How do you stay safe?

[akrvbob]

I'm going to be doing a seminar at RTR on safety and also a blog post on it. So I'd like to put together a hand-out sheet with a list of things that we do to stay safe--especially the women among us!

I'd like it to be as comprehensive a list as possible, so I'm looking for both the big things you can as well as the many small things that you can do. For example, I have a single female friend who carries well worn size 13 work boots and leaves them outside her van door whenever she is camping. Simple and small but very effective.

This is not a gun thread! One of things on the list will be to consider carrying a gun, getting a CCW and getting training. I can cover that by myself so we don't need to discuss it here.   

Thanks, a comprehensive list will be good for everybody!
Bob

 

[buckwilk]

Situational awareness. Observing things going on around you. People and their actions, identifying and understanding potential threat.

 

[Almost There]

Well, let's see!

I just don't stay where I don't feel I'd be safe! I've got 14 years of full timing behind me and have been travelling all over North America for 40 years.

I use my gut instinct a lot in where I choose to stay. It combined with some common sense works well.

I mostly stay out of larger urban centers unless I'm with a group.

I choose WalMarts that are in smaller towns rather than right close to big cities. Ditto with places like Flying J/Pilot truck stops.

When I park in a W/M for the night I park in the regular parking area while I do my shopping and then move to the area where there are usually either other RVs or transports parked. That way I'm not seen walking all the way from my van to the store and back, obviously alone. No one pays THAT much attention to vehicles in the parking lot. Once parked for the night I don't get out of the van and close my drapes as soon as I'm parked.

When I use a Flying J/Pilot lot I don't park at the very back of the lot. I'll park near where the RV parking is. I'd rather have a bit of traffic noise than be way out back. Besides, most of their lots, the out back parking spots are used by employees and are way too close to the noise of the transports in their lot.

I do travel with bear spray right handy. But then I take it out hiking with me as well. There's also an emergency whistle hanging from the rear view mirror. My other whistle is attached to my day backpack or my PFD whichever is in use at the time.

My phone is always within grab reach as are my keys.

I'm conscious of my safety but not in any way paranoid about it.

I'll admit that when I was driving the 35' Class A, I used to open the door and shout 'Hi Honey, I'm back'. In my mind it made anyone around me think that there was someone else in the RV. But that was because I had to walk all the way across the parking lot since it wouldn't fit in a regular parking spot.

It's less of a problem than most people think it is. Too many are accustomed to reading the headlines and think that they are in constant danger. It goes back to the fear/phobia you talk about in other threads.

 

[cyndi]

nice reply, AT.

I concur

Research/ask about the places you intend to stay

Listen to your gut.

Be or at least act confident

 

[Marie]

These are some of my thoughts on the safety issue:
- blend in. Look like just another guy/gal doing whatever people are doing around there.
- don't draw attention to yourself, in action or dress.
- don't look rich, like a target for robbery.
- don't look like you're sleeping in your vehicle.
- avoid dangerous places, or where it's likely that predictors hang out. I heard someone say once, that "some rest areas are like desert watering holes. If you wait long enough, "lunch" will show up." You do NOT want to be lunch!!!

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

• Can't stress situational awareness enough; always be alert to what is around you.
• Get a dog.  Dogs are very aware of their surroundings and will alert you to danger before you realize it.
• Get a recording of a large, angry, growling, barking dog.
• Always lock yourself in.  If you are in your van with the doors closed they should be locked.  This will give you precious seconds to formulate a response.
• A boat horn is a good first response.  Honking car horn alarms are ignored, but a boat horn is out of place and will attract attention.  Also works well for wild animals.
• Have at least one defense (preferably more).  Know how to use it and practice with it.  If you decide on mace or bear spray, practice in the wind.  If you do decide on a firearm you must be mentally and emotionally prepared to use it.
• A backup camera can be configured as a security camera.
• Try not to get boxed in.  Don't park where you cannot back up and drive forward if you can help it.  If you can only manage one direction, choose driving forward to get out.
• When stopped on the road you should leave yourself enough room to get around the car in front of you.  I make sure I can see the rear tires contacting the road.
• Don't be shy about bending sheet metal to escape.  If someone boxes you in ram them and push their vehicle out of the way if you are in danger.  Your vehicle can be used as a weapon.

