I appreciated that you recognize the weaknesses of the small locks and Reese tongue lock and wheel lock. These really are poor options. There are two options that pretty much will deter most thieves. One: Altor tongue lock. You can’t use a portable grinder on it. You can but it would take hours to get through it. And two: pewag chain and Abloy or abus lock run through the trailer wheel and around the trailer frame. They can’t then pull the trailer with the chains until they get through the pewag. That will take at least a couple of grinder wheels and a battery replacement. Can’t use bolt cutters. Put one on each wheel if you want to go nuts. Either way if they get through the chains they know they have hours of work removing the altor tongue lock with a grinder in their shop. Major deterrent. No way they are going to go through all that trouble unless you have a seriously valuable trailer and they have loads of time. As a final measure through a gos tracker on the trailer with geofencing. All of that costs a lot more of course. $300 for the altor lock and $250 for each pewag chain and Abloy lock. But for that you get a lot of peace of mind.
I always set a game camera nearby when leaving my boat or tent or cabin for extended periods of time. They are no deterrent but if something happens they are set so they will record car tag numbers and get a good face of anyone at the door. I leave them for months at a time with a very large card. So far I have about 10,000 photos of stray cats and a handful of wildlife photos.
That is a great suggestion! We just looked up game cams yesterday and found there are some game cams that specifically specialize in capturing license plates. Meaning, they have enhanced technology to capture moving and dark license plates that other game cams struggle to capture. Those sound like they would be very helpful for folks like us. Thanks for sharing Jeff!
It is quite sad. What really saddens me is that there probably aren't that many thieves out there. But once you experience one it often changes your level of trust towards others.
Best way: Get a GPS tracker. Even if they manage to take it, I'll know right away and can follow their every move. Plus, they'd have to tear up the floorboard to find the tracker.
Love this suggestion. Before making this video we didn't even know about GPS trackers. We have had quite a few people recommend them. Thanks for sharing Landon!
@@PlayingwithSticks I mean, in order to get a good GPS tracker with almost real-time tracking, you'll need to pay a monthly fee of like $6-$9 on top of the $50 one-time for the tracker, but its worth it for the peace of mind of knowing that even if the other fail safes fail, recovery should be a fairy quick process short of them doing damage to the trailer in short order, etc.
@@landonp629 Thanks Landon for sharing about the monthly fee. Like you said, definitely worth it. Especially if you think of it as less than $10 a month allows you to go out hiking and exploring without the added worry of leaving your vulnerable trailer behind.
@@cjphillips2716 it'll work anywhere there is a GPS signal. Even if there is not one where it's taken, it probably won't be long before it's brought somewhere that does have a signal - in which case you'd then be able to track it. The key is, hide the tracker - preferably in the walls. And give it battery power.
@@daviddionne8296 Yep great suggestion. May's dad has a very similar sentence above his home entry door. I don't think he could probably back up his strong statement, but someone who sees it doesn't know that.
Thanks for this info. We just made a video this week about boondocking safety and we talked about those alarms. Any chance you could provide a link of the type you are talking about? We tried to find them on amazon, but there are so many alarms out there it was hard to know where to start.
I totally agree with Shane. One thing I would add is a super loud alarm system. When any of the locks or doors are forced it goes off. Add a small hidden cameras on your vehicles with one special feature. When the alarm is tripped, an announcement telling the thief that they have activated the system, the owner & police have been contacted AND the system has been shut down so that it is immobile (yes you can get systems that will engage braking systems, disconnect the ignition system etc.). One even more high tech and cool gadget would be a tracking drone...as soon as the security system is tripped it will record and track the thieves. Or like you said - leave everything open with a very large cougar inside...(trained?)
That tracking drone sounds neat. We just read an article about Amazon, I believe, coming out with a drone that protects your property. I think it was called the flying ring or something similar to that.
The Apple air tags are a great option for GPS tracking. They use a CR2032 battery and last about 6-8 months with no subscription necessary. They are about the size of a quarter, which allows you to hide them anywhere. I have them for luggage when I travel and I have found they are extremely accurate. Love the videos!
@@kimolivervacha2615 at this point. The furthest I have been away from them while still tracking them has been about 2,500 miles when I was in Hawaii and left one at our house.
AirTags are not gps. They are near-range Bluetooth and they require any apple device (even other people's) nearby to triangulate their location. They work better in populated areas.
Great information. Thank you. I use a lot of these same methods. But one other method that I do use is a bed alarm. I got it at a medical supply store that sells them to nursing homes. I've got it rigged where it sticks to the wall with double-sided VHB tape and I have a string that hooks to a hook on the door. I put it on when I go to bed at night and also when I leave the camper to go for a hike I have just enough room to partially close the door get my hand in there and hook it to the hook on the door. This thing is loud as hell and would scare the hell out of anybody that walked up and opened the door. They're pretty cheap I think I paid $14 for the bed alarm at a medical supply house.
