Wildcamping in your motorhome (1 Viewer)

[wivvy's dad]

So do you stay with your camper and just chill out on the spot or do you happily leave it and hope for the best?

Julia

:thumb:

It's what insurance is for

 

[tjay]

article

Cracking article Jim, reminds me of what a German motorhomer told me in Spain, He advised me to carry a tin of "Raid" bug killer and keep it handy.
Should anyone try to break in spray them with and then drive away while they cannot see.

 

[Jim]

We love being off the beaten track and have always driven in the toad or walked from a campsite to get there.
I would love to do a bit of wildcamping ... but the thing that worries me most is parking up going for a long walk then returning to our rv only to find it's been broken into!
Like most people, we carry a fair bit of nickable kit which is impossible to carry on a walk ... we could alarm up, but would anyone hear it if it did sound off!

So do you stay with your camper and just chill out on the spot or do you happily leave it and hope for the best?

Julia

Hi Julia, are you guys still full timing?

You won't enjoy that walk if you are worried about whats going on back at the van. Full timers especially don't like leaving their van alone for even a minute.

Early morning walks are better than evening walks, most thieves have late nights and hate mornings. If you are leaving your motorhome whether wildcamping or not; my advice....

Get a safe fitted to store valuables you'd rather not take with you.
But, a safe hidden in the motorhome is not really any good if the thieves have all the time in the world to locate it and rip it out.

Get good insurance. Check that your insurance company is happy to insure the valuables you leave in a motorhome, if they won't you should think hard about whether to take them

Get a decent alarm. A bog standard alarm just isn't enough, you need to have an alarm that incorporates a very loud siren inside the motorhome. This will discourage thieves from staying in the motorhome for very long and locating your safe. I know from experience that a loud siren in a confined space, even with your hands over your ears, is very debilitating. Leaving something that looks valuable but can only be seen once inside, such as a fat wallet or a computer bag with an old broken laptop in it and you can almost guarantee that the thieves will escape quickly with that.

I would always encourage fulltimers to have a tracker fitted, so they do have the chance of getting their home back quickly if it's stolen.

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[normanandsue]

We love being off the beaten track and have always driven in the toad or walked from a campsite to get there.
I would love to do a bit of wildcamping ... but the thing that worries me most is parking up going for a long walk then returning to our rv only to find it's been broken into!
Like most people, we carry a fair bit of nickable kit which is impossible to carry on a walk ... we could alarm up, but would anyone hear it if it did sound off!

So do you stay with your camper and just chill out on the spot or do you happily leave it and hope for the best?

Julia

This begs the question are camp sites safe or do they just give the illusion of being safe?
It took Sue a while to enjoy wild camping; when staying on a campsite with a beautiful view over a tidal bay I said, "Did you know there is a public footpath at the foot of our pitch?"
Anyone could have come onto our pitch and broken into our mh and no one would have known; glad to say they didn't but she then realised camp sites are no more safe than open spaces.
Continuing this thought a camp site is a collection of campers with insecure tents, caravans and motorhomes; contrast this with a lone motorhome in an isolated spot and where do you think a thief is likliest to make a "killing?"

Finally on the subject of alarms how often do we hear alarms going off - and we take not the slightest bit of notice? I agree an alarm when we are in the mh is a must and the louder the better, but I doubt alarms heard by anyone else would do much to deter a thief.

Norman

 

[Rayb182]

well, that's that place bolloxed ..

Naw theres so many places and this ones hidden

 

[slverdreamers]

Wild camping

[HI what magazine would be interested in reading this, but at 28ft long have always felt we were too long for wild camping
regards
QUOTE=Jim;537747]As many of you know I enjoy wildcamping, I have written a beginners guide to wild camping for our magazine. Its not the definitive article but covers most aspects. Please feel free to discuss that wildcamping article here. Thanks. Broken Link Removed[/QUOTE]

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[otis the staffy]

Brianju A good point is made by Jim about getting a good alarm fitted.We paid an awful lot of money for ours but been well worth while inside,outside alarms.inner and outer perimeter ect etc even sends us a text it doors etc are opened also if battery is flat or disconnected unfortunately the conpany in Nottingham who fitted it went bust.The system is called Strikeback I am not sure if any other trustworthy company in the U.K fit it but I believe an Italian conpany Called Metz make the parts under a different name but I am not sure I could well be wrong Iam sure someone will correct me hope it helps,Stay Safe:thumb:

 

[Jim]

Brianju A good point is made by Jim about getting a good alarm fitted.We paid an awful lot of money for ours but been well worth while inside,outside alarms.inner and outer perimeter ect etc even sends us a text it doors etc are opened also if battery is flat or disconnected unfortunately the conpany in Nottingham who fitted it went bust.The system is called Strikeback I am not sure if any other trustworthy company in the U.K fit it but I believe an Italian conpany Called Metz make the parts under a different name but I am not sure I could well be wrong Iam sure someone will correct me hope it helps,Stay Safe:thumb:

The Strikeback is the alarm that Link Removed fit. :thumb: They have an exclusive with motorhomefun subscribers at the moment offering 15% off all their products.

 

[brianju]

Hi Julia, are you guys still full timing?

You won't enjoy that walk if you are worried about whats going on back at the van. Full timers especially don't like leaving their van alone for even a minute.

