Boondocking SCARE

We were out of town and were invited by our local hosts to stay near a boat launch on paper mill property to provide sentinel duties for some Butterfly dinghies that would be on the beach for the weekend. This was an incredible opportunity to have the woods and the lake to ourselves! Beautiful sunsets over the water. Sunrises thru the trees...epic stuff from the brochure.

We didn't even draw the blinds, for the first time. As an afterthought I deadbolted the side door ostensibly for less chilly air overnight but also a bit for the kids safety.

@ 1AM my wife is in a complete state of panic. She has a flashlight in her face laying in bed on her frontside head up neck craned to the bright light in the window. She can't even speak. She is making a sound of fear, not a scream just low grade sound because she didn't what else to do; as though she were stuck between awake and asleep and in a bad state as well. I wake up to this. Why is the bedroom lit up? Oh, there is a flashlight on the other side of the glass, almost touching the glass. Crap. Which do I deal with first the wife or the intruder? I tap on the glass to acknowledge the bright light. I shake my wife to try to wake her up. I put on some shorts and I go outside.

Then the voice , after too long, says, Sheriff, come on out. Oh, good. what a relief my guard is down, there is nothing to worry about this is the best case at this point. I tell him I'll be right out.

As I come to my senses, as I walk out, I see the uniform and I simultaneously am struck by the depth of my vulnerability. I did not confirm it was a Sheriff. Till I saw the uniform and Kevlar, I didn't know, but I didn't even question it in my sleep state.

We had a nice chat. Our host had indeed called the Sheriff's office previously to inform them of the situation.

I learned a valuable lesson.  I kind of wished I had a gun and on the other hand I won't do that.

You could say I did not see that coming. You could say I have never been scared in that way in my life.

Is there a protocol that boondockers use...do we call dispatch ahead of time, to let them know, and to keep a look out on our behalf? Do we pack heat? Kungfu? Law enforcement is one side of the coin but the implied vulnerability is of course the bad guys. My imagination runs a bit with that one.

This was really our first night boondocking and we'll do it a bunch more. The previous night we were at a yacht club (out of season, we had a boat in tow, showed up late, left early, nobody saw us, we awoke to Revelry at 0700 from the adjacent Coast Guard station, no visitors).

I bet that was a shocker.  I would suggest that it is a good idea to let the authorities know beforehand but that had been done.  Can't imagine why a sheriff who had been told you were there and that it was OK would shine his light in your window.

There is boondocking and there is boondocking.  Some areas are more remote and probaby require more caution and preparation.  Having plenty of lights around also helps.

yeah this was but good & dark except for the maglight & wonderful moon. I'm not sure how the word did not get from dispatch to the patrol car.

If it's not clear, I am thankful for the officer checking on us. It's just...you know, what COULDA been...

We're not boondockers and I'm not a big gun guy.  However, I can't imagine being in a boondock environment without having a firearm.  Even then it would have been interesting to see how your situation would have played out.  I guess telling him through the door that you want to see ID and that you are armed would be appropriate but...... what could go wrong?  ;D

Glad it all worked out ok.

Rick

I think the officer was completely out of line with the flashlight in the window. He/she should have pounded on the door to awake you and to announce his presence. I do carry a home protection shot gun and there was one occasion when it had to come out. We where resting at night at a rest stop near Bakersfield Calif. when someone knocked on the door, he said his baby was sick and needed a phone to call for help and said it was cold outside and could he come in to make the call. Before I opened the door I got the shotgun out of the closet did a quick pump action to load a round and with that obvious sound that could be clearly heard from outside the coach the would-be intruder left in a hurry. As I watched him leave he ran past the front of the coach, over the fence and out into nowhere. Clearly he was there to do harm, there was no child in sight. I have never had to fire that shot gun nor do I ever want to, but you just never know. In this case just the sound of the pump action scared the dodo out of him.

You have to make your own choices as to how you protect yourself and your loved ones. I would suggest however that you close all your curtains/shades at night and leave your porch light on. I have a LED porch light so the drain on the battery is very low and it stays on all night. I also have built in flood lights around the coach that I can turn on from the bedroom or the living-room, they will light up an area 20 to 30 feet around the coach.

Jay T

Jay,

If I knocked on your door and heard the shotgun, I would be running too, with baby or without!

I think the Sheriff was way out of line in the way he approached you by sneaking up with his flashlight to the windows!  But that being said, US Law enforcement pretty much does as they darn well please under the guise of homeland security and terrorist threat and so on.  I am sure he has some excuse for his strange protocol.

I love to leave my shades up when in the middle of nowhere, but I know it's a fool hearty thing to do at dark thirty, so I force myself to close them anyhow when darkness strikes. 

If you are a frequent boondocker, then maybe consider adopting one of the homeless dogs that are otherwise facing a death sentence at a shelter or rescue group.

My  pooch is a great alarm system, as he alerts me immediately before anyone has a chance to even get anywhere close to our wheel estate after hours.  Since I rescued this ragamuffin, he has been not only a true delight, but I  sleep soooooooooooooooo much better, knowing  my little doggy has superior  hearing and will sound the alarm. 

Sure it takes a little bit of training, as I had to teach my puppy that squirrels and racoons were not cause for frantic concern at 3am... so now he saves it for the big stuff, like 2 legged creatures that think they want to visit at 4am...

We could debate endlessly about guns...  I suspect many RV folks carry them around, legal or not.

One thing that is legal and very handy is the newfangled mace gun that can shoot at any angle as well as comes with a built in light so you can see what you are shooting at.  No longer do you have to fiddle with a can of mace, hoping you have it aimed the right direction, the Mace gun makes it clear which way to aim (and not hit yourself in the face as can happen in the dark with a can ).  It comes with a cartridge of water you can play with beforehand so you understand how it works before you use the real stuff.

