Hiding places in your home, or car.

Packard

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Nov 6, 2020
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Any clever hiding places in your home or car to keep things safe from intruders, family or guests?

I have a steel safe with an electronic combination lock.  The batteries have leaked and I cannot get it to light up anymore.  (I think it is empty.). I used to use it as a gun safe, but it would trap humidity and cause surface rust on the guns.

In any case, anyone with a hand truck (it weight about 75 pounds) could steal it and work on opening it in their leisure. 

So where do you hide stuff?
 
Two places (for me):

Plain sight.
Case in point are my Systainers and FS/2 rails. The Systainers are all TANOS anthracite so every "opportunistic" thief who is not a pro (they generally are not) will not even notice that €50 box with €1000 worth of a drill and chucks in it while looking at it from one meter .. while it would already be in his trunk were it in a Festool SYS 1 T-Loc. All my rails have Festool branding removed and are drawn all over with various marks where to place the saw etc.

Tested it when I had some of my kit at our community hackerspace. The TANOS boxes and the rails were the most expensive thing in the shop (bar the CNC), yet were completely ignored. Came to the point I had to put warning signs on the rails as everyone treated them as "your casual cheap aluminium extrusions" and there was a risk of accidental damage. Friend's Bosch rails were very much noticed.

Also no one apparently cared for my €300 markings-removed C12 Li I kept laying on the workbench with markings-removed batteries in it. This while my €20 Parkside drill lying just next to it got "privatised" ..

This is for things of value/special characteristic that can be made sufficiently obscure as to not be recognised.

Beyond that, I (actively) avoid keeping stuff I would need to hide/protect around places where I would need to hide/protect it. Works much, much better than trying to come up with various protection schemes.
 
What timing!  Here is a new YouTube video from Jason (Epic UpCycling) showing how he builds a bookcase with a secret door to a hidden room. 

 
I worked as a wedding photographer on weekends for several years.  I had a fastback which did not allow for hidden cargo.

I carried my cameras, flashes, film and Nicads in an Igloo cooler.

I did not come up with the idea on my own.  I knew a guy who would carry his cash receipts in a small lunch box.  He would say, “No one is going to rob me for a ham sandwich.”

For me, the cooler kept the film from baking in the sun.  Heat was not good for film.
 
When I was a kid, my mom, a gambler, would once a mont host a 5 hand mahjong game.

She would hide all the snacks and goodies from my brother and me.

But we had a secret weapon: A smart as a whip Standard Schnauzer (imported from Germany as a puppy).

I would say, “Taffy, where’s the candy?”  It rarely took her more than a couple of minutes to find it. [big grin]

Her best find was hidden in the piano bench.
 
I'm kind of in the "obvious distraction camp" If you can trick them into messing with, therefore wasting time, on something that is worthless, you might come out ahead.
I have a small safe that is well fastened to a very heavy dresser. It is quite easy to see/recognize as a place for valuables. There is absolutely nothing inside, but the heartache of wasted time, in even if someone would get into it.
 
Crazyraceguy said:
I'm kind of in the "obvious distraction camp" If you can trick them into messing with, therefore wasting time, on something that is worthless, you might come out ahead.
I have a small safe that is well fastened to a very heavy dresser. It is quite easy to see/recognize as a place for valuables. There is absolutely nothing inside, but the heartache of wasted time, in even if someone would get into it.
Not a good strategy IMO. That would have the thiefs pissed off and they are likely to "avenge" on your other stuff ... or realise they were had and start searching for "the actual place"

Much better is to have *some* valuables there plus maybe some seemingly-important documents. So you can actually trick them into thinking they found the catch ..
 
If I told you where I hid all my stuff, a) it would no longer be hidden, and b) I'd have to find new hiding places.

Apparently the best place to keep things you want inaccessible to adults is behind something with a "child resistant" lock on it.  The kids learn how to open them up pretty easily, but they're obnoxious for my wife and I.