@@Maria-yf8fp The one that I use is made by ADW diabetes company. The name of it is drive drive. It is a pull cord alarm. Item number 13602 they run about $26 now compared to what I paid several years ago. But they are extremely loud. You just hook us string to the pull cord and a little clip or something to clip to your door on the other end. Good luck
I looked up that alarm and the db's said up to 103. I bought one of those alarms with a remote that triggers movement which you can adjust to your liking and the db's is 113. I have it inside my S by S in my storage unit. I am looking into a gps tracker. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0734QN8KR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
As long as noise isn't concerning where you park, someone can use a cordless angle grinder to get through a chain. If it's a quiet campground with people around, the noise would tip the neighbours off.
i have seen the theats. use.a grinder to cut chains locks i take off wheel.and.take with me and spair block up with steel locked. to axle a car.alarm to
My son took my homemade TD to Oregon and both the car and the trailer were stolen. We went on Facebook and Craigslist as soon as he found it was stolen. This was about eight hours after the fact. (he couldn't file a police report until AM the next morning). Given the car was a Crown Vic ex-police car and the trailer a homemade woody, they were pretty distinctive and we recovered them in about 2 days. Unfortunately the car's transmission was trashed and the Trailer was stripped of anything of value. The thieves drilled out the door and tongue box locks to gain access. Once I got the trailer back I started to look at security options. Most did not seem that secure or well made, or at least that was the case for the cheap and modestly priced ones. As a stop gap measure I got a heavy duty chain with a lock that I run around the axle and through the wheel. This may deter a casual thief, but not someone with a grinder and cut off wheel. I think if they really want your trailer they can get it, so don't taking anything with you that you can't afford to loose.
Wow, that is sad to hear. But, at the same time we appreciate you sharing that story with the community. We also have come to the conclusion that a heavy duty chain and the axle and through the wheel is a great choice. Thanks again for sharing your son's story.
I got my trailer stolen couple years back, now the only lock I use is Abloy (AMPlock) they have a kit for trailer it is expensive but the lock will stay lock, most of the other can be broken is less than 1 minutes.
Great tips guys, We use many of these tips. Our biggest concern is not the TD. ( We are old and are loaded up with Insurance) We are concerned someone will take the camper with Herky in it. We try to make it a process to steal the camper. The thief would have to complete several processes to steal it. Preventing a grab and go. One thing you did not mention is turning the camper around so the hitch is not easy to back in and drop on a ball. Another last resort is use a small cable attached to the trailer and something on the camp site. Imagine the attention it would draw if the thief was driving down the road with your camper dragging a BBQ pit or picnic table behind it. Safe travels my friend.
Great tip on turning the camper around! Also love the imagery of a thief pulling the barbecue or picnic table down the road. We never thought about keeping Herky safe inside the camper. That is a scary thought. We just checked out Travels with Delaney's channel yesterday after you shouted them out on your channel. Looks like their channel was built around their favorite canine friend as well. Safe travels to you three as well. Looking forward to your next video!
Great tips! 2 points I'd like to add: first, make your trailer distinctive. The more "different" it looks, the easier it is to recover, and the less likely a thief will want to steal it (factory built ones are a bigger target than homebuilt, and run of the mill homebuilt are more of a target than unique ones). You can even make it look a little "rough" as it will appear less valuable (those alloy rims look great, but they also make the trailer look more valuable). Secondly, cameras. My tow vehicle has a dashcam, both front and rear, and they record if there's motion while parked. So if someone breaks the locks and takes the trailer, at least they'll be on video. At home the trailer parks outside, but it's within view of a doorbell camera which will similarly record anyone taking it. I would also like to just leave a piece of advice in relation to this particular video, never show the bitting of your key in pictures or video. It's relatively low risk as the person watching the video also has to find your trailer, but it's no different from announcing to the world the combination for a combination lock. You're giving people all the information they need to replicate your key. If it's important to the story to show the key, it's best to hold it covering the bitting and show only the head or back of the blade, or use a stunt double (old key for something else) I'll admit the security on our trailer is quite weak. We do have the locks everywhere, but they're cheap locks, and as a homebuilt, I know that the locks on the door and galley could be forced fairly easily (possibly even without tools) but deterrent is the biggest thing as most thieves are opportunists rather than dedicated to stealing it. We also mostly keep anything valuable in the car rather than the trailer, not that it's impervious, but it has an alarm (which will even notify my cell phone if we're in cell coverage, which we never are when camping), and we hide the items pretty well in there. So far I've had 2 incidents with the trailer, in one incident someone stole the blocks of wood we use as wheel chocks at home while we were out camping (2 chunks of 2x4, so I'm not overly heartbroken) and the second one, while parked at home some kid tried to climb onto the roof of the trailer and broke a fender. Luckily I was able to drill some new mounting holes in it and didn't need to replace it all together.
This is a great thorough comment! Thanks also for watching out for us in terms of the key. Again really appreciate all this information and I know others will as well.
This is starting to be an old comment, but I just thought I'd add that I've now had a third incident with my trailer. Someone tried to cut my coupler lock, they didn't manage to get through it, but it has some pretty significant bolt cutter marks on it now. And of course it had to happen while my camera was on the fritz for a week, so I didn't even get video of who did it.
