Would you take your kit on holiday without a safe?

Martin-dc2

Martin-dc2

Messages
9
Name
Martin
Edit My Images
Yes
This is the dilemma facing me later this month.

Everything is booked and paid for, and now it turns out the aparthotel's "safety box" is actually a slimline lockbox (think old-style bank ones) behind reception, not a proper safe. I'm sure I can fit a few memory cards and lens filters in there, but nothing else... :(

So what do I do? It's a family holiday not a photography trip, but that's not the point...I've never been away without my camera.

Is there another way of keeping it all secure (or at least insured) without needing to lug it with me everywhere (beach in particular, but also possibly a splash-park as the kids are getting to that age)?

Thanks,

Martin.
 
TimHughes said:
insurance + stow in locked hard case?
Click to expand...
This and the only times I’ve had a ‘lockbox’ in reception it’s been big enough for a camera body at least.

I’m always less concerned about the security of lenses, as non photographers generally don’t see them as valuables. Whereas they see a ‘professional looking camera’ and assume value, even if the camera is a £200 DSLR and the lens is a £4K super fast prime.
 
Maybe I'm a bit different. If it's a hot climate at the destination I will ask for a room 1st or above floor with a balcony. A/C is a nightmare for your gear, so I will put my camera body and or lenses in a seal-able bag, put that in my rucksack, then put the rucksack behind a chair or similar with a towel draped over them on the balcony. I tried putting it in the bathroom in the past but the A/C still affected it. I've been using this method for years and never had a problem of any kind. Maybe I'm just lucky in that respect but I have never come across a room safe big enough to store camera gear.
 
Maybe I've been lucky, but I've never had things go missing at all, staying frequently in places across the US and Canada. One time, even had a call from the hotel after we had left as I had left my iPhone cable in the room and hadn't realized...

I would feel comfortable leaving kit if it's not used in the hotel room. I have done this frequently with my MacBook Pro (which I often take with me due to work reasons) iPad etc... but I'm not going to take them with me when head to the Keys!

Although funnily enough, my partner was freaking about her Mac as she is using it for her masters degree and insisted on taking it with her when we went to Seaward. The security team looks pretty surprised when she pulled it out of her backpack during the random search checks!
 
I have always assumed that anyone breaking into my room at night would wake me but, where there was a safe, I would put the most expensive gear in there. I did have an SLR and several lenses stolen from a hotel room during the day once but the Insurance company paid up in full. This was a business trip. For holidays, I would almost always take the kit around with me but not on a beach as I have never really liked beaches nor did my wife and kids.

Dave
 
In a case with young children I'd probably take a compact and a waterproof dry bag. It can go around your neck and be fine for a pool or splash park (same with my phone)
 
I have stayed in plenty of hotels without a safe. I just put it in my suitcase then lock the suitcase.

mex said:
Maybe I'm a bit different. If it's a hot climate at the destination I will ask for a room 1st or above floor with a balcony. A/C is a nightmare for your gear, so I will put my camera body and or lenses in a seal-able bag, put that in my rucksack, then put the rucksack behind a chair or similar with a towel draped over them on the balcony. I tried putting it in the bathroom in the past but the A/C still affected it. I've been using this method for years and never had a problem of any kind. Maybe I'm just lucky in that respect but I have never come across a room safe big enough to store camera gear.
Click to expand...

I think you are very different. AC isn't a problem. In fact, AC is good as it controls humidity which is the main thing. What you are concerned about is going from hot into cold and then cold into hot and for condensation to build up.

You can mitigate that by keeping the camera in the bag when leaving the hotel when going outside and let the temperature warm up slowly before getting it out of the bag.
 
Can your camera bag be tethered to something? My Thinktank bag has a built in security cable so can be wrapped around the bag and secured to something in the room thats fixed down. It won't stop a determined thief, but would deter an opportunist.
 
If I didn't think my kit would be safe in a room, I'm not sure I'd want to stay in that room myself!
 
Thanks all - appreciate the perspectives.

