Security and Your Airstream at Home, and Away.

[Tarcoola]

Newbie here about to purchase our first AS - 26U Twin. Very excited. What do you do about security - in storage facility, in caravan parks, and boondocking when with the vehicle, and away? Are there security systems for AS - water, fire and personal? Video camera's if someone around during the night and you're in a remote location. Can you use a cell phone in an AS or does the aluminum inhibit the signal. Do you use satellite phones?? I've seen the firearm issues discussed in previous forum threads but not general security. Are we just being paranoid?

[Lily&Me]

Lock your doors and use common sense.

Never needed anything else since 2002. . My husband always carried a handgun, I do not.

There are a number of threads on this topic, if you want to do a search. To carry or not often becomes a pretty passionate topic.


Maggie

[WaLee]

Relax and go camping.... Lock things up, your cell phone will work in the trailer, the odds are ever in your favor that nothing will happen. Be sure your storage is secure and in a good area lock the tongue up.


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[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Tarcoola

What do you do about security - in storage facility, in caravan parks, and boondocking when with the vehicle, and away?
Are we just being paranoid?

It's only paranoia until someone actually breaks in. You can Lojack a trailer if you're worried about the whole trailer being stolen out of storage or from a boondocking site, but if you do, make sure you have enough solar to keep it powered.

If you're worried about someone burglarizing your trailer in storage, you can get trailer alarm systems. There are many to choose from— the best will send a text to a smartphone in the event of a break-in as long as both you and the trailer are in an area with cell coverage. Again making sure your batteries don't run down because of the alarm system is a good idea.

When camping in a campground, security is usually a non-issue. If your neighbors look untrustworthy you can always move on to somewhere that you feel safer. After all, they're just as vulnerable as you are, so the whole "Do unto others…" golden rule is in full force. This may be one reason why the pink flamingo has become an unofficial icon for Airstreamers; flocking together for mutual protection is a natural instinct.

[AWCHIEF]

Use !ocks and high priced insurance. Professionals laugh at locks but the use of them might discourage anyone with bad intentions.

[OldVwHunters]

She can be a Royal pain, and on occasion a wee bit Gassy, but I have no problem sleeping when she's along.

[bababouy]

We own a small security company here in South Fl and I have installed a gps tracker in our '68 overlander. We store it at a local storage facility that has been broken into several times. I set up a geo fence on the unit so if it moves more than 3 ft I get an alert. Then I can follow the unit on google maps through my phone or PC. I have it hooked up to a full size deep cycle battery which I bring home every couple of weeks to charge. The gps sends out a signal when the battery is low also.

[IanPoulin]

I actually generally leave the airstream unlocked if I head out for a time, or in storage -- I'd rather someone open the door and meander through inconsequential stuff; than cost me major $$$ in the shattering of a window. never had an issue yet.

[BoldAdventure]

We lock the Airstream, carry good insurance, including floaters, and use a hitch lock, plus I wrap the chains and double lock those. We've been on the road almost a year now, exclusively boondock and it hasn't been an issue. You generally find like minded people in the wilderness. I'm more worried about cities and parks than I am of boondocking these days.

I've thought about a wheel lock, but I'm less paranoid now.

[Ted S.]

One of the great things about the Propride, if my local dealer can't move it without me...

[dkottum]

Use decent RV parks and resorts, Nat'l/State Parks, avoid boondocking where you sense banjo's playing, overnights at rest areas can be miserable and Walmarts okay. We rarely lock our Airstream in the resorts, whenever we leave and at night everywhere else. Our Airstream is safe stored at home, not so much in a storage facility.

Campers are generally good people, a chance to make lifelong friends.

[mefly2]

A dog or electronic CANARY ...

