What do you do to your stuff ,if anything, that says it's your's ?

As a mechanic your working among other mechanics, and tools can get mixed up if your working on the same equipment together, so as a practice we all have our name, or some identifying mark that is positive identification that it is our own.
Camping situations where there are other people and their gear as well ,it happens that something is gone astray and it is a question as to whom it belongs.
To avoid hard feelings and questionable status my name is on every thing, almost, or i have an identifying mark unique to my equipment.

 

Yes.

 

Some of the important stuff has a small dab of pink nail polish on it, usually placed in a not highly visible area of the item.

 

ex libris stamps / UV inked stamps and perfume on my books.....UV marker on other objects as well as etching / sharpie / paint / etc as appropriate on other things. I tend not to lend books anymore.

 

Engraved on tools, sometimes on frequently misplaced items, with instructions on where to return things to me. I tie a sliding fisherman's knot in the parachute cord lanyards on all my camp knives and gear. Usually these are dummie-corded to my body somehow anyway.

On garden and wood working tools it seems to be a family tradition to paint the handles red. I recovered a large plane from an obscure local junk shop after it had been loaned and gone missing for over a decade. The red paint got my attention, and the mismatched internals verified it was indeed my fathers old plane. I was happy to pay the shop keeper $5 for holding onto it for me for all these years after he'd acquired it in a delinquent storage unit that had belonged to my neighbor.

Big fat laundry marker with initials only has been sufficient to keep my cloth camping gear from wandering off.

 

All of my guns have my drivers license number schedule on them in spots that you have to really look for

 

Just some blood from the last person who borrowed them with out asking....

 

Back in the day, when I was a paid assassin, I used to do that too.....just that I used someone else's driver's license.

 

I find a driver's license is probably the most proof of identification , and is etched on all my hand tools .
I've seen grind marks and notches but an on can claim they did that . Paint is good so long as it can't be removed easily or covered up.
I find that center/punch engraving is as permanent as you can get. though it can be ground away on the surface the disturbance to the surface goes deep .
the same with using letter punches on metal and wood .
When doing wood ,it should be done on the end grain and that goes really deep, not just on the surface.
Loggers have a registered brand stamp welded to a single jack and use this striking the end of the log .slicing off a biscuit or two doesn't remove it.
As time goes by should people be thrust together in the woods hiding from what ever , if you've got no permanent ID on your stuff you'd be hard pressed to prove it's yours ,no court of law to decide the true owner.
Don't say this can never happen.
A lot of us have bug out bags, full of stuff bought from similar resources , some of us don't have the memory we did wen we were younger. even then it wasn't to good.
Believe it or not there are a few in this world that will go to the trouble of returning something found in the woods.
"Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." Jesus.

 

I use a 5 digit letter number combo for everything of significant value. the place varies from item to item but usually requires some disassembly to locate. all details are recorded in a small book in safe.

 

T5R brand on everything from animals to Zippo lighters.

 

I mark my stuff in various ways, but my stuff is so well used and beaten compared to others that it usually stands out as mine. I bought an old 10 speed bicycle about 10 years ago and while cleaning it up I found the owners name and SS # engraved on both wheel rims, the way the cops advised everybody to do with high dollar items back in the 70's.

 

I have an antique punch with a tube rose that I stamp hard items with. I also shoot all my tools with fluorescent orange paint and wipe off what isn't down in the letters. Nearly impossible to get it all off.

 

Paint is like the paddle lock ,
It helps the honest know where to return something with in a group of mechanics in a shop.
I've known mechanics that for one reason or another all their tools had a host of markings, with the claim that they were gotten at a swap meet.
These same people had to rummage their box to find any thing.
When I was young and inexperienced my tools were not organized but I did take the time to make sure I could identify my own.
If I bought something second hand ,I didn't know any better but to grind off previous owners marks and give it my own.
It's a fine line buying something you don't know it's history.
I have on occasion found the original owner and settled the issue either way.
Do unto others.
The PD is not always prudent about returning things recovered ,
but that doesn't mean one is not obligated to make an effort.
IMO.
Generally speaking I don't buy something I do not intend on keeping ,in which case providing a universally recognized mark is prudent in providing a means some one can return something lost.
That is why I chose my driver's license #
A while back on another forum there was discussion concerning a gun found ,and the finder was making an effort to see it return to it's owner. You don't see this often but when you do it's impressive.

 

Funny thing about the law and found stuff. The prudent effort to return is part of the process that allows you to legally keep it if you fail to find the owner.

 

I put censored on everything, just to be safe!

 

Wife was Peed when she saw the brand on an EX !!






Joking
I have a stamp for tools with my name , All accept files & hardened stuff , Custom made.
All is marked.. to the point many know I"M anal on all tire pressures of the unit are marked , oil service ect....

 

Don't really bother with that, except with computers, then they're password protected. Our neighbors have the same stuff we do, usually newer, so there's no reason for anyone to 'borrow' our stuff. That's my security plan, don't have anything worth stealing

 

Yep even branded the EX and The Next EX