Community Forums

Rev. Roy · 03-04-2021, 05:28 PM

Never anything of great value. I had a "blue boy" (portable dump tank) stolen and a lawn chair from the seasonal site we had for several years. Neighbor had his propane tank stolen. Of course it was when we were at home. Owner suspected it was a family who had stayed overnight.

talk2cpu · 03-04-2021, 05:31 PM

Only two instances for me. Once in a FS campground near Red Lodge, they entered a screen porch and stole some canned goods, can coolers and a gasoline lantern. The lantern was recovered and the perpetrators were charged with breaking and entering, burglary and also prosecuted by the FS for failure to pay for camping. Second, our license plate was stolen at a NP campground in ND. County sheriff and NP never located the plate.

Enchanter · 03-04-2021, 05:34 PM

After 5 years of traveling alone and staying at countless campgrounds in my Class A, the only thing I've ever had stolen was my heart. It seems like all the attractive young women are always accompanied by some lucky guy.

As far as any tangible property taking a walk, I'm a firm believer in not tempting anyone with an easy score. I always conceal and lock everything. If they really want something they'll have to work for it and hope they don't die from lead poisoning if I interrupt them in the process. Bottom line, I've never had anything stolen from me.

TandW · 03-04-2021, 05:46 PM

We had once signed on for long term camping and found that the site we were assigned to had been overrun by the immediate neighbor. That is, they were encroaching on our site with their landscaping rocks that they gathered from all around. We waited for them to take a day trip and then we reclaimed our territory. Needless to say we all stuck to ourselves after that.

Willy88 · 03-04-2021, 06:20 PM

I leave my motorhome year round at a seasonal lot unless we are travelling. Two weeks ago the resort owner left the gate open - it was storming, blowing snow so he didn`t go out to lock it (owners live on site).
Someone came in and stole a couple of catalytic converters - just cut them off. mine included. Could cost up to $3000 to replace. I`m not too surprised as there has been a lot of this going on. Cost of platinum makes it lucrative for the thieves.

scroc · 03-04-2021, 07:05 PM

Yes, two camp chairs stolen while camping on usfs land in N. CA.

LonnieMarcia · 03-04-2021, 07:09 PM

We are fairly new at motorhoming (5) years. I can’t recall us having anything stolen but we lock our ebikes up at night. The outdoor kitchen items have never been taken. But I was sitting in our unit watching this girl walking down the road in front of us. Without skipping a beat, she walked up to an ice chest in the camp sight next to us, opened it & took a drink. Closed it & kept on walking. When the campers returned I asked them if they had friends camped in the park as well. They said no. So I shared what I witnessed. What can you do...weird crap happens.

DPMike · 03-04-2021, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arcaguy

There seems to be a fair amount of discussion around here about people "theft proofing" their rigs. I'm taking a poll to see how many folks have actually had a theft at a campground.

Had a Coleman campstove stolen in Yellowstone back in '61. I was a kid tent camping with my Dad. The stove was left on the picnic table as always and one morning it wasn't there......

bammer4 · 03-04-2021, 07:37 PM

Nope

horsecollect · 03-04-2021, 07:49 PM

IIRC, my parents had a chair stolen at a campground. This happened w-a-y back in the late 1960s. I was just a teenager camping with my parents. We didn't notice one of the lawn chairs was missing until we were packing up to leave.

NeilV · 03-04-2021, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Concord

Left 6 camp chairs to hold our spot at a grand canyon camp ground.. They didn't steal the spot, just the chairs!

Moral: Don't use something you can lose to hold something you can't own.

I just leave a paper sign in a ziplock bag attached to the pedestal that says reserved along with the date range of the reservation. At worst I lose a ziplock bag and a sheet of paper. If the site still get taken I just call the ranger and let him take care of it.

Lock everything up and never had a theft. My 100+ lb Giant Akita is a great deterrent.

permitwriter · 03-04-2021, 08:07 PM

We've only been at it for 1.5 years but nothing stolen. Not the best, but I'm pretty good at locking things up. Maybe I'll take a more critical look because stuff like that aggravates me severely. At one campground a coach was backed in to the campsite with a sign in the front window: "Smile, you are on video".

66lima · 03-04-2021, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arcaguy

There seems to be a fair amount of discussion around here about people "theft proofing" their rigs. I'm taking a poll to see how many folks have actually had a theft at a campground.

Not in a campground. I seldom lock anything.
They will do more damage breaking in than the value of the stuff they can steal.
I do make sure the genny is locked to the tongue of the trailer.
A guy down from me came back to find his two Honda 2200 watt gens gone.

Bo · 03-04-2021, 08:37 PM

Many year ago we were camping in a Colorado State Park and I had left a cooler outside the camper. I am diabetic and my insulin was in the cooler. When we got up in the morning the cooler was gone as was my insulin. I was panicked and was making plans to drive to the nearest town, 30 miles, to find a source of insulin. When I got to the car I saw a crushed insulin box on the hood with my insuling in it. The thieves had some honor and when they found the insulin in the cooler one of them returned to my site and placed the insulin where I would find it. We learned later that all coolers that had been left out in the campground had been stolen. The thieves were looking for food and had been raiding the campground periodically for some time. The Rangers reported they had found a nearby ravine filled with coolers.