Camera security at College

[mike_b]

I'm going to be going to college soon, and living in a dorm. I'm also

going to be bringing my Canon Digital Rebel XT. What suggestions do

you have for securing it in a dorm? A lockbox? A Kensington security

lock coupled with one of their adhesive pads?

 

- Mike Benza

[walter_degroot]

something metal strong and fairly thick.

 

large helps also.

maybe a gun safe.

 

schools have other things to worry about besides your camera, I don't

think a theft report will gain any help.- or even sympathy.

 

they may even object to a lock-box with "remington" painted on the outside, just on general principals.

 

good luck. all it takes in 1 out of a hundred to spoil a whole dorm full of decent people. see about insurance, also.

[m3rdpwr]

If they allow, (Or don't tell them) buy a lockbox that bolts to the floor.

 

Possible under where the bed is that way no holes are seen...

 

-Mario

[keith_van_hulle1]

Get a medium size Pelican case (lockable). Then get a laptop locking cable security gizmo. Secure the locked Pelican to your desk or bed with thr cable and you should be OK.

[skipd]

Theft/fire/whatever insurance should be your number 1 priority.

 

In my opinion, no lockbox with or without a cable is going to stop someone who is determined to pilfer your stuff. It will only keep the honest but curious people out.

 

One possibility for a little better security is to get out of a dorm situation and into a private apartment. However, even in that situation there could be folks who learn what you have and decide that they want it more than you do.

[phyrpowr]

Nothing's perfect, guy I know had his huge gunsafe stolen, they went under the house, cut the bolts, carried out the whole thing

 

My old dorm (these many years ago) had some locking drawers, easily jimmied, but most dorm thieves are not looking to actually "break in", but for what's laying around.

 

One idea is drill two holes in a drawer, then a cable bike lock to a lockable case, way too much trouble probably for almost all thieves.

 

And you can call the college to see if they have safe storage areas, dorm safes, lockers, etc.

 

More likely scenario is that your trusted roomate drunkenly "lends" it to "this real cool guy/girl, like, you know, an artist, man, it's cool, they'll bring it back"

[studiojmm]

I agree with Jack. You are mostly looking to deter opportunists. A lock box and a cable lock should be sufficient to prevent the inconvience of it's loss (not storing your data backup in the same box, just in case).

 

Your camera, and most of your other stuff, is probably covered under your parents homeowner's insurance even while you are in the dorm. Check. That may not be the case if you move into your own apartment. You may need a special rider for the camera (and for your fancy mountain bike - bikes are specifically excluded by our insurance company unless we pay extra) but that won't cost much per year.

[rob_murray]

Put it in the bottom of the dirty laundry basket its safety is assured there. Chain an empty Pelican case to your bed to really

frustrate theives.

[lex_jenkins]

Buy an old electrical switchbox labeled "Danger! High Voltage!" or something similar. Gut it. Bolt it to the wall. Lock your stuff inside.

[Ed_Ingold]

Pacsafe makes bags to cover your camera bag made from steel "fishnet" that cinches up and can be locked to something immoveable. That will keep a casual thief (or roommate) from borrowing your equipment. You can get them from www.rei.com (or Google for Pacsafe).

 

Pelican cases are secure and lockable, but not very convenient to work from.

 

Jack has it right - you are most likely to lose something that one of your friends loans to someone else. Otherwise, when someone walks into your room unnoticed and grabs whatever "shinies" are loose.

 

Make sure your equipment is insured under your parent's homeowner's policy. You probably have to list these items and pay for them under a floater policy.

[madhu1]

Alternatively, check if your dorm has a safe deposit facility. If not, approach the student council/governing body to set one up in each dorm. With nominal usage fees, it can finance any interns guarding it and become a selling point for the college. Plus, the college insurance plan may cover any losses from theft/fire, etc.

[byronlawrence]

sleep with it at night, carry it to class, and don't ever leave it out of your site..

 

a lock box cabled to your bed should be fine, but more importantly get to know your room mate and lock the door when you leave the room. Many people will respect things in dorms (everybody has expensive parental gifts,, like computers, tvs, etc.) the only time I had anything stolen was 80 dollars sitting out on a desk, when I used to keep my door open all the time (even when I went to class). I knew who did it but there was no way to prove it so I let it go, and learned my lesson. don't leave your room open with money in plain site from the door. :)

so any reasonable measure, like putting it in a drawer or in a lock case in a drawer will keep it more than safe.. just make sure not to draw too much attention to it and if you do not to perk people's curiousity about it (like if somebody asks you what's in the case, don't tell them, 'thats for me to know and you to find out').

 

most things on campus are stolen when leaving things unattended, like book bags, etc.

good luck

[rich_taylor____mequon__wi]

Rob,

Your idea of security is what thieves live for! Trust me (and don't ask how I know), there's no "clever" place in your house or dorm or apartment where you can hide something that won't be one of the first places a good thief will check. You may fool the occasional impulse thief, but not someone who makes a living at it. People buy those phony shaving cream cans and hide keys in faux rocks and think that the "bad guys" don't know about those products, or have ever heard of hiding valuables in the freezer, refrigerator, laundry basket, false electrical socket, garbage cans, curtain hems, mattresses, cereal boxes, laundry detergent, behind drawers, taped under drawers, under carpets, in toilet tanks, etc. A good thief, or team, can go through a place and check every one of those places, grab what they find, and be gone in 3 minutes or less.

