So, there I was, mining my own business (ha! I crack me up), happily filling my jetcan with some lovely Pyroxerers, when a ship jumps into the belt. No problem there, he was probably just ratting. Then it happened, he started getting closer. Crap, I thought, here we go. I stopped my mining lasers and recalled my drones. Transferred as much ore as I could from the can to my cargo hold, but there was still a lot in the can. And he did it, he flipped my can, then just stood there, hoping I’d retaliate. No way I’m that stupid, so I just warped off back to station. He then sent me an Eve-mail thanking me for the ore and saying that it had been a pleasure doing business with me. Meh, if it makes him that happy to taunt me, he must not have much else going for him in life, poor guy.
I’ve been playing this game for some time now, and this was the first time I came face to face with a real life ore thief, never happened before. I know EVE is just a game, but it kinda bothered me that I had just been robbed and I guess the fact that I was bothered added another layer of victory for him. Still, it was something new to experience, and I am nothing if not opened to new experiences in EVE.
After consulting with my corp mates (none of which was close by, unfortunately), we reached the conclusion that I had only two choices:
1) Get another account to act as a hauler. I’ve thought about this, and I’m willing to give it a try. However, my computer is so old I think Lincoln probably used this same model, I have no idea if it can run two EVE clients at the same time. I tried to create a 14 day free trial, to see if I could run both clients at the same time, but CCP has (and wisely, in my opinion) prevented folks from running both a full account and a trial at the same time, so the only way for me to test this is to get another paid account. I’ll get back to you on that.
2) Rigs! If I install some rigs in my Hulk, I can increase its cargo capacity, not only making mining easier, but also helping me cut my loses if the ore theft happens again. I have two options in this, Cargohold Optimization I and II. One costs around 40M and the other 280M. Yeah, guess which one I’m going to go for? 
Tags: Can Flipping, EVE Online, Mining
October 3, 2008 at 3:44 pm
I like Cargohold Optimization rigs, I use three on my prime hauler…be warned, though, they’re gonna make your Hulk even more of a slug than it already is.
We had a can-tipper hit us up in Aderkan system during a corp mining operation not too long ago…we fought him, lost a couple of ships, but we’d pushed him down to about half his structure when he ran like a little bitch. He hasn’t been back our way; I think he dropped his security level so low that CONCORD gave him a spanking.
October 4, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Nice blog btw
The Cargo Hold rigs might be a good option. I know a few of my corp mates have two setups for their Hulks, one for fleet mining with mining laser upgrades in low slots and another with Expanded Cargohold IIs in the Lows.
You could also experiment with using Giant Secure Containers in your hold in conjunction with the above to virtually increase your cargo capacity even more – They can hold 3,900m3 but only take up 3,000m3 themselves. Don’t fill your hold with them though otherwise your Strip Miners will deactivate because your hold is technically full.
October 4, 2008 at 7:12 pm
yomma, thanks for the GSC tip. I already use them with my Hauler, but I hadn’t thought of using them in my Hulk! Excellent idea, I’ll try it out
October 5, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Ant thoughts as to giant secure cans? I mine in Piekura (0.5) and we get flippers fairly regularly. They must be anchored 5km from everything else, but this is fairly easy to do. First, select a belt in your favorite system that is not regularly mined completely bare. Second, select areas either above or below the belt that are within mining range of your favorite ‘roids. Anchor a can every 5 km along the belt. Thirdly, password protect each can. Secure cans hold 3900m3 but only take up 3000m3 cargo. So, my industrial has 3 cans in the hold as well, giving it 12000m3 with cargo expanders. So, here’s my technique….. warp to secure can #1 in a belt (I bookmarked it already), begin mining and fill this can. Once can 1 is full, continue mining as I travel (slowly!) to can 2. My hold is nearly empty at this point, it allows me to continue to mine as I move from can to can. Rinse/repeat until I reach my final can. Once all cans are full I fill the barge hold. Dock at a station where I have a good mission standing so I get a better processing rate. Undock the industrial warp to and empty all cans. Also, the hauler is equipped with a salvager/tractor beam. As I empty cans I also loot/salvage any wrecks popped by my drones while mining. Hope this was helpful!
October 5, 2008 at 5:31 pm
joebear770: yes, I have considered anchoring cans, but I find that I just can’t be bothered to do it. Having to scout the belt first, selecting spots where the cans can be anchored and then having to fly around the belt filling those cans is way to much work for me.
What can I say, I’m a lazy git
October 5, 2008 at 11:02 pm
Yeah, anchoring GSC’s for a HULk seems very time consuming and maybe anti-profit? I mean, those things only hold 3,900m3…You fill an anchored container so fast. However, it is a secure option so it does have a plus point.
My Dad is a dedicated miner so I’m really commenting on his setup which is with the GSCs and Cargo Extenders…unless you have a dedicated hauler alt in which case you don’t need anything else
November 20, 2008 at 11:44 am
I think can-flippers are a risk of jetcan-mining. I’ve only had it happen to me once in a blatant way like you describe here. I’ve just added the thief to my list of people I’ll shoot at if the opportunity ever arises, and there’s not much else we can do I guess.
As you state above, there are defences for it, but they’re a lot of work, and maybe laziness has a cost, and an occasional flip is the price?
December 12, 2008 at 5:11 pm
My corp was mining one night, I was semi-afk, just browsing the internet when all of a sudden I hear over voice, “GRAB THE CAN, GRAB THE F*KING CAN!”
I am in a Retriever and I quickly jump back to my client, there is a vexor sitting right beside me waiting for me to jetcan again. Now, the plus side to the story that made the night fairly amuzing even though my 8 man mining run was being tipped.
We have an Orca in our Corp. You can dump straight into it, for those that are new. So wisely we don’t attack and all 7 of us just Approach the orca and keep mining away while dumping directly into the Orca. =] The tippers madly just start bumping *the tipper had a friend waiting to jump into the belt*. So as we are all set on to Approach we mine until the tippers leave. And we begin to taunt them in Local chat.
A fun night =] Have to love the Orca. =D