Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Dewalt). This thread is read-only.
So the other night my work van got broken into and various tools stolen. Paslode nail guns and every cordless dewalt tool and batteries I owned 🙁 sad sad times.
Damn man that’s horrible, you had like 20 batteries…I’d cry if that happened to me. I’ve been contemplating looking into GPS’ing a few of my bigger tools in case this happens I have a small window to catch the thief.
Check your insurances to see if you’re covered, might get lucky.
Roasty, that is one of my worst nightmares, iv had tools stolen before but nothing like that, i feel for you man, i know when it happened to me i was “smash his face, break his legs” type mad. lots of low lives around.
Fuck man.
I hate a thief.
What part of the world are you from roasty. Have nightmares about this happening myself.
I wish I could help if you lived near me I have an extra impact and hammer drill with extra chargers and older batteries
That blows hope you get it back, if you are around Fresno I have some extras you can use
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
I could make out an 18v on the blower so im guessing he’s in europe
Yeah he is not in the states.
Lesson Learned guys Secure Your Investment and Livelyhood.
Happens to the best of us. I was stolen from 3 times in 2016 out the work truck.
JakeDewalt wrote:
3 minutes ago, JakeDewalt said:Yeah he is not in the states.
Lesson Learned guys Secure Your Investment and Livelyhood.
Happens to the best of us. I was stolen from 3 times in 2016 out the work truck.
Cant get insurance for your tools in Ireland unfortunately. Only thing u can do is alarm and secure your van to the best of your ability. You’d nearly want a german shepherd in the back over here
Welcome to the club bro. Mine worked out to being just under $12,000 stolen. Kinda makes your blood boil. Most frustrating part was that I knew who stole my stuff both times and so did the sheriff’s department but there isn’t anything they would or could do. My only advice is don’t lose any sleep over it because then they aren’t just stealing your shit they’re also stealing your time and piece of mind. I know it’s pretty much impossible to do now that your whole livelihood is gone. I was able to just stop what I was working on and drove truck for a month. Hope you’re still able to make it work. I feel you bro.
@Roasty I could hook you up with a dcf887b (bare drill), dcd996b (bare impact), and dcs575t2 (2 battery flexvolt circ saw) everything is brand new still in box. If you don’t have specific tool insurance you might be able to use property insurance if you have it.
Damn, that sucks. A burglary started my descent into tool-buying madness a few years ago. Fortunately, I didn’t have much in the way of cordless tools back then, but the thief took a generator, lawn mower, air compressor, and a bunch of other tools, guns, and my TV.
If anyone is interested, I have a spreadsheet I built a few months back while on 24-hour duty. I still haven’t updated it with serial numbers, but it has tabs for various brands and everything from a description of the tool to the place and date purchased. Maybe updating it will be next weekend’s project. I’m also planning to make a video of my tools with screenshots of the serial numbers. It’s a pain to take individual pictures, and a YouTube guy that explained how he protected his video game collection brought up that video is one of the best ways to prove ownership.
Yep a lot easier to do the spreadsheet before rather than after. Won’t really do you any good for law enforcement because even if they did do anything they really can’t unless they have video of the guy stealing it. Good for insurance purposes though.
Holy shit man. I’m so sorry this happend to you. Here in Finland we have insurance that covers theft from a locked work van. I have never had any tools stolen but that shit happens to people who don’t deserve it and trying to make a livelihood with those tools. Hope things work out for you.
Skickat från min LG-H815 via Tapatalk
Thanks guys. I’m from Australia 🙂 appreciate the support, lucky I have some spares laying around to get me by for the time being.
its a crazy time for tool thefts here ATM. Trailer cars and everything being nabbed. Working out insurance now so hopefully I can recoup abit back. Just lucky they didn’t take my flex table saw or mitre saw.
Sorry to hear @Roasty
3 out of 5 times this year I’ve been in Bunnings before 8am and there have been Tradie’s who had their tools stolen overnight.
One of the staff once said how high the amount of theft has been lately.
It might be a sign of the times in the “lucky country”; the cost of living getting out of control and people getting desperate. Most people wouldn’t steal if they were doing ok.
Still a bad thing to do.
Hugh Jass wrote:
10 hours ago, Hugh Jass said:Damn man that’s horrible, you had like 20 batteries…I’d cry if that happened to me. I’ve been contemplating looking into GPS’ing a few of my bigger tools in case this happens I have a small window to catch the thief.
