View Full Version : Protecting your cash
Does anyone have a special way they hide their cash? Someone suggested I get a money belt. Never have used one. Others have told me of hiding their money in socks, shoes etc. I usually just put my wallet in a plastic bag & put it in my pack until I reach a town. Am I just lucky I haven't lost any money?
Sickmont
02-02-2011, 16:22
My daughter used this thin vinyl pouch thing that wrapped around her waist when she was in India for carrying cash. You couldn't tell she had anything on.
On the trail I kept my cash on my person day and night, not in my pack.
Does anyone have a special way they hide their cash? Someone suggested I get a money belt. ....
Well, you'll certainly stick out like a sore thumb if your seen wearing a money belt while hiking the trail. Too funny!!
I split my cash and plastic up between two small water proof pouches and made sure I had them with me when separated from my pack.
Cheers!
I had a "secret wallet", basically a little fabric wallet that attached to my belt and hung down inside my pants at the waist. I did this not to be safe and protect my money from other people, but so that I never left it behind anywhere or had to dig in my pack for it.
wrongway_08
02-02-2011, 16:52
I wrapped my cash around the magizine before loading my gun.
Trailbender
02-02-2011, 17:41
I wrapped my cash around the magizine before loading my gun.
Best reply ever. I just kept mine with my cards, with a ponytail holder holding it together. I carried some cash, mainly for emergencies. Most places took cards, if a store didn't take one, I usually just went somewhere else.
Crown Royal bag hidden down your pants in between your legs. Thats where id hide it if i still lived in Chula Vista, CA. I feel no need for it on the trail. In your pack in a plastic bag is fine.
garlic08
02-02-2011, 18:03
My "wallet" is a ziplock baggie that contains my cash, drivers license, one credit card, and passport if I'm going to cross a border. That stays in my pocket at all times, never in my pack. I don't carry enough cash to worry about. I use the plastic most of the time.
I keep my money in a cuben fiber wallet in a zip lock bag that is in my pack most of the time. I'm not irrationally scared of brown people, so I put it in my pocket when I'm in town, even when I'm in Chula Vista, CA. My REI Sahara pants have a small zippered pocket just under the belt line that is perfect for holding my cuben fiber wallet.
Bags4266
02-02-2011, 19:14
Ruger LCP .380
I keep my money in a cuben fiber wallet in a zip lock bag that is in my pack most of the time. I'm not irrationally scared of brown people, so I put it in my pocket when I'm in town, even when I'm in Chula Vista, CA. My REI Sahara pants have a small zippered pocket just under the belt line that is perfect for holding my cuben fiber wallet.
Man i got my ass beat at the Barrio Logan trolley station. They got my watch my rings but they wouldnt put there hands on my junks to get my moneys.
Man i got my ass beat at the Barrio Logan trolley station. They got my watch my rings but they wouldnt put there hands on my junks to get my moneys.
I got my ass beat in Barrio Logan too, but I was training at a boxing gym there. The last time I was there was to take pictures. I have no problems with Barrio Logan. I kind of like the place.
Appalachian Tater
02-02-2011, 19:39
Worry more about losing it than someone stealing it. A zippered pocket is a good place to keep your money.
I dropped my wallet at Shaw's with several hundred dollars in it and didn't realize until I got to the grocery store ready to pay. When I got back, someone had turned it in and it was in the office. That was quite a relief. At that point the money wouldn't have been such an issue but without a credit or debit card it would have been difficult to get more cash and would have delayed my hike several days.
tirebiter
02-02-2011, 19:46
A money belt is uncomfortable to wear for a full day, let alone five months. I keep most everything in my pack with a few emergency $20s in a plastic baggie in my back pocket.
Skidsteer
02-02-2011, 19:56
Does anyone have a special way they hide their cash?
I can't tell you or it won't be special anymore.
fiddlehead
02-02-2011, 20:16
I had a secret compartment sewed into my pack.
It even fooled the customs people already entering the US on one their full body inspections (YOu have to get used to those when you have dreadlocks)
They kept asking me where my wallet was and, everytime I would go near my pack, they would say "not yet" When they finally finished searching it, i walked over, reached inside and pulled out my wallet.
