WHO'S WATCHIN WHILE YOUR GONE ??

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Ken in Anaheim

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I haven't crossed over to the light side yet (become a van dweller) but when I do I always imagined I'd want to camp with at least a couple others within shouting distance (I actually just assumed I'd just join in with "Brother Bob's Traveling Roadshow" (aka The Eternal RTR) and move around with "the tribe". But....my question is : when camping alone or near others, do you experienced folks&nbsp; find you have to completely break down and pack away all your tables,chairs,stoves,awnings, solar panels etc every time you need to run in to town or do a quick errand ?&nbsp; I'm just wondering about the security issues ???????<br>Thanks<br>KinA
 
&nbsp;Unless there's someone around, who I trust, to watch my stuff, it all comes with me. Things tend to grow legs &amp; 'walk away' otherwise. ..Willy.
 
<P>This is sad Willy.&nbsp; I boondocked extensively in NM and AZ up til about 6 years ago. We never worried and would even go into a town now and again and stay in a motel overnight.&nbsp;When we came back the tent or popup had never been touched and people were always around.&nbsp;My ex went out last year to some of our old haunts and he said it had changed for the worse.</P>
 
I try to advoid those areas but sometimes you can't.&nbsp; it's really sad what our country has become.&nbsp;&nbsp;to me progress means the ills of the cities have been transported to the rural areas.&nbsp; highdesertranger
 
My nearly full bottle of laundry detergent was taken from the Laundromat last week when I went next door for 10 minutes. <img class="emoticon bbc_img" src="/images/boards/smilies/frown.gif"><br><br>I take everything with me, and my dog watches the rolling abode while I'm in the store or working.<br><br>It helps to not have a lot of gear to set up in the first place. 1 chair per person, awning, a simple table, etc.<br><br>I usually put things away when I'm done with them anyway, I like to be ready to roll at a moments notice.
 
This has me worried more than anything else.&nbsp; We will want to go on hikes and motorcycle rides, but what about our camper while we are gone?<br><br>I will probably put an alarm system on it and maybe wire things up to make it look like someone is at home there.&nbsp; Maybe a good recording of a pissed off pitt bull that activates inside the camper when a motion sensor is tripped outside.<br><br>Other than that....hope and pray we don't get robbed?
 
<STRONG><EM><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">I mentioned it before somewhere but a long chain, looped out from under the vehicle and back with a water bowl and chewed dogs bone always works a treat. (bigger the better) No ones going to approach to see where your imaginary dog is.<BR><BR></SPAN><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">On freecamping, does anyone else have the problem of newbies (Rvers, caravaners) parking right next to you cause they're scared of the dark. I wouldn't mind so much if they came and asked first.<BR>Worst still they park next to you then fire up a generator cause they don't use renewable energy.<BR>In fact it not theft that i use the chain idea for so much, it's to keep&nbsp;others from invading my space.&nbsp;</SPAN></EM></STRONG><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">Geoff</SPAN></STRONG></EM>
 
I don't leave a lot of stuff outside and, most of the time, I'm ready to leave at a moment's notice which, if someone camps right next to me [when the campground is virtually empty!], I often do.&nbsp;
 
I use the following philosophy if I have to leave anything unattended.<br><br> "Assume you will NEVER see it again."<br><br> This applies to when I was riding my scooter, bicycle or my pickup truck. I always found a way of securing the item before I left the immediate area. That meant that my bike &amp; scooter were chained to some solid object with a secure lock &amp; chain. I always locked my vehicles whenever possible. Nowadays if you assume that your property&nbsp;will still be there when you return you are being less than honest with yourself. This applied no matter how long I was going to be away from my personal property. No matter whether it was a few minutes or a few hours I always found ways of securing my personal property before I left the immediate area.
 
Hi Guys,&nbsp; I guess I've always been suspicious anyhow but all in all, in reading over this string (which I just arrived at)&nbsp; I look at it like this ::: I love to mountain bike <br>and have 2 bikes I ride for different terrain.&nbsp; I heard a while back that there is a "squad" if you will, an organized brotherhood of thieves that specialize (no pun intended) <br>in stealing bicycles en mass!&nbsp; I believe while yes of course there are just lots of dishonest people<br>that see your stuff and just can't resist sticky fingers, there is a mainstream group out there just leaving<br>their caves to steal!&nbsp; It's their job!&nbsp; It's what they do!&nbsp; It's <strong>all</strong> they do!&nbsp; And they are everywhere people<br>go.&nbsp; So like Pikachu711 &amp; Willy said, just remove the temptation! And like my old friend and wise one <br>highdesertranger said, it is sad but it is true and it can't be avoided.&nbsp; <br><br>So parenting has failed and we have a bunch of low information, integrity free, spineless &amp; insincere flesh puddles out there<br>who's rectitude is avoiding real work and taking from those who have and doing that well!<br><br><br><br><br>"Have you ever seen yourself as someone else who you have become?"
 
You said:<br>
I'd want to camp with at least a couple others within shouting distance
<br><br>Mockturtle said:<br>&nbsp;
<span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">I'm ready to leave</span> at a moment's notice which,<span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"> if someone camps right next to me </span>[when the campground is virtually empty!], I often do
.
 
