Theft Security

[Woodstramp]

One of the nicer aspects of these tiny trailers is the lightness of the construction. This does appear to be a drawback when it comes to security. The light doors/windows look like they'd be easy money for someone who might want to break in while the TD was left unattended. In these forums I've seen some of the nice TD's some of you have made or bought. Flat screen TV's, generators, computers, etc.

I've had a few friends who use regular campers for hunting shacks. They usually tow these to a deer lease just prior to hunting season and leave them all season. They also know not to leave anything of much value in the hunting shacks because some low-life might break in while the trailers are unattended during the work week. This has happened before. Doors on a regular camper are just an inconvenience to a creep.

What I'd like to know is there some construction tricks or techniques to make these thing more break-in resistant? "Coca-Cola" type door locks, secret hidey-holes for valuables, etc. Not looking for Ft Knox, but Sly Fox, if you know what I mean.

[caseydog]

I generally camp at TD gatherings, and I leave my TD wide open. I know the people around me, and trust them absolutely.

Now, to be fair, my TD is a tent on wheels -- a minimal TD. I have no television or stereo. But, I have inadvertently left my laptop in it during the day, with no consequences. I generally lock my valuables in my car, which has a security system. I probably don't need to, but why not.

I am almost fifty, and have never been robbed. I believe that the primary reason is that nobody has any reason to believe that I have anything to steal.

Yes, I could become a victim, but I try not to make myself a victim. I know a few people who have been robbed multiple times, and they seem to wave a victim flag.

Your friends who leave campers at their deer leases are making themselves victims. They are leaving a camper unattended where nobody could possibly see anyone breaking into it. Duh! Why not just take your camper keys, set them on a park bench, and go have lunch. Sure, they'll be there when you come back -- in a perfect parallel universe. What I would tell them is, "take the camper home when you go home, or learn to live with the break-ins."

There is no better way to protect what you own than to use common sense. Don't temp thieves, and then complain when the thieves do what thieves do. Sure, you can do all the right things, and still get ripped off, but the chances of that happening are a lot lower if you don't have a "victim" flag flying over you and your stuff.

CD

[TimJones]

any door or lock just slows down a creep. how long would really take to get in your house?

[cuyeda]

Just add a car alarm, with shaved door handles for pop doors like this guy did. The remote also opens the doors! And yes, there is a secret way to open it, if the battery source is dead.

[Oasis Maker]

Just add a car alarm, with shaved door handles for pop doors like this guy did. The remote also opens the doors! And yes, there is a secret way to open it, if the battery source is dead.

Wow. That is unbelievable.

He's definitely doing all he can do to not be a victim. It would be a bummer though to do all that pop lock, shaved handles, alarm thing, only to come back to a broken window.

But I would assume if he's gone this far he probably has a shock sensor on it too.

Scott G.

[iplay10us2]

I do not have an alarm on my tear, but if I was going to install something that is relatively easy and inexpensive, I would use this:
[url]
http://www.rockheadbikes.com/Gorilla_Ul ... 590002.htm[/url]

I have one on my scooter and it is loud and has different sensitivity settings, along with a tilt sensor. It draws very little current from the scooter battery.

I guess a person could also go to Radio Shack and buy one of their cheaper security systems with door/window alarms.

[prohandyman]

Woodstramp
If a person wants to get in a home or a camper, and especially if it is out in the woods or deserted property, THEY WILL GET IN!! And they can make all the noise they want to in the process. Have you ever heard of "bumping"?
http://www.kwikset.com/SmartSeries/ScienceOfSecurity/LockBumpingProtection.aspx

You need to get that thought in your head. If the camper is empty of any valuables, just leave the door unlocked. Every human being (for the most part) will try to open a door with the knob first, and not rip the door off the hinges. And while they may not steal anything, they still might burn it to the ground. Which is why we insure things we want replaced if something bads happens.
Having said all that, I would just tow the camper down with you when you go to the propery to hunt. IMOH

[Larwyn]

The best bet with a camper left in a hunting camp wold be to simply leave nothing inside that could be taken and not bother locking the door. That way nothing would be broken or taken when the average would be thief of opportunity happened along. If you locked an empty camper that same thief would likely break in one way or another doing unnecessary damage that could have been avoided by simply leaving the door unlocked.

The more difficult you make it to break in, the more damage the crook will do in the process of getting to whatever is inside. I try to keep my security levels in line with the potential loss. No point in protecting a $10.00 item with a barrier that would require the thief to do $200.00 in damage to find out there was really nothing worth taking in there anyway. Alarms do not do much these days, only because even though they may draw attention to the intrusion, most people these days, will not get "involved" so it really serves mainly as another target of damage for the crook trying to shut the noise off. Personally I feel that the most effective sound for preventing a break-in is the screams of the criminal when he realizes that he is bleeding and falling to the ground due to so called "excessive force". But that is not politically correct these days (neither am I).

