Security while Boondocking

[ClassB4Me]

Boondocking Fear & Dread Solved!!!

A panic alarm only the deaf could ignore

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiD68Lg0r_w

You will scare aware any human or wildlife for miles

No shots fired and no brandishing of weapons needed

[GeorgeRa]

We camp since mid-seventies, primarily in Western states, state and national parks, but also in national forests campgrounds, and BLM lands.
We had many situations which were border line to major disasters, all on the road.

We had one encounter with a black bear in Yosemite Valley. In the morning I was getting the breakfast ready and noticed bear footprints on the driver door window. Our youngest was still sleeping in the hammock spread over the front seats and windows were cracked open. This happen in the VW Westfalia camper van. As our family of five grew we switched to a 20’ camping trailer.

[avanti]

I have a very loud siren inside our van. Makes it very unpleasant in there.

[booster]

Originally Posted by avanti

I have a very loud siren inside our van. Makes it very unpleasant in there.

Keep the ear plugs handy?


Similarly a guy I used to work with, who was very non gun, claimed that if he ever felt the need to be protected against intruders he would put a gas mask and tear gas within easy reach rather than a gun. As weird as it sounds, it does make some sense, and would surely work in a van.

[InterBlog]

NOT going off the topic, no. The OP asked for perspective on security while boondocking. All of these comments are worthy of consideration. Let the OP accept whichever version of reality that (s)he is most comfortable with.

It boggles my mind, though, that I could come onto a forum and describe the following:

(1) The devastating destruction of my personal American residence - not just robbery but willful destruction which the police thought was part of a criminal gang initiation rite;

(2) Invasion of my off-grid property in Canada, where the perps crashed their stolen car in the ditch on my property as they were fleeing law enforcement;

(3) Anecdotes and observations from 27 years of working in many high-crime areas in an urban area of almost 7 million people with a phenomenally intricate international organized crime infrastructure...

AAAAND after all that ^^, be accused of having an OVERACTIVE IMAGINATION!

Like I imagined the the insurance claims, the police reports, the fingerprint carbon, the identity theft, the broken pieces of a stolen car littering my property, the homicides that occurred on my clients' properties, and on, and on.

Like I *imagined* all that!! Only on an internet forum would people have the audacity to suggest such patent absurdity!!

If you have never suffered the impacts of crime, then I offer my big fat congrats - count yourself among the lucky, and knock some serious wood while you are at it.

But please don't delude others who are evaluating their own personal responses to security issues. You aren't doing them any favors by declaring that the world is all rainbows and butterflies and telling them that they don't have to worry because "most people are good". Most people ARE good - the overwhelming majority. But we are not talking about the overwhelming majority. We are talking about the very few of them who will rob you or kill you if they get the chance.

[Hondo]

Battery or solar powered 12v LED motion lights are inexpensive and effective at deterring thieves...they hate light and being surprised in their approach. They will also alert you that something is outside and give you time to prepare if really necessary.

I have a light that I mount to the back of my Roadtrek with a couple of hooks. This overlooks the back of the vehicle and the motorcycle that is mounted on the rear carrier. If someone approaches they will be illuminated and hopefully deterred. When I'm ready to leave I simply unhook the light, turn it off and stow it inside a cabinet.

Additional lights could also be carried and temporarily camp mounted on any side of RV to cover all approaches. If someone does approach they can then be easily identified. Hopefully anyone boondocking is sleeping in a locked cabin that will stop intrusion. If someone is determined to come through that barrier they will have to be dealt with is some manner so having a plan and an effective response should be in order for everyone as cell service may not exist and even if it did the authorities will take time to arrive at your scene after the music ends.

Best to deter night time approaches imo.

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

... AAAAND after all that ^^, be accused of having an OVERACTIVE IMAGINATION! ...

Like I *imagined* all that!! Only on an internet forum would people have the audacity to suggest such patent absurdity!! ...

InterBlog - thanks for sharing your experiences.

But consider the source of your aggravation. He has pretty much shown this forum that he is little more than another Internet Troll. He has his own views on nearly everything and I've seen other members try to reason with him to no avail. Just ignore him if you can as no one else agrees with him.

- - Mike

[Roadie1]

I haven’t had time to read through this entire thread. But my van security is with my permitted nine MM. I wouldn’t consider traveling without it.

[DUTCH in Atlanta]

Originally Posted by Roadie1

I haven’t had time to read through this entire thread. But my van security is with my permitted nine MM. I wouldn’t consider traveling without it.

Just be sure that the areas where you travel will reciprocate your TN permit. There are several states that will not, and could land you in jail with a confiscated weapon.

[InterBlog]

Continuing on in the vein of offering ideas to those who DO wish to contemplate how they might develop a self-defense plan for themselves.

The night before last, our local ABC affiliate did a story on a dog attack that left a beloved pet slaughtered on its owner's suburban front stoop.

There is nothing out of the ordinary about this kind of event - it happens routinely. But this one is useful because it was captured by a Ring doorbell cam, and there are valuable lessons in it.

As you watch this video, consider what YOU would have done differently if this had been you stepping outside of your Class B, and something - one or more feral dogs, a loose campground dog, a javelina, a wild animal, whatever - had attacked your small pet that you were taking for a potty break. Put yourself in this person's shoes.

I suggest you note the following about the responder in this case:

(1) He is unarmed
(2) He is untrained
(3) He is not physically fit
(4) He is flailing, panicking, and he does not project a convincingly authoritative psychological presence. The attacking dogs ignore him as they kill his pet in front of him.

Do yourself a favor, and do the headwork on this one:

-- What if that had been his toddler grandchild getting killed instead of his pet?