Dry bag - isn't going to take an SLR and two lenses (bare minimum kit).
Hard case - is only safe if it's securely tethered to something. A soft-case isn't secure even if tethered as all it'd take to open it is a penknife or stanley blade (actually, a ball-point pen would open the zip up regardless).

Leaving out-of-sight in the room is my first thought - we've a lockable suitcase I can hide it all in. Just need to check on the insurance side of things there.
Second is hire-car boot - only nervousness is that hire cars ARE targets for opportunists in lots of parts of the world. But it would be insured.
Otherwise it's drag it down to the beach every day (along with all the other s*** I'll end up carrying), or leave it all at home.
 
I've taken my gear or elements of it away. We have those hard shell suitcases and the carry on one fits inside the medium sized one, which in turn fits inside the large one (like russian dolls type thing). If my kit or part of it is staying in the hotel, I just store it in the smaller suitcase and then lock it, put it in the medium suitcase, lock that and then into the larger case. I don't use the hotel safes as I know staff can get cards and codes to unlock them. I've always stored things abroad this way, passports, cash, phones you name it.
 
Martin-dc2 said:
Thanks all - appreciate the perspectives.

Dry bag - isn't going to take an SLR and two lenses (bare minimum kit).
Hard case - is only safe if it's securely tethered to something. A soft-case isn't secure even if tethered as all it'd take to open it is a penknife or stanley blade (actually, a ball-point pen would open the zip up regardless).

Leaving out-of-sight in the room is my first thought - we've a lockable suitcase I can hide it all in. Just need to check on the insurance side of things there.
Second is hire-car boot - only nervousness is that hire cars ARE targets for opportunists in lots of parts of the world. But it would be insured.
Otherwise it's drag it down to the beach every day (along with all the other s*** I'll end up carrying), or leave it all at home.
Click to expand...
Trying not to sound flippant but I think my attitude has relaxed the more I’ve travelled.
The first time I went abroad with a smartphone and iPad I was constantly nervous. Nowadays you’ll lay by the pool and everyone will be leaving a bag with over a grand worth of tech while they go for a dip. (Typically iPhone, AirPods, kindle or tablet)

The places to be careful are city centres where pick pocketing is rife. But even then I’m more aware than afraid.

And I’m not a fan of the beach, but if I was taking kids to a water park, there’s no way I’m leaving the camera behind.
 
I don't think I've ever stayed in a hotel with a safe big enough to take a camera.
 
Some really different ideas here. Hide it in the case behind a chair? Put it in a suitcase and lock the suitcase? Nothing say's there's something in here like a lock! Truth be known if I was worried about my camera I wouldn't go to the place in the first place! If it bothered ne at all I'd leave the good camera home and take my Panasonic P&S in it's belt pouch.
 
If it's just a holiday, with kids and ice cream and lots of water, but not a phorographic holiday, why take an expensive camera in the first place? You aren't going to be able to use it to its full extent and a point and shoot would be much safer, secure and portable; not to mention cheap if lost or stolen.
 
Stayed in a hotel in Argentina and left camera and lens' in the safe. Got back on the last night when we had to catch a plane at 6 the next morning so started packing but couldn't open the safe so went to reception who sent up the manager who said the safe battery had gone so he phoned security who told him where to drill a hole in the door. He went home and came back with his drills and started drilling. By then it was one o'clock. It took two hours to open it. The rest of our group moaned like hell about the noise when we met up but I just said I had no idea what they were talking about as I had slept right through.... safest answer I think.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: zx9
Adamcski said:
I've taken my gear or elements of it away. We have those hard shell suitcases and the carry on one fits inside the medium sized one, which in turn fits inside the large one (like russian dolls type thing). If my kit or part of it is staying in the hotel, I just store it in the smaller suitcase and then lock it, put it in the medium suitcase, lock that and then into the larger case. I don't use the hotel safes as I know staff can get cards and codes to unlock them. I've always stored things abroad this way, passports, cash, phones you name it.
Click to expand...
We've got hard cases and a similar thought had occurred to me. Sounds like the right answer, and I've now confirmed it'll be covered by our home insurance policy.