They all looked at each other like the knew they @$#%^@ed up!
The little joys that we can get from a customs inspection.
Wise Old Owl
02-02-2011, 20:29
As a teen we used to go "downtown" in Chicago - I learned to use a money belt - no one can tell. The trail? I don't think you need it.
I wont go into specifics; but it involves a balloon.
Fiddlehead, where did you sew the secret compartment on your pack, or do you not want to reveal the location? I travel extensively in Mexico and could use a compartment like that.
Bags4266
02-02-2011, 20:39
I wont go into specifics; but it involves a balloon.
lol, and a midget and a donkey
The Weasel
02-02-2011, 20:41
1) Keep your papers/cash/plastic in your pack, not your pockets. Things fall out of pockets.
2) NEVER let your pack out of your physical possession, not for one minute, except when using a latrine at a shelter (another good reason not to use shelters), in which case, carry your papers/cash/plastic with you.
3) At night stuff your "wallet" in the bottom of your sleeping bag unless your pack is in your tent with you.
ALWAYS do these 3. No exceptions.
TW
The Weasel
02-02-2011, 20:42
As a teen we used to go "downtown" in Chicago - I learned to use a money belt - no one can tell. The trail? I don't think you need it.
Wise, I wish you were right. I hope you are right. But if you are, things have changed. Things 'sprout feet' along the trail and 'jump out of your pack' when you're not watching. Not everyone is as honest as you are.
TW
kayak karl
02-02-2011, 20:53
1) Keep your papers/cash/plastic in your pack, not your pockets. Things fall out of pockets.
2) NEVER let your pack out of your physical possession, not for one minute, except when using a latrine at a shelter (another good reason not to use shelters), in which case, carry your papers/cash/plastic with you.
3) At night stuff your "wallet" in the bottom of your sleeping bag unless your pack is in your tent with you.
ALWAYS do these 3. No exceptions.
TW
your paranoid. i said "trust nobody". was told i was an idiot. these are your friends, amigos. they won't steal from you. your money is safe.
mine is in a wallet around my neck that i swim and shower with.
Hide it in a package of Ramen............. No one from the City would ever think to look there.
TallShark
02-02-2011, 22:39
wrap your money around the barrel of your pistol... :)
just be the scariest lookin dude at the shelter and nobody will mess with you. That's my strategy. Carry a big knife, wear indian war paint, and glare menacingly at day hikers.
StubbleJumper
02-02-2011, 23:08
Personally, I don't worry much about my cash. I tend to carry $200 or less in cash, and if someone steals it, they steal it. For me, the impact would be a little like breaking a hiking pole or having a tear in my tent or my pack. It's a $200 hit, max. And it would be an unusual occurrence.
Take care, but don't get paranoid for the small stuff....
Woe is me.................
WILLIAM HAYES
02-03-2011, 01:37
small lightweight wallet around my neck
On the AT, I like to keep a really lightweight wallet inside a ziplock, in a zippered pocket on the clothes I'm pretty much always wearing (I sleep in the same clothes I hike in).
On other trails I don't necessarily do this (though it's kind of habit now), but on the AT it seems like every 2 - 3 days you're going into town, and seeing a lot more people on the trail in between. I doubt that most thru's would steal from another thru (!), but there are lots of different people out on the trail, staying in shelters.
When I've kept it in my pack in the past, I would sometimes remember at the last minute and scramble to dig it out before hitching a ride into town. Before getting in a car (not a problem if riding in a truck bed along with the pack) I like to have both wallet and cell phone on my person.
1) Keep your papers/cash/plastic in your pack, not your pockets. Things fall out of pockets.
2) NEVER let your pack out of your physical possession, not for one minute, except when using a latrine at a shelter (another good reason not to use shelters), in which case, carry your papers/cash/plastic with you.
3) At night stuff your "wallet" in the bottom of your sleeping bag unless your pack is in your tent with you.
ALWAYS do these 3. No exceptions.
TW
Afraid I have to disagree with #1 specifically because #2 is impossible. You're going to take your pack off...usually it will be within arm's length away, but once you get to a shelter or campsite you'll be running to the privy, getting water, hanging the pack from bear cables and various other things...over time you'll get pretty lax about it.
