Black knapsack - taken Tuesday in the Deep Playa

[jazz-dancer]

I suspect someone was trying to be a good samaritan, intending to take my knapsack to the Lost & Found (I had just set it down while in the deep playa for about 10min, at the teal vibrating dome). In any case, it had contained my Prius keys, and cost me about $1K to replace. The knapsack has other items that would be nice to get back...

It's a black knapsack of synthetic woven material - it has 3 zippered compartments - the small, outermost compartment had my keys, including my Prius fob.

It also contained my headlamp, a wind-up flashlight, and a flashlight with a bike clamp. A collapsible plate, bamboo eating utensils and a water bottle.

There were other items as well, but those the keys were the main things that I wanted back.

Thanks!

[trilobyte]

$1K to replace? Were they made of gold? For future reference, you may want to keave your keys to defaultia at a secure location within your camp. In any case, I hope you're able to reconnect with the backpack.

[theCryptofishist]

I'm guessing it was fancy electronics. And who knows what it means to be getting that out to the playa.

[Ratty]

Yup. The 1K is on the square. To replace a key can be MANY hundreds of dollars and requires your car hooked up to 'their' computer. It can be a heartache. That's a long tow to the dealership.

[Shambala]

I have always tried to get a spare electronic key when it was not needed. There are lots of locksmiths that make them up for $50-$75. A good suggestion is to have another person hold your spare key, or keep each key in a separate spot.
I bring a rental car to the playa, and if I get only one electronic fob, I make a copy of the hard key to open the door and lock the electronic fob inside the car. If there are two fobs on the key chain, I break them apart and keep them in different spots. One being tie wrapped in my tent or camper.

I tend to be a bit obsessive with these small details. A guy camping with us this past year had only one key to his car, and he put it in his back pocket of his pants---which had a gaping rip in it. His keys were turned in toward the end of the week, but he spent most of his time trying to figure out how to get a tow truck out there and what dealership to bring it to so a new key could be made.

Needless to say, leaving your backpack unattended was a mistake. Someone seeing it sitting there could have thought it was dropped and picked it up to turn it in. Second, there should be some sort of ID or address information in it, so it could be mailed back to you. This wouldn't help you get your car started, but at least you might get your belongings back.

[junglesmacks]

I leave the truck unlocked, with the keys sitting in the cup holder. Problem solved.

No one's driving that sucker away and there's nothing to steal in the cab. Why lock it and take the risk of losing the keys?