-- What if the dogs had proceeded to go for his throat after finishing off his small pet? Clearly they were not intimidated by him - and they are just small dogs!! What if they had been BIGGER dogs?

Watch the embedded video and learn. A 200-ish pound male human was completely undone by a couple of 30-pound dogs. Even AFTER the event, both he and his wife are still projecting fear and submission. That is a first-class ticket to victimhood.

https://abc13.com/cat-owners-seek-ju...ttack/5110109/

[MsNomer]

This reminds me of when I was confronted by two large snarling sheep dogs on a hike in Romania. There would be no help from anyone except MrNomer, and he had hiked ahead a bit. I turned and faced them and stood stock still, contemplating how I would use my only available "weapons", my aluminum hiking sticks. When I stood still, they fortunately lost interest. (We had made a large detour to avoid going near their flock.)

[GeorgeRa]

I didn't follow this thread religiously so perhaps it is a repeat. Marine Air Horns are good for bears+ and are inexpensive and loud.

[rowiebowie]

Someone posted an electric horn, but this is the first air horn I've seen.

Anything that works on people or animals is worth considering.
.

[hbn7hj]

Thank you to those that posted actual incidents. Waiting for more.

[GeorgeRa]

A real story from our camping in Yosemite. I was pulling the bicycle trailer with 2 kids and my wife was following my heavy breathing with the youngest one on the rear child bicycle seat. We were heading to the Mirror Lake when it was still a lake not a meadow of today. We were both breathing heavily, it was uphill. All of a sudden, coming out of a turn, I saw a big brown bear, with big red tag hanging on his ear, heading directly towards us, about 100-150 feet away. I instantly made a U-turn, my wife almost hit the trailer asking loudly what ….. am I doing, well, see ahead.

So, we both made successful u-turns and happily going down the hill. In a few hundred yards Yosemite ranger is walking up the hill so we stopped and told him that big bear is heading down with a red tag on his ear, he asked – what was the number on the tag.

[kite_rider]

Originally Posted by hbn7hj

Thank you to those that posted actual incidents. Waiting for more.

Okay, I'll take the bait.

Other than the time I had the encounter with the guy scoping out my motorcycle at 4AM at a wildlife refuge north of Sacramento - resolved by lighting him up nice and bright with my light. All of the sudden he became much less interested in my motorcycle and more interested in letting me know I was in a wildlife refuge. After our mini-conversation he left, I also left since he kind of creeped me out and I was no longer tired...

The only Class B crime incident I've ever had was over in Europe on the border between France and Spain. I forgot the town (somewhere in the south), we boodocked in a well lit shopping mall lot. Others were doing the same so I thought it would be fine. When I got up in the morning I noticed that both of our boys backpacks were sitting right next to the van door OUTSIDE! I thought it was strange and when I brought them in we found out that both of their tablets were missing. Someone had opened up the front van door in the middle of the night and took out the backpacks. I didn't hear or see a thing, but my wife recalled seeing the dome light come on in the middle of the night but didn't think anything of it. I was really surprised that someone would do this.

This wasn't an isolated incident. A year later, my brother was boondocking in a roadside rest area in France (against my advice) and in the middle of the night he noticed a guy with a mohawk in the front of the van! He yelled at the guy who immediately took off; he considered chasing him but decided against it being that he was laying there naked and didn't want to ditch his also naked Ukrainian girlfriend. The thief got his new laptop and his passport. So my brother was griping long and loud about the incident.

Both of those incidents made me reflect upon one of the few positive aspects of the gun nut culture here in the USA. Nobody goes into an occupied campervan here in the middle of the night since they will likely get shot in the process.

On a related note; one of the great urban myths over in Europe is that gangsters will gas your camper van to knock you out so they can go in and steal all of your valuables. I've heard about this over and over, usually from my German or English friends who were once robbed while sleeping in their vans like I described above. They were convinced it happens; I believe that they were just sleepy and didn't wake up like I didn't wake up.. This discussion went on and on just like this thread is going on and on about bears, rabid dogs, and thugs.

[Alec]

Originally Posted by avanti

Joe Biden had the right idea:
If you insist on believing you need a gun in your RV, then carry a shotgun. Far safer and more effective than a handgun for all but professionals.

I do, sort of. The first round in my 357 (with CTC-laser) is snake shot. For the non-gun folks, that is a 38 special cartridge with a small load of shotgun-type bb's. Besides a wider pattern than a single solid bullet, they have the further advantage of being a possibly non-lethal way of stopping a threat, unlike the following hollow points. While we wait for national concealed carry reciprocity, Utah and Arizona offer non-resident cc permits recognized by something like thirty-eight other states. I trust I will never have to use it but it's like the question Paseo (very limited storage space) owners are forced to decide when packing (no pun intended) for a trip; take it and not need it? or need it and not have it.

[avanti]

Likelihood of hitting your target is not the only advantage of a true shotgun. They are also very intimidating, and can only hold two shells, forcing one to think before firing. Plus, you can't conceal them. (Why gun-culture folk are so fond of concealment is beyond me. Shouldn't they be proud? )

[DUTCH in Atlanta]

Originally Posted by avanti

Likelihood of hitting your target is not the only advantage of a true shotgun. They are also very intimidating, and can only hold two shells, forcing one to think before firing. Plus, you can't conceal them. (Why gun-culture folk are so fond of concealment is beyond me. Shouldn't they be proud? )

Only two shells? Not in my Saiga with its 10 round magazine.

[Roadie1]

Originally Posted by DUTCH in Atlanta

Just be sure that the areas where you travel will reciprocate your TN permit. There are several states that will not, and could land you in jail with a confiscated weapon.

Yes I am aware of that.