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Gunsafe saves the day, what do you do for security?

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Frank from AZ

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Well, it happened, the neighborhood got hit by burglers and our house was one of several that was broken into. Since I have all my small valuables in a large gunsafe, including all my camera gear, nothing of value was taken from the house, they just ransacked and carried off a few gameboys. Our neighbors lost 3 laptops and a bunch of jewelry (my laptops and jewelry are in the safe too, except for a broken laptop, which was taken. I have a watch collection that's worth more than my camera gear). I noticed that the thieves overturned sofas, looked and emptied out garage cubbyholes, etc: if anything had been hidden, they would have found it. They tried breaking into the safe, but only a pro can do that. Long story short, the gunsafe saved the day as I had a shoot this weekend. I know insurance would have covered most of my loss had the gear been stolen, but what a hassle making a claim is. We had an alarm system but with 6 kids, they kept setting it off so we had it canceled. Obviously, we are re-evaluating this. We live in a pretty nice area but then, that's what thieves target.

Aside from insurance, what do you do with your gear when you have 10,000 dollars or invested that is easily carried off?
--
Frank from Phoenix
Canon1DMk2,1D,Oly5060 and lots of typos
 
You can't beat a dog for security. I've never been the victim of a break-in, which is partly luck. Where I currently live, a small Eskimo town in NW Alaska, it's not a real issue. But if it was, I'd probably go for a Browning gun safe.

Zidar
Alaska

--
'He's out there operating without any decent restraint, totally beyond
the pale of any acceptable human conduct.'
  • Apocalypse Now
 
I've got an AMSEC high security gun safe with the replaceable keypad, which comes in handy as mine was smashed. The new one cost $25 and took all of 1 minute to install.

oh, a large handful of peanut butter does a good job of shutting down guard dogs, as does a .22 short (about the noise level of a pellet gun) out of my Ruger Single Six, mace or pepper spray. But with 6 kids, the big dogs just scare me too much.
--
Frank from Phoenix
Canon1DMk2,1D,Oly5060 and lots of typos
 
Sorry to hear about your ordeal Frank, but thanks for sharing. I know I'm guilty of not doing everything I should to safe guard my equipment, and your post will prompt me to do a better job there.
 
I recently bought a gun safe and bolted it into a closet. I have the thing filled with my gear and valuables as well. I also keep cash etc. That is the greatest thing I have ever done for my equipment.
--
have fun and go shoot
 
SIX KIDS! You need a gun safe just to keep the equipment safe from them! :-)

Glad you didn't lose anything of value.
 
Im sorry to hear this.
i have a few Q's...

if u have an up stares, did they go up there?
could u tell us were they looked?

see im trying to hide stuff were i think they wouldnt look.(im not to good at that)
thank you!
--
- - - - - - - - - - - -

If you cant DODGE it... RAM it!!!

Canon power
350D
70-300IS
18-55

Take pictures till it blows up!

Nothing shoots like a CANON!
 
Kory55 said:
if u have an up stares, did they go up there?
could u tell us were they looked?
Click to expand...
Yes, we have an upstairs, and yes, they went methodically through each closet, took the bed mattresses off their frames, emptied each drawer. They did this to the other houses, which led the police to believe it was a group of 4 or 5. Like I said, they even went out to the garage areas and emptied out our closets in the garage looking to see if we hid anything of value there. It was almost as if someone told them I had large amounts of cash hidden. Which I don't.
Kory55 said:
see im trying to hide stuff were i think they wouldnt look.(im not
to good at that)
Click to expand...
Based on my experience, you can't hide anything without building a false wall, which I may do in one of my closets.
Kory55 said:
thank you!
--
- - - - - - - - - - - -

If you cant DODGE it... RAM it!!!

Canon power
350D
70-300IS
18-55

Take pictures till it blows up!

Nothing shoots like a CANON!
Click to expand...
--
Frank from Phoenix
Canon1DMk2,1D,Oly5060 and lots of typos
 
Frank from AZ wrote:
. . .
Frank from AZ said:
Aside from insurance, what do you do with your gear when you have
10,000 dollars or invested that is easily carried off?
Click to expand...
Nothing special, unless it counts that we rely on nicer houses and neighborhoods to lure the discerning thief away from us!

Sorry about your experience, even if nothing serious was lost. Putting all that back the way it was can be hell, all the while feeling kind of violated.

We just moved from the big city (Phoenix) and a lot of our stuff is still in boxes that I wish someone would cart off! But the investment in all this camera and related gear . . . well, I need to review that a little more seriously.

Regards,

Mike
 
I live in a remote part of Alaska. If there were people ready to kill my dog "with a .22 short" so they could burglarize my house, I'd move. I think some people are injecting a little paranoia into their lives....I've got plenty of real adventure up here.

By the way, I think it's more likely that in America theives would haul off a gun safe with a stolen front loader than throw curry powder in a guard dog's eyes.

