Break ins

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Rvtex

Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2017
Posts
11
Location
Central Texas
Just wondering what some of the full timers do to protect all their belongings. We are a few months away from hitting the road so there are a million thoughts going through my head. All my belongings in the the firth wheel with pretty flimsy doors and compartments. Have seen some pretty good front door lock upgrades but nothing for the basement locks. I know there are alarms out there, and that might be an option, but hate the idea. Not worried about when we are home... but when we are not. Just wondering what others have done that have been on the road awhile.
 
I've heard of things happening in Walmarts and places similar, but you'll find in most RV Parks that there is a lot of honor among RVers.  Never had a problem.  This is not to say it can't happen, but I haven't had a problem.  You'll also find that most RVers carry guns....
 
I agree corvettehogan. We have been "vacationing"in rv's for thirty years. Have stayed in campgrounds and rv parks mainly and never have even come close to a problem. But that was just "vacation stuff". I too carry with a license. Just need to be there when something happens. I'm probably just being paranoid. Honor among rvers is one of the reasons we are going full time. Hard to find a better group of people, almost like a little community neighborhood every where we go. Thanks for the reply
 
Only had a problem once. Left the Coleman Cooler (Ice chest type) outside at night and lost my breakfast....Lunch.... Supper.. In a state park.... had enough reserve to replace everything, Locked it up at night.

Man was that many years ago.

Best Idea I've seen is a nest cam or something like it... one RVer had one. the kid who broke in not only spotted the camera he actually moved it, but he left it (I'd send the video to a concealed recorder myself)

Nice full face shot, Nice shot of his T-Shirt. took the cops not long at all to recover stolen goods and impound thief.

A couple of well placed cameras (I have some you basically will never even see if they are properly installed) feeding a digital recorder (hidden) and ... Well.. You may get ripped off, but good chance you will get it back.

This IS True (delete spaces and add dot com) today's Premium edition

A homeowner noticed his garage had been broken into and some stuff gone.
He played the tape for the cops.
A "Looky-Lou" ask "What's all the commotion".... Man looked real familiar to the oficers (one of the 2 men in the video) so.. Out came the handcuffs.. he'd not rat out his partner however. But they had gotten into a Red Pick up.. Found an abandoned red pickup nearby.
Ran the thing to find the owner
"Oh somebody just stole my truck" said the very familiar looking owner (the other man in the video).

Preventing them from breaking in.. Not so easy
Helping the cops catch 'em.. Very easy.
 
We camp at Grand Haven state park in Michigan often. Haven't had any issues. However I heard of bikes came up missing this last summer. I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often. As many locals with baggy pants wonder on and off the beach alot of bikes, grills, coolers etc. are laying unlocked, its not a surprise they don't grow legs. I bet it happens often, but people either don't say anything, or I don't get told. I recently purchased two 15' retractable cable locks from Reese from EBay. I don't want my stuff to come up missing.
 
Never heard of anyone having an actual "break-in" unless their RV was in storage.  I stay almost entirely in state and federal campgrounds and have never had anything taken or anyone even try to break in.  And I am an older woman traveling alone. 

Last campground theft I heard about was a package of hamburger stolen from an unlocked ice chest by a masked four-legged bandit!  My biggest problem has been leaving some of my stuff behind while I drive out for the day or head to the dump station.  Sometimes my neighbors think I have forgotten stuff, so they chase after me.  One guy picked up my water hose and came running up to me at the dump station to return it.  I now put a sign out that says I will be right back. I don't leave a lot of stuff outside, but in five years no one has stolen my hose, chair, or other stuff.
 
The break ins I have heard about happen in storage lots, a target rich environment! I have never had a problem in 40 plus years of camping in tents, pop ups, and travel trailers except for one time. That was when some other campers in a Class A trying to take the Y splitter on a faucet! When I said "Hey, that's mine!" they just shrugged, screwed it back on, and said "We thought it belonged to the campground." I guess it was ok to steal a $3 faucet adapter from the campground but not from me. That is the only situation.

We lock up bikes, satellite antennas, and sometimes a Coleman stove. We do leave out chairs and sometimes fold up tables. We don't leave out ice chests because we too frequently camp in bear country and keep the habit no matter where we are.
 
We have yet to have a problem but we don't leave items laying around to tempt sticky fingers. It is easy to become fearful but just use common sense, relax and carry insurance for the major items. And no, that doesn't mean I am suggesting a boom stick ;D.
 
I think that most thefts are crimes of opportunity, someone walking by sees stuff left out and decides to help themselves. We carry a couple of 25 foot cables normally used for dog runs, and padlocks. They're long enough to loop through the kayaks or bikes to secure them to the picnic table, a tree or whatever.
 
We keep our eyes open ... if you pull into a campground where you see bicycles, BBQs, kayaks and other stuff outside of many other campsite - you're likely pretty safe.  We keep a tidy campsite ... lock up the "big ticket" items (bikes, kayaks) ... and lock the "big" windows and doors when we leave our campsite.  We've been car camping / backpacking all our lives ... been traveling extensively in our motor home for the past two years - we've never lost a thing. 

 

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