Security of laptop/camera/etc
 

A friend just wrote and asked me about how to secure her valuable items while touring if she wanted to take a swim or go grocery shopping. Since we had 4 of us, we always made sure that somebody was with the bikes, but that's not a viable option for a solo tourist.

I seem to recall reading a big thread about that issue a year or two ago, but I can't find it. Can you point me to the thread? Or give me some tips here? How do you secure your valuables while touring?

There are several threads about security.

A recent one: http://www.bikeforums.net/touring/97...sport-etc.html


But ...

1) Don't carry much in the way of valuables. Thieves may be tempted to make off with a GPS or similar ... but probably won't have much interest in a battered, weathered paper map.

2) Be sure you can place all the valuables you carry into one small bag (i.e. handlebar bag) which you can remove from the bicycle and easily carry with you.


So if you're picking up groceries, lock the bicycle ... perhaps lock the panniers ... and take your valuables with you into the store.

Or perhaps even better ... get to the hotel first, secure the bicycle, panniers, etc. in the room, and then go shopping (with your valuables with you, of course).

Many small towns have a bus station. They have lockers. You can rent them for a short time period.

What if you are tent camping in a campground (not stealth) for a couple of nights - and want to explore the area without all your gear; or go swimming or rent a kayak for a couple of hours but have your computer with you - would you leave it in your tent?

I would, and have done so.

Campgrounds are far from hotbeds of thievery ( yes, I know someone will feel obligated to come up with a "Yeah, but I had X stolen from my tent..." story ), so it's highly unlikely you'd have to worry about it.

This is something I've wrestled with. Here's how it usually goes down for me:

1) I pull the bike up to the edge of a beach or pond and I swim. The bike is in sight, safe.

2) I am staying with a Warmshowers host in an interesting place (like Montreal or Denver) and I leave my stuff with them and explore. Very easy.

3) I decide not to do something because I have to keep an eye on my stuff. Unfortunately, every once in a while I do have to pass on an interesting experience. But I figure I'll get 95% of my nice experiences and if the price I pay for the freedom of bike touring is an occasional missed thing, that's ok. I'll go have a different adventure.


I definitely agree with the "one bag" for electronics. I usually carry a backpack when touring. It's either a small packable one or it's part of my touring setup (when bikepacking). My camera and my laptop never leave my person, period. Even with Warmshowers. But I have a small camera and laptop, Ricoh GR and a Macbook Air.

No, I would not leave it in my tent.

Talk to the managers of the campground and see if you might be able to store your stuff in a shed or something. I've done that and it has worked well. The managers of campgrounds I've stayed in have been quite friendly and helpful.

The alternative is to go to reception and ask nicely if they can take care of the valuables for you while you are off doing something in town. Ensure they take your bag of stuff over the counter and note where they put it.

But generally, if that sort of service isn't available, I take those valuables -- camera, computer and documents -- with me in a small backpack (Sea to Summit that packs into its own bag to less than the size of a teacup).

One time I was hanging out next to the Mississippi River waiting for my tent to dry out as it was getting smelly. A guy came up with a boat and asked if I wanted a ride. I left my bike and all my gear on the banks of the river and took off for 30 minutes. Everything was still there when I came back.

For the most part, people are great. We all have to decide what level of "security" we need.

I have found 90% or more of the places where I want to go for a hike, swim, or whatever are nowhere near any of the places that folks mention as options. Lockers, motel rooms, campground offices and what not do not tend to be handy at the trail heads I am inclined to use. So yes leaving stuff in a room or whatever is great for those few times it is an option, but for me it usually is not an option.

I do as Max does when swimming at swimming holes. Most other activities I take my handlebar bag or little backpack along with me.

Renting a kayak was mentioned. I have also done some ww rafting when on tour. Places where you would do either will typically hold your stuff for you. Otherwise if you have a dry bag take the most theft worthy items with you.

Once set up in camp, I am OK with leaving stuff in the tent with the exception of a few items that routinely go everywhere with me. I try to minimize the number and size of those items (the laptop stays home) so it is easy to manage them.

If a robber wants your camera, you are going to lose your camera, so no plan is perfect. Just minimize the hazard as much as practical and minimize the hassle of lugging around too much valuable stuff.

I would try to make sure that my valuables are as light and compact as possible. If I solo tour, my netbook with 10 inch screen stays at home. My 7 inch tablet might even stay at home since a 4.7 inch smartphone will display my e-mails as well as the 7 inch tablet. Yeah, the keyboard on a smartphone is terrible compared to a real computer but I would not want to be hindered with something like a laptop.

All my valuables fit in my handlebar bag. The handlebar bag goes into every grocery store with me and into every restaurant. There were a few times that I left my handlebar bag in a tent, but when I did that it was because I was comfortable about the situation, such as other bikers also in the site that we had talked to, etc., and even then the handlebar bag was in the foot of the tent under some other stuff to be less obvious.

If I was solo touring, I would want to be able to get all my valuables into one drybag. If I was at a hostel and there was no locker that I could lock, the drybag could go into the shower with me, etc.

