Greetings Earthling RV'ers

[metsman5]

Hi everyone,
My wife and I are a couple of years from retirement and are considering living in a travel trailer full time. One question that I have is about tracking devices. I would think that one would want a tracking device for those times when you leave your trailer to go somewhere and leave it vulnerable to theft. I realize that there are devices such as wheel chock locks, coupler locks and hitch ball locks, etc., but feel like those could be breached and would love to have tracking capabilities just in case. Also, after spending $2000.00-3000.00 on a high-end generator, I would suppose that it would be vulnerable as well. Any ideas/tips?

Thanks,
Wayne

 

[HueyPilotVN]

I recovered a Motorhome many years ago by tracking a cell phone in a drawer,

 

[Arch Hoagland]

tracking devices for cars - Google Search

There ya go my friend.

 

[Martian]

If you get into the rv world and your thoughts are that everyone is looking to steal your rig there will not be much enjoyment to be had. Very few trailers get stolen from homes and campgrounds. Most are stolen or broken into at storage facilities. As many on here will attest, it is very unlikely that a trailer big enough to live in will be stolen from anywhere other than a storage yard. After 30 years of camping we have had no issues with theft but we always store on our property. Over 90k of travels, 38 states and over 150 campgrounds I have left things behind but nothing stolen. Paranoia and trying to have a good time do not work well together. Paranoia always wins.

 

[DutchmenSport]

I've had a couple things stolen. One was a yard ornament we put out. It was a small toy CLASS-C camper we had set up with a bunch of Nerdy Birds around it. We figured a kid took it. After all, it was a child's toy.

The next thing that got stolen (years later) was a 2 foot high step ladder. Actually, it disappeared while we were actual inside the camper. I was so mad, I could spit nails.

And finally years later after that, one of our lawn chairs disappeared in the middle of the night. It was not a cheap one either. But they left the second one that matched it.

After that, we always make sure absolutely everything is put up when we go inside for the night. It's a little more of a pain in the neck to do so, but we've not "lost" anything since.

About the actual RV itself being stolen? Well, we currently have a fifth wheel. And when it's at a campground, the jacks are all electric. If anyone want's to steal the camper, they have to get the slides in first and then get the jacks operational so they can hitch up, disconnect electricity and sometimes, even water and sewer.

We park the camper at home and keep slides out and jacks down, and it's always plugged in. Anyone wanting to take it will have to deal with the jacks and slides... and that is just too much effort for a quick "get-in, get-out" scenario. No thief wants to fiddle around figuring out how to do stuff. He wants a grab-n-go experience. If he can't just "grab it", he won't take it. So the secret is to set the camper up in such a way, it's too time consuming for a thief to deal with anything to just grab it and go.

Apart from having those 3 items stolen from our campsite, we've not had any problems. Where you park your camper and how you park it is more important than figuring out a GPS tracking device.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I heartily agree with Martian and mostly with Dutchmen. In 20+ years of camping we've had very few experiences with theft and always trivial stuff. We routinely leave our outdoor gear outside overnight and seldom lock the storage bays either. But I have to admit it depends on where you go - I've spent a night in some few places where I was not comfortable with my neighbors or even the locale (big city campgrounds) and took suitable precautions.

The notion that somebody would steal my RV while I was out for the day is beyond me. And if I thought I had to worry about that, I would not be RVing. I just keep the insurance policy paid up!

Easily portable, highly attractive, and valuable equipment like a generator is a somewhat different case. I'd make sure I had the model & serial recorded so I could identify it should it "walk away", and adding a tracking device is a useful idea if not too pricey. A chain & a padlock are often simpler, though.