Leave Power Cord and Water Hook-ups At Campsite

[Pahaska]

I lock both my surge protector and my power cable to the post by running a high-quality cable lock through the finger-loops on both the surge protector plug and the cable plug. It would be possible to cut the cable with some effort, but I don't worry during daylight hours. I do leave my water hose coiled up and unprotected.

I place a collapsible orange cone or two at the entrance to the site to show that it is occupied, even when I go briefly to the dump station.

[s1000pre]

Originally Posted by jcanavera

I had one theft back in the 80's when I was staying at a big private campground in Myrtle Beach. While away from my site someone stole my wheel chocks and bumper caps (sewer hose storage was inside the bumper). I pretty much knew who did it because my neighbor had neither. When I came back to the site his trailer was gone. I'm sure they took it.

Jack

Bumper caps...did he have an Airstream? So disappointing and petty!!! 15 yrs ago I purchased a new 28’ Chaparral runabout. While my wife was idling in the lake, I went to retrieve the truck and trailer only to find someone had taken the crank for the winch. Try to pull a boat out of the lake without the winch, a $5 item turned my afternoon upside down.

[Rich W]

I think the orange cones or something similar are a good idea. In one of our first trips south for the winter we stayed in a state park. When we parked in our site there was no one next to us. For 2 days the site stayed empty, nothing but dirt, leaves and a door mat. The wife said "I think no one is there, there are other empty sites as well. I think I'll get the door mat". I told her we didn't need it and someone may come back for it, but she got it and put it in front of our door. (I don't think she even considered a small RV was camped there, trailers were everywhere and this was our second trip south in our AS.)

The next day an SOB class B pulls in and demands her door mat and several other things she had left on the picnic table that she thought indicated her presence. My wife explained why she took it, immediately gave it back and said the site was empty of everything except the door mat when we arrived.

I don't think she believed us and it was very embarrassing. I told my wife not to ever assume anything about another site, just let things be or notify the CG host.

Orange cones with an OCCUPIED sign left on the picnic table or something visibly chained up would probably be a good idea.

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by s1000pre

Bumper caps...did he have an Airstream? So disappointing and petty!!! 15 yrs ago I purchased a new 28’ Chaparral runabout. While my wife was idling in the lake, I went to retrieve the truck and trailer only to find someone had taken the crank for the winch. Try to pull a boat out of the lake without the winch, a $5 item turned my afternoon upside down.

I didn't own an Airstream at that point. I had a Hi-Lo. What really hurt was the loss of the wheel chocks. Bumper caps were cheap. My brother who is a pilot gave the wheel chocks to me. They were aluminum and were used to chock the wheels on private planes.

I noticed when the guy pulled in he had no caps and chocks. Never thought he would steal mine when he departed. Probably was a crime of opportunity since I was gone for a short while and he was departing.

Jack

[Wazbro]

Originally Posted by richw46

Orange cones with an OCCUPIED sign left on the picnic table or something visibly chained up would probably be a good idea.

Maybe add the date you plan to be there until to remove as much doubt as possible.

[Bill M.]

I do not have an Interstate. If I was worried about it I would get one of the cable lock systems like people use for the EMS and lock the power cord to the post.

[Dlongworth]

I leave both. Worry more about coming back to another RV on my site than losing the cord and hose. Sometimes I leave a lawn chair on the pad, as well.

[Rocinante]

We have no room in our van for chairs we don't care about, and where we often camp there are no stores with 30-amp power cords and surge protectors.

Your time, your money, your gear, do what you like, but we will carry on as before: no chairs, electrical gear, or water equipment left at the site while we're away in our van. However, we may leave a screen tent and a cone or two.

Keep calm, and Airstream on.

[tjdonahoe]

Never lost anything..I always shut the water hose off when we leave..

[Wazbro]

Originally Posted by tjdonahoe

Never lost anything..I always shut the water hose off when we leave..

So that means you leave the hose in the site AND TAKE THE TRAILER WITH YOU ON DAY TRIPS???

[uncle_bob]

Hi

We camped for decades in tents at all sorts of campgrounds all over the country. Say what you will, tents are *not* very secure. Anybody can get into one in no time flat. We never / ever lost anything from a campsite. We did have the car broken into in a parking garage.

Would I leave a generator and a couple of solar panels sitting out in plain sight and take off? Probably not. Same with a couple e-bikes or a cooler full of beer. Once you get to chairs / hoses / extension cords / rugs and small tents, I think you are pretty safe.