Check your insurances to see if you’re covered, might get lucky.
I wish a tool company would inbuild gps in to there tools, none of this Bluetooth crap!
A bluetooth wrist band that is the “key” to enable a tool (you have to have the key on you for it to work). Have any of the manufacturers using bluetooth done anything like this?
It doesn’t have to be a wrist band, maybe the key could go in your pocket, on your belt, put it wherever you want. It just has to be near the tool for it to work (~1m). No key nearby, no work.
Just like using a key to start your car. You could pair multiple tools to a key ( so all your tools work with the same key), or have a key for each tool.
Maybe even have your mobile work as the “key”, so you have to have your mobile phone with you for them to work.
Again, I’ve probably just described exactly what Dewalt/Bosch/Milwaukee are doing already. I haven’t paid much attention to the bluetooth stuff coming out, it just seems mostly not worth the effort (a solution looking for a problem, which is 99% of the software industry this decade).
Yeah kinda sad and Ticks wouldn’t have done a damn thing for you
Yeah one of the tools in my group had the one key tracking and it hasn’t done a damn thing.
D W wrote:
1 hour ago, D W said:A bluetooth wrist band that is the “key” to enable a tool (you have to have the key on you for it to work). Have any of the manufacturers using bluetooth done anything like this?
One Key and Tool Connect tools have locking features. Bosch might but I’m not sure. Not sure if anyone uses these features. Would seem cumbersome to open up an app just to set how the tool locks. I think the locking options are either schedule based which is tool is unlocked for x amount of time then auto locks, instant lock which is tool locks cause you told it to lock, and finally an out of range lock which locks the tool when the app loses contact with the tool. If there was a more convenient way to lock the tool or set other settings of the tool other than phones, I would think connected tools would take off better.
Jronman wrote:
50 minutes ago, Jronman said:One Key and Tool Connect tools have locking features. Bosch might but I’m not sure. Not sure if anyone uses these features. Would seem cumbersome to open up an app just to set how the tool locks. I think the locking options are either schedule based which is tool is unlocked for x amount of time then auto locks, instant lock which is tool locks cause you told it to lock, and finally an out of range lock which locks the tool when the app loses contact with the tool. If there was a more convenient way to lock the tool or set other settings of the tool other than phones, I would think connected tools would take off better.
Yeah the update to one key that let you do this came out after they were stolen. I had the DeWalt batteries with the feature, but I didn’t activate it because it was cold and I just wanted to go home.
Jronman wrote:
1 hour ago, Jronman said:One Key and Tool Connect tools have locking features. Bosch might but I’m not sure. Not sure if anyone uses these features. Would seem cumbersome to open up an app just to set how the tool locks. I think the locking options are either schedule based which is tool is unlocked for x amount of time then auto locks, instant lock which is tool locks cause you told it to lock, and finally an out of range lock which locks the tool when the app loses contact with the tool. If there was a more convenient way to lock the tool or set other settings of the tool other than phones, I would think connected tools would take off better.
That does sound kinda clunky and not suprised that few are using it.
Something outside of your phone, like A wrist band or something you put in your pocket that automatically enables the tools when in range/close proximity (~1m), and the tool by default doesn’t work if nothing is “enabling” it (I guess it would transmit every 10 seconds or similar to keep it active).
This could be bluetooth or the same tech used for credit card paypass/touch, RFID chip etc. You do nothing but go near the tool (like hold it) and it works. Put it down and its locked.
Or a simple manual button like a keyless entry for your car. Click, beep beep, on for all tools in your tool box, tools default to off after 20 minutes of not being used.
Maybe a smart watch could work or well be less of a hassle than a phone.
Dewalt tool connect has ..gps …you pay monthly 19$ and it’s gps anywhere through all phone towers…you would have known exactly where your tools were….it’s not available yet ,but soon…..sorry to hear about your tools gone…truly sucks …don’t know your circumstances, but my tools stay locked in my truck or in my garage ,in my truck…at work they don’t leave my site,if I go to lunch ,I pack em up before I go…
……any video surveillance? Hope it works out…..call Dewalt tell them your story,maybe they will hook you up….
