Room Safes and Lenses

cpbjgc

Earned My Ears
Joined
Jan 25, 2005
Messages
1,501
We are heading down to the World in August, and this is my first time bringing my DSLR and lenses. When I have travelled with my camera, I usually use the room safe to store extra lenses I don't want to lug around. This is my first time travelling with my 70-200 F2.8 lens. I have a backpack camera bag which I will be using at the parks (as I am the designated pack horse), but in the August heat, I can see wanting to leave my 70-200 in the room if I don't anticipate using it on a given day. While I have used the room safes at WDW previoulsy, it was always small stuff, so I don't know that my lenses would even fit in it.

What do the more experienced travellers here do? Use the safe, or just carry all your gear?
 
I went to wal mart and got a small metal pistol box that has holes for mounting and then ran a adjustable cable lock kinda like this one
Bakoda_Retracting_Cable_Lock.jpg

through the inside out and back in the other side so you can loop it around the seat bracket in the car are something in the room that could not be easily removed.
 
I went to wal mart and got a small metal pistol box that has holes for mounting and then ran a adjustable cable lock kinda like this one
through the inside out and back in the other side so you can loop it around the seat bracket in the car are something in the room that could not be easily removed.
WOW! That's a great idea! LOL.

I've found the safes at Boardwalk Villas and POP Century perfect for my 70-200 f/4L...just a bit smaller than the f/2.8, to fit in the room safes perfectly.
 
Wish I could claim it as an original idea but I saw this and it was too small but it got me thinking.

gun_cord-001.jpg


So I made mine for about $25 I think it was all total.
 

I went to wal mart and got a small metal pistol box that has holes for mounting and then ran a adjustable cable lock kinda like this one
Bakoda_Retracting_Cable_Lock.jpg

through the inside out and back in the other side so you can loop it around the seat bracket in the car are something in the room that could not be easily removed.

Very interesting! We will be flying and trying to travel light, so this may be too much security for me, but thanks for this response.

...
I've found the safes at Boardwalk Villas and POP Century perfect for my 70-200 f/4L...just a bit smaller than the f/2.8, to fit in the room safes perfectly.

That sounds good! We are staying at Beach Club and then Old Key West, and I am going to assume the safe sizes don't vary that much. Thanks!
 
Pac-Safe makes steel wire packs that are good for securing things that don't fit in the room safe. We buy them at REI.
Your 70-200 is iffy, a f/4 version fits the room safe but it is snug.
 
Hmmm well you could do the same thing with like a aluminum briefcase or maybe a pelican type case?

I just don't trust safes that others can open other than family.
 
Hmmm well you could do the same thing with like a aluminum briefcase or maybe a pelican type case?

I just don't trust safes that others can open other than family.

I've used a pelican case with a cable lock before. Someone witha hack saw could get through it in a few minutes easily. My concern isn't a hard core crook. My concern is a casual crook. I'm willing to be that most hotel theft is done by people that pop into a room being cleaned, grab a few items, and then pop back out. Well, that and hotel staff.

My first line of defence is to keep people out of my room. Unless I'm going to be somewhere for more than a couple of nights, I keep a "do not disturb" sign on the door to keep even the cleaning people out of my room.

My second line of defence is a combination of securing items and keeping them out of sight. I keep things in the room safe and/or in a lockable container usually locked to the underside of the bed and hidden under the bed.

My third line of the defence is insurance.

I've had my camera gear stolen from my hotel room before. I was living in a hotel suite in one of the nicest hotels in Oklahoma City. I had my gear in a fanny pack tucked out of sight in one of the bedrooms, but not locked up. I was able to pinpoint a 4 hour window during which the gear was stolen. The hotel pulled the lock records (they record every time a key is used to open the door) and during that time only housekeeping had accessed the room. It was either the housekeeper or someone that took advantage of the housekeeper having the door open. My insurance covered my gear (minus my deductible), but I learned my lesson from that experience.

Don't be lulled by thinking that even the nicest hotel is safe. Disney doesn't magically make crime go away in their world. You don't have to be paranoid, but take basic precautions. If you have expensive camera gear, keep it hidden, locked, and insured. Don't expose it to more risks than necessary.
 
In the Canadian section of the board the same question came up about how to secure stuff at Disney, especially photography equipment.

I added my 2cents about the pacsafe line of mobile security pacs and I will second the pp about that line of stuff..

xxxx://www.pacsafe.com/www/index.php

I have purchased the small backpack for myself and DW has other items.

The inner wire mesh liner on the backpack is very tough to cut through and there is a twisted wire that wraps around posts and lock to the backpack...kinda hard to explain, you would have to see it demo'd...but it does work.

The backpack can carry a DSLR, camcorder, lenses etc etc.. and if you leave it, it the room can be secured...or if you leave it in your car, secure to the metal frame in the trunk...

The lock supplied from pacsafe is just a keyed brass lock..I dump them and buy a large dial lock that fits ( get them from computer stores - for securing laptops).
 















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