This is also why, even though we give our kids all manner of plastic jars and containers to play with and explore and figure out how to open, I always drew/draw the line at medicine bottles.  Not only do I not want the kids to think that it's okay to play with medicine, but they have the time and patience to figure out how to open them, rendering all future safety devices pretty much moot.
 
I keep a large  amount of cash in my top left dresser drawer right under the list of my passwords and next to my collection of expensive jewelry. 

Not going to be home for next couple weeks but we always leave the side door unlocked if you want to drop over and check out how deceptive this is.  [big grin] [big grin]
 
As we make our way into middle geezerhood, the challenge is to remember where in the hell you hid the things you hid some years, months or even weeks ago.  No more hiding here!
 
kevinculle said:
As we make our way into middle geezerhood, the challenge is to remember where in the heck you hid the things you hid some years, months or even weeks ago.  No more hiding here!

I have trouble remembering what I went into the kitchen for sometimes! Good luck me ever finding anything I deliberately hid!

This is also why I have a couple dozen tapes and steel rules, increases the chance of actually finding one when I need it.
 
kevinculle said:
As we make our way into middle geezerhood, the challenge is to remember where in the heck you hid the things you hid some years, months or even weeks ago.  No more hiding here!
I was like 15 or 16 when my Sony radio with a buzzer was lost/stolen. I was pretty pissed. Turned the home upside down for weeks. No luck.

About a month found it in the freezer .. And no, it was not hidden by anyone. I must have had it in hand and placed it there to free my hand temporarily ..
[cool]

Learned to check our the fridge ever since. Heh.
 
kevinculle said:
As we make our way into middle geezerhood, the challenge is to remember where in the heck you hid the things you hid some years, months or even weeks ago.  No more hiding here!

Our smallest/youngest grandchildren were coming over to visit us so I decided to hide the Walther PPKS that always resides in one of the kitchen drawers in a safer spot.
Well...4 years later the Walther is still in the safer spot...because I still haven't found it.  [tongue]
 
Cheese said:
kevinculle said:
As we make our way into middle geezerhood, the challenge is to remember where in the heck you hid the things you hid some years, months or even weeks ago.  No more hiding here!

Our smallest/youngest grandchildren were coming over to visit us so I decided to hide the Walther PPKS that always resides in one of the kitchen drawers in a safer spot.
Well...4 years later the Walther is still in the safer spot...because I still haven't found it.  [tongue]

I had a PPKS years ago.  A very handy and easy to shoot gun (but a little under-powered). 

I was surprised to learn that even though it said, “Made in Germany” is was actually made (as I recall) in either Spain or (probably) Portugal. 

There is a quirk in German law that allows “Made in Germany” if the final assembly is done in Germany.  So the PPKS was shipped without the grip halves screwed in place.  That operation was done in Germany, so “Made in Germany”.

Similarly, the Porsche 928, the short-lived front engine, rear drive car that they produced years back.  That car was shipped with the bucket seats detached.  That operation was done on German soil, so “Made in Germany”. 

I complained about the .380 being underpowered, but “Bond, Jame Bond” used a version that was chambered in .32. 

 
Packard said:
1. I had a PPKS years ago.  A very handy and easy to shoot gun (but a little under-powered). 

2. I was surprised to learn that even though it said, “Made in Germany” is was actually made (as I recall) in either Spain or (probably) Portugal. 

3. There is a quirk in German law that allows “Made in Germany” if the final assembly is done in Germany.  So the PPKS was shipped without the grip halves screwed in place.  That operation was done in Germany, so “Made in Germany”.

1. I agree, it is underpowered but it is shooter friendly and at least 2x more lethal than a .22. I decided on the .380 so that my wife would be encouraged to use it. I prefer shooting the .45 ACP which can be a bit daunting to folks that are not "into" guns. If I shoot 357 mag, that's usually from a 6" Python...sweet...accurate...low recoil.

