What Tools Have You Misplaced/Lost?

[four.cycle]

A 1/4" drive 6-inch extension. Rolled under my workbench in the garage. Laid there collecting dust for several years before I found it.

And a 1/4" drive 10mm socket. Got tossed into the wrong box. Finally surfaced several years later.

I'm seeing a pattern here with 10mm stuff.

What I'd really like to find are my keys. I know they're in the house, because I had to use them to unlock the door to get in. Replaced the keys, but I want that fob back! They've been missing for years.

 

[GarageGuy89]

10mm sockets...For whatever reason this size seems to have legs.

I now have a small army of 10mm sockets for when the decide to run off.

 

[Crazyjake8493]

I've lost more mini tape measures than I can count. Lost a nice SK adjustable wrench when I was an RV mechanic, searched the whole yard and nothing. Left some beater screwdrivers in drop ceilings in several different buildings.

 

[JohnDeere1]

I've lost 10mm sockets in engine bays just tink clank gone into dark oblivion and when driving I've heard sockets clanking around and then heard them fall out before and hit the undercarriage. I'm sure I've lost other sizes but 10 is what comes to mind now I have many 10s so I don't get left with none I buy any 10mm wrench I find as well.

I too am bad about loosing keys I've lost my motorcycle keys and had to replace the ignition and also lost the spare car keys and both fobs I've got 4 tool box keys I keep them all in different places so I can always find one. I learned to keep my box locked as I've had all my tools stolen twice my wife's family have sticky fingers specially her mom and dad they are bad tool thieves I've never even shown them all my new tools since ive upgraded to all truck and industrial brands I've hoarded alot and for my eyes only definitely the wife can't see them either haha.

 

[Sgt Nox]

Once lost a small firewood axe for 4 years. My sister found it in her basement wrapped up in some drop cloths. We have no idea how it got there.

P.s. I’ve had some good laughs reading this thread.


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[Reese]

I left a 3D cell LED Maglite at a rental house while working in the basement. I looked every where and couldn't find it. I eventually bought a replacement.

A few months later I stopped at the same house to look at something after work. Since i didn't have my tools I asked if they had a flashlight I could borrow. The tenant's kid handed me the flashlight I had lost earlier. I couldn't prove it was mine, so I just commented on what a nice light it was.

 

[BikerDad]

Lost a MityVac bleed kit. The whole kit, brand new, never used. I know I've got a wrench missing currently, just can't remember the size, but since it's one I've used working on my ST1300, I fear it is another of the elusive 10mm breed. Also have a "4 in One" ratcheting wrench that's missing, along with a double offset box end ratcheting wrench (SAE).

 

[BFHtime]

I lost a pretty new at the time, 3/8 drive impact swivel Snap-On swivel socket. I was pull parts at a junkyard when I lost it. Looked for a while in the areas where I was. I running around and jumping up and off of cars quite few places that day, carrying a heavy tool bag. I learned the warranty does not cover lost tools, or stupid mistakes.

 

[gdpolk]

A bunch before I got a good box.

 

[metaldad]

glad im not the only one who has a poltergeist in the tool chest

 

[Bill Ramsey]

A Littlestown vise that belonged to my grandfather disappeared five years ago when we made the (100 mi) move to Tulsa. I'm sure one of those bastards on the vise thread wound up with it.

 

[Semi-hole mechanic]

Fencing pliers...they get set atop fence posts, bedrails of pickups, or ATVs and are never seen again. I finally stopped using expensive ones except for the ones i carried in a holster on my saddle.

 

[Bill Bowman]

I have a friend who works a uniform truck. 1/4" ratchets, air blow guns, suckets, he has em all in his garage. Usually if it fits in a pocket, he has it,

 

[Semi-hole mechanic]

My dad was always losing 1/2" and 7/16" wrenches and sockets. He always bought a bunch of cheap ones. When he died I sorted through idont know how many sockets in different drive sizes and a bunch of combos in those sizes from different manufacturers.

 

[wolf_from_wv]

Number one for Me would have to be tape measures. But number two is close behind: forgetting where in the shop I left My coffee cup. That trait was inherited from My Mom.