Zidar
Alaska

--
'He's out there operating without any decent restraint, totally beyond
the pale of any acceptable human conduct.'
  • Apocalypse Now
 
Zidar said:
I live in a remote part of Alaska. If there were people ready to
kill my dog "with a .22 short" so they could burglarize my house,
I'd move. I think some people are injecting a little paranoia into
their lives....I've got plenty of real adventure up here.

By the way, I think it's more likely that in America theives would
haul off a gun safe with a stolen front loader than throw curry
powder in a guard dog's eyes.
Click to expand...
Good points. Informed, as we are, by the 24-hour news cycle, we're aware of anyone's misfortune anywhere, and it's easy to imagine dangers lurking around every corner. For me, adventure is hiking into the Superstition Wilderness. A few miles off the road, and things get really different really fast. Contrary to people's idea of the area as some kind of "empty quarter," there's lots of life out there. Only some of it bites.

Mike
 
Mike Worley said:
Mike Worley said:
Aside from insurance, what do you do with your gear when you have
10,000 dollars or invested that is easily carried off?
Click to expand...
Nothing special, unless it counts that we rely on nicer houses and
neighborhoods to lure the discerning thief away from us!

Sorry about your experience, even if nothing serious was lost.
Putting all that back the way it was can be hell, all the while
feeling kind of violated.

We just moved from the big city (Phoenix) and a lot of our stuff is
still in boxes that I wish someone would cart off! But the
investment in all this camera and related gear . . . well, I need
to review that a little more seriously.
Click to expand...
Big city, small town, rural area, way out in the boonies...people seldom realize just how easy it would be for someone to break into a securely locked home today. Cordless tools have removed the labor from taking out a door or window to do the job, and a magnetic sign on the truck could inform neighbors that Joe's Home Remodeling is at work.

--
Charlie Self
http://www.charlieselfonline.com
 
I had my camera equipment stolen about 20 years ago. They took my gun collection too.

I was considering getting a Rottweiler or a German Shepard BUT then my homeowners insurance would be cancelled.

So although I live a safe community, you gave me good advice about the gun safe.

Sorry to hear about the burglary rates in your neighborhood.
 
Not a pro, but I alway like looking through the thread to learn new things, but as of a result of what happened today and this thread just seeming to be here, wanted to share my thoughts.

Me and the girlfriend parked our car at a provincial park in Nova Scotia, grabbed ONLY my camera and the lens on it...not the rest of my gear and headed down the trail, spotted a sign stating that there were many break ins into cars lately. I didn't think much of it as those types of signs are posted pretty much everywhere. But, on a whim I decided to go back to the car and put my grand worth of gear in the trunk (no not a lot of gear, but its what I can afford).

2 hours later when we got back to the car, wouldn't you know it, it got broken into. I didn't notice at first, but turns out they furiously tired to pry open my glove compatment, which, if they had, would have let them into my trunk. Fortunatly for me, my glove compartment is broken and I am the only person who knows how to open it.

So they walked away with about $100 in cash and change from my GF's wallet (but curiously left the wallet) and I now have to buy a new glove compatment.

First thing I am gona do and I recommend this to everyone. I am going to disable my trunk release. Its just a small inconvience for me, but a big inconvienience for a crook to have to pry open a trunk in broad daylight. Even this won't stop the hard core crooks (nothing will) but it'll stop those pesky petty thieves.

Another bit of wisdom for those who have installed their own car stereo. On the back of most stereos is a screw hole for a stabilization anchor. Take advantace of this and use plumbers stainless steel strapping to bolt the deck to the frame of your car. I warn you in advance, this will likely require the complete removal of your front dash and 3 times as long as a regular installation. But its worth it if you know what you're doing. It saved me a deck 2 years ago, all they broke was the front mounting bracket.

My condolences to Frank, having you house turned upside down must be really hard to deal with. But I hope your bit of wisdom (and perhaps mine) will help people keep their gear from disappearing (or anything for that matter).
--
Chris V
 
Sorry to hear about your neighborhood and your ordeal. Glad your stuff was well secured but still, it's quite a violation of your private space. Can you tell me what the point of entry was for any or some of the breakins? I try to monitor such things because it keeps me on my toes by knowing their methods.

--
Andy (Critiques Always Welcome)
FCAS Member #120
http://imageevent.com/ajrphotos
 
On our house they went in through a side window, forced it open enough to remove the dowel. On the neighbors they broke a back window.
--
Frank from Phoenix
Canon1DMk2,1D,Oly5060 and lots of typos
 
Sorry to hear of your experience -- sounds as if you were hit by real professionals. The one time I was robbed they pretty well trashed the house but never got to the safe, hidden at the back of the under-stairs closet.

As an alternative to a gun safe, I bought a very heavy duty tool box from an oil field supply place -- the kind made to be left at the drilling site. These days you can buy similar boxes at Home Depot and the like. Typically these are heavy guage steel with some type of recessed space for two padlocks, designed to keep the locks safe from saws or bolt cutters. To me these offer better protection for the money than low priced or mid-range gun safes, though they probably don't equal the really good safes

--
J.R.

Somewhere south of Amarillo
 
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