Time to vent! Stolen stuff.

AmperSand

Enlightened
Joined
Aug 31, 2009
Messages
223
Location
Brisbane, Australia
Got into my car this morning as per normal, started driving into work.
Noticed my passenger seat was a bit wet, thought my window my have been slightly down as it was raining pretty heavily last night. Then noticed my door was ajar. Stopped the car, got out to check the passenger side door, and sure enough lock had been forced with a screwdriver.
I started to scan around in a panic to check what was missing. My bag, which I happened to have in my car due to taking a trip to see my brother and show him a few of the modified maglite's I had made, and a few solarforce hosts with dropin's I had made also.

Anyway, here is the list of my loss due to some arrogant little so and so deciding he needed my stuff more than I did.

4D Maglite with H22A heatsink + Cree XM-L T6 with 8 x AMC7135 3 mode driver run on 3P4S eneloops.
4D Maglite with H22A heatsink + Cree XP-G R5 with 4 x AMC7135 3 mode driver.
4D Maglite with custom heatsink and Cree XR-E R2 (ez900 die) run with 4 x AMC7135 3 mode driver and 50mm aspheric lens
Nitecore SR3 modded with Cree XM-L T6
4Sevens Quark 123
Solarforce L2p Grey + stainless strike bezel with 0.9-4.2v 3mode Cree XP-G R5 dropin
Solarforce L2m Silver with extension to run 18650 with Cree XP-G R5 Neutral (from shiningbeam) with 4 x AMC7135 3 mode driver
Solarforce L2m Black with Cree XM-L T6 1 mode dropin
4 x Solarforce 18650 cells (blue wrap)
4 x Solarforce RCR123 cells (blue wrap)
12 x 1500 cycle eneloops
8 x duracell rechargables
Around 30 x CR123A Primaries, mostly duracell some energizer.
12 x Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA's
Loads of Cree Emitters / Drivers / Wire / Capacitors / Resistors etc
Turnigy Accucel 6 Hobby Charger with PSU
2 x gas soldering irons
USB Mini Fridge (holds one can)

See this list alone makes me sad enough. Yet there was a full PC in my car, with monitor and all that wasn't touched (a work item). Yet they chose to take nearly everything that I hold dear and enjoy.
So angry and annoyed at the fact this happened, and at myself as I don't usually have this stuff in my car, was just one of those things that I didn't get around to taking out.

Now just waiting for the Police to arrive to finalize my report.

Anybody else have any stories of loss that has set them back years in fun and enjoyment?
 

ruralpatrol

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jan 24, 2012
Messages
4
Sorry for your loss. I work in law enforcement and see this all the time. It really stinks and the sad part is most of it has probably already been resold for next to nothing for some druggies next fix. All you can rally do is put the word out in your area and make it hard for them so there's not a next time!
 

127.0.0.1

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 4, 2012
Messages
1,000
Location
/etc/hosts
someone stole a bicycle from me once

it was at that point, I knew that yes, I might be capable of murder
 

Illum

Flashaholic
Joined
Apr 29, 2006
Messages
13,053
Location
Central Florida, USA
you had all that in a bag? :eek:oo: Thats something of a big risk isn't it? :thinking:

After driving to work in a metro area I too have lost a couple things, mostly due to compulsive negligence on my part [locked all the doors, forgot my driver side door that I came out of], I have lost only a handle of small surefires, mostly G2s and a couple E1es. While I'm stumped at how they were unable to find where I stashed my pistol they did make off with a couple boxes of .40SW on my last year in College just outside campus.

If the car can't be parked in a garage, park it under the brightest light you can find.
If you had to choose between two cars, take the one thats less sporty and not a limited edition.
Unless you've got company or your trying to impress a girl, resist the knee-jerk reaction to wash your car when it gets dirty.
It seems that after my last break-in these tips have kept the contents of my car safe. Time will tell if I'll have to replace the lock on the car I'm driving now. :/
 

ElectronGuru

Flashaholic
Joined
Aug 18, 2007
Messages
6,055
Location
Oregon
Security doesn't buy safety, it buys time. A few tips:

There are many ways into a car, not the least of which is through the easily broken safety glass, found on three sides of every modern vehicle. For a quick snatch and grab, the only thing stopping someone is the noise of an alarm and/or broken glass. The way to avoid getting things taken is for things not to be there. Keep/leave nothing inside (just what will fit in the locked glove box) and you don't even need to lock the doors. Nothing gets damaged, nothing gets taken.

Bicycle thieves are opportunists. They carry a set of tools and 'shop for the score'. They have enough time to remove one lock from one anchor. Make them have to break two locks from two anchors (two adjacent objects) and they'll think twice. Make the two locks require different break tools and they'll find an easier target. For example, bolt cutters work agains chains and bottle jacks work against U locks. Few thieves carry both.
 

duffman

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Nov 15, 2006
Messages
127
Location
SF Bay Area, CA
Im sorry to hear your lost ampersand.

