Do you worry about your vehicle.....

[pgibson]

As with all other things Location is everything. Most places that I would hike from here in ID I don't thing twice about where the car is. I have hiked with (and from trail heads seen other cars as well) folks that leave the windows rolled down. I have never heard of any cars being broken into or vandalized in any way here. Though in some places I know it is a real problem. But a contributing factor I am sure is that most of the good hiking is hours from any town of significant size. And I rarely hike in areas that would be spots teenagers (or anyone else for that matter) would go to hang out and drink or what have you. The further away from "civilization" I think the less likely you are to run into folks that would cause any problems.

[Oxblood]

I leave my truck unlocked. Before I had my ipod I'd just take a few well hidden CD's with on the trip leaving my big CD wallet at home. I figured that replacing a few CD's was cheaper than a window. Now that I have an ipod that I can take with instead of CD's I just leave my trunk unlocked at the trailhead/portage with no worries. The only things I keep in my truck anyways are jumper cables, tow strap, a few old tools and spare bulbs, not much of a black market for those things.

Bad idea. Do so, and your vehicle is stolen, your insurance company will void your policy immediately.

[olzeke]

Here in Northern Oregon, the worst parking place I know of is at Eagle Creek. It seems like many cars are broken in to there, and the local LEOs are doing all they can to advise people about it. There used to be several break ins at Bagby Hot Springs parking area, but they slowed down considerably recently.

In my own experience, I just leave my car clean and obviously empty. I do not leave food or wrappers visible because of the exposure I have from bears in Yosemite. Empty shot gun shells might be an answer.

[wolf track]

This is a big concern for me as well. My truck has high end stereo eq. CB, other gadgets that dont remove or hide very easy. I never worry in park or public rec areas but I can't leave it out in theboondocks without worrying. Last big trip I did a week on the ouachita trail so I rented a little car and left it sitting. Almost $400 to go 350 miles and let it sit for a week but I never worried once and that's worth alot when your going out to get away from everything and relax

[Gqgeek81]

I worry about this, but not too bad. I don't leave anything visible and take out what I can.

Recently I've been considering adding a piece of tubing to my EDC so that I can siphon gas from someone with permission should I ever need to. In the event of a search I'm not sure what a LEO would think of that though. I'd also like to get a gas-o-haul in case I have to walk to a gas station but at a trail head the other sounds more reasonable. I'm sure I could find someone willing to sell me some gas from their tank.

On the other hand, even though I don't fill up will the light comes on, I've never ran out so I'm not too worried.

[Red Wing]

I park it ..... leave all my food wrappers thrown around in it .....and hike on and put it out of my mind.
I used to worry but the worry bogged me down.
You can try and get dropped off at the trailhead.... I do that from time to time.
Shug

exactly what I do.. Then again, my car doesn't scream rob me either... let alone steal me...

[Beast 71]

Bad idea. Do so, and your vehicle is stolen, your insurance company will void your policy immediately.

Void my policy? How so? It's not like I,m leaving it idling unlocked while I camp, I have the keys with me. Locked cars get ripped off all the time. If someone has enough criminal knowledge, and tools, to pop the column and hot-wire a car they have enough to break in.

[gavinar]

I always check the spot I'm parking for broken safety glass. If there are glass shards all over the place, I don't park there. It seems most break ins are from habitual offenders that troll the same spots, based on the patterns I've seen for break ins. Never had a breakin at a trailhead, although my truck did get stolen from in front of my house once (heroine addict neighbor came into our house and stole my keys off the hook, long story).

[Indy]

I fart in my car before I leave quick death to whom ever opens the door LOl ....On a serious note my buddy had all 4 tires slashed when we where out fishing ...the good news is they got caught ...bunch of teenagers in a pick up causing problems .....I never had an issue besides a bear looking around the car but I do worry time to time ...I just try to forget about it ...that's what car insurance is for .

[Red Wing]

I had heard bad things about the parking area where we had to leave our vehicles to kayak across Lake Moomaw... We opted to let the local rangers know we were going to be there and where we were going to be parking and they said they'd drop in on'em for us while we were backcountry. Could be useful other places as well, calling the ranger station before hand. I'm sure they appreciate the heads up and knowing who's car is parked on the side of some trail too..