@@LaJewel the thing about a home built trailer, is that stripping it involves removing the part that makes it valuable. I suppose they could cut it down to just a frame, but then they also have to remove the VIN, and by the time you do both of those things, the trailer has lost all value. So it's just not worth their time to steal it and chop it down. Now if you've done such a job that they don't realize it's home built, they may try to just repaint, but if it's distinctive enough, it should still be easy to spot. You'd also be surprised how much making things look a little rough discourages thieves even if it's an easy repaint, the impression is that the whole thing is worn out not just the paint job, even if that's not true
It really is sad! Especially beings it is pretty rare, but we all have to watch out for it because it only takes one time and you are out everything you worked so hard to acquire.
That is a great suggestion. We have decided to pull out the old phone. Unfortunately ours holds a small charge But long enough for a few short hikes during the week.
Problem we have today is that thieves have access to to portable power tools such as disc grinders. Not even the wheel lock is safe. A hidden tracker with a security camera that sends an alert to a phone, could be a better option.
Great idea Michael Ray! Also a good reminder to look twice before leaving. We have said the same thing about the wheel lock. Another reason to keep the wheelock on the side with traffic is to remind you to take it off when leaving.
Ive enjoyed all your videos and this one is at the top of the list. My home for 8 years has been a teardrop. From a distance Ive watched people walk around my teardrop looking at all the locks, etc. In some cases campgrounds are more secure than public places. I use all the locks you mention but need a new coupler lock. The group has given some new ideas and thanks for that. I am also going to explore a locater chip of some kind to leave in the inside. I dont keep my most valuable things in the trailer and really have culled out having anything that is too valuable to loose. Thanks again!
We are really glad you enjoyed this one Jenn. Nerdy enough this is a fun topic for us, but we thought others might not feel the same way. If we helped one person, then we did our job! You must have incredible stories from those 8 years. Wow! Our ultimate goal is to go part time in a small camper as a family, so you are very inspiring to us. The locator chip is a great idea. If you ever do decide on one we would love to know what you choose. Thanks again Jenn for the positive comment.
One pretty good deterrent is to replace the regular ball coupler with a off road coupler. Pretty much nobody has the receiving end for that. If you cut your chains and add extra hooks you can take them off and not lock the trailer tongue at all. For me it's a welded on offroad coupler, cut chains and wheel locks, plus I added the trailer to my car insurance so if it gets stolen I can replace it and it's only an additional $10/month for full coverage. Best deterrent I found for break-in's is what I did all my life: don't leave valuables in a vehicle and make sure everyone can look in easily (leave the blinds open). I drive a Wrangler and usually park it without top - at least in summer. Needless to say, you leave nothing in the car so I don't mind if anyone peeks in. All they could steal is a jug of oil, some water and a bunch of reusable shopping bags. The less you have in your vehicle the less the chance of someone wanting it.
Hey Uwe! Thanks for the great feedback. We can always count on you to bring the expert advice. The offroad coupler, are you referring to the rock n' roll articulating hitch? The 3 axis hitch we talked about on the overland trailer video? And as for cutting the chains and adding extra hooks, how does that work? are there hooks on both ends of the chains so you can remove them when you park? The car insurance is a great tip as well. We had planned about talking about car insurance, but completely forgot. Glad you added it! We are with you on the theory of leaving no valuables behind and showing thieves you have nothing to hide.
@@PlayingwithSticks Yes, the chains would have the same hooks on both ends and you only leave a short piece on the trailer to hook into. I saw that on another video on RU-vid a while back and figured it's a good idea since you can simply toss the chains in your trunk or someplace else. The locks that lock away the chains are great but expensive (although people spend thousands on their trailer so they might as well spend $250 on a lock) Of course you have to make sure the chain is still viable to tow your trailer - it's a safety chain after all. And yes again, I have a max coupler which is just a different name than lock n roll (at least they look the same). You could also order offroad couplers in Australia - they have several models that look like nothing we have in the US but I'm not certain about DOT regulations on that or whether your insurance would still pay for an accident when they find you used unapproved hardware. For insurance: your trailer liability is generally covered in your car insurance, so i.e. if it breaks away and causes damage to someone's property that's usually covered in your regular insurance. Theft or damage due to backing it into a tree is not. You'd need to talk to your insurance about specifics, I have Allstate and it costs me a bit over 10 bucks a month for full replacement coverage.
Get a large, de-venomed rattlesnake to leave loose in the trailer when you’re away. Don’t forget to bring a biohazard bag to clean up after the would-be thief. 😉😎
Leave a discharged shotgun shell w/ a note “...be back soon ... I don’t ask questions 1st if you are caught... “ on the coupling area... go to a shooting range & ask if you can have a few, if you do not own/ use a firearm. ...another “level” of security...make ‘em think if it is worth it to steal a psycho’s rig !
This is a good one Seminole Rick! Love it. Never would have thought of this, but even the crazies might not want to mess with this crazy when I leave my campsite!
i used the steering wheel lock. slide one end off, pass through the wheel hole, insert into the other end. try to have the lock end facing inside. so far i used this wheel lock on my trailer in my driveway. the red paint color also deters thief when he sees the lock device on the trailer wheel.
