Securing Campsite

[Lakeman1]

I lock the grill to the table it's on and bikes are put under the bedroom slide and locked together, chairs under the MH to keep dry. Only thing I have ever had stolen was a TPMS tire sensor.

[gracelandone]

20 years of tenting and 10 years of RV use, about 1,500 nights in a sleeping bag in all, and the only item that has gone amiss was my first pink plastic flamingo that I had for more than 20 years. BLM, Forest Service, State and National parks have never yielded a loss. But one of the six times I have stayed in a commercial campground and my friend “Steve” went missing. As others have said, follow your gut on your surroundings, but you will be surprised at the number of fellow campers who are aware of anyone in your site that doesn’t seem to belong and are willing to say something, at least to you. I treasure the camping community and consider most campers as representatives of the best citizens of our nation. The day I don’t feel this to be true is the day I hang up my boots. Welcome, newbie, and put your faith in karma.

[RnDJones]

First off...don’t be sorry, newbie. We all started the same way. In my experience, people that camp (and those that boat as well) are generally good family types that watch out for each other. Only once did we have a bike stolen and it wasn’t by a fellow camper. Seems a nearby neighborhood had some kids that would regularly raid the campground (Smith Point on Long Island) for bikes they could sell. We were lucky to act as soon as we noticed the theft and found the bike—minus all identifying stickers etc.—in the recovered property room at the park police station. That didn’t make us start locking things up at night. We prefer to believe that people are inherently honest...because we are as well.

[Mudfrog]

Originally Posted by jmzumer

Funny this comes up now. Soon we're headed to one of CA's most popular beach sites, Seacliff by Santa Cruz/Monterey, that books out their sites within seconds after opening reservation times!
There's a public walkway just feet in front of all the rigs at the park and the ocean. Several people we know have had beer-laden ice chests stolen, and lately more spendy items also. When you get a reservation, a window pops up and tells you there has been increased theft around the park with the warning to put valuables away when you're not there! That's not stopping us from going because it's such a fabulous place to camp, but we will for the first time ever be putting valuables away at night. Normally I would not stay at a place I had to worry about these types of issues, but since getting a reservation is so hard to do we're going anyway!

Sorry but NOPE! I'm flat out not interested in taking my Family to a place that I know ahead of time, has an ongoing problem like this. It's sad that it's happening in the first place but making things worse is knowing the campground isn't taking care of the problem.

Are campsites at Seacliff really $65 per night?

[NeverGrowUp]

Remember that most bay doors all use the same key.

[RV_Road_Trip]

Originally Posted by Triple H

Newbie...sorry! When staying at an RV park or camp ground do you breakdown everything nightly?. Meaning if you have a table, chairs, grill, etc. Do you leave them out, lock them in your bays, lock them together with a cable or do nothing? Thanks in advance.

When I setup the first day, I run a cable through my BBQ, BBQ Table, Chairs and small table, each evening I run a second cable through our bicycles. When we take our golf cart, I put a cable and lock on it because I saw where golf carts were stolen on regular basis in lots of parks.

My thought is; WHY take a chance when it is easy to put locking gear to protect your property, thus it is better to be safe than sorry!

[RV_Road_Trip]

Originally Posted by NeverGrowUp

Remember that most bay doors all use the same key.

Most bays use the same key code but you can take them out and take to a good locksmith and have them changed to a new one, one that no one else has and it is not that costly to do so................

[packnrat]

in all my years boon docking. only know of one attempt, (crow bar to one outside cargo door). and "heard in talk" about a couple others.

simple, leave nothing out you can not live without. what must be outside, chain and bolt up.



locks keep the honest.... honest.

crooks still get into things. but if unseen they do not know about it.

.

[Keyne]

We wondered that too when we first started. Anything expensive or personally valuable I bring in but chairs, small table and BBQ stat out. They aren’t really expensive and in our class B it’s nice to have them out when we leave the campground (more space in the van). If someone stole them I would have an excuse to upgrade...

I do lock up my surge protector because it’s expensive. However as mentioned above it just keeps the honest honest... if someone really wanted it, it would be super easy to cut the cable and steal it. I go camping to relax and don’t worry about it.

[Wench]

If I catch you stealing anything from our campground you will have a hard time picking your nose or wiping your behind. Nothing makes me madder than a thief.

To the scum who recently stole my bike from the Biloxi campground last month.....I hope you rot in hell. SCUM

[CCrew]

Originally Posted by RV_Road_Trip

Most bays use the same key code but you can take them out and take to a good locksmith and have them changed to a new one, one that no one else has and it is not that costly to do so................

Cheaper usually just to buy new lock cylinders.

[timjet]

Just curious, has anyone had their bid doors opened by someone stealing something who had a key identical to theirs.

[Hardroad]

Originally Posted by Triple H

Newbie...sorry! When staying at an RV park or camp ground do you breakdown everything nightly?. Meaning if you have a table, chairs, grill, etc. Do you leave them out, lock them in your bays, lock them together with a cable or do nothing? Thanks in advance.

We've only ever once been in a campground that we had to stand guard all night - I should have known because the name of the campground is/was "**** Auto Court and Trailer park. Behind the Auto Court was a small campground with Semi Trailers lining the entire campground. Anyway - Closed and locked all bays, secured all articles and kept my Security item close at hand.

[SurfsideGolfer]

In 40+ years camping I’ve never had anything stolen, never seen anything stolen, never talked to anyone in a CG that had anything stolen. Hope I never feel compelled to stay anywhere I didn’t feel perfectly safe.
We do this because we love it!