[Len n Jeanne]

A hitch lock, for sure. Top-of-the-line insurance, yes. We don't have the capacity to store our AS at home, but look for a secure storage facility with people on site like at our local AS service center or RV park, or on a friend's lot. We try not to camp in places where we feel uncomfortable, and did move on once when a run-down RV park gave off bad vibes. Many public campgrounds these days have on-site campground hosts, who provide some oversight. Some higher-end RV parks have security gates that require a code to enter.

We're not armed-- nor would you wish us to be!

[lsbrodsky]

I do not worry about campgrounds. They seem pleasantly safe. I keep my AS at home and I do worry when we are away without it so I added some sensors to my home wireless security system so that any entry to my AS will be alarmed while we are gone.
Larry

[paiceman]

We store our AS in a gated storage facility and have stored all our previous RVs there. Fortunately we have few concerns as we live in an area with one of the lowest crime rates in the country and our police force is exceptional.

On the road I am usually not concerned with safety in campgrounds. Rest areas, some fuel stops and certain roads do put me on guard. We travel with two large dogs, who we thought would never attack, but on one instance totally unrelated to camping we figured wrong and I am a dog trainer. I also, legally, carry both on my person and in out trailer, but I have been around weapons my whole life and in 47 years my wife as learned and she too is licensed to carry in most states.

All that said, in 45 years of camping we fortunately have never had an incident where I needed to take any kind of action except to ask the neighbors to quite down a bit and there has not been an issue with those occurrences either.

Just be cognizant of your surroundings and ENJOY.

Bud

[Lily&Me]

I have what OldVwHunters has.


Maggie

[dznf0g]

I do several things:
1) remove valuables when in storage (even now at the house) and put a little sign in the window indicating "all valuables removed for storage"
2) Since it's by the house, I put in a Nest camera (wireless internet connection, but no subscription to capture shots). It not only notifies my phone if someone enters, but will notify me if a water/smoke alarm goes off.
3) installed a hidden, cheap, key fob camera that is motion activated to capture intruders.
4) Watchful neighbors
5) of course, everything is locked up
6) installed motion activated 100 LED solar floodlights above the AS on the side of the house.

[Rocinante]

Yep, we use a hitch lock (California Immobilizer), padlock the safety chains together and keep anything interesting well hidden / out of sight. When camping we don't worry too much, though we do lock up whenever we leave the trailer.

We can't store at our house due to HOA rules (We hates our HOA, we hates it forever, just like Gollum). So, we store at a gated covered facility with security and an on-site manager, where we can also plug in to keep the batteries happy (we installed a multi-stage smart converter / charger in our trailer vs. the standard 1-stage unit).

We considered wheel locks, chaining the trailer wheels together and all that, but discarded the ideas. Wheel locks are generally heavy and inconvenient, and we're convinced that at some point we'd forget to remove the wheel chains before trying to pull out.

We also have a dog, but he's a Golden - so, even when he was young he would have simply welcomed anyone as a visitor no matter how they got in. "Hey, welcome, great to see you! Got any treats?"

Insurance takes care of the rest. It's just stuff.

[DavidIowa]

Overall, the remarks about common sense and being careful are important. Not sure if gang members and the majority of criminals go camping.

[Jacob D]

Originally Posted by IanPoulin

I actually generally leave the airstream unlocked if I head out for a time, or in storage -- I'd rather someone open the door and meander through inconsequential stuff; than cost me major $$$ in the shattering of a window. never had an issue yet.

I'm with you on this when in campgrounds, but my wife is wearing the lock on our A/S out no matter where we park. She is paranoid and refuses to leave her jewelry at home fearing someone may break in the house so locks it up in the A/S when we travel. As to boondocking sites, we live an hour or so away from the Pisgah National Forest where there are some beautiful, quiet, wilderness camp sites only a mile or two on dirt/gravel roads from a US highway. Only problem there is no cell phone service or help if needed, hence my 45 automatic, big chow mix and, yes, locked door. Over the years there have been several mysterious disappearances of folks hiking or running alone and several kidnappings from picnic areas in the forest. I say take great care when wilderness camping alone. Probably best not to do it.