Storing VALUABLES when Boondocking alone...

[BoondockingAirstream]

I see some Threads about where to store or hide your 'VALUABLES" when OliverDocking.

Worried about losing your Tow Vehicle?  Your Trailer?  What are you considering... valuable.  Your... clothing, shoes, sheets on the bed, Dometic Refer, Cook Top, Microwave, Tires and Wheels... the $1,000,000 in Cash kept in a coffee can in the Pantry?  Your sweat pants?  Even crooks have standards... clothing is not among their choices.

Ask your Insurance Agent what issues has he had reported about Trailers and Losses.  Probably:  Portable propane cooking outdoor unit.  Bicycles.  Ice Chest.  Weight lifting set?

Credit Cards are cash.  Cash is optional, but some needed according to YOUR experience.   Worried about a thief taking your loose Rolex watch? Gucci Purse?  Gold coins laying around on the kitchen table?   Stacks of cash left on the couch?

What are you concerned about losing when camped in Remote Locations?  This is a City Problem... not a Rural Problem.  A City Newspaper content is not like the Kemmerer, Wyoming newspaper content. Don't confuse the two or three... or the National Forest Service warnings about leaving trash outside for Bear and Coyotes to leave scattered across the field.

We have never had a single item missing, taken, evaporated, beamed up into a Spacecraft, had visitors drop in for Dinner uninvited or anything else when camped Off the Grid.

Newbies... have an imagination that Alfred Hitchcock can manipulate... on the home television.  Those programs are made up to get your attention. They are fake stories, not real.  They are intended to get your attention, so you will watch the long series of Commercials selling makeup and loose fitting underwear and better razor blades.

A Honda Generator sitting outside, under a tree... is a "TAKE THIS HOME" invitation to the one Thief driving by on the 'main road'.   When not in use... put it into your tow vehicle. If you need a Generator, you probably should not be OliverDocking, anyways.  We figured that out the first year.  A SOLAR SYSTEM is far superior... and harder to steal, since thieves do not carry tall ladders around in their junker mini pickup.

Think like a... Thief.  If you are driving around the Forest or Prairie in the Rocky Mountains and see an isolated Trailer sitting in the trees... what would you want to... steal?  Really.  Are you looking at the tires and wheels, which would not fit their compact car.  How about the mattress... yuck.  Used.  What then?  Leave the door unlocked in the forest.  Are you going to break into the trailer and then look for... bacon and bean soup cans?  Ice cubes.  Valuable gold jewelry?  A television worth about $25 fenced in town to an undercover policeman? What?  There is nothing in our trailer I would want to steal, break into or worry about being taken.  I may not even notice it missing after two or three trips.

TOOLS are hot items.  Chainsaws.  Honda generator.  Overpriced Ice Chests, Propane cooking units... sitting outside.  Can't hide them... so when leaving a campsite, put them in the back of your tow vehicle OR on the side of the trailer where they cannot be seen by someone driving by... which could be YOU... if the mythical thief is browsing visually.  If at a campground... after Sunset... now you have something to consider.  During the day at a campground... some risk, but your neighbors are watching for unusual activity... like YOUR walking around with your Dog, looking harmless and not browsing the wildlife eating off the picnic table of cold hot dogs and buns.

Just relax.  We could afford to lose some junk. Better yet... leave that stuff at home.  Stuff has weight and your tow vehicle is already at MAX.  Camping and having stuff laying around like a Garage Sale is not a good idea.

Have Fun.  Do not Worry about what will probably never happen to you.  If it does... let us know. What have you lost?  Me... my memory.

 

 

 

[Mike and Carol]

50 minutes ago, BoondockingAirstream said:

Have Fun.  Do not Worry about what will probably never happen to you.  If it does... let us know. What have you lost?  Me... my memory.

We haven’t lost anything and we haven’t had anything taken.  Neither do we carry anything of value.  We feel pretty safe in a campground with leaving chairs, table and grill outside.  When isolated I put the grill away at night in the truck to prevent curious wildlife.  A thief isn’t going to drive around BLM land looking for an isolated camper for something to steal.  They are interested in higher density targets with an easy get away.  Memory is a different subject….. Mike

[BoondockingAirstream]

For those possessing a bit of 'Trust' and a bit of 'Skepticism / Scepticism' of fellow man...  is why insurance companies exist. The Insurance Industry covers that Middle Ground of making one whole and the other, the premium payer, more whole. Spelling differs depending on what kind of Skeptic or Sceptic hemisphere you are from.

So can you... Insurance using a Magic Marker.

A Camp Thief will avoid any item(s) with a NAME, permanently printed onto an object of some value... if the name is not the same as his.  You cannot sell a lot of items at a Garage Sale in town, if everything has different names.  You can not identify your folding chair without  positive identification.  Even if you are sitting on the chair and recognize the big dent on the side from a strong wind tossing it onto the side of a large rock.

