View Full Version : Stolen
arctic hobo
22-04-2005, 19:47
Got home yesterday today to find my shared flat literally cleaned out. I'm not posting this for sympathy or condolences, but because some of the items taken were the kind of thing that could well turn up at bushcrafty/outdoorsy fairs/car boot sales or whatever. So although of course the police are doing what they can, if anybody spots any of the following items for sale anywhere I would be extremely grateful, as they are not insured but add up to a lot of money!
I realise it's a very long shot but I figure it's worth trying.
The big loss is my bearskin coat. It's a black bear skin, 3/4 length (so about 4 foot long), and double breasted, with a close fitting hood (quite unusual on bearskin coats). The upper left button (when facing) is missing and there is a small yellow stain on the lower hem. The buttons are pretty much unique, they are a red background with a Soviet star on each in white (the buttons are reindeer horn I think, so the white is just unpainted). It cost me only 300 pounds (in roubles) but looking around the net at other ones it could be going for anything up to 4000.
I have also lost both my sleeping bags (why would you pinch a sleeping bag??), the Vango summer bag and the Nanok -25, but as these have no distinguishing characteristics I suppose I will have to say goodbye to them. Never mind the computer (typing this on my flatmate's ancient Win95!), the TV... "%¤#//#!
I'd rather not supply my phone number on an open forum, but if anyone does spot my coat I would be extremely grateful if they could PM me and I will happily tell them.
Once again, I'm not posting this for sympathy, just to recover my goods.
Sorry to hear about that mate, never had anything to that magnitude but I've had a motorbike nicked before. Hope the police manage to find your gear, all the best
matt
Sh***y thing to happen. Hope you find your gear.
One of the policemen that I know, says that they usually have a fair idea of the 'type' of person who committed specific house-break-ins. Sometimes that can be used to figure out the most likely places to look for your stuff. e-bay, supermarket noticeboards, car boot sales and student newsletters/post it boards seem to come up awfully frequently.
May you have the best of luck finding your things,
Toddy
If I see anything like it down here Chris I'll give you a bell, unfortunate and you have my sympathy whether you want it or not :)
innocent bystander
22-04-2005, 20:45
Much sypathy Arctic, had a similar episode. Had a load of stuff in my parents caravan,and some lowlife kicked the door in and stole sleeping bags, cooking gear etc. Bas'$££"£$ had the nerve to steel the old chaps car to transport the gear. Then they burned the car out. In the process the car exploded and set fire to a brand new car they parked it next to. I would dearly like to set them on fire.
arctic hobo
22-04-2005, 22:39
Thanks all of you :) . Weirdest thing is we live on the fourth floor, and the door has been battered... looks like whoever did it knew where they were going in advance.
That is terrible. Something similar happened to me about 8 years ago and it sure leaves ya feeling cold. Fortunately I was able to recover most of my losses. Hope you do too.
RovingArcher
22-04-2005, 23:02
I'm sorry that you were robbed. Someone coming into your home and taking your things is about as personal as it gets.
A few months back I lost a bow saw, swedish axe, canteen and belt knife from our pickup. The first thing the sheriff asked was, who knew the gear was there? Because nothing else was touched. He went on to say that many times when specific items are taken, it's an inside job. Meaning someone that knew your habits and hobbies, as well as what they would find when they got there.
I hope that fate smiles on you and you are able to recover your gear.
The General
23-04-2005, 01:40
Burgalars tend to go for ground floor locations... hmmm interesting that they persisted at yours on the 4th floor! I would suspect a friend of a friend has done this.
Watch out though, after one visit for the next 2-6 months you are VERY likely to get a return visit as most people are insured and will replace stolen items with new.
Chris.. i will keep a look out down plymouth way, sorry to hear about what happened..!
demographic
23-04-2005, 10:05
Thanks all of you :) . Weirdest thing is we live on the fourth floor, and the door has been battered... looks like whoever did it knew where they were going in advance.
Errrrrr, not wishing to offend but apart from the computer some of the items seem a little strange for the average smackhead to be taking.
It's usually TVs, videos (not worth as much these days though) and DVD players.
The coat seems a really strange one as it's unique.
What are the other people that have access to the building like?
They use coats, sleeping bag etc to wrap the TV's and computers up in.
