Travelling With Gear: In the Car and in the Hotel Room

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padrepaul

padrepaul

Well-known member
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Hi all,

I've traveled with gear a lot over the years, and of course you have to leave it in the car, hotel room every so often.

Just wondering your comfort level, namely with theft or heat/cold.

I'm stuck going to a conference for a few days, but we have an afternoon free and naturally I'll be skipping the dinner that day to do some bird photography. I'd be visiting a restaurant with a friend in the area, so would have my camera in the car (I'll be bringing the Z8 attached to the 800). I'm not comfortable bringing all of my photo equipment, so was just going to bring that, and it would also be in the hotel room during the daytime when I'm at presentations. The hotel is in a fine area, and I can't see someone breaking in to the room but you never know.

The other issue is heat; cars heat up quick (don't get me started on people who bring pets with them when they "just run into" the store!). I would be in a restaurant for about an hour, but there is a heat wave next week; will be about 90 and toasty. The camera and lens would be in a large insulated bag (it even has a little sun on it implying it's designed for heat/cold). Would the gear be fine in high temperatures for an hour or so?

Thanks for the feedback,
Paul
 
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Go to Pacsafe and see their systems for antitheft. They have bags that can be secured to something in the room and thus cannot be stolen - the bags have a stainless steel mesh inside them to prevent cutting the bag open and stealing the contents.
pacsafe.com

Anti-Theft

pacsafe.com pacsafe.com
Or you can use your own backpack/bag and use the exomesh over the outside and then secure that to something immoveable in the room. They have a 55lt, 85lt and 120lt version. I have the 55lt for my Mindshift Backlight 26lt backpack but I need to get the 85lt version for my Mindshift Backlight 36lt backpack:
pacsafe.com

85L anti-theft backpack & bag protector

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padrepaul said:
Hi all,

I've traveled with gear a lot over the years, and of course you have to leave it in the car, hotel room every so often.

Just wondering your comfort level, namely with theft or heat/cold.

I'm stuck going to a conference for a few days, but we have an afternoon free and naturally I'll be skipping the dinner that day to do some bird photography. I'd be visiting a restaurant with a friend in the area, so would have my camera in the car (I'll be bringing the Z8 attached to the 800). I'm not comfortable bringing all of my photo equipment, so was just going to bring that, and it would also be in the hotel room during the daytime when I'm at presentations. The hotel is in a fine area, and I can't see someone breaking in to the room but you never know.

The other issue is heat; cars heat up quick (don't get me started on people who bring pets with them when they "just run into" the store!). I would be in a restaurant for about an hour, but there is a heat wave next week; will be about 90 and toasty. The camera and lens would be in a large insulated bag (it even has a little sun on it implying it's designed for heat/cold). Would the gear be fine in high temperatures for an hour or so?

Thanks for the feedback,
Paul
Click to expand...
In reference to heat, place it on the floor of the car as close to the underside of the seat as possible. I would place it under the drivers seat. Less visibility there. Heat rises so it will take some time for that part of the car to heat up. Make sure the vent is open. As far as cracking the window ever so slightly is up to you. I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing that but it would help a lot.
 
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If someone doesn't know it's there they won't steal it. I've always thought that the best security is to make expensive stuff look like junk or trash -- in your case that would be hard with an 800mm lens. In any case, I'd seperate the two, put the camera body in a small trash bag with candy wrappers and used tissues on top and leave it on the floor in the back of the car. Maybe put the lens in the sleeve of a jacket with the rest of the jacket crumpled on top. I've often left cameras in closed cars with temperatures over 90 without ill effects, but in retrospect that was probably dumb. You could always buy a cheap styrofoam cooler and put the camera and lens in that, but a thief might look inside for a beer and get a treasure. Get insurance on your gear.
 
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As far as heat I live in Texas and it gets a bit warm here! Dating back to my film days (70's - 80's) to present I've never had an issue with heat and SLR/DSLR or my broadcast video cameras. They pretty much live on the car. I would however be hard pressed to leave a Z8/800 in the room and not in something. I would invest in a Pelican or similar with a good cable lock. At least make them work for it. By the way thieves hunt in the good parts of town!
 
