Painting Systainers for anti theft purposes?!

M

Maarten2

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Joined
Dec 15, 2017
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2
Hello,

I am contemplating whether I should paint my systainer or not. I am always super nervous off them getting stolen at a job site. Stickers are easily pulled of so I was thinking of just painting them in a bright weird color like purple or pink (maybe only stripes). That makes them really stand out from the crowd so thieves are less likely to "lend" my stuff.

Has anyone done this or is this a really bad idea?
 
If thieves want to steal your tools no amount of markings will deter them. Spend the time to document the tools and record the serial numbers and insure them. My van was stolen several years ago, my insurance paid out the replacement value of all of my tools, plus the police recovered and returned most of the stolen tools over the next several months due to the serial numbers.
 
Tom Gensmer said:
Spend the time to document the tools and record the serial numbers and insure them.
Click to expand...
PLUS pictures AND/OR videos if possible according to the advice of my insurer.
 
Painting your systainers might make the systainers themselves less attractive for thiefs, but they'll still have the valuable tools that are inside and they will still get good money for those. It is not such an effective deterrent.

If you paint the tools along with the systainers you might stand a better chance. Painted tools have a very low resale value. Because nobody wants them. Would you still want them? I wouldn't.

+1 on what Tom Said.
 
I called and talked to my insurance agent because my shop now has a decent amount of tools in it. He advised as you would imagine a full inventory with photos and serial numbers which I put on a thumb drive and gave to him. It turns out he is a hobby woodworker so I gave him a tour of my shop. It would be very difficult now for the insurance company to deny a claim saying I did not have these tools. Document everything.

With online shopping which I have to d since the nearest "woodworking" store is 2 hours away, I have receipts online at the various retailers. I download those and keep a copy it takes very little time and there are items that I forgot that will now be covered by insurance.

Thieves will always be there so just be prepared. Insurance is also good for that accidental fire.
 
More as a PSA than anything else, insuring your tools is important.  But purchasing the correct insurance for them is even more important.  If you get the normal tool coverage then your coverage is usually on the depreciated value of your tools.  If you want full protection you need to ask about replacement cost insurance.  In order to keep costs down you may choose to only carry replacement cost on your most expensive or rare tools and then typical coverage on less expensive tools.

So by example:  If I had a 10 year old $100 titanium hammer stolen along with other tools (of course there are deductibles to be met) I might be lucky to get $20 or less towards purchasing a new hammer under normal insurance but would get the full price under the replacement cost.

This is a simplified example of course but should help with the mindset when talking to an insurance agent.

Peter
 
Peter Halle said:
More as a PSA than anything else, insuring your tools is important.  But purchasing the correct insurance for them is even more important.  If you get the normal tool coverage then your coverage is usually on the depreciated value of your tools.  If you want full protection you need to ask about replacement cost insurance.  In order to keep costs down you may choose to only carry replacement cost on your most expensive or rare tools and then typical coverage on less expensive tools.

So by example:  If I had a 10 year old $100 titanium hammer stolen along with other tools (of course there are deductibles to be met) I might be lucky to get $20 or less towards purchasing a new hammer under normal insurance but would get the full price under the replacement cost.

This is a simplified example of course but should help with the mindset when talking to an insurance agent.

Peter
Click to expand...

I have both shop tools and then tools for the job-site. I wanted to buy theft insurance on just the job-site tools. My insurance agent told me if I wanted 100% coverage I needed to insure 100% of my tools. If I only insured the job-site tools they would calculate the percentage value of those tools compared to the total value of all the tools and pay out that percentage of the loss [eek]. I don't know how common this practice is but what it meant to me was I did not insure my tools against theft. Also the cost ran about 10% of total tool cost per year.

So every 10 years I could buy new tools if I did not buy insurance. In over 30 years I have lost less than $500.00 worth of tools due to theft but we work mostly in the shop and only onsite for installs.

Gerry
 
Oldwood said:
Peter Halle said:
More as a PSA than anything else, insuring your tools is important.  But purchasing the correct insurance for them is even more important.  If you get the normal tool coverage then your coverage is usually on the depreciated value of your tools.  If you want full protection you need to ask about replacement cost insurance.  In order to keep costs down you may choose to only carry replacement cost on your most expensive or rare tools and then typical coverage on less expensive tools.

So by example:  If I had a 10 year old $100 titanium hammer stolen along with other tools (of course there are deductibles to be met) I might be lucky to get $20 or less towards purchasing a new hammer under normal insurance but would get the full price under the replacement cost.

This is a simplified example of course but should help with the mindset when talking to an insurance agent.

Peter
Click to expand...

I have both shop tools and then tools for the job-site. I wanted to buy theft insurance on just the job-site tools. My insurance agent told me if I wanted 100% coverage I needed to insure 100% of my tools. If I only insured the job-site tools they would calculate the percentage value of those tools compared to the total value of all the tools and pay out that percentage of the loss [eek]. I don't know how common this practice is but what it meant to me was I did not insure my tools against theft. Also the cost ran about 10% of total tool cost per year.

So every 10 years I could buy new tools if I did not buy insurance. In over 30 years I have lost less than $500.00 worth of tools due to theft but we work mostly in the shop and only onsite for installs.

Gerry
Click to expand...

Obviously we live in different countries and there may be different insurance laws / regulations, but somehow I kinda doubt what you were told is really true.

So in my case I carry $45,000 worth of general tool coverage that is subject to depreciation based recovery.  I also carry $25,000 of replacement cost insurance.  For that end of the policy I had to list the tools, the serial numbers, and the costs.  That is commonly called listed equipment and the rates (typically 2 to 5% of value if I recall correctly) are actually better on a total value basis due to the fact that you are proving that you own them.

For those in the US who are professionals and wish to locate insurance like this, Erie Insurance and Cincinatti Financial are good choices.  PS - I am not affiliated with either but my insurance is thru Cincinatti Financial.

Peter
 
Insurance is a nice thing but I want to be one step ahead of the game by preventing my tools from getting stolen in the first place.
Insurance will never pay for every screwdriver and hammer that you collected over the years.
This week I lost my favorite pencil and I was irritated about it al week. Now imagine losing your complete toolbox...

Jay Bates painted power tools on Youtube
Jay Bates has painted all of his Ryobi tools black. I don't particularly like black but it certainly makes them stand out!

How are all of your tools and boxes marked?
 
I mark pretty much every tool I take onto site, engraved with my name and postcode and often a rectangle of a particular shade of blue paint.
Then the boxes get the same.

I'm not selling my tools so other people not wanting to buy them just makes them harder for a tpotential hief to sell. Win win.

If I was just passing through this tradesman game on my way to being an officewallah I might think different but I genuinely enjoy my work so I'm in it for the long game.
 
Put "CAUTION - CONTAINS LIVE RATTLE SNAKES" signs on in both English and Spanish and then put in a few. After the word gets out, you're stuff will be safe!  [big grin]
 
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