_That_ guy

[BMBassman]

Sorry, just had to vent...
So, I wouldn't call this guy a thief, per se, he's in my band with me - I'd go to war with him, and some nights feel like I have. HOWEVER, everytime I get a new guitar cable, extension cord, music stand, guitar stand (all 'utility' items, that everyone has, and no one can say FOR SURE which is whose), the one I take home after the gig looks mysteriously old, beat up and poorly used, while the one in HIS gear bag looks brand new just like mine... ahem, like mine USED to.
The first time it happens, you think, nah, maybe I'm mistaken, or maybe he just grabbed mine by mistake. But after a few shows and a few pieces of kit 'mysteriously age'...

 

[Schmorgy]

Start tagging it or writing on it with a white paint pen. The pen won't be visible from anyone except someone physically holding the cable and it'll settle things pretty quickly.

 

[BAce]

I put my initials on my cables, really small print, where you would have to look closely to see it. Like between the pins of an AC cord, or on the insulator under the barrel of a 1/4" cord. Um, that's mine....

 

[fourstringdrums]

+1 on tagging inconspicuously so you know it's there, but whoever takes it doesn't. Then say "Hey, is that my ____ ? I think I got the wrong ____ last night"

 

[Bassbubble11]

I wrap a peice of blue painters tape around
all me gear. Mics, cables, speaker stands,
guitar stands and so on.

Oh and why would it have to be inconspicuous?
It's your stuff.

 

[Greyfin10]

I've had that problem with mics when the crew strikes in a hurry after the show and puts it in the sound company mic box... flourescent yellow gaff tape is now one all my hardware (mic stand, mics, guitar stands, etc).

I don't think I could "go to war" with someone I couldn't trust more than that though... you are more... forgiving than I would be.

 

[fourstringdrums]

Oh and why would it have to be inconspicuous?
It's your stuff.

Just thinking if someone took your stuff, if they saw an intentional mark they could try to remove it and then claim it's not yours because it's not marked. But if they don't know that the mark is there they can't remove the proof.

 

[vicvarado]

I got tired of putting tape on my stuff so I bought thin neon colored zip ties. I have one tied on every cable and power cord.

 

[theory028]

I had a friend that did that kind of thing all of the time. I think he still has one of my PA cabinets.

 

[Greyfin10]

I had a friend that did that kind of thing....

You keep using that word... I don't believe it means what you think it does...

 

[nojj]

Carbide scribing pen.............

 

[hrodbert696]

I wrap a peice of blue painters tape around
all me gear. Mics, cables, speaker stands,
guitar stands and so on.

Oh and why would it have to be inconspicuous?
It's your stuff.

This. Only I use different colors of duct tape so that I can tell speaker cables from instrument cables on dimly lit stages.

 

[mellowinman]

TAKE ONE OF MY CABLES OR STANDS.

TRY IT.

I DARE YOU!!!!!

 

[richntiff]

Colored electrical tape works too...

 

[FretNoMore]

I wrap a peice of blue painters tape around
all me gear. Mics, cables, speaker stands,
guitar stands and so on.
...

What I do, only it's yellow electrical tape.

I also use yellow+white tape on the extra long microphone cables, quicker to grab the right cables when setting up the PA.

 

[BayStateBass]

Colored electrical tape works too...

Yes. All of my stuff has white tape on it for easy identification. Every member had a different color in my last band. It was dual purpose (for mic cables); it also made mic connections to the mixer easier because each channel was tagged with the member's color so there was no guesswork or wondering who went where.

 

[DiMarco]

Which ever band member thinks he can get away with stealing my stuff is going to be out of the band very soon and portrayed as a thieving wanker on facebook the same day. Just saying these kinds of persons are NOT your friends.

 

[Bassdirty]

I put my initials on my cables, really small print, where you would have to look closely to see it. Like between the pins of an AC cord, or on the insulator under the barrel of a 1/4" cord. Um, that's mine....

Yup.

 

[Baird6869]

I wrap red/Canadian flag hockey tape around all of my cables, stands and mics. Just 3/4", but I have not lost a single cable since I started doing this.

 

[Chainsaw Willie]

All my stuff gets a dab of red nail polish. 1/2 because I wanna keep my stuff. 1/2 because I don't wanna mistakenly take someone else's stuff.

I had a co-worker that was casually stealing batteries out of my tool box. I started keeping my dead ones and leaving them shorted over night so they were fully dead. The next time I bought a new Costco pack I emptied the new batteries and stashed them in my file cabinet. I put the dead batteries in the new pack and placed it in my tool box. About 1/4 of the pack disappeared over the next two weeks before they stopped disappearing. I noticed he now had his own pack of batteries on his workbench. Apparently I had become an unreliable battery supplier.