Hiding a Safe in a Motorhome

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SissyBoyFloyd

SissyBoyFloyd

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Aug 14, 2012
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Is there a really safe place to secure a safe or hide your money, especially if its a considerable amount, in a B+, C, and Class A motorhomes?  Is bolting a small safe to the floor of a closet good enough, or has someone come up with the perfect solution?  Is there an ideal way to travel with lots of money?  Is a thief ransacking your motorhome even a problem to worry about?  How often does that even happen?  I can't remember ever reading about that anywhere.
 

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Banks make you nervous?

A determined thief who knows it is there will get anything so I think your best bet is to blend in and I suppose if you knew what you were doing you could bolt through the floor under the bed and to the chassis.

Not sure Camp grounds are where thieves go to make the big score.  Never seen it or heard of it but I imagine it has happened. 

I was always more worried about my own safety.  Also I would imagine thieves are more the smash and grab variety as opposed to the smash and then spend 40 minutes looking and ripping.

I only ever have a few dollars on me - that's all that is left after filling up with gas☹️☹️
 
  "Lots of money" better not mean over 10K,,I have a safe mounted in one storage bay and crossed into Canada last year,,Canadian customs inspector wanted to see inside,(I suspected looking for a hidden firearm) and found my "stash". He only wanted to know if it was over 10K..No other hassles.. They really looked the coach over closely inside and out including the toad with two inspectors inside and one outside.>>>Dan (I found later that they had even removed all the CDs from the player and replaced them in a "new" order)
 
utahclaimjumper said:
  "Lots of money" better not mean over 10K,,I have a safe mounted in one storage bay and crossed into Canada last year,,Canadian customs inspector wanted to see inside,(I suspected looking for a hidden firearm) and found my "stash". He only wanted to know if it was over 10K..No other hassles.. They really looked the coach over closely inside and out including the toad with two inspectors inside and one outside.>>>Dan (I found later that they had even removed all the CDs from the player and replaced them in a "new" order)
Click to expand...

There are some states here that will actually take (steal) your money from you if you have several thousand under the pretext that you must be a drug dealer and the money was gained illegally.  Several pro poker players have been caught in that trap.  That is what I fear the most.
 
I have a great fear of someone taking my things from me. I always carry cash and enough to carry me through for a month if need be. I use my credit card but just in case. I do have a safe mounted and it could be tore out but they would need to find it and take the time to remove it. Make your harder to steal than the next guys.
 
I considered adding a safe a one time ... but never found anything that really fit the bill - and never found what I would consider a good place / mounting method.  After really noodling it a bit - I came to the conclusion it wasn't necessary.  We don't carry large sums of cash or expensive jewelry ... and the handful of "valuable" things we do carry ain't gonna fit in the typical < 2 cu foot security safe.  For the little bit of cash we might carry - we'll split it into several envelopes and hide it within the coach and toad.  I figure they might stumble across an envelope or two ... but they'll never find all of 'em.  Heck, the DW and I have taken to making a list of where we hid the envelopes.  Before we did that there was an episode where WE couldn't find a couple of 'em!  :D
 
Are you looking for fire or for theft protection?  From my research, the smaller safes that don't weigh too much for my motorhome don't really provide the kind of fire safety that would do me much good, and probably not enough theft protection either.

I have been considering a small safe, mostly for fire protection, but then started thinking that what a safe does is advertise "Hey!  Here is where all the good stuff is! No need to continue searching this place." 

So for now, I think I would do better to hide my few things in several places.  RVs certainly do have a lot of nooks and crannies. And I don't carry that much cash anyway.

I do keep my most valuable inherited jewelry in a safety deposit box.  And I keep electronic masters of all my family movies and slides in a safe in a relatives house, but mostly I am worried about fire, not theft, for those items. 
 
If someone came up with the perfect solution to hiding cash or a safe in an RV, they would likely be too smart to publicize the information on a forum. A safe would only protect against "casual" burglars, not someone with time and tools.

We use a debit card, draw cash as needed, always the same sum, and never had a problem over considerable time and travel.

 
Many states are also problematic when carrying a firearm, I use my safe to secure mine when traveling through these states.>>>Dan
 
I have an expensive safe that weighs about 100 lbs, probably 20"x15" x17".  It is as solid as I don't know what.  I had 2 big holes drilled in the bottom, where I can attach it to the floor with 2 huge bolts.  I would think that could be done in a MH, although the floors are somewhat weak.  Probably should be anchored further with a cable attached to the frame of the motor coach.  I doubt anyone would get into it without being a safe cracker with lots of time and/or plastic explosives.

I just thought of something.  Maybe we should just have a small dummy safe that could be opened with not too extreme measures.  Put a few dollars in it and some costume jewelry, along with some phony looking legal papers like a will/passports.  Place it in the floor of a closet where it is easily found.  Crooks would surely think that is where all the goodies are and either take or break into it and find a little bit of what they came hoping for.  However, you have hid your big money and valuables somewhere else in the coach, like the fridge in one of those phony looking cans of soup or whatever, that open up and are hallow enough to hide your $$ and such in.  This might be the best way to protect yourself after all.
 
