Saturday, March 1, 2008

Bag Security - The chair folly

I read the other day that a pro photographer blogger had his camera gear stolen. Safely stashed under his chair, it was swiped from beneath him while he ate.

This happened to me many years ago, although my bag wasn't even under my chair, it was on the floor under my legs in my line of sight!

NEVER EVER leave a bag on the floor without lifting a chair leg over the strap or hooking it onto your leg. A practised thief can get a bag from under a chair or table, even as in my case, when you've got about ten friends sitting around you (although the thief wasn't caught, we did know who it was; not one of my friends).

I wouldn't be surprised if really technical thieves could cut straps from under chairs, which is why I always hook the strap over my leg so that I'd very probably feel it go.

The other solution? One of these. Like hooking it around your chairleg, Pacsafe don't make your stuff un-stealable, they just make it a no-brainer for the thief to go and steal something easier.

Like the old adage: If a bear chases us I don't have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you. A basic premise of security.

Thinktank News - Skin, Airstream and new range

ThinkTank Photo have just added and amended their range of photo-related bags.

They've added an interesting line in belt pouches with the SKIN™ range which are all collapsible. Very handy for travelling photographers as it makes it easier to keep your kit in a normal bag (camera or otherwise) and stuff pouches in so that when you get to your destination you've got the best of both worlds; a camera bag and a belt kit. I particularly like the look of the new Skin Belt™. As you know I carry my TT kit in a Peli1510 and the belt takes up an annoying amount of space. The Skin Belt™ looks perfect as I doubt there's any difference in comfort. Also the usual nice design touches, like silence-able velcro.

They've also launched the Airport AirStream™, a tiny rolling bag. It looks too small to be much use to me but they are a switched-on company so I imagine they would only design a new bag if they knew people would buy them.

What I find more interesting is that they no longer sell the Modulus and Pro Modulus belt kit. Instead, we have the Modular Set. Though still a great system, I think it's a shame that they don't still sell the Modulus and Pro Modulus. You can of course build them up yourself, but certainly the Modulus was a much better basis for a system in my opinion as the Whip-it-Out was the natural choice to buy as an add-on to carry your 70-200. The new kit comes with a Pop Down™ pouch which is nowhere near as good as the Whip-It-Out design. Still, all companies evolve and I'm fairly sure your friendly local photo retailer can sort you out a deal if you buy your own bespoke system.