Risk of stuff getting stolen

[Onestepmore]

I'd be interested in hearing others' experiences on this topic. I'm sitting here with hubby discussing which tent I should take on an overnight walk next week where the campsite will be fairly accessible, ie not a bush camp. For sites which may have a fair number of people there, or car camping I don't want to take a 'good' tent ( ie not one of our Hillebergs or a cuben tent)

Has anyone had a tent stolen while they were off doing a day walk on a side trip, or had other bits of gear taken? I read somewhere here where walking poles were taken from a hut on the OLT.
Do you think certain brands, or items are targeted more often?

The risk would be far less the further away from 'civilisation' one gets. I remember dumping our packs at the base of Kosci when we climbed to the top. I was relieved to see them intact when we returned. Was this unfounded? Am I just being a worry wart? Further away from the main track I have no worries leaving stuff.

Hubby had a good pair of GoreTex gloves taken from the drying room at Charlottes Pass Chalet. I hope the person who nicked them remembers stealing them every time they put them on!

[pazzar]

I haven't heard of gear being stolen before, but certainly food. I guess if it is at a car camping spot you are more at risk, whereas if you are on a multi day trek, the thief at least has to carry extra stuff out. I'm sure there are people here that have had stuff stolen though.

[Giddy_up]

OSM, I think the risk of something being taken are just far to high to leave a tent. People just help themselves to anything and everything like its public property now. I was recently at a car wash and had emptied all the bits and bobs that a motor vehicle accumulates with 3 children travelling in it, amongst those items was a pair of my sons shoes that possessed a known brand name. All goods stacked up and me franticly vacuuming. I look up and a lady was just walking off with my sons shoes, hot in pursuit I confronted her, she replied that she thought that it had been dumped!!!!!! All the items were stacked up, including my wallet and phone less than 2 meters from me working.

Take the cuben tent, it weighs nothing and is easy to carry in your pack and that way it won't get misappropriated by another person.
Just my opinion.
G_U

[matagi]

Never had an issue and we have just returned from 4 days car camping where we left our campsite fully set up complete with esky full of beer and cider sitting under the tarp next to our camp kitchen. The place was empty all day so anyone who wanted could have helped themselves to anything.

[GPSGuided]

Take the cuben tent, it weighs nothing and is easy to carry in your pack and that way it won't get misappropriated by another person.

Errr... Where would you propose one would do with the sleeping bag, cloths, cooking gear and all the bits and pieces? On the ground sheet?

[perfectlydark]

Just fill the tent with crap once youve set it up then theyll have to go to the effort of emptying it first..
I agree risk decreases the more remote you get and when "car camping" I dont leave attractive items unsecured

[pazzar]

If you are car camping couldn't you just put it back in the car, and make sure you have insurance??

[Giddy_up]

Take the cuben tent, it weighs nothing and is easy to carry in your pack and that way it won't get misappropriated by another person.

Errr... Where would you propose one would do with the sleeping bag, cloths, cooking gear and all the bits and pieces? On the ground sheet?

Just put everything in your backpack and do your walk with it.............

[GPSGuided]

Just put everything in your backpack and do your walk with it.............

Why didn't I think of that? Smart! I thought you were instructing us to just take the tent.

[Onestepmore]

If you are car camping couldn't you just put it back in the car, and make sure you have insurance??

So, if you car camp you pack up all of your campsite in the morning when you go off on a day walk, stuck it in the dar and then repitch your tent and set up again when you return?

I'm more considering what people do when you've arrived at a site on foot, and you intend to go off on side trips from a base camp. Do you pack it all up and carry it with you that day and make camp again at night, or leave it there, take a small daypack (obviously taking stuff like wallet, camera etc) and just x fingers your mat, sleeping bag, cook gear, warm clothes and tent are still all there when you return?

[GPSGuided]

Think of it as for an epic one way track. Pitch every afternoon, pack every morning, walk in between, even though you keep coming back to the same spot.