An old smartphone can make a great gps tracker that can call you directly when it senses movement. You could also hide a Bluetooth speaker that alerts the thief that the police are being notified and that their location is being shared. If you wanna get crazy you could hide all this equipment under the floor panels or in the walls so that it'd take too long to find and the thief would have to give up.
Great ideas Jacob. You are the first person to suggest the Bluetooth speaker. Many of us have an old phone laying around, so I would say it is the cheapest and simple solution out there.
if I may add a couple of ideas. On your toe chains put padlocks. Another idea is you cannot have a spare on the front or back or underneath of your trailer. They will leave the tire and lock there and use your spare. Keep that in the tow vehicle locked up
@@PlayingwithSticks sometimes and coupler on a trailer and be removed with a couple of bolts. Safety chains will probably be on one of those boats. If you possibly depending on your leveling jacks remove one or both tires. Do you have to have tires and wheels with the proper lug pattern and bring proper coupler. Are too much work Time & Expense they won't leave it alone
I used to leave my 87 Cadillac door unlocked for same reason back in the 90s, after they broke the damn window for the CD player. Then I put a cassette player(used a cassette to headphone thing, had a 32mb mp3 player and diskman) one day I came outside walked to the car, nothing broken but the cassette player on the ground. Had a good laugh, guess they didn't realize it wasn't a CD player.
That is a funny story! Also sad. We completely agree. Leave it open, they may take a few things, but at least they don't break the door and windows in the process.
This is my second video of yours I have watched. You do a most outstanding job of presentation, covering the subject, and delivery style. Appreciate your sharing these and good points.
Someone posted a link to your video in my FB group Teardrop Camper Adventures. Glad they did, I had not seen your channel. Well done. Subscribed. 😊 -Mark
Some years ago I came back from hiking to find my camper trailer (tent style) all packed up the padlocks I used as shackles on the safety chains connected to the car cut off the trailer it was a few feet from its parked location saved by the two piece square tubing wheel lock I had made it had a steel disk on each end covering the wheel nuts disguised as a hub cap the tube passed through the tyre rim and connecting to the other side when they drove off the wheels locked up and they gave up Lucky for me or a $20K camper would of been lost. These days I leave a trail camera set up nearby its shocking to see how many people have a casual look around a camp site for valuables left unattended regards Mike
That is a bit unnerving. Both the potential theft story and the things you catch on your trail cam. Great suggestions by the way. Also, it is nice to hear your honesty. We have had a handful of Aussies on here tell us that they don't have any of these issues in their homeland. Which surprised me, because through my travels I have come to gather that no matter where you are there are always good apples and not so good apples walking around looking for trouble. My wife and I after all these comments just decided either Australia has the nicest people on earth or a really strict punishment for theft and aggression.
@@PlayingwithSticks Australia has changed a lot in the 50 years I have lived here and a lot has changed in the last 20 years the drug ice has made its way to every corner of the country.Most theft is the opportunist car parks on hike trails and campsites close enough to towns are a risk we all have to do our bit not leaving valuables in cars and making it just hard enough for them not to bother regards mike
@@kisbushcraftdownunder I would say the same with the States. It really isn't scary like the media makes it out to be. Like you said most of our theft is coming from opportunistic thieves. They aren't sitting out there preying on individuals. Is Ice, what we call Meth here?
Yep. Just watch the lock picking lawyer. Big assed dog, is a decent deterrent, but I just don’t keep expensive gear and my tiny trailer is a base model.
I owned a junky truck and had to park it in a bad area to go to work. I knew thieves would get inside, so I simply left the doors UNLOCKED and I installed a very trash-looking stereo in the dashboard. I just shoved it into the dash without even bolting it in. One day, I came out of work, and sure as $h1+ ... someone had attempted to steal the stereo. They had pulled the stereo a little out of the dash... then they realized it was WORTHLESS. So they didn't steal ANYTHING. I just shoved the stereo back into the dash because all the wires were still attached. I turned it on and it still worked... and drove home feeling good that I had OUTSMARTED the thief by not having anything of value for them to steal ! The point of this story is... try to make your rig look old or worthless somehow. Or, get rid of the expensive NICE trailer and buy something old and junky. Fix it up real nice on the INSIDE... but leave the outside looking worthless.
Great advice! Our trailer is starting to naturally age. We have considered maintaining the outside just to protect it from water, but maybe not keep up with the aesthetics. Lately our trailer doesn't look near as tempting as it used to on the outside.
Back in the 70's car stereos were a big target for thieves. One guy I knew taped razor blades onto the back of the radio so when the thief reached up under the dash to push the radio out they were in for a nasty surprise.
Thanks for the great video. I never thought of getting all of my locks keyed alike. That will save me a lot of space on my key ring. Also think about locking your chain to your tow vehicle. And buying extra strong chain link so they can’t be easily cut with bolt cutters. Happy camping take care guys.
Glad you enjoyed the video David! Locking the chain to the two vehicle is a great idea. We haven't hear of that one yet. Our chains are pretty wimpy. The extra strong chain link sounds like a much better solution. Happy camping to you as well David!
It is sad how these locks are manufactured these days. Glad we were able to provide some decent advice. Even though the advice boiled down to if they really want it....they will get it.