 

Another vote here for Pelican case and a good cable lock. It won't deter someone who walks around with a huge bolt-cutter, but the gear will be safe from the klepto neighbor.

[mike_b]

<p>I like the idea of the Pelican cases...but I wouldn't be working out of one. I'm a college student. Therefore, I'm poor ;). Therefore, I don't have much gear to begin with.</p>

 

<p><i>One possibility for a little better security is to get out of a dorm situation and into a private apartment</i><br>

But the cost of the apartment would certainly be more than the cost of a camera, or the insurance on one.</p>

 

<p><i>More likely scenario is that your trusted roomate drunkenly "lends" it to "this real cool guy/girl, like, you know, an artist, man, it's cool, they'll bring it back"</i><br>

It's funny you should say that: one of the questions on the roommate survey I received was, "How would you feel if your roommate borrowed or lent something of yours without you knowing?" I responded that I woul mind, but if they asked first, I wouldn't have a problem with it.

</p>

 

<p>I looked at the Pac-Safe site, but they don't seem to have anything small enough for a single camera and lens, or even a camera and a few lenses.</p>

 

<p>I can't carry my camera around with me everywhere I go. That would be nice, but it's impractical. There are some times when I've just got to leave it behind.</p>

 

Thank you for your suggestions.

 

- Mike B

[mab]

A safe that would protect against a determined professional

burglar would cost several times the value of your camera.

The only economical protection against such a thief for items

in this price range is homeowners/renters insurance. (On

the other hand, few professional burglar are going to spend

their efforts on dorm rooms).

 

Casual theives, on the other hand, can probably be

effectively protected against by remembering to lock your

door, and other such common sense precautions.

[phyrpowr]

Rich's post reminds me of an article the local paper ran some years ago after a rash of burglaries, here are places pro thieves know about, don't use them, etc.

 

I wrote them to thank them for letting the druggie kid amateurs I was ACTUALLY concerned with know this stuff for free.

 

Pro thieves are absolutely the least of your concerns, Mike. Just take those basic precautions we've outlined: lock it up somehow, don't leave it out available and showing, don't trust another kid (no offense) with it's safety, lock your door, keep an eye out for the types that say things like "the music belongs to the people", as they think they're the "people" and that more than music "belongs" to them

[hugh_crawford1]

Kensington locks are generaly known to be junk. Enter

 

opening kensington lock toilet paper

 

into google to get 11,000 websites that show how to open a kensington lock with toilet paper.

[Jochen_S]

I have a quite secure seeming sailor's box (German navy) made from steel. It fits well into a standard wardrobe and is a useable makeshift chair. I would get something like this, if I was in your shoes. Notice: your camera is expensive, but having a burned of room mate chewing your whole potato chips stock sucks too...

[dan_vidal]

Byron hit the nail on the head. Back in the day (1997-2001) when I went to school, I didn't let my little Pentax ZX-5n out of my sight. It cost me $290, but $290 was (and still is!) a decent amount of money to me, so I carried it around. Good habits carryover, so I tote my Canon DSLR around with me at all times too. I leave some excess gear in a lockbox at my apt, too.

 

That being said, your best bet is to bolt down a safe of some sort. 99 percent of dorm room theft is a crime of opportunity. My roommate left the door open once to go get laundry, and when he came back, my Discman that I had left on my bed was gone. He was gone for maybe 5 minutes.

 

Be suspicious of staff too. Dorm staff have a master key for obvious reasons, so what you should do is change the locks right away....keep the old lock in case the staff finds out though. I mention this, since a friend of mine had his PC stolen over Christmas break one year, and it was determined to be an unscrupulous janitor as the thief.

[mike_b]

<p>Well, more than a year later, I'm back. I don't know if I lucked out in that I got roommates that I can trust (though I didn't like them, I could still trust them), or if it's not as big of an issue as I'd expected. None of my roommates ever touched any of my stuff, with the exception of once calling to ask if he could borrow my camera for something, which I was fine with. After the first semester I brought a lot of my other equipment down to school, so I needed to lock it up -- though not from my roommates, but from possible theives. Although we never had anything stolen from our room, I didn't want to risk it -- our room was the place to hang out, so we had a lot of people in and out. In any case, it wasn't ever open and without one of my roommates in it.</p>

 

<p>To lock up the more expensive stuff, I took an angle iron and a mending plate. An angle iron is a piece of metal (steel, I think) bent at a 90 degree angle. It has has a few screw holes in it -- usually two or three per side. A mending plate is the same thing, but not bent. I attached them like this:</p>

 

<tt>

    |   ||<<br>

    |   ||<br>

    |   ||<<br>

    +===+|<br>

- -------+   x    x<br>

- ------------------<br>

    +--------------------------<br>

    |<br>

    +--------------------------<br>

</tt>

That is a top view of where the drawer face meets the side of dresser. The <s and xs indicate where there were screws. I put a lock through the screw holes at the end of the mending plate / angle iron. This is good for college students because they can't cause any damage to their furniture, and this is something that is hidden once it's removed. I hope it helps. I also hope it comes out right.

 

- Mike