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I have often brought my camera backpack into a restaurant rather than leaving it in a car, both because of heat and because of the risk of theft. May depend a bit on the restaurant.

I have not had a problem in a hotel room, but it does happen. I was on a trip to Katmai to photograph brown bears a few years ago. Our group met a day early in Anchorage before flying out to Iliamna. One of the group members had one of his two camera backpacks stolen from his room while he stepped out for lunch. Luckily, they took only one and it was not the one that had the 200-400 mm Canon telephoto that he planned to use as his main long lens. And when we got back to Anchorage from Katmai, the police had a suspect and had recovered his gear.

I tend to leave the do-not-disturb sign on my door, to limit staff coming into the room. Of course, these days, there is often no daily room service.
 
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One other thought. If you are taking the Z 800 mm PF, I believe it has a Kensington lock slot that you could use in your hotel room. I have not tried a Kensington lock on mine yet.

The Z9 also has a Kensington lock slot, but I believe the Z8 does not.
 
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I have never worried about leaving camera gear in trunk of car or in hotel room. I have been photographing three decades and have never had an issue (both USA and Western Europe). For my personal vehicle I use The Club steering wheel lock which I hope is a deterrent for thieves breaking in to steal the car.

Of course it's never a problem until it is. Just because it hasn't happened to me (yet), doesn't mean it won't ever happen. I guess I just take my chances. I also pack my expensive carbon fiber tripod in my checked luggage when I fly and have never had it (or anything else) stolen from my checked bag. I do not place a lock on my checked luggage (which to me seems to indicate to the ground crew that you have something valuable inside).
 
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I try to rent a sedan as gear in the trunk is out of sight. In hotels I use a large Pelican hard case and a chain to lock it to the bed frame making it difficult for someone to do a grab and run and I leave the Do Not Disturb sign on the outside doorknob.

I could not find a large enough strong box for my SUV so I sold it and bought a pickup truck last year. I use a 6 ft x 4 ft x 15 inch strong box with two drawers to keep photo gear safe overnight or at a trailhead where an observer knows I will be away for hours. The metal box has locking drawers and my tailgate locks as does the fiberglass shell and the windows of the shell are covered with black fabric so no one can see inside.

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It is different with the Z9 and 800mm PF and other S lenses in that if they were stolen I would wait months to get them replaced with the current shortage of inventory. Same would apply to the 600mm TC or the 400mm TC lenses. So I am even more cautious with leaving equipment behind.
 
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hrv said:
I bought a Pelican case for that purpose. Not something they pry open in a few minutes and I can attach it to the car or anything in the hotel room with a steel cable.
It makes it inconvenient for the quick thief, taking more time than they might be comfortable with.
Click to expand...
Me too.
 
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I live in an urban area and the general best practice is to leave nothing in your car, and leave absolutely nothing showing in the vehicle interior at all, including empty bags. Car prowls are quite common, especially in the downtown area. These days I try to park in garages if possible when I head downtown. Your conference may be in a different environment, but many tourist places (rural as well as urban) also have signs up mentioning that parking lots are high prowl areas. I guess it just depend on your tolerance for risk.

--Ken
 
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padrepaul said:
Hi all,

I've traveled with gear a lot over the years, and of course you have to leave it in the car, hotel room every so often.

Just wondering your comfort level, namely with theft or heat/cold.

I'm stuck going to a conference for a few days, but we have an afternoon free and naturally I'll be skipping the dinner that day to do some bird photography. I'd be visiting a restaurant with a friend in the area, so would have my camera in the car (I'll be bringing the Z8 attached to the 800). I'm not comfortable bringing all of my photo equipment, so was just going to bring that, and it would also be in the hotel room during the daytime when I'm at presentations. The hotel is in a fine area, and I can't see someone breaking in to the room but you never know.