This is comedy... I been in forestry for 23 years and if your worried about thieves while camping then your not camping....try actually going into the woods brother....fabricate a better suspension for the shitbox and pull it with a jeep into the woods a good ways
When people have to make comments like this I can only assume there’s a better life out there for them. Whatever is making you feel this way man, you can always make a change. I get it, you work in the woods you’re familiar with how to play in the woods, but if you want to project that on other people it sounds like you have something to prove. I’m saying this all in the kindest way. Seriously life‘s too short to judge others and put them down. Especially for something as silly as camping. Yes, there’s many great ways to get out in the woods which we also do. But there’s also better ways to treat your fellow man.
Some advice I don’t see many people do is weld the nut on the bottom of your ball. Any place that sells receivers sell the big wrench for that nut too. In many cases.. all a thief would have to do to get around locks is carry a hitch without a ball and that wrench. Find a trailer, loosen that nut and put it onto his. I always just run a nice weld around the nut and throw some black Rustoleum on it.. gives me piece of mind.
Great suggestion Colton. Someone mentioned that to us as well. We laughed when we realized we took all these measures but had a ball hooked on by just a few twists of the rest. It is comments like yours that really make creating these videos worthwhile.
Thank you for talking about the safety chains. Too many people are spending a fortune locking up their couplers... and totally ignoring that their trailer can be dragged away with just the chains
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo! Diane please don't take this as reality. This is truly designed to give you more peace of mind. So far, we have not had anything stolen at our campsites. We do practice these approaches, but they don't take long to put into place. I think in this world, sad to say, there is theft no matter what activity you partake in. Well, maybe nobody is going to steal the running shoes off your feet during a jog :) Please don't let this make you leary of this amazing opportunity to get outdoors in a teardrop.
Glad you enjoyed the info. If ours was stolen, not a huge deal. But, if we owned yours and it was stolen we would literally cry. You have been meticulous on the design of your teardrop. It is basically a piece of art. And, it has so many great bells and whistles. We are really excited to watch your videos of you getting out there with your teardrop. Safe travels!
Playing with Sticks Very much appreciated. They’re all too special to be stolen though. I may pick up a couple of the items you mentioned. Thanks again!
That is great to hear from someone who uses the proven industry lock. Thanks for the feedback. If our teardrop was a little more valuable we would definitely purchase that lock as well. Glad you enjoyed the video Glenn.
I'm a new camper with a 20' ultra-lite and the only thing I had done is put a tongue lock from Reese on it and found out from your video it can be circumvented in less than 50 seconds. I did put an expensive alarm on the front door that when pried open will sound a loud siren. Basically I don't leave expensive items in camper. If thieves need to get inside it will feed them a good meal and the use of some clothes. Just use common sense and use locks wherever possible and park camper in plain site.
That actually sounds like a pretty good idea. At least for when you are sleeping out in the boonies. It at least would give you a second or two warning :)
I watched you video and agreed to your safety tips, however I did one more thing to our teardrop camper... We was able to have an alarm system installed and the minute that anything was touched it would sound plus send us notification.
first off the wheel lock , only putting one on the wheel can be broken of by lifting the wheel up and rocking the wheel up,down side to side, and it of , you need to install 3 , yes 3 locks on each tires now it wont come off, if you place 2 still can be rocked off,.the reese towpower lock is JUNK , with today;s portable grinders its of in seconds.the cone lock is the best out there, slips over the hitch and a flat s/s lock ocks it, build a 2 piece cone lock , out of chrome-moly steel and chrome-moly lock, it cost 100.00 for material and 100.00 for the lock, can't cut, torch, melt, saw, nothing if its on there its on there.! for the door i installed SHAVED DOOR HANDLES, REMOTE AND THE LOCK IS ON THE BOTTOM IN 2 PLACES .AND PLEASE INSTALL CAMERAS, OR ALARM OR BOTH, CHEAP INSURANCE BUT YOU TRAILER WITH STILL BE THERE,
Most hitch locks are little to deter a determined thief. A post that goes down to the ground and locks in place worked for my snowmachine trailer. It kept the nose of the trailer from either being lifted and towed ( when on the rear ) or kept the tongue up high unable to hitch up to tow.
If I was a trailer Thief and I saw two boot jacks I would go oh hell no and go get a GPS tracker and a thief hates nothing worse then looking through a window and seeing a WI.fi camera pointed right at his face
For those bolts on the coupler, put some permanent (red) threadlocker on the bolts if you won't weld it. It's another great way to add some extra security. Saw someone else detach the chains as well and make them removable, and then you can stow them in the car or the trailer itself.
Good suggestion Katie! Whenever we pick up the blue loctite we always wonder why anyone would want the red. To me that is a lot of commitment knowing you can't back the bolt out. But, obviously this would be a perfect example of when you would want to use it. We also love the idea of chains that can be removable. Thanks Katie!
@@PlayingwithSticks Any loctite, blue or red is able to be unbolted. It's just a little more elbow grease needed to back off a bolt when using the red.
That wheel lock can be easily removed by grinding the head of the middle or side pins. A hammer and chisel can cut those pins in 2 hits. There are better wheel locks, toss that one.