Tape measures

Razor blade knives

 

[wafrederick]

A 10mm mid length impact socket in 1/4 drive,was a Matco.Under the hood of a customer's truck somewhere which I still can't find.Ended up buying a new one

A 17mm Grey Pnuematic deepwell impact socket in 1/2 drive.I put it somewhere and could not find it.Bought another socket to replace it.

 

[JuliusPepperwood]

I lose so much ****. I’ve left 2 magnetic lights on frame rails, missing wrenches and lots of sockets. I’ve started keeping small parts bins in my tool box and every job I do when I use a tool it goes in a bin. I swear I’ve even lost tools in my tool box and they resurface later haha.

 

[bczygan]

One time or another?...............All of them.

Bill

 

[four.cycle]

"Fencing pliers..."

^ it's been so long since I had to screw around with barbed-wire fence I forgot all about those.... lost two pairs up at the cabin. they're probably somewhere downstream in the Nisqually River.

 

[JMLangford]

This set of "TOUGH" brand metric wrenches (made in Japan) I bought new for $9.95 around 1971-'72 at the local auto parts store.....
Back then metric wrenches weren't that in demand but I was into riding and working on dirt bikes, so I bit the bullet and "spurged" for a set ($10 bucks was a lot a green for a 18 yr. old back then!! )

Anyways, I've used them (a lot) through the years and they have lived up to their name "TOUGH" but some time around 2001, I "misplaced" the 13 mm wrench and I haven't found it yet.....I say "misplaced" hoping that I'll eventually find it......but sadly I think it may be "Lost"





.

 

[Alex in Canada]

Back when I had a Jeep, I needed pliers to zip my windows back in, so I'd carry Channellock 317s, and my leatherman wave. Unfortunately, once I was in a rush and left the leatherman on the roof of the Jeep and drove away...

I lost a 16mm Husky USA 3/8" drive socket when I was taking the transmission out of my Audi. It just fell and never hit the floor. I looked and looked by never found it

Lastly, when swapping interiors in an Audi, I dropped a 1/4" ratchet into the rear quarter panel. Tried to fish it out with no luck... At least it doesn't rattle

 

[ChevyEFI]

Specifically, an SK 45171 Ratchet 3/8 Drive Slim 6 1/2"
I ordered from Epstein, shipped to family's address last year in summer, flew back with it, it was in the suitcase, I even held it in our house and it is AWOL.

 

[twertsy]

Tape measures! 2 years ago I bought 10 and spread them around the shop. Cannot find a single one of them, nor any of the other 10+ I've picked up here and there at sales. I honestly have no clue what happens to them.......and no, my wife/kids never go in the shop (locked, alarmed and 8 miles from the house).

 

[nbruno]

I have a huge problem with 1/2" drive 21mm deep impact sockets. I believe I've gone through about 4 at this point. It so bad that I don't take the Matco or Snap on 21mm out of the tool chest because I don't want to have to replace them.
I've also lost 3 Leatherman tools, which is crazy because they stay in the locked underseat handgun box in my jeep. Im not buying another one.

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[Alex in Canada]

I've also lost 3 Leatherman tools, which is crazy because they stay in the locked underseat handgun box in my jeep. Im not buying another one.

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Must be something about Jeeps and losing Leatherman's

 

[Swingpress]

Anything in 10mm WILL be lost at my garage.....

 

[Catfishdan]

I recently lost my painters thumb on a job somewhere. Wouldn't be a big deal, except I spent a LONG time making a custom micarta handle for it. That thing lived in my back pocket for over 2 years. : (



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[kn51]

While like everyone else here I own several tape measures but their must be some patron saint that smiles upon me from above in regards to them as I don't seem to lose them.

Measured some stuff in the back of my truck which, well rides like a truck. Backed out of the driveway with a curb and drove 5 miles to menards on rural roads. Got out of the truck.

Started walking inside and someone says "Don't forget your tape" and points to the bumper. How the heck that thing stayed on the bumper amazes me til this day.

