How do you . . .

. . . keep your precious gear secured when staying in a hotel?

My wife and I are going to the Halambra Palace in Granada soon and I'm taking a K20D and a selection of primes with me, leaving all the zooms (locked up very securely :lol at home.

When staying in a hotel there are of course times when you want to go out without your camera gear (thoroughbred anoraks excepted), so how do you secure it?

I use a device from Pacsafe. It's essentially a hardened steel netting bag in which I put my camera bag. Then the whole thing is secured by a large padlock to any suitable plumbing, or the bed.

What's your solution?

Make sure the room has a safe and use it. Make sure it is bolted well to the floor.
Some hotels have a safe in their office, but I don't know if I could ever trust their staff unless the hotel is insured and takes responsibility for what they put there.

I don't know if I would put much fait in a thin wire mesh. A wire netted bag can be cut with simple tools and time, even a pair of tough scissors will possibly work for the persistent ...(coming form one who, as a child, cut a bicycle cable with them -- took an hour, but the point is that it can be done).

Honestly, if someone has access to you room, they likely have the time, tools and inclination to do what they need to get access to anything there. The safe should keep most grab-and-run thieves from rooting through your stuff.

Insist on a safe in the room - or use the hotel facilities.

I have travelled a lot with my laptop and there is so much information on the disk that I would not want to loose - yes I do have back ups too.

I always have a suitable screwdriver with me and in under 30 seconds can remove the 2.5" hard drive. Place that in an antistatic bag and it easily slips into my jacket pocket or the small room safe. The laptop is then attached with hardened steel cable to a suitable point in the room.

Why don't cameras have a small securing slot, the same as laptops, to allow owners to attach them securely? With a metal chassis on the K20D it would be so easy to include it in the manufacture.

None of the room safes in the hotels I've ever stayed in have been large enough to take the contents of my camera bag. Maybe I take too much gear.

I'll have my car so maybe I'll secure the gear in there.

Not sure how an insurance company would react if the car got stolen. Think I would find somewhere to hide it in the room if no other alternatives available. Try removing the bottom drawer from a cabinet and putting your gear in the void below.

Davex.

Have you asked if the hotel has a safe at reception you could use. P.S. the Halambra Palace is a wonderful place.

I haven't, and I'm not sure I would entrust my gear to hotel security anyway.

I'm happy with the solution I've used on numerous occasions. The Pacsafe hasn't let me down . . . yet.

The gear will be in use most of the time anyway, it'll only need to be secured during meal times.

With a body and three or four primes - they should fit.

As for the car idea - what would the insurance company say if the worst happened and the car stolen or broken into? They may say you did not take reasonable precautions. However, if you use the hotel safe, you could demonstrate that you were being cautious.

Agreed, keeping it in the car is not such a good idea. Hotel safe seems the best option.

Thanks for all the comments.

Several hotels that I use also have guest safe facility - the large safe has numerous smaller drawers inside and the management has the main key but the guest has the drawer key and is charged a $200 deposit in case they loose it.

Next question then:-

Which 3 or 4 lenses would you take given the choice of, SMCP-A 24mm, SMCP-FA 31mm Ltd, SMCP-FA 43mm Ltd, SMCP-FA 77mm Ltd, SMCP-FA 50mm 1:1.4, SMCP-FA 50mm Macro, SMCP-FA 100mm Macro, SMCP-FA 135mm?

If you've been there, can you recall which focal length you used most. I fancy the 31mm will get a fair bit of use.

Or, would you pack the 16-50mm and 50-135mm zooms instead?

Is theft from hotels really such an issue? I've travelled a lot, and stayed in many hotels at all price levels: hundreds over the past twenty years - spent 3 years backpacking on & off in the 90s, and have been travelling frequently for work and play since. Only once can I recall having anything stolen - binoculars and camera stuff from a hotel in Kano, Nigeria. And even then we got most of the stuff back due to the hotel owner beating his employee until he produced the stuff!

In European countries I've always felt fairly comfortable leaving my stuff in the room. Am I being naive?! Would be interesting to hear others experience.

Nevertheless, I do usually try and conceal and/or lock away my valuables in a case or suitcase, and use a safe if it's in the room/big enough. Was never a fan of safes at reception - that just seems to draw attention to the fact that you have valuables and leads to the inconvenience of having to use it every time you leave the room.

I guess the most important thing is to make sure you're covered by insurance. And most policies wouldn't cover stuff left in cars, so that's the last place I'd put it.

Personally I take a superzoom and never leave the camera in my room.

I totally agree with this statement!

I have travelled a lot and when in hotels do the same as Dr Mhuni, conceal it away in my locked bag, but, most of the time I like to have my camera gear with me at all times.

The small net book I have now bought for my trip this Dec is now an extra to worry about though. However, will download images to spare passport drive and posting DVDs home along the way. If it does get nicked it will be insured.

There are only so many precautions you can take. Basically I always say to myself before I pack if you cant bear to lose it - don't take it.

Also, don't have posh looking camera bags, they are a magnet, I met a Dutch guy once in the middle of Oz, who produced a Bess Voitlander and a Hassleblad from the most innocuous beat up small day pack!

I used a Panasonic FZ7 when I was there. Looking thru the images with Photome it suggests the most used focal length was 36mm in a film equivalent i.e. 24mm on digital