Security when on site
Comments
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When we are on site we use a hitch lock and an awning. I .....
Easily sorted with a Stanley knife
Write your comments here... I cannot see a thief using a Stanley knife to remove an awning on site as it would attract attention. Frankly an awning is so time consuming to remove I just do not see it happening but you never know.
Time consuming? Hence the use of a Stanley knife
Unfortunately MM that is exactly what happened on a site near Kendal a few years ago.
Not to me I must add.
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If someone wants to steal a caravan from a site they are going to have to do it during the daytime. At night the van will be occupied. Anyone stealing a van would presumably not want to draw attention to it. Using a Stanley knife to cut down an awning is going to look a tad suspicious and the thief could be seen at any time by anyone on site. Also, stealing a van from a site would probably be the work of an opportunist thief - you couldn't plan a theft - you would never know if the occupants would be about during the day, when the occupants would return or when the van would be moved.
I'm not saying that caravans are not stolen from sites, and accept that all these things could and have happened, but I think they are much more likely to be stolen from storeage, or from outside someone's house at night, when there is no-one about or when everyone is asleep, rather than from an occupied site .
David
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On a club site there is virtually no opportunity to steal a complete caravan, but accessories and bicycles can be valid targets for the bad people on certain sites.
This forum provides info about about sites where theft is rampant.
For example due to the info on this forum I would never consider going to Clumber Park. this is the beauty of helpfulness of this forum.
K.
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I went to Clumber Park once, just for a look around, for somewhere to stay near Nottingham. Metal bars at every pitch, (evidently to chain your bikes to !) And Beware Thieves are about, notices everywhere. Doesnt look very inviting, IS it as bad as that
?As its in a lovely posistion.0 -
I went to Clumber Park once, just for a look around, for somewhere to stay near Nottingham. Metal bars at every pitch, (evidently to chain your bikes to !) And Beware Thieves are about, notices everywhere. Doesnt look very inviting, IS it as bad as that
?As its in a lovely posistion.If yyou go the Abbey Wood on the outskirts of London, there's razor wire ontop of the perimeter fence ..... couldn't decide if it was to keep them out or us in!
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I guess that everyone's first priority must be to comply with the terms of their insurance policy, after that it's all to do with visual deterrents. We've had Milenco locks in the past, which independent 'professional thief tests' show as taking longer for
us to fit than the thief to remove. Hitch locks are normally levered off by professionals while wheel locks have the locks smashed off - very quickly. Extensive dialogues on CT supported by people with industry experience have made it clear that radio based
alarm systems are defeated by signal blockers and lockers can be opened by cutting through their nylon hinge pins with a Stanley knife. Protection against opportunist thieves mainly relies on visual deterrents causing them to chose an easier target. Our bicycles
are secured to the caravan chassis with a heavy duty cable and an alarmed padlock - how would its tiny battery hold up in reality? Our solar panel is also tethered to the chassis, and I even saw someone at an air rally who had chained his aquarolls to the
van. I assume that he'd lost one in the past. In truth, if a professional thief wants your van, then they will probably take it. A question to ponder - where do you leave your security device locks when you go out for a walk?0 -
Leave a pair of those rubberised slip-on shoes beloved by caravanners outside with a sign "Beware of the crocs"
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On site I only use a hitchlock .
Write your comments here...+1
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I went to Clumber Park once, just for a look around, for somewhere to stay near Nottingham. Metal bars at every pitch, (evidently to chain your bikes to !) And Beware Thieves are about, notices everywhere. Doesnt look very inviting, IS it as bad as that
?As its in a lovely posistion.If yyou go the Abbey Wood on the outskirts of London, there's razor wire ontop of the perimeter fence ..... couldn't decide if it was to keep them out or us in!
Write your comments here...Oh I just love the sight of razor wire against a setting Sun, so memorable ! Dont think i will be going, they will be issuing us all with sidearms next!
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No device at all but then again we are a m/h. When we had a caravan on site it was hitchlock and wheel lock. This was to comply with insurance. Do caravans get stolen from sites?
We have stayed at Clumber, Abbey Wood and Middlesbrough all sites that have "problems" but have never been bothered by that. Strange isn't it that in the UK we all take precautions yet while abroad bikes are left outside toilet blocks, by the pitch, outside
the supermarket. In fact most folk leave chairs, tables, bbqs, bikes etc. got out for the day leaving windows open. While here in yhe UK we put everything away and lock it up like fort knox, what does that say about our society.0 -
I went to Clumber Park once, just for a look around, for somewhere to stay near Nottingham. Metal bars at every pitch, (evidently to chain your bikes to !) And Beware Thieves are about, notices everywhere. Doesnt look very inviting, IS it as bad as that
?As its in a lovely posistion.If yyou go the Abbey Wood on the outskirts of London, there's razor wire ontop of the perimeter fence ..... couldn't decide if it was to keep them out or us in!
Write your comments here...Oh I just love the sight of razor wire against a setting Sun, so memorable ! Dont think i will be going, they will be issuing us all with sidearms next!