Taking electric drill or electric impact with you and take all the lug nuts off and leave the wheels on where it's easy to put them right back on when you get back. Not too many people going around with extra lug nuts unless the ones on their vehicle happened to match like you said all you can do is slowing a thief down chain it to the tree. But I'm with you on the door leave it open. Always leave a radio playing where they may think somebody's in their A sleep
Thanks for these great suggestions. We have had a handful of folks who don't agree on the open door. It has been fun to read through these comments and just see how we all see the world slightly different.
I know this comes late but on my Runaway Cool Camp trailer I run a chain/lock through my wheel and through the leaf-spring. Just wanted to pass this along.
FYI, never ever show your actual key on video. Ever. Because it's relatively easy to make a copy of the key from that. Also: If you do use locks, make sure you use quality locks - i.e. no Master Lock or similar junk that opens if you just glare at it. Out in the wild, even a mediocre picker tends to have all the time they need to pick the lock, especially if they have someone armed standing guard.
Great suggestions. The sacrifices we make for all of you. Just kidding, you are right horrible idea to put a key on there if you value your belongings.
Conceal a trail camera looking at the trailer . You'll at least have a pic of the guy and his tow vehicle for later. Or, a sigh warning that a trail camera is used even if it's not. He'll spend too much time looking for it, then wont risk it when he doesnt find one.
Better than nothing but I've seen people with the Theft recorded and they still couldn't do much with it. Maybe if it catches a license plate number and hopefully that isn't from a stolen vehicle also. I worked at a car dealership and we had a car stolen and have the guy on video walking up breaking in and driving away but the video didn't help catch him.
Unscrew the nut holding the ball to the receiver, manually roll the trailer, put your ball in their receiver, attach nut, drive away. Its the easiest part you haven't covered so far. Tack-weld nut to ball or ball to receiver to stop em.
We for sure missed this one. This is a great tip. Right after we released this video we realized we forgot to mention the weld. Folks say the weld is easy to break, but it is at such an awkward angle it still would take some time. Thanks for sharing this!
Thieves are lazy. And they also don’t want to get caught. The more locks you have the more hoops they have to jump through to get away with your trailer. The less likely they are to try to steal it. Also you could use a short chain to chain your rim to the trailer frame. So that acts as a wheel lock. Plus with a short chain they’ll have a tire they need to drag away and/or do something with. Great info!!
Some lock nuts have spinning rings on them. I stripped the matching socket so I tried a regular socket with no success. Had to use angle grinder to cut the ring off. Then tried the regular socket again. No luck. Had to use the angle grinder again to create a hex shape and finally was able to remove it. Took me hours.
That definitely would do the trick. When Drew was younger he cleaned park toilets. When there was a poopy scene he says it was pretty tough to go anywhere near it. But, it was his job so he got it done. We don't think theft is most people's full time jobs. They mostly appear to be opportunistic and poop is never a good opportunity :)
Most thefts are based on opportunity, would be thief drives past a seemingly abandoned or vacant teardrop or even 30 footer, the guy has a hitch and a crow bar and possibly bolt cutters, it takes 2 min to cut a lock and drive away with your trailer so tire locks and ball locks are good enough to get these guys to try down the road... Removable tow chains are a good idea and locking wheel nuts if a good brand are tapered and very hard so any clamping type stud removers will slip off, you would need a grinder to flat-spot it and that takes way too much time and is noisy... Yes, your efforts can all be overcome but your average thief is lazy and does not want to stick around so remove chains, ball hitch lock , tire lock and locking wheel nut should do it. Couple hundred bucks well spent.
If you're driving off to get supplies, or something, take the wheels with you. You can't do this on a day hike, but you can for a shopping trip, or a visit into town. Also, dogs. Nothing's foolproof, but there's lots of things you can do to make it harder.
Nice Video. An additional no cost way to help prevent people from defeating the Club Lock on the Tire is to install the Club Tire Lock upside down so the Lock Cylinder is pointing down. When the Thief goes to spray Liquid Nitrogen into the cylinder (which is the common way to defeat these) there is a good chance they will also spray the Nitrogen into their eyes and face. This frequently results in frozen Corneas which for the most part is a showstopper.
