while hiking

[JJwilliams]

I know lots of people now carry one time use cameras while hiking but many use very expensive cameras and carry pricy binoculars and other gear too.

having been mugged and robbed a few times in my life I was wondering how much money everyone carries while hiking? I don't carry any, I leave it in my car. I have come back to find my car ripped apart and the money gone but at least I was not injured. I got the plate # and info of the men and women doing it and they were arressted.

I was just wondering since i had a camera and a few things stolen out of my car the other day while parked at the trail head parking to roostercomb. they pried my vent window open on my car and just hit the auto locks. not hard or slow to do I guess since I was only gone 20 minutes.

also I ran into a two women from NJ who were having lunch in town at noonmark and I was telling them my sobs story, they said htey both carry guns even though it is illegal for them to have them. that made me wonder a few things, one of which is would they actually use them to save a camera!?

kill someone over money when I get more every payday....anyway, if no one remembers me I live through ping's hikes, I am physically challenged and can not make any steep or long hikes, my dad's boss straps me on his pack board and take sme up many mtns and in winter tows me in sleds, but th ecold is very hard on me.

anyway that was what I was wondering about tonight.

jj

 

[afka_bob]

Maybe those two women are concerned about more than a camera or some money.

 

[maineguy]

"both carry guns "

Uh oh

 

[1ADAM12]

JJ,

I do not leave any money or valuables in my car. I always leave the doors unlocked so if they want to go through the car I let them. At least this way my windows are not broke and I am not picking glass from my arse on the 6 hour trip home.

I usually have a hundred bucks on me that I pack into my destination with me in the Adirondacks. I doubt that I would ever get mugged 15 miles from the nearest highway

Check out this There has been talk about trailhead vandals other places too. In my opinion these people are scum and its a good way to get the crap beat oout of them if caught!

Happy Trails,
ADAM

 

[firemanchaz]

I carry 20 bucks and a credit card.

20 bucks will get me something to eat and a ride back to my car if I end up coming out at a different trailhead. The credit card will help them identify my body after 20 years of lying in some out of the way crevice.

I also carry a disposable camera, but only because they are lighter than my good one.

I've never had my car broken into, but then, you ought to see my car!!

Chuck

 

[ExploreTheEast]

While we're asking questions like "do you carry x amount of money on the trail," we'd also like the following information:

1. Your home address.
2. Do you have a dog?
3. Do you have an alarm on your home?
4. What is the code for that alarm?
5. What times of day are you usually not home?

Thank you for this information, it will greatly improve our hiking experience!

Seriously, I don't know what's more ridiculous- telling strangers you carry money on the trail, or telling strangers you illegally carry a firearm on the trail.

 

[Maddy]

Maybe those two women are concerned about more than a camera or some money.

I agree. It was a few short years ago that the Caput woman was savagely slain on the Glen Boulder trail Thanksgiving week. I believe her killer is still at large. Then we had the two who met similar fates on the AT in Virginia. Recently the UMass nursing student who vanished into thin air after a minor accident in No. NH.
These are things women think about.
I doubt these two women would shoot someone over a camera or $20.
My 100lb Akita is my gun. I make very certain that she is in very close proximity to me at all times. Granted we could both be killed by someone carrying a gun but having her there would at least give us a fighting chance.
Maddy

 

[Stan]

I often leave stuff that I needed yesterday but don't need today ... not to mention stuff that presumably has no value to anyone else like my old cassetts. While I feel that I possess nothing, aside from the love of my family, that is worth dying or killing for, I don't have much pity for the bastard that gets blasted by someone who feels differently ... and by bastard I mean the one breaking into the car ... people who happen to leave something valuable in their cars are not responsible for people who break in though there's no point in needless temptation.

 

[Grumpy]

Re: Pavlov's dogs

The fact that people still leave cash and valuables in their cars is EXACTLY the reason that the bad guys break into your car at the trailhead. Take your valuables with you, or leave them home. If the crooks break into vehicles and don't find any good stuff, they'll look elsewhere. Your cash and valuable camera are MUCH safer with you on the trail than in your car.

It is constructive to look for practical preventive measures, here. But let's be careful to not blame the victims while discussing this trailhead theft and vandalism business. I'd have to agree that cash and other valuables are safer with you on the trail than in your car at the trailhead. Yet for various reasons it may not always be quite practical to strip the vehicle of all valuables before heading off into the woods.