[KANANGRABOYD]

Look at the jerks that go to Charlotte's Pass.
I remember the old days when Ian the guy than ran the place, ran a tight shift and great resort.
All the resorts are for the dogs now.
I've had my luxury edition wide thermarest stolen from my tent, that was zipped up, tarp covering door, thermarest rolled inside cover in tent - In Kanangra Boyd NP.
I was left with an Anaconda style thin mat, full of holes.
Hope whoever stole it, is sleeping soundly.
I would honestly say that 90% of somewhat remote, or real hiking spots are safe.
Hell I camp at the Basin in Pittwater at Xmas - and nothings been pinched.
If you are really worried, pack it up.
As you know most of us are "like minded" - we appreciate and value our gear, and respect eaxh other.
its the very few that ruin it for the rest.

[Snowzone]

I don't know maybe I'm a bit naive, but I'd like to think everyone else out there is as honest as myself and would not go near my gear.
The other thing to think about when base camping though is leaving a good tent pitched in the sun all day isn't great for the fly. So with that in mind if I was car camping I would be taking an old tent or a cheap tent that I wasn't too precious about anyway.

[Onestepmore]

Have people had stuff nicked from huts on the OLT?

[KANANGRABOYD]

I don't know maybe I'm a bit naive, but I'd like to think everyone else out there is as honest as myself and would not go near my gear.
The other thing to think about when base camping though is leaving a good tent pitched in the sun all day isn't great for the fly. So with that in mind if I was car camping I would be taking an old tent or a cheap tent that I wasn't too precious about anyway.

Buy a silver 200+ denier/stitch tarp and cover your tent. $$50-80 insurance for a $500+ tent. MWS - money well spent

[Snowzone]

Have people had stuff nicked from huts on the OLT?

I never have but then I've never left good stuff laying around either and nobody seems interested in all my other mismatched old gear when there is so much newer snazier stuff around. By the end of the OLT, I guard my toilet paper with my life though!

[Snowzone]

I don't know maybe I'm a bit naive, but I'd like to think everyone else out there is as honest as myself and would not go near my gear.
The other thing to think about when base camping though is leaving a good tent pitched in the sun all day isn't great for the fly. So with that in mind if I was car camping I would be taking an old tent or a cheap tent that I wasn't too precious about anyway.

Buy a silver 200+ denier/stitch tarp and cover your tent. $$50-80 insurance for a $500+ tent. MWS - money well spent

I suppose you could do that but if your walking in it would add weight to the pack and if your driving in why bother? I'd be taking the Taj Mahal along with a nice thick mattress and soft pillow and etc.

[andrewa]

I've never had anything pinched. The most public place we have camped is in the Howqua Valley, but we would only have left stuff for several hours at a time, rather than overnight.

Recently I seriously contemplated leaving some stuff ( tent, sleeping bag, down gear, cooking stuff) in Michell's Hut on Bogong for a week ( with a note), as we were planning on doing 2 trips up there over 2 weekends, but, I suppose anyone up the has already carted that stuff up, so probably doesn't want to carry anything else!

A

[Onestepmore]

Ty for the tip re loo paper!
I'm a quilted double ply kinda gal, so I'll guard mine well next Feb!

[andrewa]

OSM, have you been drinking?! Or are you and Snowzone just having a quiet moment ...?

A

[Onestepmore]

What, bonding over bog roll?

[clarence]

Option 1: Get a lightweight drybag and put all your really valuable stuff in it and throw it into the bush nearby (but far enough away from huts where there may be varmits around).

Ten metres off the track and no one will find it.

Option 2: Go walking in areas where the likelihood of seeing anyone else is very small.

I once came across a group in the Wild Dogs who had a chain to lock their packs to a tree while heading up Splendour Rock. I figured, why not just walk 50m into the scrub and throw a few leaves over it. Even if it is locked up beside the track, the contents can be opened up easily.

On the OLT there are a lot of tourists who may not have the ethics of real walkers, however I'd be more worried about an animal getting into a tent and eating holes in things.

Clarence

Clarence

[Strider]

I do remember a member here saying some time ago they had a tent stolen while on a sidetrip. What a dilemma!!!

*EDIT* Here it is...

My first 4 season tent was a Macpac 'Olympus'; great tent, got stolen when I left it pitched and went for a walk in the Snowy Mountains NP back in 1993. Live and learn.