The idea is they don't stand out when walking down the street and makes it easier to carry.
greg2935
23-04-2005, 16:33
I'll keep an eye out in Exeter and Torquay, I also think the bear skin coat is very strange thing to nick, sounds to me like someone who you know did this.
Greg
Moonraker
23-04-2005, 16:41
Sorry to hear this mate :(
Can't help in your situation unfortunately but it is worth laying all your bushcraft gear out and taking a few photos of it and keeping the photo somewhere else safe, just in case of fire or theft. That way it makes it easier to deal with insurance companies and reminds you of all the bits of kit which often get forgotten but add up to a lot, when you come to claim. Also to use an invisible marker to note postcode/ identifying info on bigger items.
arctic hobo
23-04-2005, 17:58
Thanks to you all. I will be careful in the coming months thanks General, certainly since it seems to be a targeted raid... at least we now have our door back. I agree Simon about all the little things adding up to a lot... here's hoping I get some of it back.
I can only guess that the bearskin was stolen because fur is very expensive - it's very obviously not fake fur and they may have considered it valuable. Looking at fur prices for similar items I can see that they could get a lot of money for it.
But lots of what they have taken is senseless - almost all my flatmate's clothes were stolen, as well as our very old and very large television - hardly worth it you'd think. The police have said there is a chance of recovering some of the less valuable items as a) everything they have taken is a possible lead/evidence and b) they took so much that they'd not want to cart it all around. Here's hoping they're right.
Thanks again for your support, it means a lot.
Chris sorry to hear you have been robbed. The amount of stuff stolen means they must have taken a while to cart it all away. looks like someone must know your movements. All very curious. Bad enough to lose something but to know that you were targeted and robbed. I hope our over worked police officers give this crime proper attention.
Feel much aggrieved for you - hope they get the pondlife responsible!
Bob Hurley
28-04-2005, 01:00
I'm sorry to hear about it, I've had a couple of cars ransacked, stereo stolen, etc. and I know how angry you must be.
I'd keep a watch on eBay for a while, they may turn up there. I did armoured combat for a while, and you'd be surprised how many armour thieves were caught because they tried to use eBay to fence the plunder.
tenbears10
28-04-2005, 08:59
Chris I would keep a close eye on ebay it is the perfect place to get rid of some of the more unusual items and make some money from them.
Hope you get some of it back.
Sorry to hear this mate :(
Can't help in your situation unfortunately but it is worth laying all your bushcraft gear out and taking a few photos of it and keeping the photo somewhere else safe, just in case of fire or theft. That way it makes it easier to deal with insurance companies and reminds you of all the bits of kit which often get forgotten but add up to a lot, when you come to claim. Also to use an invisible marker to note postcode/ identifying info on bigger items.
Good tip. The last thing I do before departing on holidays is do a quick room-by-room video of my home to use as an aide memoir for the insurance claim should the place have been emptied in my absence.
I also scan my drivers licence, passport, travel insurance certificates and other travel documents before leaving home. I then encrypt [self-decrypting archive] all the jpegs and send them to one of my web mail addresses. Should I lose [or have stolen] all my luggage and documents whilst on holiday, I can readily confirm my identity to the relevant authorities after a trip to the nearest internet cafe. And these seem to be fairly obiquitous, even in the planet's backwaters.
Vince
arctic hobo
28-04-2005, 18:47
Well the TV, computer, clothes and "padding" etc, including my sleeping bags, have been found dumped by the road on a local hill. All the clothes and both my sleeping bags have been slashed into ribbons. It makes me so mad I daren't say much more until I have calmed down.
arctic hobo
28-04-2005, 18:47
Thanks for your support folks, zambezi that sounds a neat trick.
Moonraker
28-04-2005, 19:09
I also scan my drivers licence, passport, travel insurance certificates and other travel documents before leaving home. I then encrypt [self-decrypting archive] all the jpegs and send them to one of my web mail addresses. Should I lose [or have stolen] all my luggage and documents whilst on holiday, I can readily confirm my identity to the relevant authorities after a trip to the nearest internet cafe. And these seem to be fairly obiquitous, even in the planet's backwaters.
VinceNice tip back Vince ;) and make sure it is a password protected self-extracting file just in case and make sure it it deleted off the internet cafe computer ( I guess it is possible to still retrieve it? On a Mac I can use a secure delete which permanently trashes it.)
Guess you could also carry one of those cheap tiny USB keys on your key ring with the same info on it then you have access even without Internet access.
