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Bill DeShivs
April 19, 2020, 04:33 PM
What's a good, simple to use spreadsheet for inventory of guns and other collectibles?
Auto5
April 19, 2020, 08:16 PM
I'm using Excel, just because it's what I have. I have fields for make, model, SN, date of purchase, purchase price, date of sale, and price (if applicable).I'm in the process of entering everything I've bought and sold in the last 45 years.
Bill DeShivs
April 19, 2020, 08:45 PM
I think I found one. It's Excel based, but it works with Open Office.
Thanks.
Aguila Blanca
April 19, 2020, 09:47 PM
I think I found one. It's Excel based, but it works with Open Office.
Thanks.
Please don't keep it a secret. I'm sure you're not the only person who might be looking for a simple inventory. I was -- I finally gave up and made a database in Access, but it's not perfect. I'll still look at alternatives.
dahermit
April 19, 2020, 09:58 PM
LibreOffice. It has word processing, database, spreadsheet...and it is free.
I still use Microsoft Works, but Microsoft does not support Works anymore.
Bill DeShivs
April 19, 2020, 10:41 PM
http://gundetails.com/free-gun-inventory-spreadsheet/#.Xp0ZtCN_O70
Aguila Blanca
April 20, 2020, 12:35 AM
Thanks, Bill.
Pretty basic, an attribute of which I approve. That said, I think it omits a couple of potentially useful fields. I like mine better.
BTW, as I commented in another thread a short time ago, Open Office seems to be pretty much dead, and hasn't been updated (AFAIK) for quite a long time. Libre Office is a "fork" (offshoot) of Open Office. Libre Office is being actively maintained and updated. I would encourage you to consider switching to Libre Office. All your files will still open transparently, and all the modules (word processor, spreadsheet, presentations, and database) will look and feel the same.
OneFreeTexan
April 20, 2020, 05:48 PM
MyArmsCache.... is a good inventory app for IPad, Don’t know about other forms.
langenc
April 20, 2020, 06:07 PM
All of us need it but I suspect very few have a very complete system.
A good friend was asked by a widow to help her decide what to sell deceased husbands guns for.
She gave him a great deal on a gun of his choice.
I took pictures of guns/equip few yrs ago. I never really did finish the project. I was supposed to list on back of photo-source, date of purchase, price paid, etc ,etc.
When you do that make 2 copies of photo and give one completed set to son, grandson, trusted fellow shooter etc.
44 AMP
April 21, 2020, 03:47 AM
Consider this, is it REALLY a good idea to put a list of your guns on a computer that might possibly be hacked? or in a database accessibly by "the net"?
I freely admit to not understanding the tech issues, but am I wrong in thinking that whatever your data is, if its connected to anything then someone else could, possibly, get it?
shouldn't some information stay "off the grid"??
I use a notebook, the paper kind. If someone wants to know what's in it, they have to physically find it, then read it.
Maybe not so simple and easy for my heirs, but if that's the case, I won't be around to hear them complain....
Hal
April 21, 2020, 05:57 AM
Consider this, is it REALLY a good idea to put a list of your guns on a computer that might possibly be hacked? or in a database accessibly by "the net"?
A simple freeware program like 7-Zip can use AES-256 encryption to secure a spreadsheet - or any document really - or even a monolithic database.
That about as secure as it gets.
Or you can use a virtual safe deposit box to store digital data.
If you are using something like a notebook - then you can always look into storing it in a safe deposit box. Once you hit a certain age ( along with that age - a certain financial level), many banks offer a free safe deposit box - for a certain level of checking/investing.
Even though I despise Norton - they do offer a VPN as part of their security packages - like Lifelock, that can secure the actual digital transmission.
RaySendero
April 21, 2020, 06:22 AM
Auto5 wrote:
I'm using Excel, just because it's what I have. I have fields for make, model, SN, date of purchase, purchase price, date of sale, and price (if applicable).
I keep an excel file for firearms ID,s too.
I add a pics showing and descripting anything distinctive about
the firearm, case, scope, sling or clip.
In case its stolen, police can use pic and description to immediately identify it,.
Don't keep file on computer - Keep it on a separate USB drive.
Aguila Blanca
April 21, 2020, 09:05 AM
Microsoft Office allows you to protect any file with a password in both Word and Excel. The two top Office clones, Libre Office and SoftMaker FreeOffice, also allow this. In addition, if you have either the Professional or Enterprise edition of Windows 10, you can also encrypt entire folders and drives directly through Windows.
Files stored on USB thumb drives can also be password protected (and probably should be).
Depending on how often you want or need to refer to the data, a firearms inventory record can be stored on a thumb drive (encrypted or not), and the thumb drive can be stored in a safe deposit box at your bank. That's not convenient for reloading data, of course, but it's also not as likely that your reloading data need to be that secure. You can still keep it on the local computer, thumb drive in the desk drawer, or on "the cloud" as a password-protected file.
stinkeypete
April 21, 2020, 12:26 PM
Open Office for me.
zukiphile
April 21, 2020, 12:40 PM
Consider this, is it REALLY a good idea to put a list of your guns on a computer that might possibly be hacked? or in a database accessibly by "the net"?
I freely admit to not understanding the tech issues, but am I wrong in thinking that whatever your data is, if its connected to anything then someone else could, possibly, get it?
shouldn't some information stay "off the grid"??
The competing risk is that one neglects a handwritten list and allows it to become outdated. I'm pretty sure I've done this.
Even a simple alphabetical list with serial numbers, condition, and a value could be kept on a simple Word or Wordperfect document.
