Harassment and fears of Theft

[walkingjoe]

I've been putting together my hobo bag. Some of the items include an M1 Macbook (for work and art) and a Garmin GPS (for navigation within State parks and other wilderness)
Each of these resell for a pretty penny and one of my friends commented regarding theft.

I didn't really have an answer for him as it didn't really cross my mind.
I know, despite the homeless having so little, people still harass and rob them so I don't know why I didn't consider it.

Personally all of my camping will be in heavily wooded areas or on rooftops so I my fears of being robbed while I'm asleep are low.
But while I'm on the road, if you have a new/nice looking bag how rare is it to be harassed? Threatened? Mugged?

I'm generally good at trusting my gut and being aware of my surroundings, but I'm sure I'll eventually find myself on a sketchy road I can't really get around.

How real/justified are these fears?
How do you avoid sketchy roads/areas while passing through towns/cities?
How can you diffuse situations where you might be harassed? Threatened? Mugged?
I've seen advice regarding pepper-spray and knives, I will be packing both. When should I brandish such items? When should I use such items?
^For the above I bet common sense can answer most these questions, but I was not able to find a thread on this subject and I am curious to hear tips from the more experienced.

For better answers: I will be traveling alone, I am male and 6ft

Thank you for reading

 

[roguetrader]

Ok I'm in England but I know the attitude that I'm about to describe is common all over...

to hardcore drinkin' and druggin' sleepin in doorways travellers, you won't be seen as a hobo you'll be seen as a yuppie slummin' it simply because you have nice gear - and in someway this will be true... most long term dirty kids are living a poverty level, hand to mouth lifestyle and often resent intruders on 'their' scene - whether this attitude is justified or not varies depending on the situation and the people involved... I've met cool people from all backgrounds and personally I hate gate keeping, inverted snobbery bullshit BUT I've also encountered plenty of idiots who I don't like crashing the scene I'm involved with...

anyway back to the question at hand- I think you're more likely to be robbed by homebums than dirty kids - but the latter may give you grief / harassment for the perceived 'yuppieness' of owning a Macbook ! in general its best to dress down and keep valuable items and money out of sight - and share what food / drink / weed you have with others you meet on the road - selfishness is a dead giveaway that a person is fresh out of straight society...

Edit - I re-read your post and profile and get the impression that you probably won't be drinking 40's and shooting dope under a bridge - so you probably won't encounter much snobbery and related troubles after all... I think most theft from homeless people is by other homeless people, so avoiding scummy downtown areas is advisable... I'll stress the importance of dressing down again though - obviously don't want to look like a target for theft...

 

[roughdraft]

that's some quality stuff as usual from @roguetrader

This is just from me - in all honesty, when I imagine myself living out of a backpack again, I just think the best way to control my anxiety around theft is being willing to lose anything I have. Being around certain people, behaving certain ways - there are a lot of barriers we can put up to realistically reduce the likelihood of a problem - but for someone like me the anxiety is so irrational that on one hand - I just have to let go entirely.

Anything I have should be replaceable. I dare to say I have never in my life had anything - material - significant stolen from me, so easy enough for me to say. As for work and art on your laptop, that'd be a tough thing to part ways with because it is not only expensive but the primary value is it's loaded with personally sensitive content. Business stuff, creative stuff, sentimental content ..

Everything else it's just like .... how many of my favorite pieces of clothing or gear have I lost or traded ... it's mildly frustrating compared to irreplaceable things - even when it's been costly, financially. Maybe I'm less comfortable or I have a less eco-friendly thing/things for a while, but there are ways to replace most shit.

 

[croc]

Not sleeping visibly and not telling anyone what u have of value (includes using ur laptop in a Starbucks when bums are hanging there n will see u) and not passing out drunk will prob keep u from having to deal w this problem at all. Common sense prevents most people related problems on the road.

Wish ya the best

I just think the best way to control my anxiety around theft is being willing to lose anything I have.

