Foo - Curb Surfing, Dumpster Diving, Garbage day gathering, what have you scored???????????

Me first, many many bikes that I either keep or fix and pass on. A Proton Hi-Power stereo amp , a Sony stereo amp, a Grundig Reel-to Reel. 3 window air conditioners, 2 dehumidifiers 1 zerox copier and a fax machine. What have you found on your rides????

Peace, tranquility and, am, the dignity not to rifle through other people's garbage.

Peace, tranquility and, am, the dignity not to rifle through other people's garbage.

dignity, or snobbishness?

There's good stuff in there.

2 bike frames (one that I use daily), a TV, a disco ball...

Peace, tranquility and, am, the dignity not to rifle through other people's garbage.

Either your not riding in the right neiborhood or you live in the neiborhood I ride in. Dignity Shmignity I got a 72 Stratocaster too but didn`t want to brag.

snobbishness?


Maybe... but I'll take that in regards to this topic.

Dive away... my snobishness means there's more for you.

In a few instances I've seen items of minor interest to me. But I wasn't in the mood to try to carry them back x miles on the bike.

4 $20 bills blowing across the road on south front street
3 cell phones, found on separate occasions near curbs---people exit car and they fall out of pocket
1/4 gram of blow

in the city people drop stuff all the time

BTW this is a sposed to be a fun post. Don`t take me too serious. But......Curb surfing is a "Green Thing" its recycling at its best cause it requires no energy to turn refuse into a usable product. The 2 Stereo amps I found went on ebay and made a BIG down payment for my latest road bike. I made more $ per hour curb surfing than I ever made as an engineer(aerospace).

GG

I got a 72 Stratocaster too but didn`t want to brag.
:beer: That is one hell of a nice find!!! What condition was it in?

My absolute best find ever, after thinking myself a pro for years, was an Englhardt upright bass. A high school band director at a school I worked at threw it away because it was "in the way". When I was throwing my household's garbage in the dumpster after school there it was.

Asked about it the next day and was met with "take it home" to which I replied "already had".

I had to get a missing bridge but the soundposts were intact and the body has no cracks.

I thunk around on it a bit every now and then.

JG

Fiberglass insulation that had just fallen from a truck (which I had to bunnyhop like hell, on my steel beater no less :mad:), keys, ballcaps, clothing, deer carcass, empties, and a bunch of threaded bolts, none of which I cared to pick up.

A staple and a rusty nail, both of which I picked up on two separate occasions. In my rear tire. :mad:

Some of you must be riding in a different kind of location than I do. If I'm riding in the areas I like to ride, the most common thing I see within reach is roadkill.

:beer: That is one hell of a nice find!!! What condition was it in?
Rusty strings, the ag&e string were broken and the whammy bar was missing... some minor belt buckle rash(patina) and it plays beautifully. The case took the brunt of it. Did I mention it was in the case??? OK now I`m bragging:) :) :)

deer carcass

:mad:
Vega, If you bunny hop a deer carcass and then vigorously pull up on the bars the moment the back tire is traversing its mass you can catch major air, but we should probably talk about that in a different thread. We`ve perfected that in PA.

GG

Some of you must be riding in a different kind of location than I do. If I'm riding in the areas I like to ride, the most common thing I see within reach is roadkill.
Seriously though, where I find the big trash day treasure is in rich old money neiborhoods. I can`t haul the stuff on my bike so sometimes I`ll knock on the door and ask if I can set it aside and come back later If its a big ticket Item. Sometimes I get invited in to see if I want some more stuff that they couldn`t put on the curb like a new in the box hot tub. If you need a hardly used treadmill, stairclimber, rowing machine etc,,, you gotta surf the new money yuppie neiborhoods. Yard sales in wealthy neiborhoods suck cause they throw the good stuff out weekly. Yardsales in the working class neihborhoods are awesome cause they keep everything. I should write a book. When I`m in the countryside I ride fast and I am serious. There is a method to my madness.

