View Full Version : Stolen or missing backpacks
jonesat11
05-24-2005, 21:11
Has anyone had a backpack stolen or missing backpack/bad experience while hiking? While trying to hitchhike a few years ago a ride was offered and I thought everything was ok. While getting into the truck where my pack was stored the driver took off trying to steal my gear. I retrieved my pack and no confrontation was encountered.
TakeABreak
05-24-2005, 23:43
Although i have not had this happen to me, I have heard of cases where people felt uneasy about a ride and refused it and the driver then got very rude. I have also heard of instance where the driver wanted the hiker to put the pack in the trunk of the car, while the driver sat in the vehicle with it running and in driver with foot on the brake. The hiker being wise declined the ride also and almost got into a confrontation with the driver.
It is sad there are people who roaming the roads near the AT, looking to take advantage of hikers.
dougmeredith
05-25-2005, 08:49
My only such experience was one that I caused for myself. I put my pack down to do a little exploring, and couldn't find the place I had left the pack. It took a few minutes, but eventually I found it.
Doug
Alligator
05-25-2005, 10:20
On the missing note, I self-shuttled with my bike and hid my pack in the woods. When I got back, it was dark, and I didn't have a light. It took me any hour to find my pack, plus I had to borrow a light from a guy in the campground:o.
As to hitchhiking, always try to get the license plate number and vehicle make/color before you get in the car and be wary of putting the pack in the trunk.
RockyTrail
05-25-2005, 13:43
...always try to get the license plate number and vehicle make/color before you get in the car and be wary of putting the pack in the trunk.Good idea!
Not a bad idea to do this anyway, even if not hitchhiking, as I learned after I was a victim of a hit-and-run driver a few years ago.
When I'm driving along and something doesn't look quite right about a vehicle or it's behavior on the road, I make a mental note of the plate number and state...99.999% of the time it's just a mental exercise, but if you never look at it, then you can't remember it later if need be. You never know what's gonna happen next....!!!
I lost my backpack during a flip on thru-hike to the Big Dog and was not a happy motel dweller. Fortunately, it showed up 24 hours later.
Allows remove valuables, money, ID, cards etc. first thing when it's time to hitch or travel off trail.
A woman had her backpack stolen at Trail Days this year from the campground. I'm bettin it was local punks.
Lone Wolf
05-25-2005, 19:51
Pretty unlikely it was "local punks". Hard to sell hiker s**t to other locals. It's other "hikers" in the so-called "hiker community" posing. I take offense to blaming townfolk.
Bloodroot
05-25-2005, 19:56
A good buddy of mine (Tiny Dancer) got his pack stolen at The Place during Trail Days. Worked out for him though....he was donated a pack and several other items.
Pretty unlikely it was "local punks". Hard to sell hiker s**t to other locals. It's other "hikers" in the so-called "hiker community" posing. I take offense to blaming townfolk.
Sorry L. Wolf. I figured it was kids out for thrills. We live in a small town and when stuff gets stolen, it's usually the kids doin it.
Moon Monster
05-25-2005, 23:25
This all happened behind me, but as I understand the storym a guy I knew in '03 had his pack stolen from outside a grocery store in Front Royal, VA while he was inside shopping. He had lots of expensive gear, though the thief couldn't have noticed that from the look of the pack, I bet. Thievery like this is probably a spontaneous decision of opportunity on the part of the thief more or less. This guy actually ended his thru-hike there rather than face replacing everything.
TN_Hiker
05-26-2005, 09:37
Nashville a small town??? Lilredmg, you must live in one the communties surrounding Nashville. I'm all the time telling people I'm from Nashville since hardly any one seems to know about Kingston Springs. Just wanted to give some grief to a fellow Tennessean....lol
astrogirl
05-26-2005, 14:25
When I was in Damascus on May 6, I was told that the previous night, two packs had been stolen out of tents pitched at The Place. The hikers who owned the packs *were* in the tent(s) at the time!
NICKTHEGREEK
06-10-2005, 19:41
When I was in Damascus on May 6, I was told that the previous night, two packs had been stolen out of tents pitched at The Place. The hikers who owned the packs *were* in the tent(s) at the time!
Not surprising. Banks are robbed because that's where the money is, cars are stolen from parking lots, etc etc. What better place to steal camping gear? Packs are lying about everywhere and people carrying a pack don't stick out.
