Ways to Prevent Gear Being Stolen from Vehicles

Nick Goldsmith wrote:

fear is not rational. whenever we are confronted with something we don't know really well we are more afraid. this was my #1 training partner BINTD from Alabama but living in Vermont for decades which is the whitest state in the nation. Did not have a lot of Black friends in VT

 whenever we did the tournament thing he was always scared of of the  African americans from the urban areas. He would come up to me and say stuff like. OMG did you see that big scary black MFer over there!  he never once said that about a white competetor. Maybe  he was scared because he  had so little contact with with other African americans , possibly he just knew something from growing up In Alabama that we did not know but it certainly was contagious... Either way John would almost always win which was interesting because we were 50/50 in dojo wars.  When you are involved in fight or flight situation your understanding and familiarity with your opponent is certainly a factor worth mentioning. To deny that is simply political correctness or comes from someone who has either never been a real fight or has been in so many in an urban envornment that he / she is comfortable fighting anyone.  I certainly know that I can talk to white rednecks a hell of a lot better than  black gang bangers.  

I'm sure you mean well but you're overlooking a basic reality for dark skinned people in this country, which is that they get profiled and suspected a LOT more than lighter skinned people. As soon as there's a big problem with Black cops profiling white moms driving Volvos and shooting them without cause you can say it's all just about "being confronted with something we don't know very well."

Nick Goldsmith wrote:

Its tough when you are living in a van......     #5 tricam works pretty good. that is the big yellow one????

Orange

Nick Goldsmith wrote:

fear is not rational. whenever we are confronted with something we don't know really well we are more afraid. this was my #1 training partner BINTD from Alabama but living in Vermont for decades which is the whitest state in the nation. Did not have a lot of Black friends in VT

 whenever we did the tournament thing he was always scared of of the  African americans from the urban areas. He would come up to me and say stuff like. OMG did you see that big scary black MFer over there!  he never once said that about a white competetor. Maybe  he was scared because he  had so little contact with with other African americans , possibly he just knew something from growing up In Alabama that we did not know but it certainly was contagious... Either way John would almost always win which was interesting because we were 50/50 in dojo wars.  When you are involved in fight or flight situation your understanding and familiarity with your opponent is certainly a factor worth mentioning. To deny that is simply political correctness or comes from someone who has either never been a real fight or has been in so many in an urban envornment that he / she is comfortable fighting anyone.  I certainly know that I can talk to white rednecks a hell of a lot better than  black gang bangers.  

Feeling the need to repeatedly defend ones statements should be an indicator of where those statements stand. The fact that you feel more secure talking to someone of your own complexion in no way legitimizes statements which further stereotypes of marginalized communities, especially when said statements are coming from someone of privilege. Compassion is key and attempting to understand how ones statements affect others is simple maturity.

not saying that it is correct or nice  or right but it is a fact of fight or flight.  Interestingly enough the one time I was offered to be shot and killed by a banger in the Ikea parking lot in Baltamore the reason he gave for not killing me was because I was white and probably did not know the rules... race does matter in violent human encounters. always has and likely always will.  I am  concludeing that either you don't know much about real fight or flight or you are a superman not susceptible to normal human emotions like fear.  

You're focusing on the action as it occurs, we're focusing on the retelling of it. If the author of the post had said, 'they were brown skinned and due to my gross inexperience with people of color I was extra scared.' the conversation would be much different. But that's not what was said, the questionable nature of the wording was brought up, the author seemed to understand why it was questionable and yet you felt the need to demean those who found it questionable defending yourself with completely different scenarios which really aren't relevant to the discussion at hand.

Alright! Let's get back to the homemade  claymores, shall we?

simplyput . wrote:

You're focusing on the action as it occurs, we're focusing on the retelling of it. If the author of the post had said, 'they were brown skinned and due to my gross inexperience with people of color I was extra scared.' the conversation would be much different. But that's not what was said, the questionable nature of the wording was brought up, the author seemed to understand why it was questionable and yet you felt the need to demean those who found it questionable defending yourself with completely different scenarios which really aren't relevant to the discussion at hand.

Alright! Let's get back to the homemade  claymores, shall we?

Pretty sure you are reading too much into the original post pertaining to this.  Don't claim the ability to read minds my friend lest people try and read your mind and accuse you of projection of your own issues onto him.

