I got robbed of $16,000 worth of camera gear (Story time)

I would spend extra just to get the Arca-Swiss plates with a compartment to put an air tag in and then leave it on the camera so if it gets stolen you can track it, it probably won't prevent it from getting stolen, but it can help if it does.

italy is a bad bad bad place for thievery. I can't stand it how bad they are.

Sorry to hear this happened to you. I'm happy to hear your gear was insured against theft, but that doesn't make up for being without the gear when you needed it.

I've heard so many stories over so many years that I've come to believe that being robbed is an essential part of the experience of being an American on a train in Rome.

Thankfully, I've not yet had camera gear stolen in spite of lugging it around countless cities in the US and Europe.

In spite of owning some expensive camera bags, I tend to not use those when I'm in big cities. Instead I use bags that do not look like camera bags. I avoid using anything that clearly looks like a camera bag or has labels with the brand of a camera maker or camera bag maker on it. I use diaper bags. diaper bags. I use old thrift shop backpacks. I use regular bags and suitcases instead of those designed for camera gear. Sometimes I can fit inserts made for a camera bag inside another bag. Other times, I use lots of padded lens bags and t-shirts to cushion gear.

I do my best to keep bags that contain cameras and lenses on my back or in my hand when I'm out in public. However, I can recall times that I did exactly what you did and put my bag in a luggage rack on a train and sat right across from it and watched it. It doesn't take much to get distracted and it doesn't take a thief long to grab a bag and run.

as an italian, italy is cooked

A late friend of mine had her purse with over 6000 Euros in cash stolen outside a shop in Rome. She was apparently set upon by several children whose job it was to distract her while a supposed good samaritan helped her chase them away. Of course, the good samaritan turned out to be the robber.

The guy watching you was the guy who stold it he was watching you to make sure you didn't notice he didn't want his ass kicked.just a tought.he was talking to no one.I am glad you got some things gs back.

damn smh...yeah if I was carrying that much gear I'd have it right under my arm or under my seat....No way I would just leave that much stuff on a rack

How did you get everything back?

This is why I like to keep my setup super simple if I'm travelling. 1 camera, a superzoom and a single prime and I may just take one of those lenses depending on the trip.

LOVE your content man ! Sorry to hear about this

I am really sorry this happened to you Manny, it must be so heart breaking having some low life steal your equipment you worked so hard for. The only tip I can give you is get a sling bag to store your equipment, take only what you need when you travel, place barriers in your bag to make it harder to steal, most importantly keep your bag attached to you like it is super glue never keep it out of your sight. Finally add a tracker to your equipment and keep an alarm if you can in the bag so they can't just walk off with it.

I hope this helps out

Sorry to hear what happened to you. There are some shifty people in this world. My gear never leaves my side. I would attach my bag to myself with a cable if I was on a train .

We need gps on our cameras to track down our camera’s location would be great idea.

I learned my lesson the hard way. Now - I never have a bag next to me without having it fixed to either a metal frame or attached via a connector to my arm, leg, or belt. You get easily distracted visually, but you will get the wake-up call when you feel a physical pull.

Can you link to the insurance you were talking about?

That must be one of the worst spots to get stolen from.There must be also some emotional loss for you. I'm sorry. There work in teams of two. The one you saw observed you while the other robbed you.

People working on the train pointed you out as a great mark for the thieves.

Italy is notorious for theft. These gypsies are a 5 people team.

it is ok.. with this clip you got your money for the gear back.

Move to Russia. This wouldn’t happen.

I have travelled to Europe a number of times. Italy is definitely the worst place for thieves.

Man you gotta be outta your mind not to keep your bag on your lap on public tran. Not trying to victim shame here, that sucks it happened to you bro. Glad the lesson was learned tho

Europe is like battlefield. Every time u put your stuffs down be careful. People always try to scam you. They don't care nobody willing to help you police or anyone no one care. You on your own. European people seem to be ok with it. They will always say it happened all the time.

My camera stuff is always glued to me as i don't trust anyone especially if im in another country other than scotland!