Indeed, with a trailer, power cord, surge protector, rug, chairs, and water hose all likely get left out every time you leave. They don't seem to go walk about. Yes, it's not quite as obvious that you are gone when there is a trailer parked in the space vs pulling out with your MH.

Bob

[mefly2]

If you think that folks will not bend over to pick up a hundred dollar bill, then go ahead and leave your surge protector connected. We lock up surge protector and valuables when we leave the AS in our TV.
Hoses stay ... usually the power cord stays... but surge prot is either locked to the pedestal or removed.

[85MH325]

Originally Posted by Wayne&Sam

Which is is it? Overwhelmingly high or 50-50?

That's the problem with statistics, isn't it? Are you talking about probabilities, or the actual risk? Both are valid.

The probability is very high that your stuff will be there when you return as those kinds of thefts are pretty rare; BUT, that said, every time YOU leave, either your stuff will be there when you return, or it won't. There's no way to predict it with accuracy.

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by mefly2

If you think that folks will not bend over to pick up a hundred dollar bill, then go ahead and leave your surge protector connected. We lock up surge protector and valuables when we leave the AS in our TV.
Hoses stay ... usually the power cord stays... but surge prot is either locked to the pedestal or removed.

Hi

Rusty old surge protector sitting in the weeds is not quite the same as a hundred dollar bill. We never had ours walk off and I've never met anybody who actually had one walk off. No locks, no chains, no alarm systems, just sitting there in the weeds ....

Bob

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by Lily&Me

I don’t ever hook up to water, but do go off and leave my electricity cord all the time, without ever a problem in 20 years of RV’ing.

There is very little theft in campgrounds, tho it happens it is the exception and not the rule.

Maggie

I came back this past Labor Day from about 6 hours gone to find my power cord and camp chair both gone from a campground I had been in 4 nights and was paid up for til Tuesday.

My site was heavily trafficked as right by the bathhouse, and I had left other days during this stay without a problem.

Everything seemed safe, until it wasn’t. The park says they did not take them.

Now traveling toward home, I am without a power cord because the WalMart I stopped at had extension cords but no power cord, so I have ordered one to be delivered to my home.

Difficult to imagine in a crowded campground someone just walking off with these items, as they don’t slip into a pocket.

But, that’s what happened.

Maggie

[Saluda372]

Smart cords have been on back order for a few months now. Always lock our EMS unit, just to be safe. Thankfully have not heard theft as a common item so far.

[CavemanB]

Originally Posted by Lily&Me

But, that’s what happened.

Maggie

Pretty much this exact thing happened to us two days ago. Lesson learned! They took a hose too.

[Mollysdad]

What's outlined here is the biggest deterrent to buying a class B.
In order to go anywhere, you either need to pack up and leave your site looking unoccupied, or leave some stuff and risk it being taken, perhaps by a person thinking, "Look this guy left his power cord, better me than thee."
Of course, a class B with a tow vehicle or even a scooter solves that.
I've never had anything taken from a campsite. Coolers, chairs, hoses, etc. But then the RV is still sitting there.
(I was usually the guy who vacated the site and left my water hose neatly coiled on the picnic table)

Maybe you need a sandwich board in the site: "I'm coming right back!"

[richard5933]

What about one of the canvas locking bags used to cover parking meters in the old days. Get one large enough to cover the pedestal with writing on it indicating "this site occupied". Lock it over the pedestal when you have to pull out for a while.

The Thousand Trails I just stayed in used trash bags over the pedestals for occupied sites where the campers are gone but coming back.

Here's a place that custom makes them: https://www.coversandall.com/parking...RoCplMQAvD_BwE

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by s1000pre

Bumper caps...did he have an Airstream? So disappointing and petty!!! 15 yrs ago I purchased a new 28’ Chaparral runabout. While my wife was idling in the lake, I went to retrieve the truck and trailer only to find someone had taken the crank for the winch. Try to pull a boat out of the lake without the winch, a $5 item turned my afternoon upside down.

I had a Hi-Lo travel trailer at the time. Campground had a lot of occupants, so we weren't camped behind trees or in a secluded spot. Thankfully theft doesn't occur often and in my 40+ years the only previous occurrence of theft in a site that I occupied was by a raccoon opening up a cooler overnight!

Jack