Nah, I took the original post at face value. It was Mr. Goldsmith's initial defense and subsequent posts that I actually took issue with. As far as reading minds, I'm not sure where that came from as I only referred to actual statements. Unless of course, based on the hypothetical scenario I proposed, you're assuming I really think Mr. Icepick is scared of brown folks. In which case maybe you're projecting?

simplyput . wrote:

Nah, I took the original post at face value. It was Mr. Goldsmith's initial defense and subsequent posts that I actually took issue with. As far as reading minds, I'm not sure where that came from as I only referred to actual statements. Unless of course, based on the hypothetical scenario I proposed, you're assuming I really think Mr. Icepick is scared of brown folks. In which case maybe you're projecting?

Okay, fair enough.  I think I misread your post a bit on that.  Sorry gets tough sometimes to judge whether people are virtue signalling or just clearing the air.  I should have looked at your post twice.....booze doesn't help with that either.

Nick Goldsmith wrote:

not saying that it is correct or nice  or right but it is a fact of fight or flight.  Interestingly enough the one time I was offered to be shot and killed by a banger in the Ikea parking lot in Baltamore the reason he gave for not killing me was because I was white and probably did not know the rules... race does matter in violent human encounters. always has and likely always will.  I am  concludeing that either you don't know much about real fight or flight or you are a superman not susceptible to normal human emotions like fear.  

 You did NOT run into anyone that was going to kill you at the White Marsh IKEA. I have no doubt that some guy saw your country ass and thought it be fun to mess with you though.

 You’re so Country using the word banger. There’s not a lot of gangbanging going on in Baltimore. Gangs yes, gangbanging nope. The BGF stopped that a while ago. Most murders are the result of petty arguing, he said, she said or robbery these days. The police stopped doing their jobs after the Freddy Gray trial. Guys knew they could literally get away with murder since the police arrived hours after the 911 calls and detectives put in minimum effort into the investigation. 

 You make an interesting argument though. I just don’t think it’s anyone sees what you’re saying is anything more than racism. I understand what you’re saying. You’re more scared by a Latino then by a white dude. You were giving the reader the race of the guy so they knew why you were scared. People these days are kinda crazy. I think they don’t have any black friends or any black people they can truly discuss these things with. 

 I go to jail, one of the things I’m told then notice is the black guys stick together but the white guys don’t. So if I get into a fight with a black guy more than likely it’s not going to be 1-1. Should race not come into play in this story? Am I racist for telling my new cell mate to watch his back?

Simply put. in the context of telling a story no one would read yours without feeling it was contrived and did not flow. read any decent story and the charecters ethnicity is mentioned. its part of the story unless you are a hand wringing wimp so concerned about political correctness that you can't mention ethnicity unless it is in the context of acuseing someone of racisim. Get over it you pox infested  dickless sibling of a syphilitic two dollar Batton Rouge whore ;).  see that one flows nicely and race is not nessicary to get the point across but in many other  chapters of Abbys Road race is a central issue.  Bill I saw the glock. We kind of snaked a parking spot , sort of a dick move but apparently exactly the kind of insult they kill people over in Baltimor.  He rolled up on me in a shitbox civic with the window down, showed the glock and told me the only reason he was not killing me was because 1. his woman was with him.  2. I was a stupid white person who did not know the rules. pretty sketchy shit.

Thanks, Nick. Really appreciate the creative writing advice.

Correct spelling also helps in this arena. But clearly, 'I once chased some guys with a knife after I saw them trying to steal my car battery' is not nearly as well crafted as, 'I once chased some Latino guys with a knife after I saw them trying to steal my car battery'.

Again, thank you...

actually your version is flat as shit and does nothing to enrich tale. yes I can't spell or type fer shit and its tons worse when I have the flu and a fever but I am very well read and I don't have a broom stick stuck in my white arse.