 

[freudianfloyd]

My boys got a hold of my brand new dead blow mallet and decided to play Thor in the yard. I have not seen it since, and have since moved. in 20 years somebody is going to dig up a bright orange hammer somewhere over there.

 

[engineer2]

Yesterday it was 60° but windy. I was adjusting the valves on my Honda. It's tight in there, so I had the feelers out of the holder. A gust of wind came up and literally blew two of them away. Found one on the front lawn about 20 feet away. Looked for 10 minutes for the other, and finally found it teetering under the hood hinge where another gust of wind would have blown it into an inacessible area.

 

[Ben1967]

Endless amount of tape measures, pencils, and a couple of lights!

 

[rharman]

I lost my Wixey angle finder some time ago. Looked high and low. Last I saw, it was stuck on the side of my tool box.

Eventually, they went on sale and I bought another. Some day, I'll be moving stuff around and find it. Battery will have probably leaked by then and ruined it.

 

[isb cornbinder]

Several years ago I wasted a day looking for my pneumatic cut-off tool. I gave up and bought a replacement. When I returned from the tool store I dropped the new tool in my shop rag basket while I went to the restroom. There was a hard thump that was not typical of metal hitting cloth. The new tool just met the older one.

 

[lakeroadster]

Just Call Norm

 

[DadsTools]

My vintage 9" Klein lineman pliers. One of my shops has swallowed it into the great beyond. Still haven't found it. I know no one stole it. The new Kleins are not quite the same, and hells bells if I'm going to spend that kind of money on an inferior version. So I went to HF (yes, on purpose), went through over a dozen they had on the shelf to find two that were made reasonably precise (and that was quite a project) to serve until my precious turns up. Been about a year now.

UPDATE: My wife has lots of storage bins for her holiday decorations. She uses different decorations every year so some may not be accessed on a given season. Apparently, she needed these pliers to twist wires onto a railing she was decorating some time back. When she went into that bin this holiday, the pliers were there.

Lost a spool of twist-tie wire with a built-in cutter some time ago. Decided we should look in other places within the wifey's domain. Found them in her garden shed stuff.

 

[turnthewrench 2.0]

I still haven't found my 15mm USA Husky Combo. I do have other 15mm wrenches (Stahlwille, Proto), but I miss that one from the set I bought in 2000

 

[70chevellegsp]

I just broke down and ordered a 1/2" craftsman combo wrench that's been missing too long. I recently started re-organizing and figured it would turn up, but it didn't. I have probably 3 full sets, but hate having one missing. In addition, I can't find 3 craftsman ratcheting combo wrenches and a craftsman SAE folding allen set. The only good thing is that I found the 3 wrenches in the middle of the road a few years ago, but it's still annoying to lose them. I still think I'm ahead with finding tools, a couple snapon wrenches & screwdrivers left in my cars from the repair shops, a bucket full of tools that fell out of some guys truck that I picked up, etc.

 

[engineer2]

Lost an old Galaxy S3 cell phone. I just kept it to use with my BlueTooth OBDII adapter. It was on my workbench for a week under a bunch of other tools, and then one day it was gone. Cleaned up the entire garage since then and searched the van where I used it last. No sign of it.

Still have no idea what happened to it. Thought maybe someone left the garage door open and it was stolen, but nothing else is missing. ATT says the IMEI is not on their network.

 

[rambo19]

10mm sockets, all the ****** time!

 

[928'er]

When I got out of the Air Force in '72 one of the first things I bought was an SK 3/8" metric ratchet set, green metal box, shallow and deep 8-19mm, if I recall correctly. About '75-'76, as a starving student, I was working on my car outside at a friend's house. I, apparently, left the SK set lying on the ground when I was done. A neighbor later asked my friend if he'd lost a ratchet set. He said no, not realizing that the set was mine. Still miss that set.

More recently, I was working in the engine bay of a 928. I was looking around using a little Coast G20 led flashlight. Flashlight slipped out of my fingers and disappeared somewhere under the intake manifold and lodged on top of the engine. Guess it belongs to the car's new owner now....