ShinySideUp said:
If it's just a holiday, with kids and ice cream and lots of water, but not a phorographic holiday, why take an expensive camera in the first place? You aren't going to be able to use it to its full extent and a point and shoot would be much safer, secure and portable; not to mention cheap if lost or stolen.
Click to expand...
Because it's nice to have proper photos of the kids and have you tried getting them to pose for a portrait at home? Because travel photography is where I started out in this game 20 years ago. Because it feels bloody stupid to spend several hundred on a (better-than-smartphone but still very compromised) point and shoot just to avoid using/risking a proper camera and semi-pro lens that's paid for.


PS - Sky, like your style. Must come with the pintle-mount machine gun though for dealing with traffic! :LOL:

PPS - Phil - I tend to agree...holiday resorts don't seem as big a risk as cities. But no sense leaving a few £k of asset just hanging out there without a plan.
 
Unfortunately I don’t think there is a fail safe solution for your problem. Try to minimise the risk using a method suggested above. Perhaps a Kensington lock exists for cameras, I have no idea.

Make sure your insurance policy does cover you. One of my previous policies effectively didn’t provide cover unless all my photo equipment was with me all the time. Fortunately the current policy is far more accommodating.
 
we have travelled extensively in so many countries and never have had anything taken. getting c amera insurance is a wise move on top of any y travel insurance cover.
 
Not something I've ever worried about. How often has your hotel room/apartment/whatever been broken into? Mine? Never. TBH I am probably more concerned about my house in the UK being broken into.
 
I'd be less worried about the hotel room getting broken into by an outside thief than I would about an inside job by a disgruntled hotel worker.
 
Maybe I'm a bit too relaxed...

I'm currently camping in Devon under canvas, as I do several times a year and don't think twice about leaving my camera behind, or chucked in the boot of the car...
 
nx4737 said:
Maybe I'm a bit too relaxed...

I'm currently camping in Devon under canvas, as I do several times a year and don't think twice about leaving my camera behind, or chucked in the boot of the car...
Click to expand...
I'm the same when it comes to camping, presuming of course that I am on a campsite and not pitched up in a random field somewhere. I have deliberately left the inside of my tent in complete chaos and hidden stuff under all the clothes, sleeping bag etc. I know thieves can be quite determined but perhaps even they might think twice about getting on their hands and knees (it's a small tent) and sorting through my dirty washing on the off-chance there's something for them there,
 
I would leave my kit in the boot of my car if camping and able to park by the tent, but not in the tent.
 
I've never been on a photography holiday, I go for other reasons, and always take the wife instead of a camera. Mrs d00d is not much interested in photography, so it wouldn't be fair.

OK, I do take a compact. A Ricoh GR or something, and hope for the best.
 
ShinySideUp said:
I'd be less worried about the hotel room getting broken into by an outside thief than I would about an inside job by a disgruntled hotel worker.
Click to expand...
I'd be more worried that the staff tend to leave the doors unlocked and propped open when doing a corridor, leaving the path clear for an opportunist.

On our last trip to the US the room safes would hold a 17" laptop, a 300mm lens and a body with no lens. And the passports!
 
Last edited:
I find that taking only what I'm prepared to carry all day, every day, works for me.

Lowepro messenger bag with Sony A65s FZ82 P1010363.jpg
 
I just use my old kit. Nothing worthwhile value wise. Whilst I wouldn’t be happy if it was stolen it’s not the end of the world. Just buy a semi decent cheap s/h camera and no need to worry.
 
i'd just shove it in a case with used clothing over it - having said that i'd have my camera with my if i was on holiday and i'd mainly be worried about the faff of replacing the gear rather than the cost as most of my gear is at least 20 years old
 
I've seen, but don't have, steel mesh bags for day/ruck sacks with draw string style throats, that once filled with the day/ruck sack and closed are then attached by a steel cable to something secure, maybe heating radiator, balcony framework, other pipework in the room, etc. Can't think what these are called, but outdoor shops should know about them. Effectively a highly secure string bag.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top