Theft and Break ins while on the road?

[twogypsies]

Originally Posted by Papa Foxtrot

I believe that he's referring to racoons.

Ahh.... trash bandits; not pandas.

[Mudfrog]

Originally Posted by UTTransplant

We have been camping for 40+ years in tents, pop ups, travel trailers, and now a motorhome. Never anything stolen, though once some folks in a big Class A tried to walk off with a cheap “Y” connection I had put on my water spigot. I hollered, they brought it back, and said they thought it belonged to the campground. Why they thought it was ok to steal from the campground but not me I will never understand.

When I worked as a summer ranger one year in college, the only things stolen at our lake were ice chests and beer, preferably together. If you leave beer outside in a lake-side campground, you are definitely taking chances! I have a friend who had bikes stolen from the bike rack in a storage lot in Las Vegas. I have never even heard of anyone having things stolen from the inside of their rig. Not to say it can’t happen, but it certainly isn’t common enough to worry about. Get insurance, and relax.

I'm relaxed but it's probably because I'm a bit proactive about things like this. I agree that thievery in campgrounds is rare,, but it does occasionally occur. If it does, then it makes for a not very relaxing stay because you know there is a thief in the vicinity.

My question, is it worth it to go through insurance to cover a kayak or bicycle theft? What about the insurance deductible? Deductible on our rig is higher than these items so it certainly wouldn't be worth it to file a claim. If the yak is stolen, it's gone. And of course, filing a claim with an insurance company can be a pain in itself.

Not paranoid here but at the same time, it just doesn't make sense to me not to take simple precautions knowing that thievery can and does happen from time to time.

[johnhicks]

Never happened to me, but...

A few years ago there was a spate of cooler thefts at a CG along Lake Palourde in Louisiana. The folks in the office at the entrance and the cameras never saw anyone.

Turned out the thieves were coming in by rowboat in the middle of the night.

[Tachdriver]

Originally Posted by Papa Foxtrot

I believe that he's referring to racoons.

Yes raccoons and the dark circle under the eyes are like pandas.....

[hamm2018]

Originally Posted by TucsonAZ

Just curious if any of you have stories you'd be willing to share about somebody stealing your rig or breaking into it or whatever.

We thought somebody was trying to steal our bikes last night. Turned out the Javelinas were trying to get into stuff. Three big ones were running around and making lots of noise.

[TucsonAZ]

Originally Posted by hamm2018

We thought somebody was trying to steal our bikes last night. Turned out the Javelinas were trying to get into stuff. Three big ones were running around and making lots of noise.

Ahhhhh you must be in my neck of the woods right now, or maybe Texas ( :

[kdauto]

In 2013 we were making a cross continent trip towards the big state parks like Grand Canyon, Bryce etc. We went through Indiana (Indianapolis actually) and decided for a quick 5 minute stop at Mc D's for take out to eat in the TT. Parking lot only had space out back for us, seemed safe enough.

Came back 5-7 minutes later and noticed the grab handle next to the TT entrance door was broken. Also noticed blood dripped on the handle and door, and the edge of the door was pried out, but no one managed to get inside.

I drove around the area trying to find the bastard(s) but no success. I was told the area was known for tweakers, a term I knew nothing about then.

GF is still somewhat scared by that event. I just prepare a bit better now.

[UTTransplant]

If you can afford the replacement cost easily, insurance isn’t a requirement. Only you know your financial situation.I balance the probability (quite low in most locations) with the impact (what would happen if the theft occurs). I could afford a couple of new electric bikes, so I do t have a rider for them. However I do take precautions with our gear. Bikes are always locked with a high quality Ubolt that is then locked with a high quality chain to our rig or vehicle. We locked our canoes (much more expensive than the bikes - I really liked canoeing and we had high end stuff).We don’t leave expensive grills out, though that is as much for bears as anything else. We lock our doors, and we don’t display lots of expensive toys or jewelry. Beyond that, you have to decide what you are comfortable with.

[hamm2018]

Originally Posted by TucsonAZ

Ahhhhh you must be in my neck of the woods right now, or maybe Texas ( :

Cottonwood/Sedona area. We are at the Thousand Trails Park outside of Cottonwood.

[louisp954]

95lb doberman and 70lb pitbull no troubles so far.

[wr4501]

My truck was stolen out of my drive way 1999 7.3 I think they were after the cat. which I removed to install a exhaust brake.The truck was found about 15miles away in a farmfield nothing else was missing.

[Steverino]

Originally Posted by Bobby F

There are two ways for me to reply - pick whichever sounds right to you:

1. I tend to lock everything, even though I've never had a problem with theft;

or

2. I tend to lock everything, and thus I've never had a problem with theft.

Ditto this. Rig is completely locked, bikes get cabled. Hobie kayaks are big & awkward to steal, but I shove them under the rig so they're not obvious. I don't worry about the chairs - the replacement cost is cheaper than the hassle of putting them away all the time.

[MDFiver]

We haven’t but we are proactive. We even have a very sturdy cable lock for our EMS. We changed out the door lock to have a key that no one else has. It’s usually not the other campers you have to worry about but the thieves in the surrounding areas. Some Tubers we watch left their expensive e-bikes unlocked tucked out of sight behind their fifth wheel and when they returned from their hike, the bikes were gone. A very expensive lesson. We don’t even stroll around the campground until we lock up. If someone is after your stuff, at least make it hard on them.

[roadstar99]

Had phone chargers stolen from Honda in tow as we slept in WalMart for the night. That was only items of value in car other than radio and it was theft protected. Chargers were cheap but had to buy some more when we landed at CG. We now lock our tow vehicle and I installed a battery cutoff switch to stop radio from killing batteries.
The guy had a buggy and was going from RV to RV banging on back of motorhome and if he heard someone, he went on like he was going to his car. I yelled when he banged on the back just behind me in my bed as we were asleep. Other than that no problem .