I have dozens of such stories. That is the advantage of a
long life of experiences combined with disorganization.
When I moved from Osaka to Nagoya (Toyota City) in 2004, I had to go up on the roof of the house I had just moved into a couple of months earlier. I had my favorite hammer with me. After finishing what I was doing, I got down off of the roof with my small tool pouch. A few days later I looked and looked for my hammer. I backed way up and looked up on the roof and could not see it. 6 months later I was finishing up my 9x12 shed I built, and was putting the shingles on the roof. I glanced over at the house, just 10 feet away and saw my hammer in the gutter of the house. I placed it there as I turned to get onto the ladder.
My favorite marking device is a LeeValley Sliding Square
here. I used that all the time. Living in Japan and coming back to the States once a year for a month, I often brought a few tools home (USA) with me to do some work here. One time, I began to look for my Veritas marking square, looked for months. Then the next time I was home (USA) It was here. I did not remember bringing that with me as I had a very good Starrett tri-square here. I probably spent 10 - 15 hours searching for that sliding square. BTW, now those sliding squares are $50. I got my first one when it was $10. I bought a second one when it was $20, and had one on both sides of the ocean.
Lastly, Because of losing the things I just had, I began to settle on two brands of tools for hand held tools: Primarily DeWalt and Ryobi. I was rebuilding my shop from the inside, I had to remove two layers of 3/4 plywood (not pressure treated) back in 2014 and 2015. The 2x 10 floor joists were pressure treated. (This was half of my shop as the other half had concrete floor). After removing the two layers of 3/4 ply that was rotting, the floor joists were just a couple of inches above the dirt. While working on the flooring and building up and re-enforcing the area under which I would put my two lathes with 2x10 at 8" spacing and concrete block support, I discovered that I could lay things on the ground between the joists and never see them. The one thing I could always see was the yellow Dewalt circular saw and my bright green Ryobi tools. Milwaukee red, Kobalt blue, black, dull green, gray, will hide in plain sight when searching for them. Yellow and florescent green will stand out and catch my attention, but the others blend in the surroundings. When I am in need for a new hand held tool, and I am torn between two tools, I will choose the one most visible in low light situations. When I need a tool, I need it then. I do not like having to stop and hunt for it when I just had it. Bright vivid colors make a huge difference, and even buy a slightly less featured tool that is easy to find makes it worth it!
See Kenney's post above mine: "
or just won't see it and get frustrated and go to plan B." This is why a lesser features tool is an advantage if it is BRIGHT in color. (Red is not bright when in shadows).