On an average weekender there's at least a grand worth of stuff in my pack, and climbers have 2-3 times that tied up.
superman
06-10-2005, 20:20
On my vehicular or hiking trips I use the "white german shepard" security system. If I attach Winter to my pack it is the same to her as if it were me. Winter gives me one hour to shop or dine before she comes looking for me dragging my pack. I always leave my windows , including the back hatch, open on my Explorer. I've never had anything stolen from either my pack or my vehicle.
My wife borrowed the Gregory Shasta I had purchased on my thru hike at Mt. Rogers Outfitters in Damascus. I loved that pack but she was going on a three months backpacking trip to New Zealand and it was a piece of cake to resize the pack to her body so she took it and most of my gear. One night as she was preparing to go on one of New Zealands "great walks" and slept in her tent in a national park someone made off with her pack. She lost everything 9000 miles from home, new digital camera, clothing, cook set, return airline tickets, everything except the tent she was sleeping in and the clothes she was wearing. She did have her credit cards and passport in a hikers wallet around her neck. The thief threw away her airline tickets and the police found them in a park trash can, nothing else was recovered. We had some trip insurance but it only covered a portion of her loss and she couldn't make a claim until her trip was over. The people of New Zealand were excellent. Hostels gave her clothing and a day pack. The park service gave her equipment from their lost and found. The police were helpful but never solved the case. The locel newspaper ran a story and others came foreward to help. A local outfitter sold her an excellent New Zealand made backpack at well below their cost, it has some features our U.S. backpack makers should see. She finished her trip, I ended up purchasing a Lowe Alpine pack for myself that fits me much better than the Gregory did so all ended well. It was just a horrable experience ane she thought she was safe as her pack was leaning against her tiny tent and covered with a pack cover, same as I do on my hikes but we were wrong. Now I tie a rope around my pack and anchor it inside my tent. At least if someone makes off with it I will be aware and will at least get the chance to yell and perhaps stop the theft. It is something a backpacker doesn't expect to happen to them but can happen to anyone.
:(
Bolivershagnasty
06-13-2005, 21:32
Yea it doesn't take long trust me. A 10 ft rope tied to your pack and something in your tent or shelter might be prudent. If your on a few day trip is one thing but if your "living" out of your pack thats another.Even a carabiner on a tent stake would shake the tent enough to wake you. Be carfull. Anything can happen. It's all about regular consistant behaviours. Make a routine out of it. Youll be fine.:dance
dp the wonder dog
06-14-2005, 23:08
another practice i've seen is to run out the adjuster sliders on the front of the shoulder straps, so both ends are hanging loose. Unless you are right at the roadside i.e. in a restaurant, the thief couldn't get far if the only way to carry your pack without fiddling with it is in a bear hug. :)
I have never been concerned about my pack on a long hike in the backcountry...I figure that if someone's out that far, they have their own pack and carrying two is out of the question.
In that regard, someone once asked me "Where is the most dangerous place you have hiked?" My reply: "Washington, DC".
Jersey Devil
06-16-2005, 15:20
I once tried to use a basecamp, on the A.T. in the Lehigh Valley P.A., and had my tent stolen. I guess it was my own fault for leaving unprotected gear behind. Taught me a lesson though, I won't ever leave gear behind again.
Karma does exist however and the no-good :mad: who took my tent will one day be repayed for his theft and ignorance.
Never had my pack stolen but left it behind once at Abol Bridge (never loaded it into my truck) parking area. When I went back it was not around but campstore Mgr picked it up and I was able to retrieve it at her home. Another time I left my personal gear bag with wallet etc. behind in Carter Gap shelter didn't know it was gone until I reached Deep Gap shelter next day my hiking partner Lightning Bolt volunteered to go back and try to find it after a 10 mile SB hike he asked a hiker about it and "Hollywood" had it so LB hiked back 10 miles and then 3 into a hitch to Franklin he hiked 23 that day but only 3 positive miles. Thanks LB! And yes these happened on the same hike!>----------EZ
Walked and hitched into DC on the 4th of July and set my tent up right next to the Washington Monument at around 10 AM. Put my pack inside and zipped her up and went touristing. Came back at night and the Mall was packed with half a million folk and the tent and pack were still there. I guess us Maine folk can be quite trusting.
The walk from 1st to 15th Street in the middle of the night to get to Union Station was not the smartest idea though! Some guy told me I had better walk on the other side of the street or I might get mugged.
I never let my fanny pack and wallet leave me even when I went to a shower stall at a hostel!