Leaving gear in the car? (theft?)

Is there any reason you couldn't put the camera gear in a Pelican Case or a LowePro DryZone backpack
and take it with you. You never know, you could wind up someplace you might want to take a few
pictures. It's usually the out of the way places I find I want to stop and take some photos.

--Evan

Evan Idler wrote in post #15984915
Is there any reason you couldn't put the camera gear in a Pelican Case or a LowePro DryZone backpack
and take it with you. You never know, you could wind up someplace you might want to take a few
pictures. It's usually the out of the way places I find I want to stop and take some photos.

--Evan

If I took it with me it would probably break lol. Below is a video of what we will be doing.
http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=mk5rtyB84fk

Some really good advice here. First off, ALWAYS keep your vehicle locked even if you're only going to be gone for a minute. When I don't want to lug my camera backpack around I have it wrapped up with a steel cable and padlock in back of the driver's seat of my little Chevy S-10 pickup. The cable runs through an eyebolt attached to the seat. I know it won't stop someone determined to get my stuff but I think it will deter most opportunist type thieves.

Woolburr wrote in post #15984157
Most thieves wouldn't give a cooler a second look. Who wants to steal someone's day old potato salad?

I'm not too sure about that, they will take everything in my experience, or just one shiny thing they find. Kind of depends on the thief.

I've had my car robbed twice. The first time I left my iPod in the holder in the front seat and thats all they took. Second time, they took EVERYTHING that wasn't bolted down except for my car registration and insurance info. They took empty cigarette packs with them. I had probably 20 empty packs shoved into the center console, and they were GONE. Not on the ground, not blown down the street, but gone.

Now that I have a sedan with a locking trunk, I am getting tempted to just take my camera with me everywhere and have it ready to go.

What type of vehicle are you taking?

For me, if I think I'm going to be leaving my SUV unattended for any duration, I'll take the pricey stuff with me - there's just not enough hidey-holes in the thing to hide bigger gear.

I'm much more secure leaving my sedan unattended with gear in the trunk.


Now, my old VDub bug (1972 model) was about as secure as a garden shed - I was able to break in through the vent window in less than 15 seconds with a coat hanger, without doing any damage to the vehicle. Had that broken into a few times...even the stereo wasn't worth stealing from it, so I never had much loss - loose change, mainly.

I know this advice has already been offered up, but here's what I do:

1) all of my gear is specifically insured with a Personal Valuable Property policy
2) if I need to leave stuff in a vehicle, it is always out of sight or on the floor and covered with a blanket that blends in with the interior of the car
3) I'm always smart about where I park. i.e. in a highly visible place and never backed up into a distant corner, etc.

And then I go on about enjoying my day. It's about as 'protective' as you can be.

Bryan

mark48 wrote in post #15985823
Some really good advice here. First off, ALWAYS keep your vehicle locked even if you're only going to be gone for a minute. When I don't want to lug my camera backpack around I have it wrapped up with a steel cable and padlock in back of the driver's seat of my little Chevy S-10 pickup. The cable runs through an eyebolt attached to the seat. I know it won't stop someone determined to get my stuff but I think it will deter most opportunist type thieves.

So if the thief wants it he either trashes the cab or the bag? If they want it they will get it and they don't care how much damage they need to cause to do it.

Lock the vehicle, take anything you can't bear to lose with you and make sure the rest is insured.

Our Toyota Avalons have a trunk release on the dash.... so I guess the trunk is no more secure than the car interior. I need an older, cruddy lookin' cooler, but then, would the thief be looking for beer?

I don't have insurance because my kit wasn't worth all that much. But as time goes on, the value has been increasing.

Most thieves are looking for easy targets during the daylight hours. They want something they can grab and go as quickly as possible. Most of them are not going to spend time popping trunks and rummaging around through the contents looking for something of value. They want to snag an item and be gone.