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"But how the hell do you 'misplace' an item"

How are you able to watch over your stuff 24x7?

Look, when travelling you either leave your laptop in your hotel room (my 15" usually won't fit in the room safe) where the cleaning staff (and just about anybody who pretend to live in your room) can get at it, or you bring it along while exploring the new city you're visiting so it can be mugged.

Or how about those times when they did not let you bring your laptop as carry-on and you had to chuck it with your checked luggage? I have almost lost some luggage a few times (had to wait three weeks for two bags once), so I know it is possible to have things 'disappear'.

I've never lost a laptop though, but that is more down to dumb luck than anything else. Plus I probably spend way too much time in my hotel rooms to begin with. Normal people are probably out and about more than me. OTOH, there was that time when I had to fight off a monkey using a tripod... I could have lost some valuable stuff that day, but thankfully I realized a metal tripod is a great weapon. Or those two times I had to run from an elephant (not the same elephant), but then again: The elephants did not care about my possessions (unlike the monkey), so there was that. A baboon once made off with my lunchbox though, with me standing right in the middle. I could have smacked the car door on its head, but I felt my lunch wasn't worth killing for. Plus, he had sharp teeth and was surprisingly brazen. I was used to baboons being rather shy, so he took me completely by surprise.

But hey, please share your tips on protecting your gear.