Early morning walks are better than evening walks, most thieves have late nights and hate mornings. If you are leaving your motorhome whether wildcamping or not; my advice....

Get a safe fitted to store valuables you'd rather not take with you.
But, a safe hidden in the motorhome is not really any good if the thieves have all the time in the world to locate it and rip it out.

Get good insurance. Check that your insurance company is happy to insure the valuables you leave in a motorhome, if they won't you should think hard about whether to take them

Get a decent alarm. A bog standard alarm just isn't enough, you need to have an alarm that incorporates a very loud siren inside the motorhome. This will discourage thieves from staying in the motorhome for very long and locating your safe. I know from experience that a loud siren in a confined space, even with your hands over your ears, is very debilitating. Leaving something that looks valuable but can only be seen once inside, such as a fat wallet or a computer bag with an old broken laptop in it and you can almost guarantee that the thieves will escape quickly with that.

I would always encourage fulltimers to have a tracker fitted, so they do have the chance of getting their home back quickly if it's stolen.

Hi Jim

We are back in bricks and mortar now ... we gave up full timing a couple of years ago!
I think that is the problem ... old habits die hard and even though we don't lug around all the stuff we used to I am still a bit of a worrier ! So early morning walks it is ... then I'll chill out and enjoy

Thank you

Julia




I

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[eddie]

Finally on the subject of alarms how often do we hear alarms going off - and we take not the slightest bit of notice? I agree an alarm when we are in the mh is a must and the louder the better, but I doubt alarms heard by anyone else would do much to deter a thief. Norman

What did you expect? A man with a stripey jumper, with a bag over his shoulder marked SWAG and a mask, Holding his hands up saying "It was me! Take me away"

Seriously I am not taking the mickey, One of things we hear the most is that people take no notice of alarms. People do! the fact is that with three vehicles a second being stolen, when a thief triggers an alarm, most scarper before you look around and see what's what!

If you saw a motorhome with the lights flashing and the alarm sounding and someone passing the contents out through the window, are you seriously saying that you wouldn't take notice, or even possibly phone the police? take a photograph? make a note of their car? possibly wander over and ask "what the hell do they think that their doing?

The thieves know this which is why most of the time most of the thieves run when an alarm is triggered.

I always try to explain to people that when your wild camping or staying in Aires the thieves that are creeping around late at night don't want confrontation.

If they didn't mind confrontation they wouldn't be working "nights" they'd simply threaten you with a knife or a cup of water and threaten to throw acid at you if you didn't hand over your money.

So if they don't want confrontation, they are hardly likely to break into motorhomes that are so obviously alarmed. This is where LED's play a great part.

If you have a motorhome alarm you will have external LED's (flashing red lights) If you have a car alarm, leave your curtains or blinds open a bit so a potential thief creeping around can see your vehicle is alarmed!

I can't guarantee that you wont be burgled but I would guarantee that if there are ten motorhomes parked in a quiet dark Aire and one of the ten is obviously alarmed and nine don't appear to be protected, the alarmed one is not going to be their first choice to burgle, risking making a racket, possible waking all the others up!

All about avoidance and reduction of risk in my opinion

Eddie

 

[AlanandMayya]

As many of you know I enjoy wildcamping, I have written a beginners guide to wild camping for our magazine. Its not the definitive article but covers most aspects. Please feel free to discuss that wildcamping article here. Thanks. Broken Link Removed

If when you arrive at a wild spot you take 3 minutes to pick up the rubbish (there is always rubbish isn’t there) around your van, the whole place looks a lot nicer. I think even the dogs like it. And when the Warden comes along and explains you can’t stay here and you chat about what a lovely spot it is and there are vultures and recently introduced wolves and he explains that camper leave rubbish and spoil it all you say yeah, that’s a problem, and show him your bag full of weeks-old sun-bleached bog paper that patently isn’t yours ….. he gives you a wave and a smile and drives off. Costs you nothing.

 

[Dolmen]

If when you arrive at a wild spot you take 3 minutes to pick up the rubbish (there is always rubbish isn’t there) around your van, the whole place looks a lot nicer. I think even the dogs like it. And when the Warden comes along and explains you can’t stay here and you chat about what a lovely spot it is and there are vultures and recently introduced wolves and he explains that camper leave rubbish and spoil it all you say yeah, that’s a problem, and show him your bag full of weeks-old sun-bleached bog paper that patently isn’t yours ….. he gives you a wave and a smile and drives off. Costs you nothing.

What’s 12 years between friends?

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[AlanandMayya]

What’s 12 years between friends?

12 years. February 2012. Moscow?? Севернефтегазпром?? Таас-Юриахнефтегаздобыча?? Karakum Ltd?? I can’t interpret Dolmen - give me a clue. We’ve used our real names, so you have the advantage. Is that you, Ildar? Or Tanya?

 

[Dolmen]

12 years. February 2012. Moscow?? Севернефтегазпром?? Таас-Юриахнефтегаздобыча?? Karakum Ltd?? I can’t interpret Dolmen - give me a clue. We’ve used our real names, so you have the advantage. Is that you, Ildar? Or Tanya?

I was simply making light of the fact that you were replying to a 12 year old post, no offence intended

 

[AlanandMayya]

I was simply making light of the fact that you were replying to a 12 year old post, no offence intended

Ah, didn’t realise that! I thought maybe my past was catching up with me. What a relief!

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