Great article by our own Dirk Dewachter.....

Veteran Maxpreps photographer Dirk Dewachter has an article on SportsShooter.com this month about the nightmare of getting your gear stolen and how we can protect ourselves from thieves. I've had my gear stolen, it was a nightmare I never want to relive. Here's the link to Dirk's article: http://www.sportsshooter.com/news_story.html?id=2105

Here's a few things I do to try and protect my gear:
When I am at a venue that I know I will be leaving some gear in the press room or other area, I pack my gear in a big rolling pelican case and bring a cable with a lock. I get some funny looks from the other shooters who just drop their bags on tables or chairs and walk away, but obviously they haven't had their gear stolen, yet. I do the same thing in hotel rooms, everything gets packed in the pelican case and it gets locked to something sturdy, like the toilet. In the car I have metal rings in my cargo area and the case gets locked to those if I have to leave gear in the car, then the case gets covered up with a packing blanket that lives back there just for that purpose. Last but not least I have an insurance policy that covers all my photo gear as well as my personal computer equipment, whether it's in my home or on a job, I'm covered. What they won't replace are the images shot on the job, so when I finish a shoot my cards stay with me, I don't pack them with the gear, just in case.