It seems like I'm always looking for someone to er.. camp next to!<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>Man goes to a psychiatrist. Doctor tells man, "You're crazy!"&nbsp; Man says "I want <br>a second opinion!"&nbsp; Doctor says "OK, you're ugly too!"
 
<p>My stuff either stays in my vehicle or on me... But at night (oddly never said a word to him in person), I like to park with another member on this forum. It's a bit of peace of mind and guess we could be there for each other if need be.</p>
 
Don't ever leave your campsite unattended in a National Forest on a holiday weekend. It is typical for a forest to fill up with campers during that time, which brings out organized gangs of thieves who rove around looking for opportunities. If you need evidence of people being robbed in National Forests, notice the bits of broken window glass on the ground at various trailheads.

Anyways in my 1st season I was camping in the Pisgah District of the Pisgah NF to the southwest of Asheville NC. It's a rather popular forest even in regular times and on Labor Day weekend it was packed. I had left my campsites unattended when going into town for a couple months before that, no problem, in both the Pisgah district and Grandfather district to the east of Asheville. In fact I thought my site in Pisgah was pretty spiffy because it was right next to the main highway and I could zip into town easily for supplies. Well that also makes it easy for thieves to zip up to you. I went into town to get a mug from Walmart so I could make decent tea. The mug cost $2.50 and I later named it the "Black Mug of Death" because that trip cost me $500 worth of stolen camping gear. I got back to my site and this multi-generational redneck family had set up with 3 tents, tarps, grills, seriously heavy footprint stuff. I was miffed and said, "Didn't you see my stuff?" The old timer said, "What stuff?" Oh boy, sinking feeling. No reason to believe they took it, the gear they had in evidence was far more valuable than my paltry site.

Filed the police report. Never got a phone call about anything being recovered. Police confirmed organized thieves in the area. Stands to reason: my site was almost perfect for stealing. My camp itself was out of sight behind a small dip by a creek. I figure a 2 person team pulled up. One does lookout in the truck, the other grabs everything and shoves it in the truck. Cleanout in 10 minutes easy. No sorting, they even took a worthless homemade instrument I made out of a bowed stick, a string, and a plastic lemonade bottle. They took plastic bowls and silverware.

Ever since then, the drill in a NF has been (1) avoid holiday weekends, (2) park FAR down some horrible road, several miles of bump, grind, and difficulty, to make any would-be thieves really WORK for their opportunity to rob me. They aren't gonna get anything by just casually cruising around.

Also to be honest I just don't leave anything at a campsite anymore, because I don't tent camp anymore. The car is the tent. Saves me at least an hour of setup and breakdown time per day, if I'm wanting to move more than sit still. Any given region in a NF can get boring in 2 days, they all the same logging roads for the most part, so mobility is good policy AFAIAC.
 
Hey whats a little ice here and a solar panel there among fellow humans. Come on now we all have to share. Sorry i couldn't help it. Things are not like the used to be.
 
I know things have changed and not for the better, even in "safe" neighborhoods. After reading through this and remembering how camping for me was back in the day, it was a great experience! I'm curious how it really is now. I havent camped in 5 or so years, that was at a NF during deer season, no problems, but I did wonder if I would come back to an empty camp. Thinking how things will be after we hit the road, headed to places we have never been before I get the feeling that theft around the popular campsites is common? Is it getting that bad that you cant get away any further than you can see your campsite. I'm just trying to get a feel as to what to expect after I get out there and be prepared. I was planning on dispersed camping on the NF and BLM land. If I have all my stuff locked up and go to town for supplies will I have to be "that" worried someone would invade my space. I know it could happen anywhere, anytime but I always had a sense of feeling safe and that most people had a common decency about them to leave my stuff alone. Times are hard and getting harder and sometimes people do things out of desperation. I have always been a friendly and trusting type person and go with my gut all of the time. Are those days gone for good? I would really hope that once I get on the road that I dont have to sleep with one eye open. Not saying I wouldnt be aware of my surroundings just wondering if the live and let live mentality is gone and that its more like dog eat dog out there now. Sorry for the long post.
 
While most people are considerate and honest, all it takes is the sociopathic 3-4% to screw things up. So, yes, we do have to behave defensively.
 
I've had stuff stolen from a campsite during the night, when we weren't 15 feet away, and with a campground full of people. Some kids drove in, zipped in and out with whatever they could carry. If something hadn't dropped and woke us up, we'd have missed the whole thing. A rope around the area with bells attached might have discouraged that.

Things of value could be engraved with an identifying mark of some kind, so if there was a dispute of ownership, you could say "look under the handle-bar, and you'll see my phone number."

I hesitate to accept responsibility for other people's things. Someone says to me "will you watch this while I run to the bathroom" -- and I wonder if I will be blamed for something "missing" when they get back. I will never so much as touch another person's property without permission -- but if they have a memory lapse, who gets blamed??

I tell them "I'll be here, but if you have anything of value, I'd appreciate it if you took it with you" -- The buddy system might work best with several people that you've built a friendship with.
 
If I'm going to be at my campsite, I'll agree to watch my neighbor's stuff while they hike or run into town as long as their site is within my view. At the very least, I can get the perps' license number. Most of the time, though, I don't have neighbors. ;-)
 
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