I'll probably think of more as soon as I hit 'send'   :-/ 

-- Spiff

 

[Marie]

That's awesome stuff, Spiff. Thanks. It could be a lifesaver.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

A lot of good information presented so far.  Situational awareness keeps getting mentioned, but as a generality.  I wonder how many of you are familiar with the Cooper Color Codes?

These were supposedly developed by the Marines in the Pacific campaign.  Col. Jeff Cooper served there, and after retirement, founded what is now considered the modern art of the handgun.  He included his color codes in his training.  They are now widely taught in the military and police worlds, as well as all serious students of the handgun.

Here is an excellent site explaining them:

http://www.self-defense-mind-body-spirit.com/awareness.html

Go take a look at that article.  When you come back, I'll give you a personal real world example in my next post.

Regards
John

 

[TMG51]

• Try not to get boxed in.  Don't park where you cannot back up and drive forward if you can help it.  If you can only manage one direction, choose driving forward to get out.
  

-- Spiff

This is one I'd never thought of until one night after I went to sleep in a side parking lot next to Lowe's. I often park at Lowe's because there's always a strong wifi signal in the parking lot and no one ever bothers me. In the early morning hours I was aware of trucks moving around me, which is normal in this type of location, and I wasn't concerned. Then I got out of my overcab bed and peeked through my privacy curtain... to see the broad side of an 18wheeler trailer in front of my windshield. With no cab on the front.

My rear wheels were 100% touching a curb behind me, so I had nowhere to go. I wasn't particularly concerned: I had a day's work to do, and everything I needed inside, and I figured the trailer would be moved sooner or later. Sure enough around 4 o'clock a truck came and got it. I'm not sure why a driver would leave his trailer right in front of a parked vehicle, but it did give me cause for a mental note not to let myself get trapped in while sleeping again...

Other than that, the only two things I really worry about are:

1) Skunks
2) Forgetting where I parked my van

Been lucky on both accounts so far.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

So from 84 to 91, I had a job as an armored car guard.  It was part-time, I worked every weekend.  We mostly picked up the daily receipts from stores and supermarkets, They would go back to our terminal to be held in the company vault until Monday, when they would be transported to the banks.  It was a fairly boring and uneventful job, most of the time.

But then there was the time we pulled up at a Shop Rite Supermarket in Yonkers.  I exited the truck in yellow, and as I entered the store, A guy walked in behind me.  There was just something about him that bothered me, then I realized that he had his right hand in his jacket pocket, for no good reason I could think of.  I went to orange and kept an eye on him.  After a bit, he went down one of the aisles and I went back to yellow.

For pickups, we actually went into the office where the safe was.  The manager had the combination, but the dial needed to be unlocked with a key before it could turn, and we - the armored car company - had the key.  So essentially, the store managers couldn't open the safe unless we were there.  The deposits were dropped through a slot in the top of the safe.

It took about five minutes to open the safe, count the deposit envelopes, record their serial numbers on the receipt, etc.  They all went into a plain brown shopping bag, and I exited the office.  My right hand was on the grip of my holstered pistol, that was standard operating procedure when we were carrying cash. I stopped to look around for a second - condition yellow again.

The guy was right there, about a dozen feet away from me, hand still in his pocket, no groceries or anything.  I went immediately to red, and just stared at him.  If his hand came out of his pocket with a gun, or anything that looked like it MIGHT be a gun, I was going to shoot him right then and there. 

After a dozen seconds or so, he suddenly turned and walked away.  I gave it a few seconds to make sure he wasn't going to turn and come back, then I hustled outside to our truck and we got the hell out of there.