Very sorry to hear about that wanton destruction Chris :(. Was the bear skin there too?
arctic hobo
28-04-2005, 19:40
The bearskin was (luckily?) not in the pile, thanks Simon
Re: information deletion. I use Cyberscrub, which is a rather good permanent deletion tool. Obviously this doesn't apply to most internet cafes, but most have extremely high tech security as they're otherwise open to attack which affects the business. The one just down the road from me performs some all-over wipe after each user has left it.
have a demo (display model) laptop fill it with something that goes with a very loud bang and some flying splinters with a proximity fuse, so if they go more than so far from the house they go up with the goods
demographic
30-04-2005, 23:50
Well the TV, computer, clothes and "padding" etc, including my sleeping bags, have been found dumped by the road on a local hill. All the clothes and both my sleeping bags have been slashed into ribbons. It makes me so mad I daren't say much more until I have calmed down.
Again, this sounds like somebody has a bit of a grudge.
It's nowt to do with me but this seems a bit unlikely that yer average smackhead thief would bother with this kind of stuff.
I might be wrong but....
The General
01-05-2005, 01:07
Again, this sounds like somebody has a bit of a grudge.
It's nowt to do with me but this seems a bit unlikely that yer average smackhead thief would bother with this kind of stuff.
I might be wrong but....
I have to agree, its that time of year again where Llandudno is home to the lowlifes that have a habit of staying for the summer and doing a lot of break ins... Seasonal claimants I think they are called. At least in polite company.
Back to my point... No one, even a drug user, would take items of dubious value and go through all that stress and hassle, not to mention the risk of getting caught only to dump and destroy the items in such a malicious way.
Sure, I could accept that after failing to sell the items, they may be dumped, but to do that kind of damage? Malicious to me. Burning would remove any forensics evidence, but slashing the stuff into ribbons? Sounds like someone has a grudge. This kind of thing happened when I was at uni. A lot of people really hate students...
falling rain
01-05-2005, 07:16
Sorry to hear about your misfortune Artcic Hobo. I had 2 wheels stolen off my car last week and was extremely angry as you were. They left the car on the jack which they must have brought with them. The car wasn't broken into (thankfully) although I never leave any of my bushcraft gear in it, or anything of value for that matter. I have my suspicions as to who may have done this, as there is a very rough, and well known family living nearby, but knocking on their door would probably bring me a lot of trouble unless I knew for sure and could inform the police, it's more trouble that I really don't want. I know what I'd like to do to these cretins, and it wouldn't be sitting down for tea and cakes !......Low life maggots! Cost me £332 quid for a new set of wheels and tyres (can only buy a set of 4) I had to get a taxi over to Halfords to get them(£28) round trip. I was going to trawl the scrap yards but that would have worked out expensive in the taxi and they don't look for you, you have to go there yourself and see what they've got. Another use for Birch was to flog people like this. Sounds like a good idea to me.....Any of the parties planning to bring it back in their election manifestos will get my vote !!
bambodoggy
02-05-2005, 20:32
Aaaaaarrrrrr!!!!! I can't say on BCUK what I'd like to say about people that do this....but if you find out who it was Chirs, then I'd be more than happy to come down with my angry German shepherd to help "persuade" them to give you your stuff back!!!! and thats a genuin offer Mate.
I too will keep an eye out on Ebay for ya...
Chin up Buddy! :)
Paganwolf
02-05-2005, 21:01
B******S!! can i come too my Bull mastiff and Pitt could do with some excersise! sorry to hear your news buddy <insert angry smiley here>
arctic hobo
02-05-2005, 21:12
Thanks guys... dogs might have helped, my flatmate's dum cat was there at the time :rolleyes:
Paganwolf
02-05-2005, 21:16
Thanks guys... dogs might have helped, my flatmate's dum cat was there at the time :rolleyes:
Pity it wasnt a bengal tiger! lol :D
outdoorcode
04-05-2005, 16:17
My two shepherds are a good deterrent, but as they come camping with me at weekends thats not much use for the house, still I doubt anyone/thing will manage to sneek up on me when I'm in asleep :D my mutts (http://photos.fotango.com/p/eba00471904f00000022.jpg )
Cute dogs Outdoorcode. :) I think it would take a brave man to sneak in to your house.
There was thread somewhere about bushcrafters and their mutts.