GG

Lordy Jesus,where do I begin! I've been Dumpster Diving collage towns since the early 80's!! I'll just make a list of the more memorable finds...

Trek 950 Mtb
1964 Plymouth Fury (Parked next to dumpster with Title and Regie taped to windshield with this note..."If You can make this run you can have it") one Timing chain later I had a car!!
1/4 Lb Coloumbian smokeables
Laptops,towers,monitors,scanners ect...The one I'm typing on now is a Lawerance trash find!
more stereo equipment than I can remember.
Lots of top quality camping gear

And The Best...$3640 in an envelope in Bag of paper trash while doing the Student Moving Season in Cambridge Ma. Thanks to some not too attentive Harvard Student!!

Collage towns at the end of May are the best...If it does'nt fit in the car,it goes in the trash!!

Microwave stand
knockoff Wassily chair
Performance rollers
CDs

Furniture
Many computer monitors
SGI Iris Crimson
$1400 Avocent Autoview 2015
$1200 Avocent DSR 1024
many autoview boards
Dell Inspiron 600m [needed a screen]

I need to see what else I can get.

Awesome kindered spirits.... you know the ladies get some cool stuff too but are to proud to post. Come on girlies what have you scored? My lady got a funky lamp.

GG

I have found two leather dress coats. One, still in a dry cleaning bag, fit one foster daughter. The other had a couple of small paint spots on it and may be donated to Good Will some day. Endless supplies of narrow bike tubes.

A full ATM Machine with keys, combination, owners' manual and paperwork including original bill of sale. I actually crammed it into the back of my Focus (and yes, the hatch closed just fine). It was about 350 pounds and made my rear suspension squat almost two inches.

http://www.focushacks.com/photo/atm/atm2.jpg[/URL]

I poked around in it, explored a bit, took some pics and wrote [URL="http://www.focushacks.com/?block=2600-ATM"]This Article (http://www.focushacks.com/photo/atm/atm2.jpg) which was published in 2600 Magazine. I still have it. If someone wants it, I will let it go for $100. It powers up and I don't know much about what it would take to "activate" it on an ATM network.

Over the past 4 years, I've found about 30 of these LaGard ComboGard 2 digital combination locks for gun vaults, safes, ATM machines, etc. in a local dumpster.
http://www.focushacks.com/ebay/lgcg.jpg
The problem was I didn't know the combination to unlock (and therefore reset and/or reuse, sell, or refurbish) the locks. A little trickery and I found out how. I also got another article (http://www.focushacks.com/?block=2600-LGCG2) published in 2600 for this. I sold the vast majority of them for about $50-$70 each on eBay. Maybe I should go see if there are any more...

I also found a somewhat beaten up Handkey II Biometric hand scanner. This is a biometric device that reads your hand profile and outline as well as a heat map of your blood vessels to authenticate you before granting you access to unlock a door.

http://www.focushacks.com/ebay/handkey2.jpg
I spent about $40 refurbishing it and putting a new high-security lock on it, and sold it for $425. They're $1200 new, so both the buyer and I got a good deal.

I've found tons of other security related stuff inclduing night-vision (0.002 LUX Black and white / IR) surveillance cameras, CCTV Monitors, keyed locks, old dial combination locks, etc. I've found loads and loads of working cellphones that just needed a little TLC. Whole computers that aren't really that slow, books, manuals, a TON of tools and elecrical/electronic supplies including my favorite soldering iron.

I found our 31" TV on the curb. Dead on arrival when I got it home. The HOT was disconnected. 30 seconds to pull the back off and about 5 minutes fixed it. :lol:

http://www.focushacks.com/photo/shrink_0013.jpg

Basically, I've found tons of stuff in the trash, rescued it, refurbished it, and if I didn't need it, I got it to someone who did.

I found a 4 cell Mag-Lite, still have it and use it.

