Do you close your hatch at night?

[BillZ]

My wife and I are getting ready to take our first teardrop camping trip this weekend. I have been going over preparations in my mind the last couple of days and a thought occurred to me.

What do you do with your hatch when you leave for a few hours and when you go to bed at night? It seems like it might be a bit of a pain to put everything away and close it up when you want to go for a walk. Then again, these days you have to worry about theft.

Just curious.

[Shadow Catcher]

Yes there is the chance things will walk away but we do not lock the galley up. But there are situations where that might not be the case depends on location.

[Gary and Cheri]

Closed and locked.

Back in the days when I was a pop up camper I looked out the window to see a raccoon on the back of my Dodge Caravan. I watched as he openned the rear hatch. To many smart animals out there.

To often we wake up with dew on the ground. Don't need to wake up to everything being damp and I sure don't want to get up in the middle of the night should it rain.

The possibilities for bad things to happen just does not make my lazyness worth it.

Gary

[asianflava]

If I'm in the area or at gatherings I leave it open. If I leave the campground or go to bed, I'll close it. I'm not too worried about theft, I don't keep anything too valuable there anyway.

[parnold]

I close mine also, and if I'm going anywhere that may take more than a short while, I'll lock both the galley and side door. I have always had great experiences camping, why chance spoiling it now.

[Deryk the Pirate]

Better to be safe then sorry. Weather can change quick enough.... learned that living on my boat and there are wild animals out there who would love to help themself to your food.

[urban5]

I close it. It only takes a minute.

[Juneaudave]

Marcia likes to move the food into the tow vehicle and close the hatch tight. It makes her feel like the bears won't as attracted to the trailer and she sleeps better...that's good enough for me!

[ssrjim]

Better to be safe then sorry. Weather can change quick enough.... learned that living on my boat and there are wild animals out there who would love to help themself to your food.

That is what I worry about, wind and rain when I'm not around or sleeping. I also don't want critters getting my food at night.

[emiller]

I leave mine open but I don't have any food in my tear. Weather does not bother me too much except high winds. If it is raining I usually have a 10 x 10 awning over the rear of the tear. Life is good

[jlreyburn]

We close ours, the raccoons are way to smart.

[Mukilteo]

Mine is only open when I'm standing there working.

[Kevin & Sandy]

I leave it open at gatherings, I close it when I leave for a while.
I for sure close it at night and lock it when traveling, so there are no problems when I stop and get groceries, pay for fuel, etc.

[ParTaxer]

Since I use a canopy covering my tear, I leave the hatch open. The only food left in the hatch would be snacks. This past weekend we were on the lake away from the campgrounds and I never worried a bit about the hatch being open. With other campers around, I felt it safe with at least a vehicle parked with the tear.

[planovet]

If I'm in the area or at gatherings I leave it open. If I leave the campground or go to bed, I'll close it.

This

I'll close it at night but not lock it. I'm not as worried about 2 legged theft as I am four legged theft.