Opinions Sought "Thief Magnet"

[Streamhound]

Do you think that have fly fishing sticker, license plate frames etc increase the chances of getting your vehicle broken into? Not talking about leaving stuff out on seats but just by having the sticker, is it a thief magnet?

[JohnH0802]

I would think not normally. I don't think most thieves are knowledgable about fly fishing. Having said that, a vehicle parked on the side of a stream or river, with anything having to do with fishing is probably sending a message that there will not be someone back for a while!

[prosigna]

I do not know about it being a theif magnet but I do know this: After the last time my car was broken into at the trail head on a 3-day backpacking trip I stopped locking my dors when leaving the car. If a theif wants in he will get in and take your stuff. If you leave the doors unlocked then you only have to replace the stuff, not the smashed window.

[Carolina Boy]

Good point prosigna, when I was younger I spent a lot of time surfing literally all over the world, I went to Costa Rica a ton of times and what you said was the proper course of action, the thing about it is that when you are several hundred yards out in heavy surf even if you see someone by the car it doesn't matter and they can see you, we got broken into one time and they flattened a tire ( for those who don't know there can be heavy "Local-ism" in the surfing world) We didn't have anything in the truck but from then on it was windows down and unlocked doors never had another problem. And if fish stickers and plates lead to break in's then I am in real trouble!

[Grannyknot]

I try not to park at sketchy looking trailheads, but when I do, I make sure the interior of my car is very clean. If they look into the windows and don't see anything, I think the chances of them breaking in for further exploration is less likely. I've had good luck so far....fingers still crossed.

As far as the stickers, I dont think they infer that valuables are in the car, because they are usually being used on the stream.

[Carlito]

What about my 3 foot wide JBL Audio sticker on the rear window?

Codman, my strategy is sort of the inverse of yours... leave so much crap strewn about that they think I'm some hobo living out of a Subaru.

All jokes aside, I don't feel like having fly fishing stickers on your car makes you stand out. I'll bet most folks that would break into a car would probably assume most of our gear isn't worth squat anyway. Seems to me thieves would be looking for GPS, iPods, stereo equipment, wallets, bags, etc, not stinky old fishing gear.

[BlueRaiderFan]

Do what I do: Drive a piece of junk that looks worse than what they pulled up in.

[Jim Casada]

All--I will offer a quite different perspective on things. I think the presence of the right kind of sticker (NRA member, "Protected by Smith & Wesson," or that kind of thing) might well have a deterrent effect
Jim Casada
www.jimcasadaoutdoors.com

[GrouseMan77]

I'm not too worried about fly fishing stickers...I only have one. If they want in there gonna get in. I wonder how much attention those fancy "brookie conservation" plates draw?

[silvercreek]

Best defense I ever saw was out west. A guy had a dog in the bed of his pickup truck. The dog appeared to be a Border Collie. It just sat alone in the back of the truck with its muzzle resting on the edge of the truck bed. We walked up to talk to the dog. As soon as we got close it bared its teeth. No growl, no bark, just curled its lips so we could see those teeth. Never even raised its muzzle from the rim of the truck bed. Message received. Regards, Silvercreek