When I lived in NYC, we used to go to the Upper East Side on alternate Tuesdays at about 4 - a.m. to check thier trash before the Sanitation Dept came. Scored a brass music stand, a 1920's swivel office chair in need of 1 wheel, numerous large plants, a set of 4 designer chair frames, and a couple of couches.

After moving to WV, the pickings are slim - people sell stuff instead of tossing it!

My neighbor had this Jeunet mixte frame out for trash pickup. I rescued it and built it up for a friend, using mostly bin parts.

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i278/psychlist43/jeunet_02.jpg
Crappy photo I know...it's from a cell phone camera.

I haven't been dumpster diving in a good 25 years, but during my high school & college years I accumulated a surprisinly large arsenal of tube power amps, all found in other people's trash.

These days I'm on the opposite side of the dumpster: Whenever my wife and I replace some furniture or computer equipment we briefly entertain the notion of trying to sell the older stuff on eBay or Craig's List. And (irrespective of what a complete nuisance selling crap online is) then I remember all the joy I got finding stuff in the trash, so I think "Let's give something back to the community; let's feed the cycle of karma" and we leave our crap on the curb.

And sure enough, it's always gone within 30 minutes.

And sure enough, it's always gone within 30 minutes.

Yup. Put a 'Free' sign on the article, and leave out front. My husband is always amazed about that. And you never see who took it, it just disappears.

East Hill

i once gave awy 35 or so clementine crates that were in my basement. i was amazed that someone wanted them..

www.freecycle.org is a great source to get/give away free junk

nothing :(

i went out once last fall, but i got police attention for looking suspicious :eek: that scared me away from it for a while, and then it got way too cold and wet, but now that winter's receding, i'm hopefully going to find some nice junk :D

I've never found anything remotely useful. My dad rumages around for stuff. Most of what he finds become projects and sit in the garage, on the work bench, in the back yard, or get thrown back out. Finally he started realizing what he was picking up was a lot of aluminum. So he piled it into his truck and went to the recycling plant. He came back $500 richer.

I haven't been dumpster diving in a good 25 years, but during my high school & college years I accumulated a surprisinly large arsenal of tube power amps, all found in other people's trash.
You could probably make a small fortune selling these to Japanese collectors if you've still got 'em and they are name brand, eg. Marantz, MacIntosh, etc. The tubes themselves, especially the big old power tubes, are worth good money just by themselves.

4 $20 bills blowing across the road on south front street
3 cell phones, found on separate occasions near curbs---people exit car and they fall out of pocket
1/4 gram of blow

in the city people drop stuff all the time


Did ya try it out? Not the cell phones either.

Beside finding myself on a ride I REALLY came across a 10 dollar bill, I wasnt going to stop( that was last summer) but 20 feet later there was a 5 dollar bill, so I got off my bike and said what the heck... I picked upthe 5 and walk to the 10 and expected a string attached to it, but on my way back to my bike I looked carefully and there was a 20, I swear I looked up to see if money was dropping from the sky, I picked up all I found, by the end of my ride I had 48 bucks...
that was one awesome ride.:D

Beside finding myself on a ride I REALLY came across a 10 dollar bill, I wasnt going to stop( that was last summer) but 20 feet later there was a 5 dollar bill, so I got off my bike and said what the heck... I picked upthe 5 and walk to the 10 and expected a string attached to it, but on my way back to my bike I looked carefully and there was a 20, I swear I looked up to see if money was dropping from the sky, I picked up all I found, by the end of my ride I had 48 bucks...
that was one awesome ride.:D

$48 thats a great score. I have never found money on a ride, unfortunatley I have only lost cash on rides. I usually fold up a $10 or a $20 in my sock when I ride. A couple of times they were set free:( .

2 years ago I scored a Fridge for the garage and it had $5 worth of loose change in it...that was weird. Recently I downsized to a mini fridge so I set the old fridge by the curb it disappeared in the middle of the night.

