What do you do with your pack in town..

[RabbitHole]

When you enter town and go shopping or grab some food do you enter with your pack? Do you leave it outside? What is general etiquette in handling your pack if you haven't dropped it off at a hostel?

[TheHighTrailGuy]

Outside, or ask an employee of the store if there's a place inside that you can leave it.


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[squeezebox]

I've suggested a very short very thin cable with a luggage lock to lock your pack to a fixed object, everyone says too much wt.
But maybe take out your bear bag cord and tie your pack to a fixed object or several packs tied together. Any thing that makes it harder than a grab and run makes your pack that more secure.

[swjohnsey]

Depends. If it is a regular supermarket I just put it in my basket. If it is a place without baskets you might want to leave it outside. If it is a place that has a lot of hiker traffic look for a sign.

[bigcranky]

In the grocery cart at a regular store, as noted above. At a fast food joint, I leave it leaning against the building where I can see it from inside. At a convenience store, just leave it outside against the wall. In a group you can take turns going inside if you feel like it's not safe, though I've not felt like that anywhere in the South.

[garlic08]

All of the above, and if I have to leave it outside I buckle every possible strap around something solid, to make it hard to grab-and-run. Not that that's a problem, it just makes me feel better. On my AT hike, I heard of one pack theft and it was left unattended all day in a park at the edge of Duncannon, PA. That's just an invitation.

Please ask for and respect the premise owner's wishes, with a smile. You'll be amazed at how helpful people are.

[Traveler]

All of the above, and if I have to leave it outside I buckle every possible strap around something solid, to make it hard to grab-and-run. Not that that's a problem, it just makes me feel better. On my AT hike, I heard of one pack theft and it was left unattended all day in a park at the edge of Duncannon, PA. That's just an invitation.

Please ask for and respect the premise owner's wishes, with a smile. You'll be amazed at how helpful people are.

Theft is usually opportunity based, so closing up the pack as you suggest helps limit the opportunity. I carry a short length of 1/4" stainless steel cable as a "leader" for a bear bag along with a screw lock carabiner that doubles as a theft deterrent. I can wrap the cable around a phone pole, street lamp, or other structure that is difficult to slide the cable off of and lock it together with the screw lock carabiner. Thieves want to grab and run, slow them down and they either move on to an easier target or increase the probability of getting caught at the one requiring some time to get into.

[RED-DOG]

I always take my pack with me i will put on the bottom of the shopping cart and don't touch it, i have never had any problems by taking my pack inside grocery stores or stores in general, the only time i will leave my pack is when i get a hotel room, other than that it's with me at all times.

[Old Hiker]

Grocery stores: I put it into the shopping cart, shoulder straps up. I put anything I'm buying into the seat, just so it doesn't LOOK like I'm trying to boost it.

Eating places: ask for a booth and take it with me.