I quite liked the fence and razor wire. As it is a very wooded site and the fences were green / wood, they were not that noticeable. The fact that the main gate was also locked between 22:00 and 08:00, with only people access by means of your card, meant
that although you were in a large city you felt you and your van were as secure as they could be.0 -
I just park mine next to the best van on site that way they will not nick mine lol
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I went to Clumber Park once, just for a look around, for somewhere to stay near Nottingham. Metal bars at every pitch, (evidently to chain your bikes to !) And Beware Thieves are about, notices everywhere. Doesnt look very inviting, IS it as bad as that
?As its in a lovely posistion.If yyou go the Abbey Wood on the outskirts of London, there's razor wire ontop of the perimeter fence ..... couldn't decide if it was to keep them out or us in!
It's a similar situation at Edinburg, with cameras all round the fences, due to the nearness of the housing estate behind the site.
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.....I quite liked the fence and razor wire. As it is a very wooded site and the fences were green / wood, they were not that noticeable. The fact that the main gate was also locked between 22:00 and 08:00,
with only people access by means of your card, meant that although you were in a large city you felt you and your van were as secure as they could be.As sites go, it is a nice site, though we weren't on site much during the day .... I'd forgotten that the gates were locked over nightas I don't think the car moved after we go there
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Well I have read through most of these posts and all I can say is that i enjoy caravanning in France where nobody uses security devices! The French and Dutch laugh at us for putting our hitch lock on, but that is what our insurance demands!
We enjoy Start Bay CC site, which has no barrier, and a public footpath through the site.
Mostly we uses CL,s or commercial sites, none of which have barriers.
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Tammygirl I would also like to know if caravans get stolen from sites I never worry about it but perhaps I should!
The C&CCdid publish statistics on this. It does happen but not as common as from homes and non CASSOA storage sites. You do need to be aware but if a site is busy removing security devices by force draws attention and therefore is less coommon.
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No device at all but then again we are a m/h. When we had a caravan on site it was hitchlock and wheel lock. This was to comply with insurance. Do caravans get stolen from sites?
We have stayed at Clumber, Abbey Wood and Middlesbrough all sites that have "problems" but have never been bothered by that. Strange isn't it that in the UK we all take precautions yet while abroad bikes are left outside toilet blocks, by the pitch, outside
the supermarket. In fact most folk leave chairs, tables, bbqs, bikes etc. got out for the day leaving windows open. While here in yhe UK we put everything away and lock it up like fort knox, what does that say about our society.Whole different world 'over there' TG
i wouldnt leave anything (including the MH) unlocked here, yet we just dont bother when 'away'.
when here we only have one security device....key fob for locks, alarm and immobiliser.
just another aspect of caravanning we just dont even think of..im glad to say....
hitchlocks, wheellocks....ive even seen wastemasters locked, as you say, all a bit sad....
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Hmmm,A different culture 'over there'. More respect & disiplin maybe ? ?0 -
Can't say that I worry about security on most CC sites - depends on location of course. As I said on another thread, we were on a small none facility CC site last year. We had gone off to a nearby park and ride carpark to catch a bus. Realised that (both
laid back and sun shining) we might well have gotten int othe car on the caravan offside with neither of us having shut, let alone locked, the caravan door. I phoned the warden and asked him to check that the door was closed and said as long as it is shut
I am not bothered if it is locked.0 -
I am naturally cautious and lock things up but I think campsites in general (perhaps outside the main holiday periods when a lot of "non campers" are out in a £20 tent for a boozy weekend) are on balance still quite safe places to be.
Only had 2 things taken in decades for camping. One was booz that I left under a flysheet that could be seen from a walk past. I put that down to being my silly fault and some food that I had left again under a flysheet to keep cool.
A chap in a small tent that clearly had not got 2 pennies to rub together took it because he was hungry. When I challenged him he admitted it, said sorry and I took him for a pint and a meal in the next door pub. He was either genuine or the best actor I have ever seen.
Next day he was gone early, probably embarrassed by it all.
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I use the usual hitch and wheel lock, plus caravan is alarmed.
I have not looked that close at entrance barriers, but would assume that a lot of sites would have cctv installed at these points. Which may help the security of that area.
It would assist in case of stolen vehicles or vans.
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sat out for a coffee in the sunshine here at Littlehampton, OH says (totally unprompted...) whats that funny yellow thing on the wheel of that caravan opposite......
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......Only had 2 things taken in decades for camping. One was booz that I left under a flysheet that could be seen from a walk past. I put that down to being my silly fault and some food that I had left again under a flysheet to keep cool......
I leave things in the awning and even outside the van when we don't put up an enclosed awning - including a portable fridge with 'bottles' in it and by the side of it. To my knowledge, I have never had anything taken in 40 years of camping and caravanning. However I have had a caravan stolen from storeage and have had a caravan broken into in storeage many, many years ago.
We do usually go on fairly busy sites.
David
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