Inside or outside the tent at night? I don't mean food, which might attract animals if inside the tent, but the backpack itself and all the contents? Is there an unwritten honor code among backpackers that you don't touch someone else's stuff even if it appears to be unattended?

Along those lines, do you set up your camp and leave your stuff there if you want to do day hikes in an area, or do you take all your stuff with you (tent included?) everywhere you go? When T and I go to Big Bend in March, we'll only be hiking 6-7 miles a day between campsites at a sedate, scenery-enjoying pace, but there are shorter hikes off the main trail that we'd like to do. It would be nice to be able to hike to the location for the night, set up the tent, leave our stuff and then backtrack to do some of the shorter hikes. Generally speaking, would it be safe to leave our stuff unattended in the backcountry?