Kreyzhorse
April 21, 2020, 05:40 PM
I just use excel. Simple, what I need.
Aguila Blanca
April 21, 2020, 10:39 PM
Open Office for me.\Libre Office is a fork of Open Office. If Libre Office allows you to password protect files, I'm sure Open Office does, as well.
FTG-05
April 23, 2020, 09:32 PM
I started mine on Excel over a couple decades, since moved to LibreOffice Calc. PM me your e-mail address and I'll send you a sanitized version of mine.
Aguila Blanca
April 23, 2020, 11:31 PM
I believe he's up and running with the one he downloaded off the Internet. See posts #3 and 6.
I downloaded that one to take a look at it. IMHO it's a disaster on wheels, and I can't believe all the laudatory comments the author received. I hope Bill DeShivs got it cleaned up a bit.
FWIW, this thread sent me down the rabbit hole of searching the Internet for both firearms inventory spreadsheet templates, and firearms inventory databases. There are many of the former, and you'd think something like that would be pretty easy to get right. Well, if you thought that (as I did), you'd be wrong (as I was).
And that's just the spreadsheets. The database dedicated firearms programs are even worse. I've downloaded four of them to kick the digital tires a bit. Don't like any of those that are currently available. The best one I've seen so far is one that was a module in the old Lee Shooter program, from Lee Precision (the reloading press makers). Sadly, Lee no longer offers the program. Something about compatibility with Windows 10 -- which doesn't make sense to me, because I have it on my computer and it runs under Windows 10.
cc-hangfire
April 24, 2020, 08:06 AM
Like many above posts, Microsoft Excel. Being in administration in a technical field, I live by spreadsheets anyway.
What I need to do is periodically print out an updated list and put it in the gun storage area. That way my wife or son will find it if I get hit by a truck, or crushed by a falling piano, or attacked by an invisible Chinese virus, or something.
Skans
April 24, 2020, 12:52 PM
I keep my gun inventory in Word. It's simply easier and allows me to add comments on why I purchased certain guns easier than Excel.
Bill DeShivs
April 24, 2020, 03:12 PM
I have an inventory.
Just thought using a spreadsheet might be fun- "How many .22s do I have? How many guns are engraved?" That sort of thing.
I'm beginning to think that the spreadsheets are way too complicated to use unless you really NEED to be able to categorize-which I don't.
I do thank Aguila Blanca for spending so much time assisting/educating me on the subject.
OneFreeTexan
April 24, 2020, 08:07 PM
MyArmsCache allows her to put in pictures, prices, what I paid, when I bought it, what it’s worth now, location of where I keep it,,,,caliber, finishe, capacity, and much more,
and it has the ability to give me a total of the value of my guns, how many I won, what I paid, etc. (ooops, can’t show that to the wife).
It is a very good program... and I looked at seven others and tried them before deciding.
Aguila Blanca
April 24, 2020, 09:17 PM
MyArmsCache allows her to put in pictures, prices, what I paid, when I bought it, what it’s worth now, ...
FWIW, it appears that MyArmsCache is an app that's only available for the iPhone. Their web site doesn't make any mention of a version for Android, or of an actual program for a real computer.
dshack
April 25, 2020, 10:15 AM
I keep my gun inventory in Word format and have hard copies printed and stored with my other important documents...with instructions to my sons not to let their mother sell my guns for what I told her I paid for them!
OneFreeTexan
April 25, 2020, 12:35 PM
Perhaps myArmsCache is only for iPad’s and iPhones. Works great on my ipad,,,which I use daily,,,,I find an ipad much better, more versatile than a ‘real’ computer and I own both.
Aguila Blanca
April 25, 2020, 03:00 PM
Just thought using a spreadsheet might be fun- "How many .22s do I have? How many guns are engraved?" That sort of thing.
I'm beginning to think that the spreadsheets are way too complicated to use unless you really NEED to be able to categorize-which I don't.
If you want to get into that, a spreadsheet can do a lot -- but it takes work to set it up.
The simple, brute force way is to put, for example, caliber (i.e. chambering) in its own column. If you sort on that column, the spreadsheet will group all the .22s together, all the .380s together, all the .308s together ... and then you can easily count how many in each cluster.
But you can also use the formulas the create expressions to do all that for you. Once you have it set up, the formula is there forever, so it's easy to use at any time in the future. But, it takes a bit of work to set up the formulas. For those whose lives revolve around spreadsheets it's probably easy. For the rest of us, it requires a lot of homework to do something like that.
As an example: Aside from inventory apps and templates, I've also looked at/for reloading apps and templates. There was one I found on some forum -- might even have been here, I don't remember. The author entered a very long string of addition functions and then some other stuff to calculate standard deviation. What he did was to basically use the spreadsheet to do what he would have to do on paper. That works, of course, but ...
One of the comments was "Your formula is correct, but wouldn't it have been easier to just use the STDEV function?" And it would ... but you have to know that function is there. Back in the days of MS-DOS I used Quattro Pro as my spreadsheet. In those days, software came with printed manuals. The manual for Quattro Pro was probably an inch and a half thick, and it was 90 percent just listing the various functions and explaining how they work. Today you have to buy a copy of "Excel for Dummies" to get anything close to that.
Bill DeShivs
April 25, 2020, 04:36 PM
Do they print "Excel for Lazy Imbeciles?"
Hal
April 26, 2020, 09:30 AM
Do they print "Excel for Lazy Imbeciles?"The "Dummy" books are ok -& - there are all kinds of online sources to learn Excel - both paid and free.
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