Check your local craigslist. Im sure the average thief knows nothing about the value of your lights. He most likely will hawk it to score a quick buck.
 

fyrstormer

Banned
Joined
Jul 24, 2009
Messages
6,617
Location
Maryland, Near DC, USA
The thief was smart. Most work computers are traceable online nowadays. They only stole stuff they could sell without being traced. I guess you better set up some automated daily searches on eBay for the next few months.

I had a subwoofer stolen from my first car the ONE time I left it unlocked overnight. Being a high school student at the time, it took me a long time to scrape up the money to replace it.
 
Last edited:

127.0.0.1

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 4, 2012
Messages
1,000
Location
/etc/hosts
Security doesn't buy safety, it buys time. A few tips:

There are many ways into a car, not the least of which is through the easily broken safety glass, found on three sides of every modern vehicle. For a quick snatch and grab, the only thing stopping someone is the noise of an alarm and/or broken glass. The way to avoid getting things taken is for things not to be there. Keep/leave nothing inside (just what will fit in the locked glove box) and you don't even need to lock the doors. Nothing gets damaged, nothing gets taken.

Bicycle thieves are opportunists. They carry a set of tools and 'shop for the score'. They have enough time to remove one lock from one anchor. Make them have to break two locks from two anchors (two adjacent objects) and they'll think twice. Make the two locks require different break tools and they'll find an easier target. For example, bolt cutters work agains chains and bottle jacks work against U locks. Few thieves carry both.

ninja rocks will get you through the glass with barely a sound.
 

nbp

Flashaholic
Joined
Dec 16, 2007
Messages
10,970
Location
Wisconsin
I had a G2 stolen from my car, along with a cassette adapter, maybe something else I didn't notice but those for sure. The worst part is the feeling of being violated in a way, knowing someone came in and rummaged in my vehicle.
 

AmperSand

Enlightened
Joined
Aug 31, 2009
Messages
223
Location
Brisbane, Australia
Thanks for the suggestions and kind replies everyone!
So far I called police and filed a report Wednesday, its now Friday and not so much as even a call.
I think the worst things to have lost are my hobby charger as I have a PD31 with 18650 in it, that I can't charge now and all my CR123A primaries are gone too, and my Spyderco Sharpmaker. I have some knives I can't really sharpen now!
Quite annoyed about the maglites too, I had a put a bit of time into those and they were very useful. I loved my solarforce hosts too, P60 dropin's are so easy to swap in and out and fun to make DIY. Also had a heap of DX cheap single cell Romisen's and Ultrafire's I had modded with NW emitters I forgot to mention in the first post. I'm kicking myself for having it all in a bag in my car, I usually have it in my garage, but have had so much going on in my life lately and after visiting my brother with them all I totally forgot to bring them back in with me. Price you pay for absentmindedness I guess.

I still have a few lights to get me through tho.

I still have:

Fenix PD31
Fenix LD10 R4
Fenix TK41
Sunwayman V10R Ti
Led Lenser M5
4D Maglite (unmodded with standard LuxIII dropin)
Nitecore Extreme R2
Nitecore D10 (XR-E with ramping UI)
ITP A3 SS

Also still in possession of around 20 eneloops and a charger for those.

Guess with little to no police help I might just have to keep scouting around ebay/classifieds/pawn shops in the area until something turns up.
 

booky

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Nov 1, 2010
Messages
38
Location
MA
I had some upgraded car speakers and headunit stolen once a few years ago.

It is sucha sucky feeling to go out to your car in the morning and notice that something like this has happened.

I hope they find the jerks that did this to you.
 

Jumpmaster

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 14, 2001
Messages
1,640
Location
Friggin' MORE COWBELL!!!
Yeah, I know it is a very painful and expensive lesson, but I bet you won't do that again. All it takes is one serious loss like this to really make you think before you do it again. <-----voice of experience...not specifically in a car break-in, but in other matters.

I absolutely HATE thieves. I better just leave it at that.
 

bruintennis

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jan 1, 2012
Messages
64
Location
Southern California
Sorry for your loss. People can really suck. Why is it so easy to be bad without consequences? I hope they find the person and you get your stuff back.
 

mr_maurice

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Nov 9, 2008
Messages
65
Location
France
Once we had like 8kg worth of walnuts stolen from the first floor of a barn in a rural area. Go figure :shakehead
 

GrnXnham

Enlightened
Joined
Jan 17, 2005
Messages
230
Location
Graham, WA
I do feel sorry for you but I still can't, for the life of me, figure out why people leave valuables in their car parked outside overnight!

It's just a written invitation for thieves.

We have two cars that we leave outside at night. I think the most valuable items we leave in them include a few packs of gum and an ice scraper ($5) for the windows now that it's winter.
 

budynabuick

Enlightened
Joined
Oct 3, 2011
Messages
265
Location
S.E. Michigan
Last month someone got my Box with 15 inch woofers and 500 watt amp. They left a $150.oo set of jumper cables and a couple hundred in tools. They even unscrewed the dome light so as not to break it! Nice guys. no damage other wise. BTW, my van was locked and alarmed. They are very good craftsmen at their trade.


Keith. who is very sorry about your lights.
 
Last edited:
Top