Spell your last name correctly.  Print so anyone can read the letters.  The Greek Alphabet and Roman may not agree in North America.  Make it so the name you apply  is visible.  You can use DINGO as long as you can remember that everything was marked DINGO and have at least one photograph as an example.  It can be your last name,  like Smith...?  Or Jones?  Maybe Ford?

We had a gift when we purchased our First Travel Trailer. Two pink Flamingos.  When our friends were going to meet us later in the day at an Off the Grid campsite in NW Colorado, we planted one Pink Flamingo just off the road, for the turn to the campsite.  A car slowed down, plucked our Flamingo out of the ground and drove off. We saw the dust and the departure of the vehicle and Flamingo. The second Flamingo had our NAME on both sides... written in black magic marker.  Problem Solved.

We do not wear Jewelry when Off the Grid or camping or fishing or rock climbing or rock hunting or.... you are catching on. DON'T or avoid wearing jewelry Off the Grid.  I have a metal detector.  I find what you will lose.  An old Tent Camping site with some rusted tin cans was the first sign.  I looked to see where I would place a tent for afternoon shade and morning Sun.  Took out my metal detector. Something detected at aluminum.  It was a 14k gold woman's size wedding band in Nowhere Utah.  That was 12 years ago.  Still have the ring... in a small carton in a drawer at home.  Do not swim with rings or a necklace in a lake or swimming beach. As metal detectors can be put onto a FLOAT of styrofoam and lost objects are easily discovered under one to five feet of water.

Ignore these thoughts if you will.  If you lose something.... valuable that should have been stowed away safely... bring a metal detector.  I do.  I have even found Paper Currency while metal detecting...  it is interesting what you can find when looking.  Safe and Wise are four letters. So is Lost.  Important letters. Stolen... five letters.  Be SMART... another five letters.  ...and Happy Campers you will be.

[ScubaRx]

14 hours ago, BoondockingAirstream said:

...  Safe and Wise are four letters. So is Lost.  Important letters. Stolen... five letters.  Be SMART... another five letters.  ...and Happy Campers you will be.

"Stolen" is actually six letters...

[BoondockingAirstream]

8 hours ago, ScubaRx said:

"Stolen" is actually six letters...

Sorry... five letters.   The 'n' was added when it was returned by the thief, making it six letters.  🙂

 

[Trainman]

Since we don't Boondock and always stay in  state, or private campground I've always felt safe in leaving our stuff around the campsite. that doesn't mean we leave things that are easily out to steal, but grills, bicycles, chairs, ice chest, etc. are usually left outside when we leave the campsite. We do lockup our ebikes and do remove the batteries when left untended, our batteries are $650 each for them. Most of our camping is done on weekdays and most of the campers at that time are older folks like us, the weekends are a whole different group of campers and some are not as desirable as others. 

trainman

[ScubaRx]

14 hours ago, BoondockingAirstream said:

Sorry... five letters.   The 'n' was added when it was returned by the thief, making it six letters.  🙂

 

Just messin' with you.

[BoondockingAirstream]

14 hours ago, ScubaRx said:

Just messin' with you.

I know.  You and a few others have a good Sense of Humor.  A rare commodity today.  Do you always fill your Scuba tanks with 'hot air' or laughing gas?  Or just a rumor?

*******

Now... seriously things WE DO when away from our trailer.

Your TRAILER is the most valuable item left at a campsite. Remember that.  It will cost $1,000's if a typical thief uses a crow bar for access into your trailer to take your hot dog buns and a six pack of beer.  We leave our front door unlocked.  We leave our outside storage door unlocked.  We always retract our AWNING when no in or near the Trailer.

A Secure Locking assembly on your Hitch.  I like the ACE lock mechanism.  If a thief damages any locking mechanism, it is going to cost you money to have it cut off and replace... but it did it job.  Made stealing your Oliver and everything within.  If it is ever recovered... it will be stripped of anything of value.

At a Campground... lock it up.  Others notice someone wandering with a spring steel nail remover in hand.  This is the 99% most likely place for problems.  (Yes... you can say you have never, ever... had a problem.  Great.  But you have not Rolled Over your Oliver, either.  Takes a good alert experienced driver...  🙂

Between Grand Junction,  Colorado and Ouray, Colorado is this roll over Airstream.  The highway coming into Ouray from the South... is a real hum dinger.

 

[SeaDawg]

7 minutes ago, BoondockingAirstream said:

The highway coming into Ouray from the South... is a real hum dinger.

Yes, it is.

So sorry for the folks in your photo. What an awful experience. 

[Mike and Carol]

41 minutes ago, BoondockingAirstream said:

 The highway coming into Ouray from the South... is a real hum dinger.

Agree that this highway is a humdinger.  Very scenic but should be approached with caution.  We’re becoming more familiar with it since our son and family live in Durango at the southern end.

[mossemi]

I prefer my trips to Silverton via the D&SNG Railroad.  The views are nearing as good as The Million Dollar Highway and as the designated driver, I actually get to see them and leave that driving to the engineer in the striped cap!

Mossey