Did I actually foil an attempted robbery?  I'll never know for sure, but I really believe I did.

And there's a practical example of how the color codes work.  They are a shorthand for a situational awareness response spectrum.

Regards
John

 

[crookedforkers]

Because we are a group of females, keeping tabs on each other is one thing. Our daughter has a safety whistle for emergencies. We also make a point of introducing ourselves to friendly folks around us, and typically they look out for us as well. Because some might do the opposite we carry spring-assisted knives, soon a 9mm, and we sleep in arms reach of a Cold Steel M1917 Navy cutlass. We have a lot of weapons training, and I am a sword stunt performer as well as martial artist, so that cutlass is a hell of a comfort.

I think that our community - building efforts are the biggest thing we are adding here. It is a risk as well as a safety practice, but it seems worth it to us.

 

[LeeRevell]

I have read a few articles where cons were interviewed, and they always said the single thing they feared most was a dog.  Good insurance, and a good companion.  
 But in the wild keep Phydeax on a leash close to you.  Coyotes, cougars and gators like dogs....

 

[Iggy]

I've had people try to break in 3 times. Twice I drove off. Another time I set off my car alarm with my key fob. I do keep a few knives and pepper spray. When in Oregon, I carry a gun or two.
I would agree with everything else written above. I'm always learning more about where to go for low danger and when to be on high alert.

 

[storm6398]

There is a lot of great stuff mentioned here. I always have a knife or two handy.
I walk around like I know what I'm doing even when I don't, and always make eye contact with people.
Don't look like someone anyone wants to mess with.

 

[akrvbob]

Really great stuff!!!

Any more?
Bob

 

[GotSmart]

I can't offer anything new.  I only stay in well lit places with other vehicles near by.

 

[buckwilk]

Screen the people close to you. People worry about stranger crime, statistics show most crime against the person is caused by people you know. Friends,relatives, spouses, sad but true. If you drink, drink only with people you know and trust.
Most important----listen to your Mother !

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

I've no doubt that this publication will be controversial here.  So be it.

http://www.twistedwiretactical.com/Twistedwire/Book_Club_files/Principles_of_Self_Defense.pdf

ETA: content for those with limited bandwidth and because most of us don't like to just click on random links.

This is a PDF file:
Principles of Personal Defense
by Jeff Cooper



Regards
John

 

[Suanne]

Almost 6 years ago when I was planning to go traveling for the first time, I made a long list of safety items in my blog (http://suanneonline.blogspot.com/2010/02/safety-and-security.html) and they still hold true.  But, I've gotten a little more sophisticated based on the situation I'm in.  Here are some items that I'm either repeating because I think they are just that important, or some other ideas that I have yet to see and the situation in which I would use them.

For all situations:

• First and foremost is to stay in touch with my instincts.  Trust them.  Trust and act on my gut even when my mind says everything is OK.  
• In preparation for being on the road I took a self-defense class for women.  I took a refresher course a year later.  I'm due for another refresher.
• Cell phone to call for help.
• If no cell reception, then SPOT GPS messenger for emergency and road assistance.  Provides coverage for every location I plan to travel.

If boondocking (WM, Rest Areas, etc.) or camping:

• Loud noise makers to call for help, including the car alarm on my key fob, loud emergency whistle, and air horn.
• Keep car locked
• Window visors (eye brows) so that passersby cannot see that my windows are open 1/2" for ventilation

If camping alone or with strangers:

• Move, act and speak with purpose
• Put out a large dog bowl and heavy chain to give the appearance of having a large dog.
• Put out a second chair to give the appearance that I'm not alone.
• Put a large man's clothing in front seat to give the appearance that a man is camping here.

Some defensive tools:

• Bear spray (one in driver's area, another in sleeping area, also when hiking)
• Knives -- carried and stashed various places
• Hatchet

 

[mockturtle]

I think it was Katie who posted the link to this book a few years ago.  I have it on my kindle and highly recommend it, especially for women:  The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker.