Engraved knives stolen at airport from Knifepurveyor Michael Donato

Barry Lee Hands · Mar 15, 2014

My friend and colleague Michael Donato had around 150 knives stolen when someone grabbed his bag off the carousel at the airport.
here is a link to the list:
http://www.knifepurveyor.com/browse/stolen.aspx
If anyone runs across any of these please contact Michael at www.knifepurveyor.com

dlilazteca · Mar 15, 2014

Very nice and unique knives, shame that had to happen. Check with local pawn shops. Don't wait for the cops to do their job on these, they don't come with serial numbers, which is the easiest way to track a stolen item.

You can also post this on Craigslist in your local area or where the bag was taken from you'll be surprised someone my contact you

Carlos De La O III

monk · Mar 15, 2014

it's sickening to learn all the inspiration, planning, and work- individually and collectively taken by some scum bag sob.when i logged on i was in a good mood, til i read of this loss.

Sam · Mar 16, 2014

That is horrible. I would assume they have security camera video footage that could help. It's quite possible that it's an honest mistake and that they'll be returned.

Someone grabbing the wrong bag off the carousel is one of my greatest fears when traveling, so I had some bright orange luggage tags like these made and attach them to the handles. They are strong velcro plus I put a zip tie on them so it would take a pocketknife to remove them from my luggage.

I also have wide yellow straps with my last name embroidered which go horizontally around my suitcase.

Sam · Mar 16, 2014

Also, those knives are waaaay to high profile not to be discovered if they hit the market.

FANCYGUN · Mar 16, 2014

Barry
That's one helluva haul for the person who took the bag. Do they think it was a diberate "hit" or did some stupid thief just get very lucky? Also . what airport did this happen at? That could help find them.

Sickning and every engravers nightmare when we travel

Gemsetterchris · Mar 16, 2014

Was the bag even on the carousel?
Things can get inspected & "lost" behind the scenes just as easily.
Even whole aeroplanes can get lost these days.

Sent from my HTC Desire S using Tapatalk 2

Sam · Mar 16, 2014

FANCYGUN said:
Barry
That's one helluva haul for the person who took the bag. Do they think it was a diberate "hit" or did some stupid thief just get very lucky? Also . what airport did this happen at? That could help find them.

Sickning and every engravers nightmare when we travel

Raleigh-Durham NC, Marty.

scott99 · Mar 16, 2014

Ahhhh, airport pickers.

scot99

mrthe · Mar 16, 2014

Barry maybe we can try to share this in Facebook in this way if people share wil have more visibility.

Barry Lee Hands · Mar 16, 2014

mrthe said:
Barry maybe we can try to share this in Facebook in this way if people share wil have more visibility.

Yes, Thank you please share wherever you can.
There was security footage, apparently it was theft, not error, and I want engravers to know, because you never know where they will turn up.

Sam, Thanks for the security / ID tips , I follow a similar procedure.

Weldon47 · Mar 16, 2014

Just shared this on my LinkedIn site.

WL

Brian Marshall · Mar 16, 2014

You guys that mark your bags might wanna think about doing it more unobstrusively - and doing it at the check in counter.

Maybe under the cover of a coat?

Carrying in a brightly marked bag is gonna identify the bag with you to the thieves...

And if you are the target, why make it easier on them?

By the way one story I heard in this regard - the victim was double teamed, one person delaying him getting to the luggage area while the other got the bag and got outta there.

Mine are "marked" but you have to know what you are looking for. Very obvious to me.

My name and contact info are inside the bag, not out where people can see it and connect me with it - if they know me or what I look like.

They are the most common looking high quality bags I could find.

And yeah, use modern technology - that GPS "bug" is a great idea for valuables.

Brian

mrthe · Mar 16, 2014

In my latest trip to USA my baggage was lost in my back to home trip , with all my tools inside, lesson learned, next time that i carry valuable tools with me i will make a good insurance first, luckly after a week was found but was a terrible experience

Donny · Mar 16, 2014

How about a link for these?

Donny

sam said:
That is horrible. I would assume they have security camera video footage that could help. It's quite possible that it's an honest mistake and that they'll be returned.

Someone grabbing the wrong bag off the carousel is one of my greatest fears when traveling, so I had some bright orange luggage tags like these made and attach them to the handles. They are strong velcro plus I put a zip tie on them so it would take a pocketknife to remove them from my luggage.

I also have wide yellow straps with my last name embroidered which go horizontally around my suitcase.

Brian Marshall · Mar 16, 2014

Just don't carry the graver blanks with you - after all, you could kill somebody with one of those things!

However, it is OK to carry credit cards, pens, pencils, rolled up newspapers and magazines...

Each of which can be used to kill a person if you have the knowledge and skills.

Brian

dlilazteca · Mar 16, 2014

mrthe said:
In my latest trip to USA my baggage was lost in my back to home trip , with all my tools inside, lesson learned, next time that i carry valuable tools with me i will make a good insurance first, luckly after a week was found but was a terrible experience

That is the key, make sure you buy insurance

Carlos De La O III

Brian Marshall · Mar 16, 2014

Hope that kind of insurance is easier to deal with?

I can't even imagine the kind of documentation and "proof" you would have to come up with on a claim as large as Michael Donatos.

Luckily it is customary to have images and provenance for your inventory with this kind of work - but still...

So far, I have been lucky enough to never have had to make an airline baggage claim.

I have however, had to make claims with USPS, UPS and FedEx over the years...

Of those 3 - the US Postal "Service" was the worst experience. Totally denied twice and the one that paid off took a almost a year.

The other two companies took their time too. Only half as long...

Brian

monk · Mar 16, 2014

the bags with those long, plastic or metal zippers-- be aware- they can be opened or unzipped by simply inserting a sharp point somewhere along the zipper an item can be taken from said bag. the zipper is then closed by the thief- with the lock remaining intact. you wont know you've been ripped off until you get to your destination.

Sam · Mar 16, 2014

Brian: You make some good points about marking baggage. For me, I rarely have anything other than my travel tools in my suitcase so a heist of my bags wouldn't net and it's nothing I don't already more of at home. If I was going to/from a knife show with customer's knives or pieces for sale, then that's a different story.

For me, my biggest fear is someone accidentally grabbing my luggage thinking it was theirs, causing me a lot of headaches when going to teach or demo somewhere. I can't even fathom Michael Donato's experience. But you make a good point...maybe some obvious markings or tags without names would be better.

Engraved knives stolen at airport from Knifepurveyor Michael Donato

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