Long weekend thieves

[BLJM]

Has anyone ever hooked up a security camera on their van? Went to big4 Anglesea on long weekend and a few people had eskys stolen.
Friends of ours put theirs in annex every night apart from the last one and guess what, gone full of beer. I've got our waeco under awning and when I checked that they had cleaned it out as well.
This park is very small and all sites are so close that it's hard to believe no one heard any noises.
It's getting to the point that it takes longer to chain everything up ie, bbq,bikes,fridge and what ever else may take their interest than it does to set the van up.
Any one else have dramas?

 

[Drover]

A mate was telling me he has a sensor alarm from bunnings which is fitted to the wall, has a little warning light and if you come near it sceams it's head off, he free camps a lot and while he claims his fridge hasn't gone walkies yet, haven't been able to check it out yet but only about $30..........its always been a worry about some low life thieving my beer, I have taken to leaving the engel in the Jeep and running a 240 lead to it.
The rule of thumb is never leave something valuable in the same place more than 2 days, some bastard will grab it on day 3, also the perfect time to catch 'em...........

 

[Colsar]

Not probs here touch wood, but when I'm away with my boat, and sleep in side cabin or motel , I do take a baby monitor , put it in the boat and speaker next to bed, usually set it up to fall if any one gets in, hope to here the bang etc. Or could try a 240volt sensor light wired with a three pin plug. A small padlock on the engel if kept outside.

 

[BLJM]

Not probs here touch wood, but when I'm away with my boat, and sleep in side cabin or motel , I do take a baby monitor , put it in the boat and speaker next to bed, usually set it up to fall if any one gets in, hope to here the bang etc. Or could try a 240volt sensor light wired with a three pin plug. A small padlock on the engel if kept outside.

Love the baby monitor idea,that's great.

 

[twscoot]

Friends had their waeco stolen in September from Agnes Water CP.
I found one of these ToyLoks really cheap at a caravan show up here in Brisbane about six months ago. It's great to lock up a whole lot of gear in one go.
http://www.amazon.com/ToyLok-TL2021-Black-Retractable-Padlock/dp/B003Y8GVH6

 

[KevO]

been thinking about getting one of those wildlife cameras to put somewhere near the van to keep an eye on it, only problem would be that i'd no doubt end up leaving it behind

 

[BLJM]

Ha , at least you've left it and not knocked off. Ha.

 

[Drover]

So far I have a hitch lock ( a ball job modded for aTrigg hitch), 2 plastic coated chains with locks for Yak and Engel and a dash cam on Jeep that is always on stand by, so park Jeep to watch things, could probably set up the rear view cam on van to a recorder also, easier to get another beautiful Belgian Shepherd, black as pitch with only a pink tongue to see at night and a low growl.........................luv em.

 

[davemc]

Thats no good. We use 2 plastic coated chains as one was not long enough to snake around everything and leave chained up. Easier to just have longer chain and leave it there once setup. Weber always chained as if I forget it will go , although long weekend we left the chairs in the annex unchained. No kids bikes come with us yet I gather I have to chain up.
Security camera be a good idea I have a wifi which pings you on movement, I would need to add a 4g router to get out to the net with.

 

[Meanderthals]

I'm getting less and less surprised what thieves will get up to. Long ago after a house break in I had security screens fitted all round. Have generally been far less worried since then. A lot of places up this way have outside fridges on verandah's for booze etc. Although no booze in ours we have had it opened and some chocolates taken. They weren't eaten, just strewn around the adjacent parkland.

Because of this though, and to create an outside insect free and secure area, I've just been in the process of constructing 8 metre's of steel framing and fitting Crimsafe style S/S mesh with a couple of big double doors. Was getting just a day or so away from lockup stage a week ago and had retired to an air-conditioned room for the afternoon to cool off and heard some noises on the back porch at about 2pm (broad daylight). Went to look out the back door and saw 2 young teenage boys just outside the door. Yelled at them and they turned and took off our through a back gate that they had already forced open and in to the parkland. Didn't see their faces clearly and for long enough to identify them in any meaningful way. Rang the Police and they were going to send a patrol around. Meanwhile we went looking further around outside and they had entered an unlocked store shed that is the wifes hobby room. Nothing disturbed there but on returning to the house we found that the flywire on the door had a couple of extra holes where they had tried to get fingers through to see if they could release the lock from the inside. They didn't succeed and couldn't have anyway in that way. The Police rang back to say they were sorry but due to a couple of other serious incidents they were rather overwhelmed at the moment and did we still want someone around to look at the house. I told her that we had just been looking around but nothing serious done and probably wasn't worth them looking at. I then told her about the worst thing we had just discovered. We had found a towel around the side of a shed that had been taken from the back porch. On lifting it I dropped it immediately as the smell was horrific and underneath was a steaming liquid pile of dinner plate sized excrement (one youth has an obvious dietary problem of a lack of fibre). I asked the Police lady whether they would like to collect the towel for DNA evidence and she politely laughed and declined the kind offer. I did take some pictures but they aren't for distribution in easily upset company and fortunately pictures don't yet capture smells. The next day it had all been quickly made lockable.

 

[Curryhouse]

Its a bit off track from the original post but I thought it may be of interest. Saw a short news story a few nights ago about a free app for smart phones that lets you remotely monitor your home or maybe could be used when at a caravan park or camping. Doesn't do away with the need to secure belongings but may help if police need to investigate. The app is called 'AtHome' - here's a link < http://www.ichano.com/intro.html >.

 

[gspy4u]

I just bought a roll of 10mtr SS cable with pvc coating from bunnings and have double crimped the ends into a loop. The fit a padlock and you can secure the lot. Cost about $34 all up. Thing is, if they want it they will take it, but it will stop all the passer by mongrels that are opportunist. At leats they will have to use a bolt cuter or hacksaw for a while if they really want it.

 

[DRW]

I bought a chain and a pad lock, long enough to wrap up the weber and waeco, i thought a chain through the wheels and through the weber would make enough noise to wake me up. Would love to go back to the days when we could sleep with a shotgun under the bed.

 

[Drover]

Had a wander around Bunnings and Masters today and this is what I think my mate was using on his fridge and gear outside his van, http://www.swann.com/au/sw351-mda
simple yet effective, stick the main unit on the fridge with the magnetic catch on the stand, so when it's picked up the alarm lets rip but stays with the fridge or whatever the mongrel has grabbed, just follow the sound.......you can get them in single, double or 8 pack units, check the pricing though I found the 2x was dearer than 2 single packs not by much though........only about $9 each or $60 for the 8 pack.....................................Since I have blown my budget this month I wasn't allowed to buy anything, new springs for Jeep this month..........