The other issue is heat; cars heat up quick (don't get me started on people who bring pets with them when they "just run into" the store!). I would be in a restaurant for about an hour, but there is a heat wave next week; will be about 90 and toasty. The camera and lens would be in a large insulated bag (it even has a little sun on it implying it's designed for heat/cold). Would the gear be fine in high temperatures for an hour or so?

Thanks for the feedback,
Paul
Click to expand...

I use messenger bags. The ones I have from Lowepro aren't made anymore. I left $30k in equipment sitting on a beach in Hawaii, Portugal, and Croatia to name a few. No one ever went near it because it didn't look like camera equipment.

Most hotels have large safes on the first floor for just this purpose. If you're really worried, give it to them to lock up.
 
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A common practice in Costa Rica that I wish was adopted in the USA, is having someone at public parking areas who watches the cars and when the car owner returns and finds their car OK they tip $1.00 to the watcher. In U.S. parking garages there are seldom CCTV cameras and nothing dissuades thieves and there is no liability for the parking garage operator.

Even if I do plan to leave items in a car I will pre-pack my backpack at my house or hotel room and then when I park the car and head out I grab the backpack or bag from the back seat and never open the trunck for anyone to be able to see inside.
 
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Never, ever, leave anything visible in the car. Thieves are not stupid. They know that camouflage is just that. It takes seconds to smash a window to see if the junk is covering value.

Even more, never leave anything of value in the boot (trunk).
 
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On Friday I needed to stop at my local Menards after work, put my camera backpack on and walked right in. Leaving that in my '06 Wrangler with no top or doors wasn't an option. Was kinda expecting to be stopped, but nope. Figured if they'd said anything, I'd welcome them to walk with me to the pickup counter, but I wasn't leaving the pack with anyone there either.
 
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hrv said:
I bought a Pelican case for that purpose. Not something they pry open in a few minutes and I can attach it to the car or anything in the hotel room with a steel cable.
It makes it inconvenient for the quick thief, taking more time than they might be comfortable with.
Click to expand...
Same setup....I enlarged the holes to accommodate larger locks and 5/8ths cable. Hoping the "visual" would deter someone if they broke into the truck.
 
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Anthony said:
Never, ever, leave anything visible in the car. Thieves are not stupid. They know that camouflage is just that. It takes seconds to smash a window to see if the junk is covering value.

Even more, never leave anything of value in the boot (trunk).
Click to expand...

Every car I've owned is electronically locked in the trunk. You can't open the trunk without disengaging the central locking with a key, or attempting to open it with a pry bar (and I wish you luck in that department).

My current car even has an electronic glove box.
 
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BlackHorsePhotos said:
Every car I've owned is electronically locked in the trunk. You can't open the trunk without disengaging the central locking with a key, or attempting to open it with a pry bar (and I wish you luck in that department).

My current car even has an electronic glove box.
Click to expand...
Thieves break car windows and do a lot of damage trying to force car doors (even if they fail to gain entry). There is a lot of theft of and from cars using relay theft or grabbing unlocking codes. You are certainly safer keeping valuables out of sight in the trunk, but an unattended car is a juicy target.
 
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hrv said:
I bought a Pelican case for that purpose. Not something they pry open in a few minutes and I can attach it to the car or anything in the hotel room with a steel cable.
It makes it inconvenient for the quick thief, taking more time than they might be comfortable with.
Click to expand...
That’s what I do to. I’ve a motorbike security chain that I keen in the car so I can lock the peli case to the rear seat floor mount.
 
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Anthony said:
Thieves break car windows and do a lot of damage trying to force car doors (even if they fail to gain entry). There is a lot of theft of and from cars using relay theft or grabbing unlocking codes. You are certainly safer keeping valuables out of sight in the trunk, but an unattended car is a juicy target.
Click to expand...

I reiterate my suggestion about the trunk.

I'm confused why you even replied to my message since your reply doesn't speak to anything I wrote.
 
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