Security...

[canny_banjo_man]

Hi Everyone...
...Jus a thought here...as my neighbour's caravan has a wheel clamp fitted, it was still dragged off his drive onto the road and left...it sustained a little damage to the wheel-arch panels, and the towing ball lock broken, he was lucky as this was the 4th attempt to have it taken away from him...to say he is a little upset is an understatement...they also STOLE whe alloy wheels from his car, and broke into his son's...all whilst they were sleeping...
Now if that is NOT bad luck...I don't kn what is......
How do U Guys protect Yr unit....U kn, U park up at Yr site, go out shopping/sight seeing...how do U kn it is going to b there when U get back...besides leaving Grandma nursing a shotgun, and a cup of tea...LOL...I don't mean to sound awful...it's jus I r curious...an have U gave it a thought Yr selfs...Chris.....

[jcanavera]

Chris normally most folks here in the states probably worry most about security when their units are in storage rather than when we are out camping.

I use a armored pin lock which doesn't allow the coupler to be opened. Someone bent on stealing the trailer can still sit the coupler on a small ball but it wouldn't be locked down. I put this on when leaving my trailer at its warm weather storage lot.

I keep my trailer at a storage site which has two gates. The general gate is open from 7am-9pm during the camping season. An inner fenced area is padlocked with the combination only being given to those of us storing in the RV area. The area is also protected by closed circuit cameras and the owner of the facility lives on site.

If someone wants your vehicle though they will get it. Sort of like your home. Nothing short of you holding a gun will stop someone who wants in.

Jack

[Silvertwinkie]

I use a regular lock for the tounge latch.

As Jack said, if they want it, they are going to get it.....

However, a while back, Master Lock made a lock that covered the actucal ball receiver assembly on the trailer tounge. I have one for my boat, however, the Airstream is a bit bigger and it won't fit. I just started to look for a larger one for the camper. If I ever find it, I'll post it.

Eric

[85MH325]

Chris, you're probably going to find this hard to believe, but in the twenty-seven or so years I've been in law enforcement, I can't recall EVER taking a report of a stolen trailer or motorhome, nor can I remember anyone I know taking one. I'm sure they're occasionally stolen, but its very, very rare. I don't think it's even all that frequent in most of the cities here.

As a matter of fact, it's pretty infrequent that they're even broken into. I would have to say that the most frequent type of break-in to stored or parked RVs are kids looking for a place to party.

I did once have a bicycle stolen off the top of my van that was towing a trailer in Las Vegas, and they cut the lock off of the braided cable for that.

Like Jack, I just keep a hardened padlock through the coupler mechanism. I store it inside a storage building during the winter, to keep it out of the winter weather, and I do keep it locked there as well.

[femuse]

I'm sure they're occasionally stolen, but its very, very rare

A few days ago, somebody posted on the Escapees and RV Forums about a stolen 1980's Avion. Huntsville, AL, if I remember right.
From a storage facility. The electric locking gates had been disabled by the recent tornado.

[Rog0525]

I think someone posted this on another thread but leaving a spare ball in the hitch, then locking the pin will prevent anyone from simply hitching to a smaller ball and taking off.

Rog

[canny_banjo_man]

Hi Jack...an All...
Many thank's for your replies, WOW !!!...NOT for one moment are I implying that there are people out there wanting to take Yr things away from you, I were merely jus asking out of curiosity, as over this side of the pond, it is pretty bad, where I live, a certain bunch of ***""=+_*-'s will be overjoyed if they can cause U distress and hardship...people near me get things like : vans - cars stolen, sheds raided, houses entered, fuel stolen from vehicles is quite popular, they use it on their off-road bikes....they even stoop so low as to pinch the AIR out of Yr tyres...it must have taken ages for them to let them down...until they found out it was far NICER, and QUICKER to employ the use of a STANLEY-KNIFE...and rejoyce in U having to pay out for a NEW set of tyres...that is if they have'nt stolen the wheels...
I was up at 4am, a while ago, getting ready for work...when both " TOBY " & I heard a noise out side, I told "TOBY" it was PUSS-CATS....and opened the door real quiet...out shot the "TOBY"... there was some kind of scuffle, and I went out with my baseball bat, ( bought in Florida...LOL )... but this guy was already over the fence with the *rse ripped out of his pants....I don't think he will pay me another visit...now I knew this guy, as there r NOT too many ( 1 only ) very tall skinny ginger haired yobs who live near me...after I paid him a visit later on that day, we came to an arrangement, he keeps OUT of my property...and he gets to keep his legs from being broken...
I kn it sounds awful...but it is the way it is around our estate...I guess U guys would just shoot the little so 'n so's...
Sorry If I have upset any of U...I did'nt mean to...but at the end of the day...it's the goodies v baddies...,
As for Yr cycle being stolen....they may have thought U needed the EXERCISE...LOL...B-Good...Chris.....
PS...There is a PUSS CAT next door, and "TOBY" plays with it...but the one over the back....the BADDIE...well I guess U can imagine....lol............

[Rog0525]

Here's a supposedly true story from Australia:


When a man attempted to siphon petrol from a motor home parked on a Port Macquarie street, he got more than he bargained for.

Police arrived at the scene to find a very sick man curled up on the ground next to the motor home surrounded with spilled sewage.