MY FRIEND IS SCARY. WE KNOWN HIM FROM MANY CAMPING WEEKENDS FOR ABOUT 3 YEARS NOW. HE ACTUALLY PARKS HIS NICE SPRINGDALE MINI CAMPER AND ACTUALLY WAITS WITH HIS NIGHT VISION INFRARED SNIPER RIFLE FOR SOMEONE TO TRY AND TAKE IT. ONE TIME I STOPPED BY TO SAY HELLO. HE WAS NOT DRUNK OR ON DRUGS BECAUSE WE WERE CAMPING NEARBY HIS CAMPER. HE ACTED NORMAL AS CAN BE AND NICE AND VERY NEIGHBORLY. THEN WHEN I WALKED AWAY ABOUT 200 FEET I HEARD A 22 BEING FIRED RAPIDLY. MUST HAVE BEEN HIS REMINGTON 19 SHOT HE SHOWED US THE YEAR BEFORE ALONG WITH THAT SNIPER RIFLE. BECAUSE THATS ABOUT HOW MANY TIMES HE FIRED. I AM LUCKY HE KNEW ME. WHAT IF HE DIDNT. IF THIS IS HOW HE TREATS HIS FRIENDS....WELL I WILL TELL YOU, EVEN IF INVITED I WILL BE REAL NICE AND POLITE BUT I WILL NEVER GO VISIT ANYONES CAMP EVER AGAIN THE REST OF MY LIFE. PS I SEEN BLOOD SPLASH ON THE BOTTOM OF HIS CAMPER. I NEVER SAID A WORD. I FIGURED "MIND MY OWN BUSINESS" I seen a long time ago a guy used to leave his garage door open in his house. Then he would wait to kill whoever tried to rob him. It was in the news he killed 3 teens and one got away. He even recorded himself every night waiting to kill who came into his open garage. He was found not guilty. Some law about not having to retreat from your own property. So sounds like you can kill whoever tries and steals your trailer legally.
We've had a couple of comments on here that say that takes too long. But honestly all these locks take us about 1 minute or less to put in place. We've also found from these comments most people suggest trailer insurance and a GPS tracking device.
@@PlayingwithSticks That is true but only if the thief is an expert and have all the needed tools with him/her. For example, most of the rotary tools can cut any of the precautionary provisions in second to a couple of minutes. Nevertheless, they may have a hmmer or something of prying bar (e.g big screw driver), but most people don't have a rotary or cutting tool in their vehicles. So installing all the redundant measures could discourage them or make them look an easier pray. Regarding the GPS, I can't recommend one but I'm looking at this one for my boat. Batteries supposedly last for 3 weeks, and insured of a contract, you can get sim cards from a cell phone company for $5 for 30 days service:. www.amazon.com/Tracker-Waterproof-Tracking-Motorcycles-Vehicles/dp/B01N6H70C9/ref=mp_s_a_1_9?keywords=gps+car+tracker&qid=1561573908&s=gateway&sprefix=gps+car+tr&sr=8-9
Thank you for this link. We really like the vibration feature. If by chance we were hiking in an area that has cell coverage and somebody comes up and jumps in the trailer or starts to mess with it we could get an alert before they potentially even take off. That itself is pretty neat. And the $5 SIM card that's pretty small dollars to protect your trailer. Thanks again for this info.
@@outdoorsman2b918 Absolutely, These people want a total guarantee that they're trailer won't get stolen. Thats just not going to happen. All you can do is make life hard on the typical thief that doesn't have all the bells and whistles thief tools. And Thats 95 % of them. The super professional thief your not going to stop anyway. But the odds are with you actually at least because of this. They are rare.
Most trailers have a battery get a car alarm maybe with proximity sensor and has remote notification that Thief doesn’t know how far away you are so if the siren goes off he’s going to take off who can out run a bullet. Also a trail cam can be hidden nearby pointed at your trailer thieves think they aren’t being watched they will be surprised when the cop show up you could even post a sign saying you have a video
You might want to spend some time on the youtube channel 'Lock picking lawyer" and see how little security the locks you have really have. They are better than nothing, and would show a good faith effort for insurance reasons, but wont slow down a thief. Also if someone was targeting your trailer, not just any trailer but yours, showing the key on a photo/video will allow people to clone them, and that locks biting does not look like it would be a hard pick at all. Just an fyi.
Thanks for the tip on the lock picking lawyer. Channel definitely makes all the locks seem very inadequate. Also, thank you for reminding us that a good portion of the world has visual access to our locks and keys. Our teardrop looks a little better on videos than it is in real life. Evaluate a ton sentimentally, but it isn't worth a whole lot. However, if we were to ever upgrade we will definitely remember your tip and change out the locks. Thanks for this great post.
The receiver lock and the ball hitch lock can be removed with just one blow from a hammer. The male end that inserts into the lock is so skinny one hit down will break it off. The ball hitch-if you hit the top bar forward will pop that bar of the top of the hitch.
Crazy isn't it. We have a couple videos linked in the description that shows exactly what you are talking about. One of the videos has people busting off the locks just using a bar to pry them off.
love your vids.. great family times..so sad that society has reached a point where there's always someone willing to steal others stuff.worked on mine sites and have had 50 ton excavators stolen!!no matter what you do,a thief will work something out.Would love to come to alaska...beautiful country
Thanks for the sweet comment Bob. We can't imagine what a loss a 50 ton excavator would be. The thought of losing a small camper trailer is tough I can't imagine losing heavy operating equipment. Alaska is waiting for you Bob!
Bob, we didn't realize we were chatting with a Kiwi. We would love to get over to your side of the world as well. We spend a lot of time in Indonesia, but have never made it down to NZ. We would love to take a small camper trailer into the wop wops of your beautiful country!
@@PlayingwithSticks you'd really feel at home, big rivers , mountains covered in snow, fresh air and a million places to explore!!(and that's just out of my kitchen window)if you like the wop wops it's the place for you(and the family)
My Wife and I Fish a lot, Some people know everyone there has fish, ice chest full of fillets. We have to lock up all ice chest, I all so have chain and lock on propane tanks and the battery. In other words everything that's Not nailed down !