Once at work( I work on airplanes) I found a $100 bill crumpled up underneath a seat :) . I gave it to my wife and said blow it on something fun. She makes a lot less than me and is very very frugal. I explained where the bill came from and that I wanted her to buy something fun and/or indulgent. She bought one of the small iPods and cares for it like its worth a million bucks. That was the best $100 I ever spent. Normally I would of kept it for myself but this time was different, I think I grew a lot from the experience.

GG

never found anything but i had somone steal a broken vacuum out of my trash once

:eek: Good on ya, HN! :beer:

;)

Over the years many many things
over 2 dozen mirrors ( i've made art out of some and given as gifts)
a stereo amp, a dvd player, outdoor speakers (not all at the same time), a total gym, a stained glass door, (got the car for that one)
a piano bench (which I needed), at least 4 bikes, (given to a community bike collective)
a lawn mower, a mag lite, wood sash windows (used for art)
scrap wood, (also used for art), antique whiskey decanters
I could go on and on,
in our neighborhood it is understood that stuff is put out for free, before the trash man comes.
I could also start a seperate list of found in the road items, but the top of that list would definitly be knit caps and music CD's.

I've thrown out some bike parts and stuff before only to find them in someone elses trash later on, if I can't use it you know its gotta be in bad shape.

I go scrounging all the time and come across almost anything you can name, I usually don't bother picking anything up however, though I've pulled some bicycles from the trash before, and a vcr (which I still use to this day). I plan to grab one or two old cheap road bikes my size this spring though to use as winter snow bikes next winter.

I've found four road bikes over the past 2.5 years - just happened to come across them. A Follis with a nice Brooks saddle, a Raleigh Grand Prix and two Nishikis. It's been a long dry spell, so I guess I must be due. :)

I've found a bunch of small stuff, but my best finds were a 12 string acoustic guitar and recently found a Specialized Hardrock MTB. It was a bit dusty, but otherwise in great shape.

The best things in life are free- b/c they come from the neighbor's trash
Things I remember as a kid my mom picking out of the trash- lots of bikes, lots of toys, furniture, The best thing was this big metal see-saw.

Master Surfer of Curbs has been blessed again by the Gods of trashday. Say hello to my new Fixie project.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v207/glenngertz/hemlocknfuji014.jpg

No sense in cleaning off the grime , It`ll only make the after shots nicer. It has a complete Shimano Grouppo. It even came with brand new Panaracers 700x30c and tubes. :beer:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v207/glenngertz/hemlocknfuji015.jpg

GlennG
aka Master Surfer of Curbs

I wish I could do these more often. I've only done it twice and gotten a broken desk on wheel (used the bottom board with the wheel for a moveable tray next to my bed/mat) and one of those tall lamp (a tall white one with cone under the light bulb to light up the ceiling, really good for my apartment).

Hopefully once my uncle finally finish fixing my car, he will give me his van soon (it a trade between me and him and he need to get the car working first so he won't miss any works) and then I'll have tons of space to go dumpster diving with. I just need some dumpster buddy to keep it fun and a bit safer (there are a bunch of homeless all around town and some of them aren't exactly right in the head).

I could really use one of these bike finds. Could be useful to have more than one good bike in case one of them break.

I tend to leave the dump and dumping areas alone, however I have scored two things from the side of the road. My pet moose (6 inch plastic, angry, little thing) and when I was bartending, the folks in the shop next to ours put a perfectly working, and nice microwave on our recycle pile, because it smelled of popcorn and coffee. The moose lives on my work stand, and the microwave (a spray of 401 later) served me faithfully throughout college and for ten years afterward.

I've given away a TV, a stereo, 2 bike frames, a Zip drive w/ 6 disks, a camp stove, a monitor, some funky old end tables, lamps, a leather chair + foot stool, and various other things all in good condition, All I want in return is a ****ing couch that doesn't smell like farts and bong water...