I think the biggest danger that would happen to a careful solo tourist is robbery or pick pocket. When in foreign countries when I am sight seeing alone, most of my critical plastic, cash, passport, etc., is in a zippered pants pocket at ankle height that is very hard to spot. My fake wallet with just a few hours of cash is in my pocket with some credit cards that expired in the 90s, those account numbers are no longer valid. I would be bummed if my fake wallet went missing but I would get over it pretty fast.

Nancy, it is good to see you post something again, have not seen anything from you for a long time.

Since a wallet was mentioned...
I'll add that I forgo most of the stuff usually in a wallet I take only drivers license, health insurance card, debit card, credit card, and a little cash. That all fits one of those little credit card envelopes, a similar sized ziploc bag, or a credit card sized duct tape wallet. If I travel outside the US, of course I'd add a passport. That all stays in my handlebar bag or my little backpack.

Most of the things that are typically in my pockets around home stay home. I am kind of surprised when I see folks on tour with a big fat wallet and a big bundle of keys. If I need to take a car or house key (either, generally not both) it is on the cord around my neck along with my ID "dog tag".

wore a money belt .. 35mm film Cameras were in a small side opening dry bag ..

This summer a Woman came in to replace her handlebar bag.. the other one was stolen out of the cab of the truck
her friend used to drive to the start of the trip.

all that stuff was in it Charge cards Phone Tablet /kindle Passport .

There certainly used to small town bus stations, but in the four midwestern states I'm familiar with, small towns no longer have them, and bus transportation has been cut back considerably. When you can catch a bus in a small town around here, you usually board at a gas station/convenience store. Moreover, in major cities that have large bus stations, lockers have been steadily removed since 9/11. In my city of 150,000 people, we have a small building located next to a hotel parking lot in which you can buy tickets and wait for a bus, but there are no lockers.

Nothing. I just go inside or wherever and do my business. I don't worry about anything getting stolen. I don't lock up my bike or anything. First thing you have to do...stop listening to the stupid media...they have an agenda. Remember if companies don't advertise on their TV/radio station than they don't have any income. No income, no business. The media is going to do/say whatever they can to help the businesses that advertise on their network. Pump up the news and see how people react. Everyone is dangerous...so everyone is dangerous, even your own parents/spouse/kids.b

Most people are good people. Look around and pay attention to the way you feel around the people in the area in question. When I went through Syracuse, NY last month I didn't like the vibs I got anywhere around the area, not even from the white people. I didn't trust anyone and didn't stop anywhere. That's the first time I've had those kinds of feelings outside of East St. Louis. If you have good feelings about the people then more than likely the people are fine. If you don't have good feelings about the people around where you are...get the heck out of the area...FAST.

+1 on going with the vibe of a place.

My simple rules for solo touring.

1- carry less, leave expensive electronics home, of simplify with a smart phone or tablet computer if necessary
2- Out of sight, out of mind, keep cameras, and other gadgets deep in your pack, hidden under dirty laundry, or whatever. OR-
3- have a detachable carry with you bag, such as a quick detach handlebar bag, and keep the good stuff there. This stays with you at all times.
4- wallet, passport and money on your body at all times, down with your feet in a sleeping bag when camping. It's too easy to lose, forget or have a bag stolen, though women used to carrying a purse do better on this front than men who aren't.
5- relax, the type of theft your worried about is more an urban thing, than a countryside/camping issue.
6- emergency dough (one or two big bills, in your shoes because you never know.

Put camera etc. in a zip lock bag, dig a shallow hole and bury them, pitch tent over burial spot.

Essential no one sees you doing this.

That's not something I'd recommend doing either!! Leaving all your gear AND going for a ride in a boat with someone you don't know. But as you say ... we all have to decide what level of "security" we need.

An example ...

On my 3-month cycling tour of Australia in 2004, my cycling partner and I wanted to spend a day doing an organised bus tour Fraser Island. We asked the caravan park manager if we could store our stuff securely for the day, and he said we could lock it all in a shed. So we left the tent up, but loaded everything else into our panniers and locked our bicycles and everything in the shed.

Then we caught the shuttle bus to the dock where the tour would begin. The shuttle bus picked up passengers in various locations, including right outside the caravan park.

And we spent a very enjoyable and worry-free day on Fraser Island.


We did something similar when we spent a day on a cruise out the the Great Barrier Reef, as well.

However, if we wanted to swim in the ocean ... which we did most days while we were in Queensland ... we just rolled the bicycles down to the beach, panniers and all, parked them reasonably close to the water, and just kept an eye on them while we were there. Once or twice we might have put a lock around them, but most of the time they were just located close to us.

I'd do that if "all my gear" didn't include money, phone, ID, and credit/debit cards. Those items would go with me. Also my intuition about the locale might come into play. There are places that I'd do that and places where I wouldn't.

+1

On the note of leaving your gear stashed at your campsite - I was fooled into thinking this was a good idea since I was in the posh mountain town of Boulder, Colorado. I mean, I did it plenty of times before in far sketchier areas. When I returned to my campsite EVERYTHING WAS GONE. EVERYTHING. Including my camping gear for the night. This was a very painful night.

Don't let your gear out of your sight, don't leave it at your site.

What's the rest of the story? Were the Boulder police of any help?