Sorry to hear that. Same thing happened to me in NYC. I lost all my content from Canada for a project. Anyway I use state farm for insurance and now thinking of switching to PPA. Is it gonna worth it? How easy was your claiming process and respond time?

Did you hear back from the Italian police?

I know I’m a little late to this video, but maybe a piece of paracord and a carabiner. Clip it to your belt loop when you are distracted. Or a cable and a lock similar to a laptop lock

That’s stolen not robbed. 😂

It seems like one would have to leash the camera bag to the waist during these trips!

You can physically strap your bag to your belt with a thin steel cable. So that you'd never forget you bag and never let it more than 1m distance from you.
In addition to airtags, you can also find and hide a specialized GPS tracker in your bag.

Also, don't carry around those expensive photo-oriented bags, that literally scream "very expensive gear inside!!". Or, if you do, put it inside a suit case, or use some sort of "raincover" over the bag to conseal that it's a photo-video gear bag, make it look like a tourist's backpack or smth.

At the extreme end, not applicable abroad, of course, but still, in states where it's legal, you can make sure your holster with your gun is visible to anyone around you. 😉

LOL, all Americans believing how great EU is are naive. I grew up in Eastern Europe and traveling regularly back to EU and I would never go around alone with so expensive equipment. Back in a days I would wrap my camera with gaffer tape to make it look like old junk but now, they know very well that all cameras are worth enough to steal it.

Classic distraction technique…

Criminals are too good. I’ve had my bike stolen while I was literally looking at it.

Not that it makes things better, but I have heard of high theft in Italy more than most European countries. Especially camera gear. Most people should definitely be careful there.

Airtags, strap bags to you, and BOLO.

Airtag all your bags

I had almost the same thing happen in Rome. We had just come from the Vatican and I had a ton of photos. We went to McD’s for lunch and we sat at a long bench table that fronted on a stairway going down so no one cold approach from opposite me. I put my R5 on the table in front of me. A guy comes up to me and start talking in Italian to me and pointing to th elf or. I’km trying to tell him I don’t speak Italian and he goes away. Of course when I look up, my Maura is gone. He was on the side away from the camera and just like that it was gone, Of course, reporting it to the police was an incredible waste of time. They couldn’t have cared less and treated me like I was a criminal. I had insurance and I had used an app to record the serial numbers of all my stuff. My Think Tank case has a steel wire I can use, and will use, to secure it to a table, chair or luggage rack. Not infallible, but….. It was a shame becaue I had some incredible shots from the Vatican. I wish they had sent me back just the memory card!

My gears were stolen in Miami Beach for more than $5000 I did not have special insurance, but I had renters insurance for the apartment and they covered everything. The renters insurance was just $120 a year. So it is good to have any insurance just in case :)

We need security feature in our cameras, same as every phone have.

I never let go of my bag. I always have my arm through my backpack, and if I'm wearing my sling bag, I never take it off.

I've always heard of the high theft on the trains in Italy. This is why I always have one arm hooked around my backpack strap so I can make sure my bag can't be easily taken if I were to ever get distracted.

When you submitted your claim via PPA, did you declare whether you had owners/renters insurance? The policy mentions that “coverage” by PPA is only in “excess” of coverage already acquired by the insured individual, ie renters insurance or homeowners insurance.

Lost of immigrants from certain places in Europe now. I would never visit Europe again

I know how you feel man Im a photographer myself and I lost about $24,000 of equipment I had State farm insurance send them all my info and A week later I got the money back bit it is $22,500 did not get all the money but at least better than nothing

Sadly this kind of incidents can happen in Europe everywhere. I live in Madrid and I see almost everyday how turist get scammed or robbed in downtown. Most of the time is not by spanish people but rumanian gipsys. Police know these fellas but they catch them and release them sometimes even the same day. Sadly Barcelona is even worst! So please, take care of your gear, hide airtags under the fabric of your backpack and watch your wallet aswell. This cameras and lenses are so flashy and people know it too…

Damn I’m sorry but I guess you learned from that😮

Put your legs through the straps

If you filmed everything on your iPhone... whats that in your hand? Looks like a Leica! 🤨😏