2. Mine was manufactured in the USA...that also became one of the draws.  [big grin]

3. That's the same debate currently about Swiss watches. There are "Swiss Made" watches and then there are REALLY "Swiss Made" watches. It's confusing to follow and the manufacturing nuances can at times, be almost non-existent. In-house movements are an easy call but after that it's the Wild West.
 
Cheese said:
Packard said:
1. I had a PPKS years ago.  A very handy and easy to shoot gun (but a little under-powered). 

2. I was surprised to learn that even though it said, “Made in Germany” is was actually made (as I recall) in either Spain or (probably) Portugal. 

3. There is a quirk in German law that allows “Made in Germany” if the final assembly is done in Germany.  So the PPKS was shipped without the grip halves screwed in place.  That operation was done in Germany, so “Made in Germany”.

1. I agree, it is underpowered but it is shooter friendly and at least 2x more lethal than a .22. I decided on the .380 so that my wife would be encouraged to use it. I prefer shooting the .45 ACP which can be a bit daunting to folks that are not "into" guns. If I shoot 357 mag, that's usually from a 6" Python...sweet...accurate...low recoil.

2. Mine was manufactured in the USA...that also became one of the draws.  [big grin]

3. That's the same debate currently about Swiss watches. There are "Swiss Made" watches and then there are REALLY "Swiss Made" watches. It's confusing to follow and the manufacturing nuances can at times, be almost non-existent. In-house movements are an easy call but after that it's the Wild West.

Mine was in stainless steel which gave it good weight and made it easy to shoot.  There was some sort of import issue at the time I sold mine and I made a profit on re-selling.

The one pistol that I could shoot better than any other was a Colt Gold Cup 9.45) in stainless steel.  I could reliably put all 8 shots in the black on a bullseye target and on four occasions I ended up with a single hole that I could cover with a quarter.  It was a natural shooter for me, and of course the Gold Cup was a target pistol.

When I moved from Long Island to upstate New York, the locals would not renew my pistol license.  I had to re-apply, a process that the “mental health” commissioner managed to stretch out for 5 years.  (He would only “approve” 4 or 5 applications per week.  The only evaluation required was a computer search to see if the applicant had ever been committed to an asylum.  A delaying tactic.)

I did not replace the Gold Cup.
 
I took my full-size stainless Colt 1911 with me when I took the qualification test for the Virginia CCW permit.  Everybody had to shoot from a sandbag at their firing position.  My instructor/certifier had me load one round, insert the magazine drop the slide and put the safety on.  He ran the target downrange.  On his command, I was to line up the sights, drop the safety and fine one round to show that I could hit the target somewhere on paper.  I lined up, dropped the safety and fired one round.  The instructor said, "You missed the entire target!"  I disagreed and this went back and forth a couple of times until I hit the retract button and brought the target back in.  There was one very neat .45 caliber hole dead-centered on the intersection of horizontal and vertical lines on the target.  The instructor saw the precisely-placed hole and said, "OK, smartass; do that again."  So I did.  He got the message, and from that point on we had some great fun doing spontaneous double-taps from standing position.  After my range time was up, he asked what the rollmark was on the slide.  I told him it was from Woods Pistolsmithing, and his eyes got wide, quickly.  Credibility had been established.  Fast forward a few years and I got certified as a SIG/Sauer armorer.  A few years after that, I bought my SIG C3 and did a few accuracy/reliability modifications.  When I had to visit the Virginia State Police to get another document, the officer asked what I shot.  I mentioned that I preferred the 1911.  He asked if I knew how to use it.  I showed him a picture of a recent target and said, "How many rounds, what range, what caliber."  He guessed 100, 10 yards, and already knew it was a .45.  When I told him it was 271 rounds at 25 yards, no resting on anything.  Only 10 rounds were outside the 4" black center, and they were due to me laughing at having such an accurate piece.  His comment was "Remind me to not shoot against you!"  [big grin]
 
Take a loaf of bread and then use a tin can to cut a round hole in the middle, insert what your hiding and proceed. No cop or theif (lol, right) will go tear it apart or steal that loaf of bread.

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