It's not a perfect solution, but it's better than nothing...

Mace Gun On Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&x=0&ref_=nb_sb_noss&y=0&field-keywords=mace%20gun&url=search-alias%3Daps#?_encoding=UTF8&tag=amozoniac-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957

The officer not announcing himself was foolhardy. Especially if he was alerted that you were there. We always have the dogs and are sure folks around us know they are there. Of course, if you are out in the sticks then no one will know. Perhaps some artfully located 'landmines' around your perimeter will cause any interploper to emits a gasp of surprise when stepped on............

If I knocked on your door and heard the shotgun, I would be running too, with baby or without!

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Coach_Frank

LOL.... After I did it I wondered if I would have stayed around if it where my kid sick. The part I didn't tell, to make the story shorter, was that we had been warned of similar behavior at other rest stops in California where very nice travelers had been robbed at rest stops. My theory is don't open the door at night unless you have the advantage. That doesn't necessarily mean a gun it could just mean a very bright flashlight in the eyes and a can pepper spray in your other hand. Nobody has any business knocking on a RV door when boon-docking at night it's a good way to get yourself hurt.

Jay T

Perhaps a sign in the window of your entrance door at night stating something to the effect:

"If you are a Law Enforcement Officer, please knock loudly and be prepared to verify your identy before I open the door.  If you are NOT a Law Enforcement Officer, stay where you are, they will be here shortly."

One way to mostly validate that these are law enforcement types would be to ask him to turn on his red and blue lights on his vehicle momentarily.

I do agree that he was out of line in shining his light in the window and it could've been hazardous to his and your health if you'd been armed.  Your health because if you missed or only winged him well ...

I might offer some suggestions, based on my knowledge of boondocking in general, and having been that law enforcement officer.

Unless you spoke directly with the dispatcher of the local law enforcement on the day you arrived, never assume that the patrol officers got the information. Some sergeant on the previous shift did not write it up, the next shift did not get a solid handoff, the officer in question just came off a week's vacation and everybody knows but him, you see the problem. Lots of loose wires.

Always know the phone number of the law enforcement unit that has your jurisdiction. A quick call to 911 will get you some results, especially if that officer just checked out at your location, assuming he is using good tactics. You, however, cannot account easily for an officer with bad tactics.

While I would not defend the officer per se, he is trained to investigate what he thinks is unusual, i.e. vehicles in a place he would not normally see them, and he will use his flashlight first to gain a bit of an advantage. He is alone, and has no idea how many meth heads are in the large vehicle he has just uncovered in the woods.

Then you have the "who is blinding whom" problem with the lights, compounded with adrenalin. You should be able to announce you are turning on your headlights, he should be able to maintain some cover by being partially lit to the side, and you should be able to announce you are coming out of the door and your hands will be in plain sight, if you are satisfied he is who he says he is.

This is not a perfect situation, by any standard, and it is compounded by the dark, and there are no absolutes. You have to decide how much you wish to risk if this is not a law enforcement officer and nobody can tell you that in advance. It's pretty much a learn while you earn deal.

Rest stops are even trickier - you have to be even more vigilant to the stories - remember how you were taught as a kid to distrust someone wanting you to take them to the puppy? Sad, but true, and you must, again, have a plan before you initiate that contact, if you even do. While you might want to help someone in need, you really need to have control of that situation before you expose yourself.

As RV'ers, we give up a measure of personal safety compared to a brick house, but by being more prepared than others, we can do a pretty good job of not becoming another bad news story. Stay smart, stay alert, stay alive.

And lock your doors and windows!  [stick house or RV]

ArdraF

I was awakened one night much the same,,officer wanted to examine the coach for prostitutes,, that's a real surprise.>>>Dan

I am a strong believer in minimizing risk, and being prepared.  I don't ever travel in the RV without being armed (legally), and competent in the use of whatever firearm I have with me.  I don't advertise that I have it, but would not hesitate to protect myself and my family.  When boondocking, we stay in fairly well lit and permissable parking areas.  We scope out the neighborhood before electing to park there, and if it's marginal in any way, we move on.  If/when I need to get up in the night (bathroom) I always take a look around to see what is going on wherever we are.  Same thing first thing in the morning.  Having a good level of situational awareness is the most important aspect of personal security.  Avoiding a conflict situation is much better than engaging in one. 

utahclaimjumper said:

I was awakened one night much the same,,officer wanted to examine the coach for prostitutes,, that's a real surprise.>>>Dan

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Did you tell him to go find his own? ;D

utahclaimjumper said:

I was awakened one night much the same,,officer wanted to examine the coach for prostitutes,, that's a real surprise.>>>Dan

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Dan, I did not think your rig was so flashy as to invite that...  8)

Many years ago and with a different M/H,, I was trying to catch some sleep before a major licence test the following day I try ed to sleep on the edge of a SOCAL city park. I didn't realize the type "hood" I was in.>>>Dan

While avoiding shining it in his eyes, you could use a flashlight to verify his uniform and vehicle.  I recommend something like the Streamlight Stinger (http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=338685), while expensive, it will throw a beam of light about 100 yards in my experience.  If you need to temporarily blind someone, flashing this in their eyes will do it.  Also, practice shielding the window around the flashlight with your free hand, it will minimize the light reflecting back off the window and back at you.  If you are not sure what I mean, just try and point a flashlight out a window from a dark room into the dark night, and you'll see what I mean.

My brother and his family were parked in a hotel lot one night.  Around 1am some guys coming home from the bar started pounding on and rocking the RV which of course woke everyone up.  His first thought was to go outside but he quickly realized he had nothing to use as a weapon.  It never occurred to him to bring a sidearm.  He swears that won't happen again.