Securing your M

S

skimmel

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Mar 21, 2005
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I would like to take my M7 with me when I travel, but I would have to leave the camera in my hotel room occasionally. Any suggestions on the best way to secure your camera to prevent from theft? Thanks.
 
I don't know how effective this idea would be when leaving it in your hotel room, but I've heard many people say they use a diaper bag as a camera bag.. the kind that just screams "poopy diapers in here!"
 
greyhoundman said:
Now that I'm over the shock. :)

Most good hotels have a safe that customers can use for their expensive items.
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Yup, only stay at a hotel that has a safe, in the rooms, or in an office.
 
Thanks for the suggestions so far. I agree it would be better to take it with me but there are just some times when I wouldn't (spending the day on the beach -- just seeing how much sand gets embedded into everything, attending formal meetings where it would be bad form to carry a bag of any sort with you, etc).
 
skimmel said:
.....attending formal meetings where it would be bad form to carry a bag of any sort with you, etc).
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Take it out of the bag. Carrying an M7 can be a cool fashion statement. :D
 
This is why I will travel with a Canon 7 or other less expensive camera. One time Nina asked my why I wasn't using the Nikon SP as much. We were at a Halloween festival, going down the Giant Slides and on hay-rides. I explained that the Canon 7 cost 1/10th as much.

If you are that worried about a $4,000 (camera+lens) rig getting stolen, buy a Canon 7 or Canon P or old USER M3. If it gets stolen, it will be less costly to replace and the M7 will be safely at home.
 
I've been in that kind of situations, and I've always used the hotel room safe.

But then, this has happened only once! Otherwise, we're inseparable! :)
 
I would try to stop worrying about it and use it as much as you can. A really used-looking canvas bag for carrying it plus lenses as per Bill, and as greyhoundman suggests, the downstairs safe in the hotel plus a receipt.

 
I vote for the hotel safe, too. Give them a call now and ask about it so you can plan ahead just in case. I worked in a hotel and we didn't let guests use the cash safe (as far as I knew anyway). We had safe deposit boxes. But some were small and others large- more small than large. If that's the case let them know you want to reserve a large for the length of your stay.
 
And whatever you do, carry it on the plane/train!

Do not put it in your checked baggage!
 
I live in hotel rooms for 2 weeks out of every month on average and I travel with my gear all the time. For the times I go out without the cameras, they are either in the room safe or with the reception in the safe deposit boxes. There are times when I've left the equipment lying around in the room but that's only because I know that the hotel is pretty safe. I tend to stay at the same hotels and have come to know the way they work to an extent.
 
I face this situation just about every time we travel by air; there's stuff we need to leave in the hotel safe while we're gone. We tend to stay in the same couple of hotels that we know have secure storage and parking. The biggest problem is that often it's only the facility manager who has access to that secure storage, so we've had to have him paged and wait for him to arrive if he's off-site.
 
I'd say go with the hotel safe as well. If you are not able to use the hotel safe then try and use a Pelican case for your travel. I have two. One is very large with wheels for pulling and the other one is Pelican's rolling carry on with handle and wheels as well. They both lock and are rock solid plus do not let in moisture. When I have to store stuff in the hotel and the hotel safe provided in the room is already full then I use the large Pelican case and lock the camera gear in there. This happens very rarely because the gear usually goes with me everywhere. If it works in Colombia then it will probably work in most places. Believe me, I have stayed in some pretty shady places. Plus when I travel all my gear goes as well. By the way, keep a couple of dessicant packs in your Pelican case's as well. Best.

Glenn
 
We travel quite a bit. Many hotel rooms do have small safes. Some older ones you have to obtain a removable lock from the front desk, but most of them have electronic keypads that you program in your own unlock code. The downside to those is, what happens if it goes haywire and you need to check out to catch a plane? Other hotels have no safe except at the front desk, which is inconvenient. However I found an item which I am very excited about. It's a backpack made by Pac-Safe, which has a latticework of braided wire sewn into the covering, and a braided aircraft-cable "drawstring" and a heavy-duty padlock that lets me chain it to a heat radiator, desk, chair, bedframe or any other strong, heavy object in the room. (The mesh also prevents someone from slashing into it in a crowd). Unlike what we've seen on TV and in movies, hotel theft is mostly opportunistic, and the thieves aren't likely to spend the time cutting, sawing or hacking at something even if they have the quipment on hand. Anything more difficult than popping the lock on a suitcase and they will probably just head for the next room.

That said, if you have just the one M body and a lens, and you're wearing a business jacket, I've found that the body with strap wrapped around it will slip into one of the inside breast pockets, and the lens in the other, without making too unsightly a bulge. Many jackets are available, such as through travelsmith.com or orvis.com which resemble business attire but have zippered pockets for security.
 
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Thanks everyone for your advice. The safe idea clearly makes sense.

Ben Z, I'll be curious to hear if you buy a Pac-Safe product and what you think of it.
 
I did buy 2 of them, one I gave to my son who used it on a 3-week trip across Europe and is now using it for his laptop etc., and the other for myself which I used likewise on a trip overseas. They are great, no other word for it. Best of all they look like everyday daypacks, nothing about them advertises their high-tech security features. It's called PacSafe DaySafe. I got them from this guy on ebay who was great to deal with and the price was reasonable: http://cgi.ebay.com/PacSafe-DaySafe...ryZ16081QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
 
Also consider a Zero Halliburton or similar lockable case and bicycle lock or similar (I actually use a chain and combination lock). Most thieves are opportunist and cutting through a chain and carrying away a case 'on spec' is more trouble than it's worth. Lock ALL cases, including empty ones, to stop their being used to carry stuff away. Nothing can stop a determined thief but the above are useful deterrents, which I normally use. The 'dirty laundry/dirty diapers/urine samples' tricks are so obvious that only stupid thieves are taken in -- but as many thieves are stupid this means they are disproportionately effective.

Cheers,

Roger (www.rogerandfrances.com)
 
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