I bought a nylon wallet at EMS that hangs around my neck...in it I keep a ziplock bag with my ID, cards and cash, as well as a lighter and my headlamp. I never take the thing off when on the trail. If I had ever been separated from my pack I would have had the tools necessary to start over...if your wallet is in your pack and you somehow lose it you're pretty well screwed.
Powder River
02-03-2011, 04:21
1) Keep your papers/cash/plastic in your pack, not your pockets. Things fall out of pockets.
2) NEVER let your pack out of your physical possession, not for one minute, except when using a latrine at a shelter (another good reason not to use shelters), in which case, carry your papers/cash/plastic with you.
3) At night stuff your "wallet" in the bottom of your sleeping bag unless your pack is in your tent with you.
ALWAYS do these 3. No exceptions.
TW
Have you tried tying your pack to your ankle when you turn your back to cook your food? Or maybe shower with your pack on when you are at the hostel?
Have you tried tying your pack to your ankle when you turn your back to cook your food? Or maybe shower with your pack on when you are at the hostel?
I can see not bringing your pack into the bathroom when you shower, but surely you can put your pack within a direct line of sight while cooking and using the latrine....at least those doorless latrines. As far as the shower goes, I put my wallet in the pocket of my next change of clothes that's sitting just outside of the shower next to my towel. Even a slimmed down pack can be brought into the bathroom. Leave your quilt and clothes on your bed...who's going to want to steal that stuff after a few hundred miles of thru hiker funk? I'd leave the food and water out too. The rest barely takes up any volume at all. Take the hipbelt (if any) off, and that pack would take up hardly any room.
fiddlehead
02-03-2011, 06:11
Some of you people have sure made your lives complicated.
If crime is so bad on the trail, perhaps you all should check out Asia,
or Canada or southern France or somewhere where you can rest assured people aren't gonna steal your life everytime you take a $H1t
garlic08
02-03-2011, 09:45
Yeah, it's not that complicated. When I select clothing for a trip, I just make sure I have one pocket either on my pants or shirt that will button or zipper closed and I keep my important stuff in that pocket all the time--a few bills and two pieces of plastic. I only bring one set of clothes, so by necessity those clothes stay with me all the time. If they're in the laundry, I'm not far away in my rain gear. I don't even have to think about it, it's just automatic. And it doesn't even matter if it gets wet.
Trailbender
02-03-2011, 11:22
wrap your money around the barrel of your pistol... :)
Well, the money would be crushed by the recoiling slide, and probably cause a jam.
Powder River
02-09-2011, 16:12
I can see not bringing your pack into the bathroom when you shower, but surely you can put your pack within a direct line of sight while cooking and using the latrine....at least those doorless latrines. As far as the shower goes, I put my wallet in the pocket of my next change of clothes that's sitting just outside of the shower next to my towel. Even a slimmed down pack can be brought into the bathroom. Leave your quilt and clothes on your bed...who's going to want to steal that stuff after a few hundred miles of thru hiker funk? I'd leave the food and water out too. The rest barely takes up any volume at all. Take the hipbelt (if any) off, and that pack would take up hardly any room.
Actually my response was quite in jest. This is all very silly. Having your wallet and phone with you in town is always a good idea. But the rest of it is quite paranoid.
wrongway_08
02-09-2011, 16:17
Well, the money would be crushed by the recoiling slide, and probably cause a jam.
I learned that early on, thats why I posted about wrap'n it around the magizine before loading....... dead crimminal and spendable money - its a win-win!
LoneRidgeRunner
02-09-2011, 16:34
I could tell you..but then I'd have to kill you.....just kiddin....my trail pants have a zippered pocket inside one of the other pockets....any body wants it they gotta get past my cold steel clip knife first...never had a problem in the woods,,or anywhere else for that matter except in Charlotte, NC one night many years ago...kept all my money that night too..It's surprising how many "wannabe" robbers suddenly don't wannabe any more when they see they have to fight for it...
aufgahoban
02-09-2011, 16:58
Downhill lost her wallet (ziplock with ID, Debit card and cash in it) on the JMT. About a month later it was mailed back to her, sans cash.. But I thought that was pretty amazing to get it back at all.