Smart people don't lose their clue or their clue items such as sextant watch or chart when they go to wild...
Here is what you bring:
Clue, Chart, Spade, sextant, Watch, 20 iron knives or any knives/darts
You kill the mage with the knives and dig, don't open the case.
Now if you run into pkers before or after digging up the case simply put prot melee and prot item on and drop your spade, thus protecting your Clue, Chart, Spade, sextant, Watch.
Also have the log screen open at all times and log when you see a white dot on the mini map and pick low populated worlds.
You should never open your case in wild and you should never lose your clue in wild.