On Board secure area in a Cali 6

[Lightning]

Yes I can see that under the gas bottle would be a neat place to store valuable documents or a bit of cash but not going to cut it for my camera gear !

I follow lots of vloggers going round the world in their vans, they all seem to get burgled eventually, and many of them lose thousands worth of camera gear and drones, which is their livelihood. Professional insurance is probably your best bet.

 

[WelshGas]

I also set up a little battery powered Ring camera coupled to a WiFi dongle in the van which notifies me on my phone and records if there is movement in the van while I’m away from it.

And of what use is that?

 

[Pixcels]

I follow lots of vloggers going round the world in their vans, they all seem to get burgled eventually, and many of them lose thousands worth of camera gear and drones, which is their livelihood. Professional insurance is probably your best bet.

That's a depressing post.
I have been a pro photographer for 50 years and in all that time I have practised what we in the trade call 'self insure'.
ie rather than pay some insurance company grossly inflated premiums to cover professional usage, we set money aside each year to cover the eventuality of a loss.
In 50 years I have had two losses due to theft: one was on the floor of the Stock Exchange, when they had a trading floor !, put a lens on a table whilst swopping to a wide angle, 2 mins, and it just vanished into the air.(who'd a thought there were criminals in the City of London )
The latest theft was more brutal and although my gear was hidden below the parcel shelf of my (scruffy) Audi, I lost the lot.
It has concentrated my thinking somewhat and induced an awareness that there are some awful scrotes out there waiting to get their fingers on anything that's not bolted down.
Depressing though that is.
During my years covering stories throughout the world in some fairly unsavoury locations I have never felt quite so vulnerable to theft. My new Cali with a '69 plate shouts "money" and will attract all sorts of the wrong attention.
Think I may just pack my shotgun and shoot people on sight if they come too close

 

[Lightning]

That's a depressing post.
I have been a pro photographer for 50 years and in all that time I have practised what we in the trade call 'self insure'.
ie rather than pay some insurance company grossly inflated premiums to cover professional usage, we set money aside each year to cover the eventuality of a loss.
In 50 years I have had two losses due to theft: one was on the floor of the Stock Exchange, when they had a trading floor !, put a lens on a table whilst swopping to a wide angle, 2 mins, and it just vanished into the air.(who'd a thought there were criminals in the City of London )
The latest theft was more brutal and although my gear was hidden below the parcel shelf of my (scruffy) Audi, I lost the lot.
It has concentrated my thinking somewhat and induced an awareness that there are some awful scrotes out there waiting to get their fingers on anything that's not bolted down.
Depressing though that is.
During my years covering stories throughout the world in some fairly unsavoury locations I have never felt quite so vulnerable to theft. My new Cali with a '69 plate shouts "money" and will attract all sorts of the wrong attention.
Think I may just pack my shotgun and shoot people on sight if they come too close

The aftermath of some of these thefts is truly awful to watch. They are mostly not in shiny vans either. I think people can commit these type of crimes with virtual impunity.

 

[Lightning]

And of what use is that?

Not much.
I won’t return to the van shocked to find it has been burgled. I’ll know before I get there and I’ll have a recording of whoever did it on my phone to show the police.

You can also watch them live and shout at them through the camera speaker, which might be cathartic or not.

 

[Amarillo]

'self insure'

Self insure is good so long as you can afford to lose. For that very reason we have a high excess on our two vehicles and home insurance. It saves a small fortune in insurance premiums, but does mean that the first £500 voluntary excess plus £100 compulsory excess of a £750 bicycle is not covered. But we'd recover most of a total loss of £15,000 worth of bicycles.

 

[Pixcels]

See the thinking in that but pro camera insurance especially if travelling is HORRENDOUS !!

 

[Lightning]

See the thinking in that but pro camera insurance especially if travelling is HORRENDOUS !!

That’s because it reflects the risk. Just be as careful as you can. Remove the gas bottle, store it in the boot, and put your camera gear in there, or carry it with you, or park in a secure car park or really carefully think. Leaving it visible in a safe or in the boot may result in more damage to the van. Don’t get complacent.

 

[Pixcels]

Never been complacent ! Always have one eye on the gear.
That's why I've only had two losses in 50 years

 

[Lightning]

Never been complacent ! Always have one eye on the gear.
That's why I've only had two losses in 50 years

A quick hiding place I sometimes use is the space between the under seat draw and kitchen cupboard. Open the cupboard door and reach in.

 

[kurienp]

@Pixcels , the theft from the Audi - would someone have seen you put your camera gear in the boot of the car?

Getting into your vehicle with lots of expensive gear hanging around your neck will attract attention.

An example - when I usually come back home towing my motorcycle, I take a drive around the block to see if anyone is following me.

In the same way, though storing camera gear in the boot of the Cali is safe, and definitely more difficult to access, even after breaking the rear glass, a brief look around before you put items into your van will be helpful -- in addition to all the suggestions above.

Anything to not give the opportunist an idea that something expensive is being left in the vehicle will add to the security of your equipment.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[Blue Yonder]

All of the previous comments are valid but I my opion the secure box option offered by VW is not worth the money is it so easy break into. One further suggestion to slow down and perhaps prevent a smash and grab attack is to fit window tint film or clear security film on all the windows (no need to fit to front window screen as this is laminated). Doing this effectively makes this windows as difficult to break as the laminated front window. Search YouTube to see the effectiveness.

 

[andyinluton]

All of the previous comments are valid but I my opion the secure box option offered by VW is not worth the money is it so easy break into. One further suggestion to slow down and perhaps prevent a smash and grab attack is to fit window tint film or clear security film on all the windows (no need to fit to front window screen as this is laminated). Doing this effectively makes this windows as difficult to break as the laminated front window. Search YouTube to see the effectiveness.

Waste of time laminating all the glass when the sliding windows are the weakest point, they are only held in by bits of plastic & can be forced very easily.

 

[Lightning]

Waste of time laminating all the glass when the sliding windows are the weakest point, they are only held in by bits of plastic & can be forced very easily.

If you laminate the whole thing it might stop it leaking.

 

[jamessclarke]

That's a depressing post.
I have been a pro photographer for 50 years and in all that time I have practised what we in the trade call 'self insure'.
ie rather than pay some insurance company grossly inflated premiums to cover professional usage, we set money aside each year to cover the eventuality of a loss.
In 50 years I have had two losses due to theft: one was on the floor of the Stock Exchange, when they had a trading floor !, put a lens on a table whilst swopping to a wide angle, 2 mins, and it just vanished into the air.(who'd a thought there were criminals in the City of London )
The latest theft was more brutal and although my gear was hidden below the parcel shelf of my (scruffy) Audi, I lost the lot.
It has concentrated my thinking somewhat and induced an awareness that there are some awful scrotes out there waiting to get their fingers on anything that's not bolted down.
Depressing though that is.
During my years covering stories throughout the world in some fairly unsavoury locations I have never felt quite so vulnerable to theft. My new Cali with a '69 plate shouts "money" and will attract all sorts of the wrong attention.
Think I may just pack my shotgun and shoot people on sight if they come too close

Personal plate?

 

[WelshGas]

I think you have to go back to basics.
1. Vehicle stolen with keys or by a professional gang. Doesn’t matter what you do, they will strip it bare.
2. Opportunist, junky looking for saleable items, entry via smashed window, as Deadlocks in use. So he empties all the cupboards etc. One place difficult to get to is behind back seat. So large box, bolted to rails. Difficult to work on in confined space without tools etc: which the opportunistic scrag is unlikely to have and unlikely to want to spend time working on it .