Where to safely leave your pack if needed?

[Lucky 13]

If needed should you ever leave your pack anywhere, and if so, where? For example you need to enter a gas station, restaurant, supermarket, music venue, etc. but they won't allow you to enter with your pack. I personally haven't encountered it before but I do get a lot of looks. I'm about to head out to another area that I don't know much about before heading north in about a month and I'll be stopping in the middle for a concert and im pretty sure I won't be allowed to enter the venue with my backpack so where should I store it that would be the safest place and least likely to get spotted or stolen? I thought about leaving it inside a dumpster nearby but this is also an area that im not all too familiar with and wouldn't want a garbage truck to swoop in and take my shit. Has anybody had to deal with something like this before and if so what are some good temporary (3-4hrs maximum) storage spots?



Sorry if something like this has been posted before but I searched the threads (and google) without any luck.

 

[Shwillam]

I've often wondered this myself.
I've only tried to hide a pack once and when I came back it was gone so... Not the best of luck with it so far

 

[OutsideYourWorld]

Grocery stores, venues, bars, etc... I always ask and most of the time they let me put it behind their counter or in the coat room. If it's just a gas station i'll leave it right outside the front door and if someone is actually able to lift that thing up and get away before I notice.... Well, they deserve the bag.

 

[Tude]

This is a cool question as I have read of soooooo many people who had their gear stolen ... and that sucks to have your "house" stolen.

 

[FrumpyWatkins]

Never had gear stolen when I've stashed it. Only when I've fallen asleep or been jacked. I left stuff hidden in Columbia, SC and it was still there two months later.

My favorite hiding places are wooded areas under debris. Old lumber piled on top, leaf matter, branches. Or jammed under trash and debris in an abandoned building. Depending on how you build the beaver lodge, your stuff will stay pretty dry too.

Never put your stuff in dumpsters or trash cans and make sure no one is watching when you hide your gear.

Roof tops can be good if no one has a view and you know it is not going to rain.

 

[Desperado Deluxe]

I usually gauge the aptitude of honesty of the town im in, which determines how much space I put between my bag and I. Sometimes I just leave my shit sitting outside by the bench in front of the store. Other times I bring it in and leave it by the door. I will not carry it around the store with me.

For long term stashing my approach has always been to separate what I'm going to stash and what I'm going to bring with me for the day. Keep everything super important on you like phone and charger ID card etc. While generally leaving camp shit such as clothes sleeping and cooking shit. Stash it by rolling it into a tarp roll and putting it in a trash bag then burying or camoflouging it in a good spot away from where other people frequent. Good if you can find a good spot to camp and just pack all your stuff up and stash it nearby. Then you can take your nearly empty pack with you through the day.

 

[nivoldoog]

I like to tie my bag off with rope to a bridge then throw it off the side.

 

[Lucky 13]

Lots of great ideas on here

I always ask and most of the time they let me put it behind their counter or in the coat room.

For some reason this has never even crossed my mind, yet it seems to be the simplest and safest. Thanks.

For long term stashing my approach has always been to separate what I'm going to stash and what I'm going to bring with me for the day

That is also really solid advice. Thanks man.

 

[OutsideYourWorld]

I've met a few people who were a bit surprised that I do this. I thought it was kind of standard, actually I usually avoid cities so in small towns it's probably easier but especially with bars/cafes. I'll buy a coffee or something then ask them to watch my bag for a few hours if they can. Never been declined. Although in Morocco people always tried to get money out of me for it.

I met one guy who literally buried his backpack outside towns before exploring. Had a shovel and everything.

 

[Whereamiwhatdoido]

I never leave my backpack anywhere. If I'm not allowed to bring it inside the store I'll ask them to stash it for me, some bigger supermarkets where backpackers frequent I've even experienced that they'll have a stall for stashing your backpack.

When I was a greenhorn I'd stash it in the bushes in city parks, seemed to work fine but at that time I think the whole universe was favoring me.

 

[nivoldoog]

I also like burying my bag but I will also use a dumpster in a pinch. By bag has a smaller day bag in it, so I dump the "night" bag and walk with the day bag that has all essential gear.

 

[Desperado Deluxe]

I actually saw a homebum do this. Put a metal BBQ grill over the top of a shopping cart and wrap a chain through it. Then you can lock it to a pole or fence. I think this would be a good tactic for going into shows. You might even be able to bury the shopping cart and do this for long term.

 

[SammyG]

I've had success just zip tying my shit to pipes under bridges or just about any obscure piece of metal out of sight and out of mind.

 

[Desperado Deluxe]

I've had success just zip tying my shit to pipes under bridges or just about any obscure piece of metal out of sight and out of mind.

do you just carry around a bunch of oversized zip ties?

 

[Wawa]

What the fucking shit I am so over spending an hour trying to fix and edit out doubleposts because everything I post is so broken what the fuck is the point I've been trying to DO THIS FOR AN HOUR AND IT WONT WORK

 

[Wawa]

I prefer to hide mine in tall grass, bushes, ect... But not in maintained parks. Overgrown traffic circles, ditches, woods on the edge of town. Good rule of thumb: if it's overgrown and trashed, but not a bumcamp, probably no one is going to be poking around a lot. If it's a party spot, it's probably safe in daylight. I hide my gear very often and have never lost anything.

I've mentioned this in other posts.... It's nice to have a piece of some neutral colored fabric. Tarps stand out. Rain covers stand out. A blanket with leaves, branches, trash, whatever scattered over it blends in really well.... And mystery bl View attachment 36407 ankets are kinda gross. Lot of people just don't want to touch that shit

View attachment 36407
(Just happened to take this picture the other day. I peeled up some miss and draped it over my pack, threw some sticks over it and left it for the day.)

 

[japanarchist]

I've never tried it but I've had someone suggest stashing your pack in a tree and securing it with rope or paracord. I normally keep black trash bags with me and I put my pack in one if I leave it somewhere, but I usually don't let it out of sight. If you ever leave it in a squat make sure you still hide it somewhere, I've had people enter squats I've lived in and steal shit.

 

[Deleted member 20]

I have posted this elsewhere. I always carry a black trash bag. The trashbag gets used to hide my pack in plain site. Keeps ot waterproof too if I am riding a train in the rain or if it gets thrown in a pickuo trucl bed. Nothing sucls like wet gear. Sometimes I stash it in a trash littered field, or near a dumpster/trash barrel near a venue. I usually do the dumpster trick when I go to a concert. A quick stash for a few hours. I know there are plenty of dumpster divers reading this thinking what a score. I have yet to loose a pack yet.