These days the "politically correct" thing to do would probably be to leave a few hundred bucks in cash out and easy to find so the crook will take that and maybe leave the flat screen, your's may not be the brand of flat screen that he would prefer and it would just not be right to waste the criminal's time like that.

[Oasis Maker]

Personally I feel that the most effective sound for preventing a break-in is the screams of the criminal when he realizes that he is bleeding and falling to the ground due to so called "excessive force". But that is not politically correct these days (neither am I).

These days the "politically correct" thing to do would probably be to leave a few hundred bucks in cash out and easy to find so the crook will take that and maybe leave the flat screen, your's may not be the brand of flat screen that he would prefer and it would just not be right to waste the criminal's time like that.

"Gotta say I'm definitely politically incorrect then".

Aside from that. Minimizing exposure as stated by everyone is the key. I am in the same kind of split because of the offroad capabilities of my Jeep. Let's just say my Jeep can go to some pretty extreme locations that my Little Guy tear just can't follow. But no way am I going to unhook the tear somewhere secluded and "hope" that it will be there when I return.

I accept that my LG is for campsites and BLM land that's not too gnarly but enough off the beaten path to privacy. If I'm going hardcore, I'll either do a regular tent, a roof top tent on the Jeep, or build an offroad trailer that can hang with the Jeep. This way I am not creating an unsecure scenario for easy trouble with theft.

Scott G.

[S. Heisley]

Locks keep honest people honest and present a mild challenge, at best, for thieves.

Leaving a trailer, car or anything of that nature unattended for long periods of time out in the middle of the woods is like putting out a welcome mat for a thief (or a tagging teenager). If a trailer or car is in the middle of nowhere, who is even going to hear an alarm or know where that sound is coming from if they do hear it?! If you're going to leave a trailer unattended for extended periods, at least park it in a high security lot intended for that purpose.

Most campgrounds are a little different from the above scenario. There are usually people around in a campground and most are honest, caring folks who believe in the Golden Rule.

[hugh]

My last 2 jeeps were cj's and both had rag tops all summer, so I got an old ammo box and put a latch and lock on it for my sunglasses and a few wrenches I liked to have around, other than that no one ever took anything, even in winter with a hardtop on I didn,t lock them, however the club was always put on the steering wheel. My theory is thieves are basically stupid lazy people and will go to the easiest possible place to steal. I do lock my cherokee and still use the club and now our provincial government has forced everyone to get an immobiliser since the city I live in had the title of car theft capitol of canada. As for the trailer, now that winter is coming it is empty and yes the door is locked. Hopefully the "stupid lazy thieves" will think it is to small to contain anything of value.

[Arne]

First, no curtains... let them see nothing of value..

Second, I'd put wire mesh on the inside of the windows. not light nor heavy weight. something that could be cut, but would sever arteries if they stuck their arm in through a hole in it.

[Oasis Maker]

See the movie "Road House" with Patrick Swayze (RIP). That's how you do it. If you have a nice teardrop that you value, you simply DON'T leave it for a week at a time in a lot known for theft. You're trying to fit a circle into a square and it will never work. That is not a scenario you entertain or struggle with.

You must change the script. Either you get a junker with nothing in it, or you explore other options for accommodations like I stated earlier. Why stress on an already predetermined losing proposition??

Scott G.

[eamarquardt]

The best bet with a camper left in a hunting camp wold be to simply leave nothing inside that could be taken and not bother locking the door. That way nothing would be broken or taken when the average would be thief of opportunity happened along. If you locked an empty camper that same thief would likely break in one way or another doing unnecessary damage that could have been avoided by simply leaving the door unlocked.

I kinda agree. About the only thing worth stealing that I take with me when I travel is a computer or maybe my IS Binoculars and when I finish the trailer perhaps a Sat TV setup but books blend better when camping. So, when you leave camp, take those items with you and lock em in your trunk (outta site, outta the burglers mind, hopefully). How bout leaving a note on the side of your trailer stating that there is nothing of any particular value inside! Some kids once broke into my truck when I got it stuck in the dirt. Nothing to steal so they broke a number of guages and threw what they did find away. We caught em and their parents paid for new gauges. So, sometimes theft is not the motivation, just plain mean spirited vandalism.


Cheers,

Gus

[Woodstramp]

Guess I didn't communicate my point in the first post....

I don't think I'm an idiot. Nor are the hunting friends I mentioned with the unattended campers. The campers are basically left unlocked and have nothing but a can of beans to steal. About the only real theft prevention they might do is chain/lock an axle to a tree or a tongue lock to prevent theft of the whole trailer.

I also would not leave my new TD unattended for very long. Maybe go to town for a meal or supplies or while I fish or hike. It would mostly see service in campgrounds and state parks, not on a hunting lease all winter. If I were needing something for a hunting shack I'd make something like Eatajoz did in his build-along. (That rig, IMO, is a perfect solution for that situation.)

Iplay and Oasis, That is more what I was talking about. Like the booglar alarm with remote and the fancy door release. Cute.