Leaving Your gear in camp

[KevCon223]

On all of My backpacking trips I have always had someone who stayed behind in camp while I ventured out on a day hike, and I never had to worry about My gear. On an upcoming trip, I will be totally solo and was wondering if leaving My gear in camp was wise. I thought of leaving My tent set up and hiding My pack elsewhere. Anyone ever have any problems with this situation?

 

[slamdog]

other threads??

I think I've read posts on this before(?) but not positive. Maybe someone can post a link? We hike in the Daks. I may be too trustworthy, but we have always left all of our gear wherever we stay, lean-to or tenting. We've never had a problem. We have also left a bunch of gear in the back of a pickup with a cap, but no lock, and have never had a problem with that either. I hope you make out OK. Lance

 

[w7xman]

What campsite...when you going??? Haha...kidding.

I think that your approach is appropriate, if not overkill...I haven't had a problem with gear disappearing either car camping or in the backcountry. It'd be tough to rationalize taking someones pack (aka survival gear) from a backcountry site, and yes, I'm giving crooks credit for some level of morality!

 

[David Metsky]

I've never packed up or hidden my stuff while dayhiking from basecamp, never had a problem. I always take my wallet and valuables and hang my food, but otherwise I wouldn't give it a second thought.

-dave-

 

[1ADAM12]

I guess it depends on how far you will be from a road or nearby town. I have only hiked in the Adirondacks but when I am backpacking I never hide anything when I leave basecamp. Never had a problem!!!!!

Were all out there to have a good time and enjoy the wilderness. Some YAHOO is not going to hike 2 or so miles just to steal some gear. That means he/she has to carry it back out that 2 plus miles

 

[trailbiscuit]

I have my own gear to carry. Why would I want to carry yours, too? That would make my pack waaaayyy too heavy. Don't worry about it.

 

[dug]

Since I generally don't camp close to the trail, I've never hid my stuff and I do this quite often.

If I'm dropping my pack to go hit a summit or something, I will sometimes hide it then. Depends on how much traffic and what the yahoo count has been during the day.

 

[DougPaul]

I know of theft of the entire tent and contents in front-country camping (at the gunks) and I know of some gear left along a backcountry trail that was taken (it happened to belong to an NPS Ranger who gently explained that gear caches are sacred--all without telling the offenders that he was the Ranger and had the power to haul them off to jail...), but I suspect that such is rare in the backcountry.

That said, I've never had any gear stolen but take my wallet and valuables (camera etc) along with me. My level of concern depends upon how far I am from the road and how many yahoos are likely to pass by.

Doug

 

[expat]

expensive stuff

It doesn't seem likely to me that someone would take my whole pack, or my sleeping bag. But with some of the small stuff getting pretty expensive, like a Steripen, or a good headlamp, I've had some concerns.

If it's small and expensive, I'd probably take it with me, or hide it.

 

[Quietman]

Previous Thread

Shelter manners

I personally never had any problems in the past.

 

[Jasonst]

Every time I summit West Bond I drop my pack a few yards in on the spur trail. And every time I do this, I worry the whole time that my stuff will get stolen. Perhaps I should just haul it along for peace of mind, but to date, nothing has been stolen.

 

[paul ron]

I've left my gear at lean-tos and/or in my tent while day hiking in the Catskills and never in 35 years had anything taken.

Now that you mention it, I can use a new stove... ummm..... make sure you have one of those new fangle titanium ones? Where did you say you were camping this weekend?

 

[NH_Mtn_Hiker]

I've heard several times of wallets and cameras disappearing from packs that were dropped while people ran up to bag summits in the Whites. As far as the big items like tent, sleeping bags, etc...No, I've never heard of any problems in the backcountry.

 

[rhihn]

I've never had a problem in the Adirondacks, and I've never known anyone who has. If I go to a lean-to, leave my gear, do a dayhike, I return and my gear has always been there. I don't even worry about it. Apart from the difficulty of thieves carrying out gear, I just don't think hikers in general are the sort who would steal.

I HAVE heard of break-ins in cars at trailheads, however, though even these are rare.

Dick

 

[Grumpy]

I've never packed up or hidden my stuff while dayhiking from basecamp, never had a problem. I always take my wallet and valuables and hang my food, but otherwise I wouldn't give it a second thought.

Dave's remarks exactly reflect my own experience.

But I do acknowledge that we are living in a changing era. (Whatever that means.)

G.

 

[woodstrider]

It just depends where and when you leave your stuff, but

the best thing to do is to camp "at large" and not leave your stuff at a leanto or "offical" campsite. Make it hard to find.

I have had only one or two bad experiences in 11 years of of backpacking and I backpack solo alot.

Winter in the backcountry is good- I believe a better class of out-door enthausiast goes out when the temperature drops below 0 degrees. So, I would feel confident leaving my stuff behind in a base camp.

 

[dug]

Hut

Or, stay in a hut!

Oh, wait, wrong thread

 

[Neil]

I never worry about leaving stuff in lean-to's or below summits. I often leave my pack with the side pockets so stuffed with twenty and fifty dollar bills that I couldn't zip them up and the money sticks out but no one has ever taken any. Btw, I'll be leaving my pack thusly on this coming Saturday, unattended between noon and 5 o'clock, at Thunderstorm Junction while I bag a few summits.


Whenever I leave my pack I really only worry about 4 legged creatures so I will often remove all the food from the pack and leave all the pockets open in order to prevent any holes from getting chewed therein.

 

[KevCon223]

Thanks for all the feedback, I feel a little safer now (I think). This trip will be to the Dacks in October (I would'nt miss Oktoberfest), so hiker traffic should be lower anyway. I hate going solo, there's nothing like having someone to complain to , and shoo the bears while I take pictures, but as always, everyone backs out at the last minute.
Thanks again,
Kevin

 

[Mark]

On our way into hike Dix from the Elk Lake parking lot, we read in the trail register that a group lost a bunch of gear to thieves. They were staying in the lean to down the trail. A camp or lean to close to the trail head might be the only situation where I would be concerned about my gear. Most thieves are too lazy to hike in very far. I tend to stay away from the designated camp sites and lean tos, so I have never been worried about my gear.