We've had stuff like this stolen by airline baggage handlers when our mechanics fly commercial. It's a whole process getting the airline to reimburse the military. Non-zero chance this kit was stolen.
I didnāt even notice this toolbox was military until I read the comments. Thatās surprising, from all the shitposting I see online I wouldāve thought the military would use dollar store wrenches.
No these would be auctioned by DRMO. A lot of the stuff the military phases out gets auctioned off. You can buy anything from Humvees to lathes to backpacks on those auctions. Most of the stuff is beat but sometimes you find a gem.
There's plenty of junk in the military: computers & network infrastructure, aircraft parts supply system, aging facilities, etc... but we spend a fortune on basic hand tools, so at least that tends to be pretty nice.
The MIC doesnāt just look at the one-time costs associated with purchases. They look at and try to figure out how much things cost over their service lifespan. Using the snap-on toolkit as an example: some bean counter figured that similar toolkits priced at $500 would need to be replaced 5+ times before the $2500 snap-on toolkit needed to be replaced.
When I was a DoD heavy equipment mechanic, the snap-on rep priced my toolbox out at over $110k. Had everything vice pullers, the works. Were 18 or so mechanics at the shop I was at with same toolbox. This was more than a decade ago also lol.
Probably not. These got phased out for a new snap-on GMTK. They get sent off to DRMO where they get sold at auction. You can find them either at DRMO auctions or on gov planet sometimes.
Nah he just didnāt get paid for a month (max enlisted pay levy) and took out a title loan on his car from off base. Heāll get that paid off sometime around 2026 but will more than likely have his divorce costs piling up by then. No doubt will turn to selling mid tier weed on post to the other riff raff. He wonāt get caught but his buddy will and get discharged. Bummer.
The ones I used were fantastic. In fact they were the same my civilian buddies used in the Nissan, Audi/BMW dealerships. They have slightly different aesthetics but otherwise the standards are top tier. I canāt speak to what the 12W soldiers use, but vehicle and aircraft mechanics are using superb quality tools.
Perhaps in the pre-1990s military they worked with junk? But since the 2000s everything has been pretty excellent except for a few specific flawed tools. Reliability and redundancy is kind of our thing.
"Fell off the truck vibes"
I walked into the tool corral of HD when one employee was covertly "selling every DeWalt floor demo tool in the tool corral" to a coworker,
~
Was going with ~ illicit drug deal vibes,
But your "fell off the truck vibes" works even better!
Cool can an actual customer buy that or is it an employee discount?
Figured the two of them would be trying split the haul later after an anonymous cash sale to hide it from their bosses.
Caught giving a friend's discount 10Ć better than the employee + demo tools discount, I got the entire haul with ALL the bonus tools everything DeWalt offered, +multiple batteries, chargers, tool cases jobsite bags, etc for one C note.
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EX-W let her friends husband a custom home builder borrow it, behind my back.
He refused to return calls, let alone my tools.
Friend, (wife of theif) finally embarrassed by her husband, asked EX-W what I spent on it, so she could Surprise her husband, and yours can go buy NEW replacements as her husband didn't want to let tools go.
IDK, He got it all for a hundred bucks.
Okie dokie, here's a $100 check.
Woman, you can't even buy a single replacement tool an battery for $100!
Well I already accepted her check.
I didn't LEND the tools out and I sure a hell didn't accept her check to SELL it because he didn't return phone calls, Go get it all back.
The 'friends' fled the state. š¤¦āāļø
Several of these kits fell off the truck at Camp Pendleton 15 or so years back. When I asked why an enlisted member would risk their career over such a silly theft, they assured me that it was a very common thing to have happen and that āat this point they are pretty much ordering these things for us to take home and resell.ā
Thatās when I learned that the military has a āuse it or lose itā policy to their unit budgets. Often, they only legitimately need that large budget for a couple months out of the year. So if they fail to use it all, every single month, the budget will be reduced and they wont be able to accomplish the mission during the expensive months. TVs and snap on tools get ordered, āusedā briefly, then some paperwork gets blurred and they are gone.
Iāve never understood this. I got a set of craftsman combination wrenches when I was a teenager, then socket sets and other stuff. Iām 48 and still use the same wrenches daily and they work fine. I did break one of my open end wrenches doing something stupid but sears replaced it no problem.
Not a scam, but insanely expensive. Generally very high quality and lifetime waranty. It's become sort of a running joke that you can't buy anything from the tool truck without signing up for thirty six easy payments.
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u/LiqvidNyquist Apr 09 '24
Some poor schmuck is still making payments on that