LOLZ

Nick Goldsmith wrote:

Simply put. in the context of telling a story no one would read yours without feeling it was contrived and did not flow. read any decent story and the charecters ethnicity is mentioned. its part of the story unless you are a hand wringing wimp so concerned about political correctness that you can't mention ethnicity unless it is in the context of acuseing someone of racisim. Get over it you pox infested  dickless sibling of a syphilitic two dollar Batton Rouge whore ;).  see that one flows nicely and race is not nessicary to get the point across but in many other  chapters of Abbys Road race is a central issue.  Bill I saw the glock. We kind of snaked a parking spot , sort of a dick move but apparently exactly the kind of insult they kill people over in Baltimor.  He rolled up on me in a shitbox civic with the window down, showed the glock and told me the only reason he was not killing me was because 1. his woman was with him.  2. I was a stupid white person who did not know the rules. pretty sketchy shit.

  Agreed, definitely too much PC.

 But you got messed with by some dude not a gangbanger. Everything he said was BS. Go down where the uprising was in Baltimore and steal somebody’s parking spot. The last thing you would see was a Glock and a flash of light not some BS about rules. That guy at IKEA just wanted to scare you. That’s difference between White Marsh and Pigtown.

BrokenChairs BrettC wrote:

I know the best solution is to not leave gear in your car at a trail head however, at times it's going to happen.  I see a lot of posts that come up where people have their cars broken into and their gear stolen.  I just wanted to start a discussion to share ways of trying to prevent this or at least reduce it.  It seems that most of these are smash and grab type crimes and adding a little deterrent might just save someone from having to go through this.  I recently has my car broken into (luckily I had nothing in there of value) but they did a hell of a job tearing through it to try and find something. 

Ideas:

1. If you have a rig install lock boxes that are bolted down. Seems like a good long term solution for those that are on the road.

2. If you can't bolt it down; get a lock box with a cable/chain lock attached to a fixed point in your car.  The nice thing about boxes is that you can store other gear or gear that wouldn't be secure with my next suggestion. 

3. Get a U Lock that you would use for a bike and thread cams/nuts to it by the cable/thumb loop or lobes.  Then secure it to a fixed point in your car so that they would need to cut the cams/nuts, U-lock or cable to get it out.  Sure it could be done but I'm guessing these thieves aren't going to be prepared for something like that.  It won't do much for biners but a large portion of gear can be secured this way.  (This is what I have done and haven't had any issues.)

4. If you see someone suspicious strike up a conversation while menacingly swinging a number 5 tri cam. (Courtesy of Blake Harrington) 

I brought this up before in a someone stole my shit forum but I wanted to throw it out in a more visible way so it's not buried in the forum black holes.  Please feel free to share ideas or suggestions.

Happy Climbing!! 

I have a #10 Titon that a friend used to refer to as "The Riot Nut".

simply put. interesting that your politicaly correct self is more concerned about the storytellers mention of race than the fact that he was trying to murder 3 people over a car battery......

I'm sure this question will be buried under all the extremely relevant PC/not-PC discussion, but....

Anyone have any comment about roof-top boxes in terms of security? Will having one just make me more of a target and the ability to conceal everything easily not worth it? Anyone have any comment about security of rooftop boxes to smash-and-grab-type assaults?

Nick Goldsmith wrote:

simply put. interesting that your politicaly correct self is more concerned about the storytellers mention of race than the fact that he was trying to murder 3 people over a car battery......

Wow.  You guys really blew that shit out of proportion.   

AndrewArroz wrote:

I'm sure you mean well but you're overlooking a basic reality for dark skinned people in this country, which is that they get profiled and suspected a LOT more than lighter skinned people. As soon as there's a big problem with Black cops profiling white moms driving Volvos and shooting them without cause you can say it's all just about "being confronted with something we don't know very well."

+1

Ben Horowitz wrote:

I'm sure this question will be buried under all the extremely relevant PC/not-PC discussion, but....

Anyone have any comment about roof-top boxes in terms of security? Will having one just make me more of a target and the ability to conceal everything easily not worth it? Anyone have any comment about security of rooftop boxes to smash-and-grab-type assaults?

Depends on the box and how you lock it. I have an older Thule LARGE rooftop box. The built in lock broke (open) and rather than replace it I just use a set of steel cable tie down straps that go over the box and around the bars of my roof rack. It's be really tough to cut those and really tough to remove the box from my roof. Obviously, a sawsall or something would cut right through the plastic box, but since the meth heads can't see what's in there and it's a pretty exposed place to be doing that kind of work, my sense is they just leave it alone.