Theft Story? Tell Yours

[Havre]

Never had anything stolen, but have had my board returned to me several times

Where do people leave their keys? I am not all that happy leaving it in the bag, but not exactly a given that you won't lose them out on the water either. So lesser evil for me leaving them on the beach.

[Foil]

the problem that wound me up the most was random guys who I did not even know, just boldly walking up to my pump and kite bag on the beach and using it without even asking, then leaving it near their kite bag.
what a flipping cheek.
not any more,
no kite bag or pump to worry about.
total foil kite user.
Pauline my wife is the beach unofficial kite warden wherever we go.
she is willing to launch and land all types of kite and looks after other guys kit when they leave them near her beach chair, also always with the binoculars looking for kites down on the water for too long.
on holiday at Flag beach she ends up with a little mountain of gear from the guys who get to know she will look after their stuff.

it was here we spotted how some scum bags take advantage of abandoned bags left at the sunbeds whilst their owners take a short dip, they just sit on the vacant bed for a short rest and then stand up with what they fancy and walk away.

one of the brits there a few years ago chased 3 teenage girls who boldly picked up his inflated kite and walked off with it, he chased them, and they dropped the kite whilst running and gave him verbal for giving chase, cheeky buggers.

[Foil]

Never had anything stolen, but have had my board returned to me several times

Where do people leave their keys? I am not all that happy leaving it in the bag, but not exactly a given that you won't lose them out on the water either. So lesser evil for me leaving them on the beach.

blimey, I would never do that, insurance may not even cover you.
use a cheap Aquapack off ebay to Keep them safe around your neck and under your wetsuit.
https://www.google.com/search?q=aquapac ... e&ie=UTF-8

[evan]

In all my many many years (3) of kiteboarding nothing at all.
Hear nothing in the Netherlands except forgotten things

open your ears more then.

Quite often cars get broken open or even kites stolen from the beach, even heard of pumped kites that got deflated and taken during a break. The popular crowded beaches gets the most theft.

[Foil]

silver sands, Barbados.
sandals were nicked whist out sailing.
the very next day a guy asked me if i wanted them back as he knows who pinched them and can recover them for a small fee.
no, was my answer,
so he started pressuring me buy some mangos off him, to get rid of him I said maybe another day.
the very next day he was back with even more mangos, and he demanded money as I had hired him to collect them for me,
big beach argument.
Brian Talma stepped in and got rid of him.
scary morning for sure.

[Havre]

Never had anything stolen, but have had my board returned to me several times

Where do people leave their keys? I am not all that happy leaving it in the bag, but not exactly a given that you won't lose them out on the water either. So lesser evil for me leaving them on the beach.

blimey, I would never do that, insurance may not even cover you.
use a cheap Aquapack off ebay to Keep them safe around your neck and under your wetsuit.
https://www.google.com/search?q=aquapac ... e&ie=UTF-8

Obviously less risk of for example a car being stolen if you lose your keys out on the water. Odd to me that there isn't a secure pocket in harnesses for small stuff like keys.

Depends a bit on where I am going. In Norway I would argue the likelihood of something getting stolen is fairly close to 0. Biggest risk I would argue is someone mistakenly taking your bag.

Only place I have been to where I really didn't like leaving the keys at the beach was Tarifa. So many people. Huge parking lots with a lot of cars. Easy place to just grab some keys - find the a car and drive off.

Might buy one of those, but not super happy with having something hanging around my neck while kiting.

[Bille]

I once had my lunch stolen from a remote beach in Scotland.... Got in from my session to find some bastard had pulled my meticulously made picnic out of my kite bag, half-eaten it and throw the rest in the sand. I was really pissed off until later, when reviewing some GoPro photos I saw 20 seagulls going at it for most of my session!

Best story , on this Thread !!!

Bille

[jumptheshark]

Might buy one of those, but not super happy with having something hanging around my neck while kiting.

I use a little drybag like these. I wear a vest and have it tied to the shoulder strap and just tuck it in at the chest. Generally stays put and I only occasionally have to tuck it back in after a good crash. Has never leaked or let me down in three years. Keys work fine, phone works fine, but both together is too bulky and heavy.

[K-Roy]

Never had anything stolen, but have had my board returned to me several times

Where do people leave their keys? I am not all that happy leaving it in the bag, but not exactly a given that you won't lose them out on the water either. So lesser evil for me leaving them on the beach.

blimey, I would never do that, insurance may not even cover you.
use a cheap Aquapack off ebay to Keep them safe around your neck and under your wetsuit.
https://www.google.com/search?q=aquapac ... e&ie=UTF-8

For me this works fine...

[Havre]

Might buy one of those, but not super happy with having something hanging around my neck while kiting.

I use a little drybag like these. I wear a vest and have it tied to the shoulder strap and just tuck it in at the chest. Generally stays put and I only occasionally have to tuck it back in after a good crash. Has never leaked or let me down in three years. Keys work fine, phone works fine, but both together is too bulky and heavy.

Yeah. I could see that working when wearing a west - I don't.

Today I just ordered a new harness. It supposedly has a key pocket. Looking forward to see how it looks - and if it works.