Sign: Don't leave valuables in car

[Al Seyle]

You are on vacation. You have packed all four cameras and all twelve lenses. You are ready for anything Ma Nature can throw at you. You have flown thousands of miles and rented a car to get here. The time has arrived. You have arrived. You are at the turnoff to The Place. You drive down the gravel road. The scenery is gorgeous all around you. Ahead is the trailhead parking lot. You pull up and park--right under the sign which reads: "This is a high-theft area. Do NOT leave valuables in your vehicle". Your plan is to hike the four miles to The Falls at The Place with the 4x5 kit. There are no pack mules for rent, so the rest of the equipment stays in the car. There are other people in the parking lot. As you prepare for the hike, you worry that a thief could be watching --just waiting. He knows you'll be gone for hours. He knows there are no police for hundreds of miles. He knows cell phones don't work out here. And on, and on...

Well, you get my drift. Is anyone else as paranoid as I am about such situations? Anyone had equipment stolen in such a situation?

[Brian Vuillemenot]

If you're really concerned, only bring camera equipment that you can carry with you. You will also be more focused, and get better results that way. I find that I am the most productive with one camera and 2-3 lenses, and sometimes I just take a single lens. On multi day trips, I usually bring two cameras, so I do worry a bit about leaving one in the trunk. However, I've been to many of the places you describe above over the last few years without incident. I'm actually more worried about the equipment I've left behind getting stolen or destroyed in a fire!

[Terence McDonagh]

I was doing a day hike out at Olympic N.P. in May. At the trail head we met a ranger who was truly upset that a car had been broken into the night before at the trail head (I have never met a N.P. ranger I didn't like). While hiking in we met a couple coming back in from a week in the back country. When we got back to the trailhead they were still cleaning up and discovered it was their car that had been broken into. Amazingly, they took everything but the couple's LF cameras and equipment. Must not have had any idea what it was. the fellow mentioned it was almost $20k worth of gear (I was envious as I'd be lucky if all my photo gear was worth a 1/10 that). They were annoyed to lose a window, but he was more angry at himself for leaving the gear in the car. I thought I had lucked out but got a flat on the 17 mile dirt road out from the trailhead.

I tend to photograph in sketchy industrial neighborhoods so I usually use only equipment I wouldn't kill myself over if I lost.

[Lefty]

Before "forgetting" to lock the car door you casually place the wallet with the exposed corner of a five-spot, and nothing else on the dashboard. The Nikon 35mm that looks great but isn't worth repairing is perched on the passenger seat. All other worthless good-lookings are resting on the back seat as you leave the trailhead shortly after entering it. The next shot you take is from your carefully chosen location in the bushes. Only you can decide if it is the local newspaper that gets the shot or it's the local police.

Although I rank thieves just below syphilis, I still recommend using the 4x5 over the more effective yet noisier "45".

[Jeff Conrad]

Another approach: have everything that you intend to carry in the passenger area long before you reach the trailhead, leaving nothing in sight that even suggests that you have a camera. Hopefully, those at the trailhead will assume that you're carrying everything that you have. I've been led to believe that random trunk break-ins, while not unheard of, are comparatively rare.

Obviously, this approach is much easier if the car has a trunk.

[Andre Noble]

Read the threads. There's many, many stories of camera gear theft, from locked car trunks, apartments, etc, etc.

Gotta protect your gear at all times. thieves can spot rental cars in an instant. They can actually smell your camera gear. When travelling, keep one bag of camera gear only. It stays with you at all times. Have insurance.

[Jean-Louis Llech]

I NEVER leave my photo gear in the car, even if it is hidden at the rear : as you say, a thief could be watching and waiting.
As I use to carry my photo gear in a Super-Trekker on a baby-stroller, I can carry everything I need.
A friend of mine had his spotmeter stolen in his bag, when he was focusing his camera under the darkcloth, near a church in the center of a french city. His bag was laid on the ground at about 50cm of the tripod !
I don't consider I am paranoid, I am just careful and wary.

[Bob Salomon]

I'll give you a better example.

We drove to Strasbourg, France and my wife wanted to call the kids in the states. We went to the Town Hall and parked in the gated parking lot below the Town Hall. We made a 20 minute phone call to the states. We went directly back to the car and found that the doors wee open, my wife's clothes were strewn under the car. My suitcase and camera case were missing. The camera case had two Rollei 6006 cameras with 40, 50, 80, 150 and 250mm lenses and accessories, two Rollei 3003 cameras with 16, 18, 25, 35, 50, 85 and 200mm lenses, and the original - non-functioning Linhof 612 PC with 65 and 135mm lenses. And about 60 rolls of exposed film and a couple of dozen unexposed rolls.

Also missing were the return plane tickets and my passport.

Nothing was ever recoverd.

[Chuck_1686]

Lot's of us do tend to go to remote places during off hours. I was lucky as I had my car window broken in a fairly remote parking lot but nothing missing. Maybe my alarm helped. Since then I've put any equipment left behind in a large locked box. Really an ice chest. It's then chained to the car. Won't even slow down a real thief but may help with the casual one. A friend has a box bolted in his SUV. Also if traveling make sure you have a list of your equipment and serial numbers with you in case something happens. I usually have everything ready to go ahead of time so don't show how much equipment I may have to someone watching me packup. I do find that 20 feet down the trail I seem to stop worrying about theft and go with the flow.

[Michael Kadillak]

If the authorities cannot make the connection between tourism and the negative effect that theft can make on the local economy by setting up a sting operation or installing concealed cameras with which to monitor the parking lot, I would simply not shoot there unless I was in a rental car with 100% no questions asked insurance and I could carry every piece of my photo gear with me on the trip.

Lastly, we have recommended full replacement value insurance previously and there is simply no alternative as you just never know when someone is watching and waiting for a chance to rip you off. Bottom line, there can be bad people anywhere there are people.