Ethical quandry... Help please!

[dbhost]

Dumb question.

In the late 90s / early 00s I was in a business partnershi with a friend doing tech / networking side gigs. Not long after 9/11 my business partner flat out disappeared, literally pulled up stakes over a weekend and disappeared. No common friends knew where he want to etc... I had to end up going to the county and file to dissolve the partnership, never doing that again BTW...

Anyway he had borrowed my briefcase, and had left it in my truck after the last job call we did together. I tossed it in the house and more or less forgot about it...

In the last 20 years I have periodically looked online to see if I can find him, no luck...

Well this last weekend in part of my master suite remodel I was going through the junk that was in the closet I am redoing, I found the briefcase, and after fiddling with it for a while came up with the combination to open it...

Come to find out his network tools were in there. Tip and ring, punchdown tool, crimper, etc...

Now I already have several sets of these tools, mine and a set for a helper for the occasions where I can dredge up a cabling job. I don't need these things, so I thought, hey, these are former business partners, let's try to find him again and see if I can get this stuff to him...

Unfortunrately I was FINALLY able to find him.

He sadly got taken out by COVID, and has no surviving family.

Fine. But what should I do with this stuff now?

The market for ethernet / telecon / video coax tools is a far cry from what it was in the early 00s.

I am thinking these would be well suited to go to maybe a tech student in a financial bind. But how can I arrange a donation?

I am thinking of contacting my local community college and getting a hold of the networking teachers...

Any suggestions for offloading this stuff and making sure it goes to good use?

[Carlos]

I have a closet of this stuff, zero value to anyone as far as I can find. As part of my fall cleaning to get the shops ready for good weather and woodworking, I will be putting them in the trash. I have two neighbors who do cable work and they say tools are basically free now, as people exit these jobs and leave them behind. I put some of them on CL as free and got no takers. I sent one of the buttsets to a customer who was trying to track down a fax line in order to get it disconnected finally (fax is finally really dying). The young techs had never touched analog phone lines, they were mystified.

[LCHIEN]

seems like old tech handtools to me.
After 20 years no one is missing them.
Little real value today for analog phone system tools.
I would make the best use of them, either personal, donation or recycle I could and not worry about ownership issues. Time+ value have all but expired here.
Possession and abandonment have made them yours.

[twistsol]

Donate it if you can, but as for resale value I think 0 would be generous.

My lineman days ended in 1989 when I started doing office telecom for AT&T and that ended in 1993 when I finished college (I was on the 10 year plan). I haven't used my punchdown tool since 2004 when I installed an old Merlin II system assembled from eBay scrap. I use my toner from time to time running electrical wire because I'm lazy about labeling the cables, but once they're connected in the panel that's out.

I just checked the Vo-Tech where I trained in telecom so I could work and afford college and they don't even offer any of the programs or courses I took.

[Carlos]

I last used my tools a couple years ago to install this at home, and yes it works perfectly. I'll always keep one set that can be used for networking stuff, but they rarely get touched.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r88JcZQE3B0

[dbhost]

Not that any of it is a slouch, but not totally top end either. Ideal tone and probe, Ideal crimper. some who knows since I don't reach Chinese Ethernet / Telco / Coax line tester, punch down tool with 110 and Krone blades it looks like. From a full kit missing fish tape / rods, wallboard plunge saw, screwdrivers etc... But a mostly complete setup. And yeah, unless you are staring down the barrel of a cable job, which with so many folks using WiFi and streaming anything need for cabling is next to nothing. Although never had a signal drop out of cat 6 cable... The SOHO buildouts we did back in the day are all but gone, everyone has gone to the cloud, or is staying put with their existing infrastructure... Last side gig I did was probably 5 years ago... And that was wiring a church office for new ethernet after a remodelling contractor had cut out all their cabling... Myself and 2 other guys got called in to knock this thing out in an afternoon.

[LCHIEN]

Statute of limitations has expired.

[cwsmith]

As you first offered, check with your local community college and see if there's any need there. Beyond that, I think your local Goodwill or Salvation Army store might take them in with the possibility that someone might just discover them.

Beyond that, it appears that there is no market for them and certainly, other than your personal feelings about the guy, there is no need to hang on out of some feelings about 'doing the right thing' out of loyalty.

CWS

[dbhost]

As you first offered, check with your local community college and see if there's any need there. Beyond that, I think your local Goodwill or Salvation Army store might take them in with the possibility that someone might just discover them.

Beyond that, it appears that there is no market for them and certainly, other than your personal feelings about the guy, there is no need to hang on out of some feelings about 'doing the right thing' out of loyalty.

CWS

In 100% disclosure here since it was not readily apparent. The guy that owned the tools and was my business partner effectively ghosted me and the business, and while we were just getting started, he walked away immediately after we submitted a large bid which we effectively won, and I had to cancel / rebid due to potential liability. He cost me WAY more than the tools are worth.

My issue with ownership of the tools is an issue of ethics and honestly something I don't want to talk much about here due to forum rules, but I am trying to keep inline with my faith. These tools are not mine per se, but I didn't steal them, and when I found them to be in my possession I attempted to make the former owner whole.

Admittedly I would like my share of the effectlively $10K we would have made from that buildout bid he walked from.

I am planning on calling the local community college either today or Monday to see if I can arrange donation.

Oddly enough, my BIL called me last night, I may have a small buildout for a tiny energy company needing to move offices and downsize... Nothing like having to move crusty 10 year old servers...