Great suggestions. We are a big fishing family as well. Similar to you we lock ours up tight as well, but ours is to keep the fish out of the bear paws :) Thank you for reminding us all to lock things down. It is always a good reminder. Especially since we already had our propane regulator stolen from our new/"old" trailer fixer-upper project.
The best security system I found for my home was to offer reduced rent to a friend who was a senior and a "homebody." He was content staying at home and watching EVERYTHING including the neighboring properties. I imagine the same may work for a camper if you can find someone who is compatible and travels well with you.
Exactly what I needed to know. I live off the grid in the Cascade mountains. My best defense against thieves is to be invisible. If they don't see me or my camper and car, I am safe. HOWEVER there are more and more "campers" in the woods these days. These are people without camping rules. Anything not bolted down is fair game to them. I've lost so much camping gear, because I used to camp in a tent. Thanks for the share! :)
Sorry to hear about those folks who do not respect your property. We had quite a few experiences like that when we were kids. However, we haven't had many in the past 20 years or so. I think it is like you said, as we have aged we have learned to blend in better and we have a better idea of what is attractive to an opportunistic thief.
@@kristiinametsakuru8205 It definitely wouldn't hurt. Like in our opening scene you could see the camper was very exposed. A little camo when going out on a hike would probably reduce that. Sometimes though, if your rig isn't that valuable just exposing lets people know you have nothing to protect. A camper hidden by camo may intrigue people to look inside to see what you potentially want to hide from them.
Great video thanks. I would definitely add a GPS tracker to this list. It will not prevent the rig from theft but provides a good probability of recovery. In the past I used a small Gramin tracker to protect my ATV's and side by side. Unfortunately, Garmin stopped providing the service so I am stuck with really cool-looking useless devices . I am currently looking at other options. Unfortunately, some of the best options require a subscription. Geat videos though, love your work!
Any way to lock up windows in the trailer? Seems like that would be very simple way to break in and steal valuables. Also wouldn't be a great feeling when you're sleeping in the trailer and someone knocks on the window late at night or tries to break in
Great tips: As always I enjoy your content and especially watching Eas grow. As you said if a professional wants your gear they will get it and if they think its valuable enough they eleminate you also. I simply remove my coupler. For piece of mind, I do use a home deadbolt, I also have a few compartments which apparently are good enough that they are a hassle during border crossing. Enjoy your time with your family and safe travels.
That is a scary thought, the eliminate you as well. But, it is true. Maybe we need to make a video on how to make your camper trailer look less valuable :) Great idea on removing the coupler David! Thanks for the sweet comment. Enjoy your time on the road as well!
I realize this is an older post but thought I'd add my thoughts for other later viewers. I have a small camp-gear trailer (Venter/Kace) It's not a camper but has all our gear for dispersed camping. When I first got it I researched all the various coupler and tire locks out there, and as you mention found they were all pretty easy to beat (mostly with a big hammer or small crowbar, and you don't really need to be very skilled at it!). Most of the tire clamps could be defeated by simply driving away with them on! What I found got the best ratings overall was a combination of a VERY heavy hardened chain, looped through over the axle or leaf springs, through the wheel holes and connected with a heavy duty German ABUS disc lock. From a distance it's unnoticeable, so won't attract attention by itself, but up close you can't miss it and if you try to drive off with on, you'll pull the axle off. It can only really be beat by a metal grinder. For the coupler, I ditched the standard ball all together (everybody has one) and put on a Max Coupler which is an articulated coupler with a special connector few people will have on hand. It can all be defeated but is probably going to take a lot more work and luck then a series of small locks. Hoping it never needs to be tested!
Glad you enjoyed it Stan. We have read in forums that a lot of folks use very low cost proximity alarms, basically the 7 eleven style of alarm where if someone passes the threshold the alarm sounds. We will be mentioning this style of alarm in our next video for protecting yourself at night while boondocking (at least it gives you a 1 second heads up that someone is coming and all the noise may deter them from coming any closer). A camera is a great idea. Even if you had a dummy camera pointed at the trailer it may deter thieves. One you just reminded me of could be a game cam. You could hide that high in a tree. And that way if they did end up stealing your rig at least you would have surveillance footage and possibly a license plate to go off of. Thanks Stan for getting us thinking outside the box!
First trailer video I've seen where you cover ALL the common attack vectors and acknowledge most locks and methods will only buy time and not truly stop anyone serious about stealing your stuff.
I think this is why they call the trailers "tear drops". Drops of tears fall when your home gets jacked by the crooks :'(. As another idea, put motion sensor cams around your ride so you can see what happens if the unthinkable happens...
Thanks for the advice. Love rails to trails. The first rails to trails project we were part of was the Mickelson trail in South Dakota. It is a beautiful 100 mile trail that winds in and out of canyons throughout the Black Hills!
I will make a video on that trail when my van build is complete. I have many trails to pedal on, with so little time. The trails in Illinois are also very nice, and taken care of excellently. There were many abandoned train lines in IL because of the businesses that went to semi unloading/loading instead of trains. Thank you for your reply.
