even bought their own tools to recover them.
Some of you might be thinking “What jackass would BUY tools that are legally yours?” And if some of the other forum posts are to be believed, some states now allow you to recover stolen goods from pawn shops in a pretty easy fashion. But I have to admit that this didn’t faze me at all. I can totally see buying back your own tools.
Sometimes you just become attached to a tool, especially if it’s something that was handed down to you, or something that was with you in tough times. Musicians have this same kind of connection to their instruments. Why wouldn’t craftsmen?
Anyway, I’d love to hear what you do to protect your tools. Do you keep a registry of serial numbers to help prove to cops that a pawn special is really yours? Do you keep a photo inventory? Or do you just hope for the best? Have any of you ever had experience with actually trying to recover stolen tools?
(Thanks, jm3, for the great CC-licensed photo.)
Ever Bought Your Own Stolen Tools? [contractortalk.com]