[vicpres]

I have bushwalked in every state and in NZ over a period of 35 years. My wife and I have also spent 11 months travelling around Australia, camping along the way in a tent. We don't do overnight walks any more but camp regularly. Many, many times we have left our camp unattended during the day while off exploring, shopping, whatever. I would conservatively estimate we have camped at least 1250 nights in all sorts of places. The only time/place we have had anything stolen was in a caravan park in Cairns, and we think that was someone we knew! Some busy tourist places in large cities with lots of backpackers have had bad reputations, so we take extra care in such places, otherwise we make sure to lock valuables away in the car or take them with us and don't leave portable or desirable things on show to tempt the light-fingered.

I have also been in a bushwalking club (lots of travellers and campers) for 31 years and involved with Bushwalking Victoria (65 clubs/8000 members) on an off for almost 30 years and have never heard a single report of anything being stolen from a bushwalkers.

Of course all that is history, so we could get robbed on our next camp, but so far, so good.

[wayno]

pretty rare in nz, sometimes it can be a case of the person taking the wrong item by mistake,,, i know one or two people who have done it...
one person left their camera behind sitting o a sign on mount ruapehu, they walked right round the mountain and five days later the camera was still there...
i've heard one second hand story of an expensive camera being stolen on the kepler track, and thats all i can recall... i've never had anything stolen. tend to keep my gear near where i'm sleeping, if you're using a drying room, i get my gear out early, if youre doing a popular walk you might want to consider not taking your best items that are likely to get nicked..

[Travis22]

As the old saying go's 'the times they are a changing'...

Id never heard much of things being stolen in the passed but in the last few years ive heard of more and more incidents where people are returning to camp from day trips and finding items have been stolen and or vandalized.

Social media today could certainly have something to do with the increase 'awareness' / perceived increased occurrences as incidents like that spread pretty quickly through the outdoorsy community. However i do think there are more less desirable types knocking about in the bush these days.

Travis.

[tom_brennan]

Like vicpres, my wife and I have left tents up with gear (sleeping bag, sleeping mat, clothes) inside in many places in both NSW and around Australia, and headed off for day trips. Thankfully nothing has ever been taken. I suppose my luck may run out eventually, but until then my faith in humanity remains relatively intact.

[Happy Pirate]

I'd be interested in hearing others' experiences on this topic. I'm sitting here with hubby discussing which tent I should take on an overnight walk next week where the campsite will be fairly accessible, ie not a bush camp. For sites which may have a fair number of people there, or car camping I don't want to take a 'good' tent ( ie not one of our Hillebergs or a cuben tent)

Has anyone had a tent stolen while they were off doing a day walk on a side trip, or had other bits of gear taken? I read somewhere here where walking poles were taken from a hut on the OLT.
Do you think certain brands, or items are targeted more often?

The risk would be far less the further away from 'civilisation' one gets. I remember dumping our packs at the base of Kosci when we climbed to the top. I was relieved to see them intact when we returned. Was this unfounded? Am I just being a worry wart? Further away from the main track I have no worries leaving stuff.

Hubby had a good pair of GoreTex gloves taken from the drying room at Charlottes Pass Chalet. I hope the person who nicked them remembers stealing them every time they put them on!

1 step
I'm also appalled at the idea of thievery on the trail. I'm sure it happens but ... but ... but ....

Years ago I had the stereo ripped out of my Kombi when I was parked on a Grampians walk. It made me a bit paranoid about even worse theft.
After that I decided to make my car look as 'unappealing' as possible. On the next walk where I had to park in a 'renowned' public car park for a few days I barreled the car through mud puddles and threw mud over the windows to block the view inside and then raided a rubbish bin so as to strew chip packets and coke cans about the car in obvious positions and even draped used underwear over the steering wheel and driver's seat.

My car was untouched when I returned so I figured it worked.

Unfortunately since then what started as an affectation has slowly become a habit ...

Steve

[GPSGuided]

Pirate: Photo or it didn't happen!

[Happy Pirate]

Pirate: Photo or it didn't happen!

GG
Are you asking me for a photo of my dirty undies draped across my steering wheel


And I thought you'd never ask!.....