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View Full Version : how do you protect your stuff?



ekeverette
02-07-2012, 05:26
when i'm in my tent/shelter, i feel ok my stuff will be ok, but when you're in hostels and you go take a shower, or other times i have to leave my pack, how do you safeguard things like pain medications, money, whatever.... i'll be wearing a waist pouch. may sound like a foolish question, but for you folks that have walked the long walk..... what did you guys do?

bigcranky
02-07-2012, 08:29
My wallet, camera, and phone stay in my waist pouch, which comes with me everywhere. Even so, I've not ever felt the need to be overly careful in hostels, etc.

garlic08
02-07-2012, 09:18
All my valuables fit in my shirt pocket in a small baggie (the thru hiker's wallet). A little cash and a credit card is all I really worry about. Otherwise, my pack is only exposed when I have to leave it outside a place of business (always ask before bringing it in). In that case, either find a fellow hiker to take turns watching stuff, or tie every strap possible to something to slow down a theft. I solved the valuable electronics problem by not carrying any. Generally I don't stay in hostels or shelters, but that's not for security reasons.

The only problem I heard about on my AT hike was a pack stolen after being left for several hours in a park in Duncannon, PA. Don't do stuff like that and you'll be fine.

attroll
02-07-2012, 15:50
I place my valuables either deep inside my pack, or bring them with me where ever I go. In my personally experience I have not had an issue in a hostel.

handlebar
02-07-2012, 20:23
Same as Big Cranky. It's in the waist pouch and that stays with me everywhere. It contains: camera, gps (for CDT), SPOT, iPhone, and an laminated emergency info card with contacts (wife, docs, prescriptions, etc.)

I always try to take my pack into business places and leave it where someone will see if anyone is tampering with it---asking permission, of course. Otherwise, it's a good idea to take turns watching as noted above.

stonedflea
02-07-2012, 22:27
i never had issues?

i kept my phone, wallet, camera, etc. in a small stuff sack, and i carried that with me whenever i was going somewhere. i didn't carry it with me everywhere i went: if i stayed in a hostel and went to take a shower, i didn't carry it with me. it stayed in my pack. i pitched my tent for two nights on a local's yard in damascus and my wallet/camera/etc. stayed in my tent while i walked around town.

perhaps i'm too trusting? but seriously - i didn't have a problem with anybody on the trail. i always left my pack outside stores. the only store i took my pack into was dick's sporting goods while i was trying on a new pair of shoes because shoes feel different when you have your pack on. the rest of the time, i dropped my pack outside the stores/libraries/etc. and left it be.

i guess i should note that i took my dog with me, and she was leashed to my pack, so anyone with an aversion to dogs wouldn't have gone near it.

stonedflea
02-07-2012, 22:36
can i also just say that things really are different on the trail.

the mainstream media puts it into your head that all people are really bad, and harmful, and not to be trusted. why do you think you answer the question, "you're takin' a gun, right?" when you tell people you're gonna hike.

97% of the people on the trail are just like you. they're there for nature. (of course you have those 3% bad apples that are there for who knows why...)

don't be afraid to trust people. when you get to a side trail, don't be afraid to just drop your pack on the AT and walk to the lookout point or the fire tower or whatever point of interest there may be. people aren't going to rifle through your pack and steal things because that adds that much more weight that they'll have to carry in theirs.

i actually lost my favorite shirt just south of harper's ferry this year because it had rained the day prior and i had it hanging (what i thought was securely) off my pack to dry in the sun. one of my friends picked it up and i pulled off the trail for a day in HF, then he took a 0 somewhere else. we leapfrogged for a few days and i finally got my shirt back just south of duncannon, pa.

people are good. please remember that on your walk.

with that being said, one of my friends made it all the way from ga -> me without any incident, and when he got on a train to get back home, he went to the bathroom and in those few short minutes, his electronics stuff sack was stolen. it's the people in society you have to watch... not hikers.

MJW155
02-08-2012, 03:43
It's not the people on the trail we don't trust. It's the people OFF the trail.

lunchbx
02-08-2012, 07:18
i would say that leavin your pack for short periods on the trail or in a hostel is just as risky as leaving your car running/door unlocked while you hop into a store really quick. keep in mind i try to not to do this but cant say that its never happened