Framer joe wrote:
4 hours ago, Framer joe said:Dewalt tool connect has ..gps …you pay monthly 19$ and it’s gps anywhere through all phone towers…you would have known exactly where your tools were….it’s not available yet ,but soon…..sorry to hear about your tools gone…truly sucks …don’t know your circumstances, but my tools stay locked in my truck or in my garage ,in my truck…at work they don’t leave my site,if I go to lunch ,I pack em up before I go…
……any video surveillance? Hope it works out…..call Dewalt tell them your story,maybe they will hook you up….
I’m the exact same as you, but they broke a window and grabbed what was worth the most. No surveillance.
Yep calling dewalt is on the cards, hopefully the can look after me but it’s a business at the end of the day.
Sorry to hear about your loss. I was done last year, popped the van open on my drive and cleaned me out.
I doubt these innovations are going to help, the middle men will soon figure out how to remove it from the tool. However, if it’s all part of one piece of electronics that’s resin filled, then it may prove not worth their while.
Tossers, utter tossers. (Trying to keep my language clean.)
Framer joe wrote:
10 hours ago, Framer joe said:Dewalt tool connect has ..gps …
really? I heard about this but wasn’t sure if it was true. Didn’t see anything about this at DeWALT Experience. Unless I missed it.
Jronman wrote:
56 minutes ago, Jronman said:really? I heard about this but wasn’t sure if it was true. Didn’t see anything about this at DeWALT Experience. Unless I missed it.
The Dewalt Experience was half baked in the first place. They had a number of new things, some of them there, that they didn’t even bother to discuss.
Tool connect info is around, ,,yes definitely has …gps.. not like tick that relies on other people around you to have tick…..it says it will track a tool within 15ft…..thing is if someone just broke into a van to get tools…1st you get a email, ,text and call to alert you that your tools are out of a range you pick,10ft,50ft ,?……next ..alert the cops..I’m sure the thief does not have time will driving to remove the tool connect or battery or tool before he is caught……you can literally follow him……
I’m not a big electronic guy, and I dissed this before on here regarding tool set ups,torque changing blah blah…..but this “gps” thing is worth the 19$ a month if you have thousands in tools in a high crime area…….
where I live we can leave are vehicles and houses unlocked mostly,, I don’t but you can……….dude truly sucks for you or anyone who gets ripped off…..
My tools are all engraved also….in case you do see something out that looks like yours…..
even in my town of around 3000 we have stealing it’s not common but does happen. It wouldn’t be worth it for me because I don’t bring much to work and if I do it is either locked in my car which has an alarm, stored at home, or within sight. I also have some property coverage which should cover stolen tools. It hasn’t happened to me but our plumber got a couple thousand in Milwaukee tools stolen from his truck last year.
Man maybe you can try asking DeWalt for some sort of discount
Man maybe you can try asking DeWalt for some sort of discount
I doubt the manufacturers give a damn, they’re more likely to be rubbing their hands together in the hope you’ll go shopping for their products!
I would be surprised @Tug if that were true. I think Dewalt would give a big discount on new tools and perhaps even give a couple ,of course if there was a police report to show them….I have not had that happen,but I have received a full refund or store credit after even 4-5 yrs ..a couple years past the warranty at Home Depot or contacting them directly……..
I find Dewalt as a company pretty darn good at accommodating there customers. Of course I have many other beefs with them but not on this issue…
For the most part I don’t think contacting DeWalt directly will do much because there’s just so many people getting ripped off that they couldn’t keep up with giving out discounts. That being said if you catch a rep at a vendor they will almost definitely toss in a free battery if you buy a kit off them if you tell them what happened. You can almost always get the reps to toss in a free battery regardless though.
Where is the 19$/month gps information coming from? Can’t seem to find anything backing that.
Stercorarius wrote:
4 minutes ago, Stercorarius said:Where is the 19$/month gps information coming from? Can’t seem to find anything backing that.
I’m wondering the same thing.
It’s out there ,I’ll try to find again since you think I’m LYing ,,,JK
So another site had it as tool connect, but it’s called “mobile lock” gps 19.99 month, you lock up your truck or van with the tools in it or job box or ladders held together with a cable…it has alarms,motion detectors, and gps. If someone tries to steal anything it can be silent or sound an alarm ,,you hide it (lick a tag/tick) not on your tool but a bag of tools or tool box anything …if the box or bag moves your notified.
…if a guy grabbbed your bag of tools and ran it will alarm or be silent and you track him in real time…….Mobile Lock by Dewalt
Oh yeah that’s been out for a few years now.