We have a little safe that DH installed. It holds a handgun (when he brings it) and some Rx medications (when I bring them). It won't keep out any determined thief with time on their hands (you would have to cut through framing), but it would keep the casual thief out. Note we have never had any theft in any campground in over 40 years of camping in tents, pop ups, or travel trailers and in places as diverse as isolated boondocks to commercial campgrounds. I just like the idea of the gun locked up, just like we do at home. Then again, we don't keep lots of cash around like the OP seems to want to do. I would actually recommend the OP to post with this username on,y on this thread and remove all other posts with the username. Then open a new username, never referring to this topic with the new name. He or she is advertising quite clearly that his or her rig is a good target. Further posts might provide enough information to identify location and rig type.
 
I'm dying to know how big of a stack of money we are talking about!  And why it's not in a bank.

How long will the rv be left unattended and is this in a high crime area? I'm not a criminal but I just don't think of RVs when I think of break-ins.seems like a shoe box buried in the back of a closet would be adequate for a bit of extra cash.  Or in a box clearly marked sewer supplies.  Lol.

Seems there must be an interesting story behind this.
 
When we started camping in the motorhome we never locked the doors or turned off the TV or lights. We just felt that campers were an honest bunch. After a few years we went into the clubhouse one evening for the meal and other entertainment. When we came back to the MH later we found that someone had just walked in and removed about $35 from the wallet in my wife's purse. When we mentioned what happened, the others knew who most likely the culprit was. We were also, always warned when we were at the Orlando Fairgrounds for a rally. There is a questionable area close to where we park.

Now, every time we leave the motorhome out of sight, we lock it up. Haven't had a problem since.

I have a safe designed for motorhomes and have it bolted to the chassis frame with a couple of big bolts. The location is not obvious. When found, it would take a heavy pry bar or a key to get it removed or unlocked.
 
My solution is B of A.  I haven't been anywhere that a branch isn't close by and we have traveled coast to coast, northwest to northeast, southwest to southeast and everywhere in between. 
 
Plenty of ways to hide something. If you want it to be in a fire proof box, forget it. Way to big. Most are just fire resistant for a short time while the fire department comes. Easiest thing is cut a hole in a wall near the floor and put a air vent grate. Unscrew when needed. I have a friend who built what looks like part of his furnace, pipes and electrical  that do nothing. Inside he has a real fire proof safe. He also has about $2,000 in his desk draw. If someone breaks in they find the cash, declare success and beat feet.

Build a little box on the floor inside a cabinet and a fuse box cover with a couple of breakers. Unscrew top and put cash inside.

You can fit a few grand in $100's in a DVD jacket of Grease.

I was on the road for 10 years. I always had around $10,000 in cash with me.  Saved me more then once. A few times when computers were down and cash only for fuel. A new transmission for $6,700. They dropped everything when I said I have cash. Was gone in 2 days.
 
I have a "fire resistant" safe in my camper closet, I leave the Key in it, if there is ever a break in, they can just open it, find no money or valuables, and not have to rip it out and/or take it with them.

Same thing at home, I leave it unlocked for the same reasons.

In both cases, I hope to save them and myself some labor!
 
Take a look at vehicle gun safes, there quite a few out there with multiple mounting options. just saying.
 
utahclaimjumper said:
  "Lots of money" better not mean over 10K,,I have a safe mounted in one storage bay and crossed into Canada last year,,Canadian customs inspector wanted to see inside,(I suspected looking for a hidden firearm) and found my "stash". He only wanted to know if it was over 10K..No other hassles.. They really looked the coach over closely inside and out including the toad with two inspectors inside and one outside.>>>Dan (I found later that they had even removed all the CDs from the player and replaced them in a "new" order)
Click to expand...

I know I'm late to the party but:  you can take more than 10K into Canada (and into the US).  BUT, you have to declare it.  That is to stop/impede drug trafficking/money laundering.

When I went into Canada the guy asked "Do you have 10K or more on you?"

I said "No, don't you guys take credit cards up here"?  (BTW, they do).

Then he asked if I had any firearms (as I tend to lean towards Rain Man and think literally) I answered, truthfully, "Not with me".

 
There are way too many places in a motorhome (at least in mine) where there is room to stash a fairly substantial amount of money or other valuables.  I will give you an example of one that I found in my motorhome, but don't use to stash anything.  There are built in halogen reading lights on the bottom of the cabinets that are mounted over my dining table.  The inside of this cabinet has an easy to pull out false bottom (just held in by friction, no screws) that allows access to the back side of these  fixtures in order to change the light bulbs, and give a place for the wiring to run.  This leaves an open space about an inch tall, about 8 inches wide and a couple of feet long.  I found this when I was trying to figure out how to change a burned out bulb.
 
I can't remember. Where did that guy hide the watch in Pulp Fiction? Pretty sure it was a good hiding place.
 
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