I guess I shouldn't complain since the only piece of furniture I paid money for was my bed. Everything else was given to me by friends and family. I've never found anything of even mild interest or usefulness by the curb.

This thread makes me sad. I'm a big proponent of reusing things until there's really no useful life left, but I never find really cool stuff. I guess I just don't know when, where, and how to look.


Here is the low down. Surf the older established neiborhoods on the first trashday of the week, because they have spent all weekend cleaning out the Garage/Attic/Basement . The new McMansion neiborhoods won`t have crap....their all in debt and they don`t even own furniture. The old established neiborhood dwellers have been living/accumlating/storing/etc for years and years. Every 10 years these folks clean house and get rid of good stuff cause their tired of tripping over it. GlennG SHOUTING " Its spring cleaning season right NOW" Pick your hunting ground, figure trash day schedules and surf curbs the night before and the morning after. Get out there and have FUN! Report back with Pictures!

GlennG
"Get your Surf On"

All I want in return is a ****ing couch that doesn't smell like farts and bong water...
I guess I shouldn't complain since the only piece of furniture I paid money for was my bed. Everything else was given to me by friends and family.
your mom spilt bong water on your couch? before or after she farted?

^ damn jsharr, you have the best comments....rock on.

Makes sense. I've noticed that this is the case for garage sales as well. There always seem to be lots of interesting sales in the older parts of town, and the tilt-up developments are a barren wasteland.
Yes..sorta....yardsales are a little different. Yardsales will be best in the older bluecollar neiborhoods cause they keep everything. Curbsurfing will be better in the old wealthy neiborhoods cause they keep everything but then pitch it it. Yard sales in the old wealthy neiborhoods will have a lot of competition...but nobody`s looking for old bikes at a yard sale so who knows? Edit: Blue collar neiborhoods will have Schwinn`s, old money neiborhoods will have higher end bicycles like Basso/Colnago/Tomasinni..etc. You might luck out. But one rule for sure is new yuppie neiborhoods are worthless.....unless your selling lawn care. But I`ll save that for my next book.

GG

An entertainment system - probably worth close to a grand with all the glass still intact. Was able to surprise my parents with it (we actually needed one desparetly and it fit the space perfectly!).

Webster barbeque with tank - it ran out of gas so they threw it out.

Bunch of original recordings on vinyl, mostly classical but cool nonetheless.

Some studio tapes from Maria Carey I think - I can't play them (they're super heavy) but the note was talking about this artist that whoever it went to should hear and how she had a great shot at being big. Kinda cool - don't even know what's on them but I'll assume and think happy thoughts.

Some cheap bikes sitting in my parents basement. One piece cranks so I don't think anything worth much.

VCR - still use it.

Some high wattage stereo receivers, I used them to power some sound systems in our old computer room and a subwoofer in my room.

Think that's it. [Makes mental note to run over to the UES soon...]

Over the years, I have found many useful items. Bookshelves, books, plant pots, clothing, kitchen items, the list goes on and on. It is traditional in Portland for there to be a "free stuff" pile in front of houses or on corners. My best score was this past fall. I live in a medium sized apartment complex with a shared dumpster. At the end of each month, I am always amazed at what people will leave behind when they move. My housemate prefers to wear men's Dockers-style pants and had gained a bit of weight, so when I saw a pile of 8 pair in excellent condition that would fit her perfectly, I grabbed them. As I was stuffing them in my washer, I noticed one of them had a very old leather coin purse in one of the pockets. The coin purse was a neat find in and of itself, but what was inside was even better. There were about 50 old coins, obviously someone's collection. One of them was an 1893 Columbia Exposition half dollar. My stepdad has been wanting one of those for about forever, and so I send it to him. :) My mom says he still gets it out and looks at it. I haven't had a chance to research the value of the other coins, although I really don't care about that sort of thing. They are a fine addition to the collection I inherited from my dad and my maternal great-grandmother. I'm happy they didn't end up in a landfill.