How Do you Secure Expensive Camera Gear in Your Car while Travelling?

[briferg]

I have been reading this thread with interest.

I have been shooting stills and motion for over 30 years and haven't been robbed once. The worst thing that has happened twice is baggage got sent somewhere else. I have been all over the world Asia, Europe and Polynesia. Most of the mess ups happen with FedEx a couple of times, and the baggage I mentioned. I have a van when I am traveling close, and I throw furniture blankets over the cases and my windows are blacked out. If I am in a hotel I never leave anything in the van or car that I don't want to replace in the vehicle. But if I am camping I am usually nearby.

I have been to Baja multiple times for races. I had a co-worker that got ripped off there, minutes after he left his camera backback in the back of an open pick-up truck while he walked away, in Ensenada. He did not go farther than 50 yards and it was less than 10 minutes. His whole camera bag with an HVX which was state-of-the-art then - was gone. Being observant is important as is being in a group. I think the best thing is not being a target, and if you are offering deterrents, better. The closer you are to a border in Mexico the worse the crime is. I relax a lot once I am at San Felipe or farther south, Baja feels safer as you go south until Cabo. While waiting in a Baja pit stop for our team to show up South of Ensenada. We watched a pit crew drive in, leave the truck unattended, and see it get picked clean of anything that wasn't tied down. My buddy and I were on a hill looking down on this valley which was a huge turn for the race to go North. If they had driven closer to the pit crew they would never had been robbed, because there were lights and people watching. Keep in a group in dangerous places! Those types of events are target for theft though. A bunch of rich guys racing. That is a very expensive sport and attracts attention.

I used to merchandise a new digital cinema camera at expos. Once at IBC Expo in Amsterdam I had all of this gear in our booth. At night I would put it all in Pelicans and lock the cases with combo padlocks and run Kryptonite cables through the handles and lock that. I have done that in my van also. I always think most thieves want to smash and grab. I try to do things to make it slow if they target me. If they want to work at so hard to attract attention so be it.

I have carried over $100k worth of gear most of the time I work. After a while I just follow procedures to hide it - and do what I can that makes common sense. It seems to work out. Don't flaunt your stuff, travel with others, and keep it close or make it hard to get. I agree with the crappy looking cases get ignored. But as much as Overlander's use Pelicans that is it's own disguise. There are so many Pelicans in use they aren't just cameras anymore!

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

The best advice I can offer is to have a good personal articles policy on your camera gear. Annually, It is costing me about $9.00 per $1000.00 of agreed value. Items are documented by serial number and purchase price. It doesn't matter how a loss occurs, it's covered.

 

[Vulture]

First off thanks for bringing a valid point up to all of those who carry camera items in their rigs. Most won't say it but this issue is always on there mind the moment they step away from the vehicle. That being said the only piece of information I can lend is this, if your car is crammed with stuff, like in your photo, you are most likely going to be fine for the short term if you hide the lens or camera down deep. Most thieves are only interested in the quick snatch as they don't want to be caught tossing your stuff on the ground looking for item small enough for their arms and won't risk getting nabbed for a action packer of dirty laundry.

Next item is storage that will not rattle your elements too bad. I use under my rear seat area. As a now part-time commercial photographer sometimes a pelican case screams "steal me" and they take up around 40% more area than your item (not a good thing when space is a premium). I found that if I fold down my rear seats and get some closed cell foam I can make a quick "lens taco" that will hide and wedge in place nicely. Now you are not going to be able to get at it in a hurry but it is out of sight and relatively protected. If access is what you require while still being secure you can try to get yourself a large piece of PVC line it with foam and secure it to the rear cargo area with some metal strapping, this will allow you pack around it while still being able to get to it quick. The cap for the PVC will need to be modified so that you will need a "special wrench" to take it off like a shock spring wrench. Unfortunately I do not have a picture of this set up but a friend did this and it worked out quite well. Hope this helps you come up with a new idea.

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[WideAngleWandering]

I keep all my gear in a Pelican case, padlocked to a chain, which is in turn padlocked to a tie-down attached to the floor. I keep all this in an old truck that doesn't look like it's worth breaking into. The head unit space in the dash is deliberately open with wires hanging out. To the smash & grab thief, there's nothing enticing about my rig and even if someone did get inside, they'd have a hard time smashing & grabbing my pelican case. I use that same box for important documents and other stuff I don't want to walk away.

This setup has survived tens of thousands of miles from alaska to central america, and scariest of all, California. Never been broken into and I know for a fact it takes about 10 seconds with a slim jim to get inside the vehicle without attracting attention.