Leaving Camera Gear in the Car

[Michael Erlewine]

I have been wrestling with how to protect my cameras and lenses on a car trip and not be just whistling in the dark. Trust me, I read and studied for a long while. Short of having a four-foot truck vault, I can’t see this workin.

I even purchased a VaultTek LifePod XR  series with pluck foam, and a with a steel security cable. It was expensive, had a fancy lock, and a too thin (IMO) steel cable. I got it all working and everything and then had the simple true thought. I could cut this cable in a minute with a decent size bolt cutter. I even tried to buy a second steel security cable to beef it up, but after trying 30-40 websites and finding it sold out everywhere, I spent hours on the phone with VaultTek trying get some questions answered. They dropped all my calls after waiting a long while every time.
I wrote to them by email and never got an answer, so I was done with that and returned  the VaultTek at once. So, here is where I have ended up.

Instead, I got a much simpler and less expensive Nanuck 920 hard case with interior dimensions of 15” x 10.5” x 6.2”. That will hold my Hasselblad X2D2 and a few lenses. I will put heavy-duty padlocks on both sides and through the steel eyelets of the padlocks run a ½” looped steel cable ties into my the body of my SUV. Will that do it?

That will work if I am in a public spot like a parking lot, on the street, and not in a large city. Probably. I also have the equipment insured. Yet, that will not work on a country road, back in the sticks, or wherever someone could have the time to work on it. I just won’t use the Nanuck for those country-road conditions, but just keep the camera and lens with me. That is too great a risk, IMO.

If any of you have something that works better, please let me know. I want to take extra lenses and leave my gear in the car if I can.

[marvpelkey]

Although I do not have a suggested container to secure your gear any better than your idea, I will say, from being a cop for 30 years and attending multiple theft and theft from auto complaints (and surveilling TFA suspects as they committed their crimes), no system is theft proof, barring driving around in an armoured tank. If they want it, they will get it.
The best you can do is make it as difficult as possible as the majority of TFA suspects concentrate on the low hanging fruit and if something looks too tough, they move on to easier pickings, of which there are many, although a few subjects are pretty good at getting past pretty tough security systems. In popular locations, they will often sit in the bushes and watch someone park and "hide" their gear.
I would never leave anything of true value in a vehicle, regardless of the security system, especially if I will be away from the vehicle for more than a very short while, regardless of how busy the area seems. If I do leave something in the vehicle, I always stop and hide it well prior to reaching the destination. If the security item you propose is visible from the exterior, that screams "steal me". I also, if I have no valuables, leave my doors unlocked. Nothing worse than coming back to a broken window, for nothing to steal.

[degrub]

second that.
Use a vehicle with a real trunk as a start. Maybe a rental even.
Good opportunity to use the one body, one lens ( or maybe 2 if you can carry in your pocket) approach.

[Jonathan Cross]

If you leave kit where it can be seen from outside the vehicle and it gets stolen, would you be insured?
Jonathan

[tcphoto1]

If I'm traveling to a location for a shoot, I will pack everything so it will fit in the trunk of my vehicle. If there's spillover, I will not stop anywhere and leave the vehicle. If I go out to shoot something like a quick portrait or personal project, I pack the bare minimum and carry the bag with me at all times. My most inconspicuous bag is a messenger bag with insert that will hold three items, usually a body and two lenses. I've read too many stories about people leaving gear visible in their car or open the trunk and leave a bag only to return to a crime scene. There's also the time in San Francisco where thieves followed someone in their car, jumped out and smashed the back window and took a camera bag. I try to think defensively, I have insurance but don't want to actually use it if I can help it. I certainly would not leave a Hasselblad in the trunk but that's just me.

[Rand47]

A lot of the time the risk of break-in depends on where you are.  In San Francisco and environs, for instance, you could have your gear in an armored personnel carrier and it would be stolen as soon as someone sees you walk away from the vehicle.   Elaborate security systems in the vehicle are usless.  So, think about where you are, and when going to high risk locations only take what you can carry with you as you leave the vehicle empty.

As far as the see-in risk of SUV’s, for less risky areas, my solution is very dark tinted windows in the back of the vehicle and a black lightweight blanket that covers all the gear in the back.  Even with my face pressed up against the windows I only see total darkness.   Unless someone watched me leave the vehicle with some gear, the odds of someone passing by and being a “thief of opportunity” because they saw something tempting is a practical zero.

The idea that a vehicle with a trunk will save you, is nonsense.   In a high risk area the thieves have trunk lock pullers and they’ll be inside your trunk in nothing flat.  And, they’re watching their territory because that’s their day-job.  The more elaborate the vault you bolt into your vehicle, the more damage will be done to it when they steal your stuff.

Situational awareness, and good insurance is about the best you can do, IMO.

Rand