Re: [Leica] Stolen Leicas--how do you prevent that from happening?

["Jim Laurel" <JimLaurel@earthlink.net>]

Since I usually travel in remote places, I often find myself in fairly
"rustic" lodgings.  When I do get to a major city, I tend to indulge a bit
at Sheratons, Hyatts, Marriotts, and the like.  I have never had anything
stolen from any hotel on the high or low ends thus far in many years of
traveling.

Once, at an Intercontinental (Chicago, I think), I left my Leica CL sitting
on the bed and checked out!  I realized my mistake about when I got to the
airport, and there wasn't any time to go back as my flight was departing.  I
called housekeeping at the hotel and spoke with the supervisor, who put me
on hold while they checked.  Sure enough, she said they had found it and
would send it home for me via FedEx.  This year, while traveling with my
family, there were a few incidents where we had left something by accident
and the hotel staff came running out as we were driving off to return it.
The vast majority of these folks are honest and decent, as all people
generally are, but it is always a good policy to take precautions.

The only time I've had camera gear stolen was when I'd done something
incredibly stupid.  It was at a bar on the Costa Blanca, in Spain in 1979.
I set my ratty canvas bag down on a pinball machine and when I turned around
it was gone - along with my Nikkormat Ftn and 28, 50, and 135mm Nikkors.
So, like I said, just plain looking after your stuff is alot more important
than a stealthy bag!

Ted's right - people generally don't know the difference between a Leica and
any other brand.  My bet is that the recognizable brands, especially Sony,
Canon and Nikon are the most attractive.  One crazy thing I've noticed
traveling in developing countries, is that customs will always ignore your
$15,000 worth of Leica gear, but show alot of concern about that $800 video
camera!  Go figure...

- --Jim

- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Ted Grant" <tedgrant@home.com>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Saturday, September 01, 2001 8:28 PM
Subject: Re: [Leica] Stolen Leicas--how do you prevent that from happening?


> As a general observation on this topic of preventing equipment from being
> stolen I have to ask what kind of hotels have you or do some of you folks
> stay in?
>
> So far it sounds like the hotel staff where you stay are a bunch of
mindless
> thieves and steal everything in sight out in the open.  My good fortune
has
> been I've never lost anything out of a hotel room in 50 years of traveling
> the world.  Now I've got to start worrying because I said that! ;-)
>
> I suppose the Good Guy upstairs has been keeping an eye on my gear. As far
> as walking around with cameras and in particular Leica's, the majority of
> the bad guys in the world don't know a leica from a bed pan, Canons and
> Nikons they do.
>
> No one has as yet, mentioned whenever you put your bag or camera down on
the
> ground that you put one foot inside the shoulder strap or neck strap. That
> means if your attention is diverted no one can pick it up and walk away
with
> it.
>
> Black is better than flashy chrome no matter what manufacturer. The chrome
> is bright and beautiful therefore it must be expensive, ergo steal me! The
> black one is nothing, however, some jerk stealing really doesn't give a
hoop
> what the value is they take it and figure they'll get something for it.
>
> As Marc James Small can attest, petty thieves are pretty stupid and have
in
> general not the slightest idea of the value of what they take, they just
> take whatever they can quickly get away with and sell it for whatever they
> can.
>
> As in, they'd throw the camera gear away and sell the case! That says
> something about the dummies who everyone here appears to fear.
>
> Your own common sense of looking after your gear will keep you and it
safe,
> it doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that.
>
> My only major loss and recovery was an R8, 35-70 and winder in Malaysia
'98
> during the Commonwealth Games held in Kuala Lumpur.  I was distracted and
> set the camera down on the seat beside me and was called over to the side
of
> the swimming pool, when I realized I didn't have the camera I turned
around
> and it was gone!
>
> Thanks to the diligent LUG members in KL and throughout Malaysia, 14
months
> later I received the camera back in Canada in the identical condition when
> it went missing.  True! And if you check the archives in the fall of 1999
> you'll find the complete story.
>
> In any event, some folks get hit and others don't no matter what
precautions
> one takes, so have your stuff insured.
> ted
>
>
>
>
>
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>
>
> Ted Grant Photography Limited
> www.islandnet.com/~tedgrant
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Marc James Small" <msmall@roanoke.infi.net>
> To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
> Sent: Saturday, September 01, 2001 6:08 PM
> Subject: Re: [Leica] Stolen Leicas--how do you prevent that from
happening?
>
>
> > At 05:33 PM 9/1/01 -0700, Jim Laurel wrote:
> > >In hotel rooms, I just locked up spare gear in a porter case, and cable
> > >locked that to something in the room.  Most hotel room theft is
> > >opportunistic.  You are at risk if you leave something out in the open.
> > >Hotel staff are much more likely to go for that stuff before they go
> > >rummaging around in your bags.
> >
> > In the US, it is normal for salesmen who have to leave their sample
cases
> > in their rooms to leave a bottle of bourbon or gin or, best of all,
vodka,
> > visible in the room.  This seems to satisfy the larcenous feelings of
many
> > hotel staff members.
> >
> > I do not know if the same applies overseas, but most US hotel staff
> members
> > are from the lower working class, and wouldn't know a Leica from Jim
> > Larkin.  They MIGHT know a Canon or a Nikon, but that would be the
limit.
> > And the risk of removing the gear carries with it some risk of getting
> > caught -- and, to these folks, cashing in on this stuff is damned
> > difficult:  the fences they might know would deal with are specialists
in
> > car stereos and boom boxes and, maybe, paste jewelry, but would know
> > nothing at all about anything more sophisticated.  So, they would steal
> > your camera case FOR the case, and throw the cameras in a trash can.
The
> > case they could sell.
> >
> > Marc
> >
> > msmall@roanoke.infi.net  FAX:  +540/343-7315
> > Cha robh bąs fir gun ghrąs fir!
> >
> >
>