A Police spokesman said that the man admitted to trying to steal petrol and plugged his hose into the motor home's sewage tank by mistake.

He had tried to siphon the petrol by first sucking up the hose.

The owner of the vehicle declined to press charges, saying that it was the best laugh that he has ever had!!

[canny_banjo_man]

Rog0525...an all...
..." What a SUCKER "......serves him right, my pal down the road from me has had his fuel stolen quite a few times now....he's spent a fortune on "safe" anti- theft fuel caps, but they just end up cutting the rubber pipe to the tank, and fill up their 1 gallon can, and the rest just pours down drive, he actualy went to the wreckers and bought another tank, and another mate of his welded in a metal tube...( AFTER it was steamed-cleaned first )...but because of this he used to get his paintwork all badly scratched...now he has a brick garage...but what a price all this was to him, just for the sake of a gallon of fuel...it's sickening...I'll tell him the " story"...and he may well just buy an OLD banger an try it out...with the video running...lol.
Great story by the way....anyone got any more...
Enjoy Yr evening...Chris.....

[femuse]

The "joy" of trying to swallow gasoline:

Years ago Mike broke down in the middle of nowhere, very intelligently tried to get gas up to the carburator by syphoning it, and went just too far: his throat clamped shut and he couldn't get gas or air through. He lied down on the hood, head drooping down, and managed to let the gas drool out.
He was able to breeze and start the car. (we won't discuss the possibility of brain damage )
Maybe some of those people steeling gas went too far too many times.

[canny_banjo_man]

Hi Femuse...
U sure are right there...lol, actualy it's NOT a nice taste at all, prehaps an aquired taste...Mmmmm...at least petrol is a bit better than diesel, the taste goes off after a while...but diesel...UGH!!!...it smells for days, and it don't taste too good either...I may have posted this b4, sorry if I have, but 4 the newcommers...
...Back in the good 'ole '60s...I owned a Honda 125 benley twin, had a hole in the carbs dumb-float, sent off for the part, it came a few days later, as it was in winter, an I worked in the single brick shed, I took off the carb, but my poor little hands were frozen stiff, as my Mom was out at town...I took the job indoors... put newspaper down on the kitchen table, stripped the carb, re-fitted it back up, cleaned up...spotless...back to the shed, rebuilt it all up, took the bike outside, fired it up...a few adjustments here an there...realy pleased with myself... Great...!.
Well speaking of petrol...it kinda S M E L L S ...U guessed it, ME...I could'nt smell a thing...as my head was FULL of fumes, and the matching headache that goes with it...but MOM could, as soon as she entered the house...well the rest of this story is best left untold...( it was almost a week b4 I could SIT on that saddle ) That much I will tell...
Funny how we can remember a silly things like that, an I 4got my favourite Aunts B/Day, yesterday...Oh Dear...SORRY...
Guess that's life...Chris.....

[mldenis]

Following the discussion, I've thought about getting an old rusty ball and cutting off the threaded bolt with my cutting torch. Then I intend to put it into the trailer hitch and then lock the release. I figure this way, you can't use a smaller ball hitch to drag off the trailer.

I've also thought about pad locking the cam wheel locks.

M Denis

[Pahaska]

I padlock my cam locks, but it is more to keep folks from stealing the $50 locks rather than for trailer security. even when tightened to the limit, the locks can be kicked or levered out by anyone determined to steal the trailer. I figure the padlock just makes it more work to remove and reuse my cam locks.

[zduke4x]

I once had a boat that several attempts to steal it were made, non successfully beause I had a hitch lock, a heavy chain with huge lock beteen the wheels so it wouldn't roll, a sign that said I was watching, security stickers
......each time damage was done but they didn't get the rig.....
my final solution was to park it so the hitch could not be backed up to, to tow it off plus all the above..if they can't back up to it and go, that seemed to work best....made it harder for me having to have a dolly to turn it to a pole to chain to.....final answer is I moved and put things behind a fence, with all the locks.....lol, jem

[canny_banjo_man]

Hi there Silver B...
...Mmmm...It's a pity that one has 2do all these things to protect our belongings...it's a cryin shame realy that a few mindless sods have 2 spoil it for us...HOWEVER...maybe the answer lies in what I saw whilst in Orlando...we ALL found it rather NEAT...Hee Hee......
It was a lonely lookin deserted house off the 192, a good few yards from a pettin farm where we went 2 visit the animals,
( it WAS quite good )...However this house had a huge wire fence around it, an on this fence was a 5x4 sign that read...
" Tresspasses please enter, the last ones were DELICIOUS, signed Mr. ALLI G ATOR "...
We had to wonder if it was 4 real or not...but having bn 2 GATOR LAND, a few times...I had NOT the slightest ince of even thinkin abt entering...so it must WORK...
But I don't think U r allowed to keep 'em as pets in a town...or r U...LOL, .
On a sadder note, my neighbour has had ALL of his windows put through by drunken louts, good news is the chap over the road SAW who done it, an took his dog out 4 a walk an tailed this person home...my D/W tells me that a recovery wagon came an took his caravan away...I've yet 2 c him, 2 catch up on the news...
Well Keep safe, stay lucky an GOOD NIGHT...chris.....