Been doing more research into thief deterrents on trail cams.

[pendoreilleadventures]

I found out that the way dye packs work would not work with the trail cams dye packs for one are hard to get you have to have special credentials to buy them. Plus they actually require a thief to cross a door way to trigger the dye pack to explode. But what I did find was this.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Easy-CO2-powered-Squib-for-Self-contained-Blood-an/?ALLSTEPS

I just need to figure out a way to make the trigger depress when the door to the dummy cam is open. I would use just basic rid brand dye.

 What do you think?

[KFhunter]

Here is the MSDS for RIT liquid dye, might want to read it because it'll be used against you in court.
http://www.goodwillbigbend.com/gibbonly/Safety%202010/MSDS/Liquid%20Rit%20Dye.pdf

First Aid - Eyes
Flush affected areas with water for at least 15 minutes. Seek medical assistance.

I'm sure if you go to CO2 bike inflater manufacturers there will be all kinds of warnings about using it in a manner not intended by the manufacturer.....DUH huh?  ya..


So in short, if someone were to be hurt (or claim to be hurt) by your booby trap you'd be wholly at fault.

I had a much longer reply drawn up validating all my observances but why bother this is a no brainer, nail someone with your booby trap and you may as well hand over the keys to your life to that person, cause they own you.

[huntnnw]

They may want the dye in their eyes versus what will happen if I catch them.

[SuperMag]

I may be in the market for trying some of these creative techniques. My buddy and I have been running 17 cams all year on some public land but most of them are on private. We always lock our cameras to the tree then lock the camera closed.  Yesterday after my morning hunt I went to swap out cards and found 3 of our cameras had been broken into. I guess someone wanted to see my pics more then me. They broke the plastic loop where I have the lock and stole the SD cards. I know its not the worst case since I still have my cameras even tho I cant lock them closed anymore. guess I will be buying some more bear boxes. it wouldn't make me as mad if it would have happened on the public land but they were all on PRIVATE PROPERTY!!!

[Jingles]

To bad we don't have a source for some good ole military Flash bangs.

[furiouzgeorge]

I used to work shipping and receiving at Sears. Any item over $50 had a magnetic die pack on the sleeve which could only be removed at the register. If it left the building the alarm would go off, if someone tampered with it in the store the die would be released. It's not high pressure, not dangerous, just a no argument 'caught red handed' system.

I think you could legally figure out how to do this...

However, what good will a die pack do you? If you're leaving your cams unattended then obviously folks have some time to screw with the cams while you're gone. Home boy could be 100 miles away before you check them. While I know it would be really satisfying to 'get them' it's not really going to benefit you all that much. I would focus my efforts on a better lock box!

 

[jackelope]

I cut the lock loops off mine so they fit inside the box.

[Heredoggydoggy]

So in short, if someone were to be hurt (or claim to be hurt) by your booby trap you'd be wholly at fault.
[/quote]

All I can say is they better be someplace I can't find them when I get out of jail...

[Dave of TDG-Farms]

Wouldnt it just be easier to have a GPS hardwired into the internal part of the cams? Even a blip ever 12-24 hours would still let you know where your camera was and the drain on battery life would be almost nothing.


UPDATE: Never mind. Looks like it wouldnt be all that cost effective to add a GPS unit. Best bet is a bear safe I guess.

[jackelope]

Wouldn't it be easier to just build a good lock box?
 

[whacker1]

Wouldn't it be easier to just build a good lock box?
 

What does your camera weigh in at with lock box and batteries?

Just curious how many I can pack and how far.

[bracer40]

Here is the MSDS for RIT liquid dye, might want to read it because it'll be used against you in court.
http://www.goodwillbigbend.com/gibbonly/Safety%202010/MSDS/Liquid%20Rit%20Dye.pdf

First Aid - Eyes
Flush affected areas with water for at least 15 minutes. Seek medical assistance.

I'm sure if you go to CO2 bike inflater manufacturers there will be all kinds of warnings about using it in a manner not intended by the manufacturer.....DUH huh?  ya..


So in short, if someone were to be hurt (or claim to be hurt) by your booby trap you'd be wholly at fault.

I had a much longer reply drawn up validating all my observances but why bother this is a no brainer, nail someone with your booby trap and you may as well hand over the keys to your life to that person, cause they own you.

This reminds me of a situation we had in our neighborhood with people driving across the lawns of the corner lots and tearing the h*ll out of our lawns. During a block watch meeting we had a local officer attending and I proposed putting rebar or big rocks along the edge of our lawns so any kids attempting to tear up the lawns would be surprised by punctured tires, maybe an oil pan. The officer informed us if that happened we would be opening ourselves up to a lawsuit from the offenders
I know, it sucked hearing that, but unfortunately it's the state of our legal system to some degree.

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

Wouldnt it just be easier to have a GPS hardwired into the internal part of the cams? Even a blip ever 12-24 hours would still let you know where your camera was and the drain on battery life would be almost nothing.


UPDATE: Never mind. Looks like it wouldnt be all that cost effective to add a GPS unit. Best bet is a bear safe I guess.

Wondering about this... A friend of mine found a camera in an area he "thought" he had sole access to, so he went to go check the camera. In the process he found a sticker from an official agency stating that it was fitted with a GPS tracking device. He left the camera alone...
Good idea just to print a bunch of stickers 

[jackelope]

Wouldn't it be easier to just build a good lock box?
 

What does your camera weigh in at with lock box and batteries?

Just curious how many I can pack and how far.

Probably 3-5 pounds I'd guess. I carry 2 camera/box setups and a 50 pound bag of salt, hardware to mount and tools(ratchet, extension and socket or cordless impact driver) a couple miles for some of my cameras. Pack weighs in around 85 pounds. It sucks to carry  but I'd rather carry all that and not get them stolen than have some jackwagon steal my stuff I worked hard for. When you consider the weight of the boxes vs. the weight of cables, dye packs, flash bang grenades, all the other ideas, there's probably no difference. I'll weigh one later on and post.

[whacker1]

Wouldn't it be easier to just build a good lock box?
 

What does your camera weigh in at with lock box and batteries?

Just curious how many I can pack and how far.

Probably 3-5 pounds I'd guess. I carry 2 camera/box setups and a 50 pound bag of salt, hardware to mount and tools(ratchet, extension and socket or cordless impact driver) a couple miles for some of my cameras. Pack weighs in around 85 pounds. It sucks to carry  but I'd rather carry all that and not get them stolen than have some jackwagon steal my stuff I worked hard for. When you consider the weight of the boxes vs. the weight of cables, dye packs, flash bang grenades, all the other ideas, there's probably no difference. I'll weigh one later on and post.

Are these boxes you designed or factory boxes? 

The 85 lbs is what I was trying to get to, thank you.