G.

 

[Blue]

These are things women think about.

I think about it more while taking the train home late in Boston or walking around at night in Cambridge, but I think there is a much greater chance getting hurt in a car accident on Rt 93 on the way to the trail head than getting attacked in the woods of northern NH... so I don't think about it very much at all.

dogs, guns, black flies - seems like we've got it all covered.....oh - anyone wish to comment on the Highland Center??

 

[Grumpy]

dogs, guns, black flies - seems like we've got it all covered.....oh - anyone wish to comment on the Highland Center??

I quit poking my fingers in known live electrical sockets some time ago. At least I like to think that's the case, although there may be evidence to the contrary.

G.

 

[Jim W]

When my turn came up to have my window smashed in, all they got was loose change and tokens (for the Hampton tax booths).

Mr. Grumpy is right. It wasn't my fault.

I do wonder, though, about this idea of leaving the car unlocked from now on.

What say the rest of you? Is it a good idea? Do they actually try to open the door before they take out the sledge hammer?

 

[Adk_dib]

I always carry my wallet, for identification in case anything goes wrong. My car keys are in my day pack. On my belt I carry a canon elf camera, very small you dont even know you have it with you. Two large bottles of water on my day pack, if I have my dog with me or if it is a longer trip I carry another larger bottle in my day pack. First aid and extra bug spray. lunch of course. I carry a small set of binoculars. If I am on a lesser traveled trail, or if I am anywhere near marcy dam I carry my bear spray. I have a watch which doubles as a compas and altimeter. Water filter on real long trips.

 

[Mashmann]

good comments blue.

what is your favorite color of fleece?

it's too bad we have to worry about these things. my wife and I are opposites. I believe that unlocked car is the best deterent. but once the car is unlocked that gives them access to the trunk and the hood. we've got vandals, burglars, and worse, as mentioned above.

a teacher i had a long time ago said it best. if someone needs something i have bad enough to steal it then he can have it, he must really need it. but on the other hand, that doesn't resolve your sense of violation.

oh well.

ed

 

[Peakbagr]

7-2 odds that this thead spirals downhill.

 

[afka_bob]

spiraling

In the mountains you can only go up or down ;-)

 

[lumberzac]

It is sad that this has become an issue.

In general I carry my wallet with me on the trail, mainly for identification just in case, and a couple bucks for a burger on the way home. About the only thing I leave in the car is a change of cloths.

 

[Jaytrek57]

Peakbagr--

Give me $100.00 at 7-2 odds. Also give me $25.00 on the over.

My favorite color of fleece is black...oh wait...red.

I don't have an opinion one way or the other about the Highland Center.

I leave my car unlocked with a note and directions on where to pick me up after my hike. Has never worked and has led to some long nights hiking back to my car. Need to stick to loop hikes.

I usually carry exactly $412.00 with me on every hike in the White Mountains. I like to buy a t-shirt and a candy bar at one of the huts...I use the change for the $1.00 toll back to Boston.

That about covers it.

Oh wait...I don't carry a weapon when I hike, but my unleashed dog does. ....don't worry...he's well trained

Peace.

 

[maineguy]

Some time ago, someone on the AMC board posted something along these lines to avoid car breakins...

"leave a scattering of expended shotgun shells and empty beer cans on the car seats and floor. Then, post a note on the windshield that goes something like this:

Jeb, gone to the usual shooting spot, be back shortly"

 

[funkyfreddy]

I I was wondering how much money everyone carries while hiking?
.......anyway that was what I was wondering about tonight.

Generally I don't carry much as money can't buy you love, at least that's what they tell you. Sometimes though, like when I'm doing a job for my friend Tony and his cousins from NJ, I might be carrying anywhere from 50,000 to 500,000 dollars which could be mixed with diamonds and jewels which are too hot at the moment to fence.

The last job I did for them was a real PITA, as I couldn't hide it in any of our usual places along Clinton Rd. in NJ and had to go all the way to the Catskills. There I had to lash a 40 lb. sack of cash and jewels to the back of my external frame and carry it into a swamp where I hid it near the wreck of an old car, right near where Dutch Schultz buried his treasure.