Love this. Lost so much sentimental shit n usually from being drunk, it's best to just make peace w nothing lasting forever and being grateful for the time u did have xyz

 

[numberonenumberreader]

It’ll take a minute to be Able to discern people’s intentions before they get to you. Fuck a knife, Pepper spray works wonders(BUY A REPUTABLE BRAND LIKE FOX LABS) for aggro idiots and their dogs, you can dish out as much punishment as you want without worrying about being stabbed or stabbing someone.

For when you’re sleeping I’d suggest putting things you don’t want to lose in your sleeping bag at your feet. It’s uncomfortable but if you’re worried about someone walk-in up on you then this always gives me the most peace of mind.

 

[Billy Cougar White]

If you look like you have nothing of value, you are less likely to have anyone try to rob you. For the laptop I'd throw some stickers n shit on it so it looks less polished and new. I keep my most valuable items either in my sleeping bag, or tied to my body when I sleep.

 

[TheDesertMouse]

That depends entireley on your level of street smarts, and your ability to give of a ‘not to be fucked with’ vibe. It’s hard to describe in detail what I mean, but you will with time get a sense of dangerous/unsafe areas, situations and people. The second one is harder to quantify, has alot to do with the subtleties of body language and how you interact with people.
I, and almost every traveler I met have never had to deal with an outright mugging. Usually people get robbed on the road because they left their shit unattended or with untrustworthy people.

I generally don’t go around worrying about it at all. And if that worry arrises it’s always managable. The only time someone tried to rob me was some tweaker in bakersfield. I have a very keen sense for when I’m being followed, and I got a bad feeling from this dude immediatly. I promptly took 4 right turns to test, and sure enough this guy was still on me. I was on my way to hop out, do I headed for a dark bridge with a HF and kneeled down next to the fence. The guy started running at me. I got weapons in hand and stood up and turned right around and faced the guy. Confidently said “Whats up.” in a loudish voice, it was too dark for him too see that I was armed, but he turned on a dime, mumbled something and left. Most thief's are cowards, and seek easy targets, present yourself as a hard target and this will dissuade 99% of people.

Every situation is different, I almost never get harrassed, if it is it’s by some random yuppies, or persons of authority. I can’t really give you an easy playbook for these, sometimes you dont engage, sometimes you joke with them, sometimes you get right in there face and tell them to kick rocks. But its never really a big deal.

Sketchy areas/roads? Others have said enough about dresssing down, not looking like a target. All this is important. As far as avoiding them.. well if you can walk around them do so. If not, and it doesn't seem incredibly threatening, fuck it just walk thru.

Really though, your gonna be fine dude. We’re not seen as sources of easy wealth. Most people will leave you alone. Your probably more likely to either seen as potentially threatening yourself, or so different they wont know what to do with you.

Oh, and a GPS is not necisarry, learn too use a map and get a good compass, and navigate short distances without anything. It’s far superior anyway, because it will force you to pay attention to your surroundings, GPS does the opposite. That would eliminate at least one nice thing.

Also, macbooks and most gps have unique, non removable registration or identification numbers associated with them. Save these somewhere. Have find my device set up on the laptop. Follow the dirrections on this link: Set a firmware password on your Mac - https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204455 You might have a chance that way of recovering stolen goods, and in the case of the laptop make it impossible to use for the basic user.

 

[roguetrader]

I'm on a more vehicle based scene, and I always say to new people DONT BUY that beautiful tricked out dream RV for your first van - you'll only fret about where you park it and how long you leave it unattended... something that looks a bit shot at and was fitted out using found materials is less stressful to own and less of a target for theft...

and I completely agree with @TheDesertMouse - over time you learn how to deal with threatening situations and learn how to stop shit going South before it happens... most bad shit I've been involved in was due to my own stupidity while intoxicated, and could probably have been avoided...

 

[Glass Roads]

I mean are ya gonna be working on the road too? If you anticipate a steady stream of income, might be worth it to just have some funds to save up to replace it if need be, and maybe see if you can insure that somehow? Also backing up stuff on a cloud service would probably put your mind at ease a little bit more, some of those services are pretty cheap.
But as others have said I think the risk of this actually happening is pretty minimal.