Most secure - truck cab or camper?

[DonC]

I have noticed a lot of photographers on this site. I'm a hacker but usually have 3 Nikon bodies plus a bunch of lenses with me. Do you feel your truck cab or camper is the most secure if you need to leave some of your gear behind while out hiking or for some reason away form your truck?

 

[pods8]

A relatively commiting thief that is willing to break a window is going to get into either. Camper has the perk of closing up the blinds to keep things out of site. Trucks may or may not have alarms on them though too.

 

[Overland Hadley]

A locked truck or camper door will only deter the ''honest'' thief. Break a window and you are easily into either.

The best thing is to keep things out of sight, not only when parked but also when you are around the rig. A proper thief will be scouting vehicles, and this is also done when you are at the vehicle. I never pull anything out that is not going on the hike with me, I will often stop ahead of time if I need to sort through gear, then move on to where I will be parking. But with a lifted truck and a camper I am easy to spot and follow, and spending two weeks at a time in one location makes keeping the gear a secret difficult. Be as carful as possible and hope for the best.

That being said, if the person is in a meth induced desperation, they will break in no mater what.

 

[ntsqd]

I don't think either is more secure than the other. Everything out of sight with nothing of value visible is my method, but it's not fool-proof. I've had a tinted side bed-shell window broken in a downtown SF hotel parking structure. The tint held the glass together and the would-be thief must have run out of time.
For things that I really don't want stolen I have on and off considered buying or building a hidden strong box.

 

[Desert Rancher]

Another place for smaller items is under the locking hood, providing no one sees you do it.
That is the last place someone would look for a valuable.

 

[ski3pin]

<snip> I'm a hacker but usually have 3 Nikon bodies plus a bunch of lenses with me. <snip>


Need a friend, someone to help with all the equipment?

Keep stuff out of sight. Drive an older truck with an even older camper. Try not to be noticed. Pay attention to your surroundings, greet people and look them in the eye. Wear your old USMC MWTC t-shirt whenever you can.

To directly answer your question, either place is vulnerable. My photo gear is with me when I'm away from the truck.

 

[SunMan]

Camper is safer IMO. I once had the back door window smashed on my camper, I had my surfboard, several wetsuits, not to mention my fully stocked camper, they got nothing. With the door locked by the key you still cannot get the camper door open and the screen door will obstruct most any access. Smashing out the large side window would be about the only way to enter the camper. Knock on wood that never happens.

 

[Overland Hadley]

Camper is safer IMO.


Also, the camper might give them pause as to where stuff would be. Might make them hit the truck and not the camper.

 

[Lighthawk]

It's a tough call. I'm used to stashing gear in my backseat of the truck. The windows are a deep tint, so they won't be able to see anything. I often will keep an old jacket and drape it in a messy way over the gear I leave behind anyway. My briefcase and laptop are often the items being hidden, not just photo gear. (pssssssst... don't tell ANYONE).

I think the truck is a bit safer because it has the alarm. Yes, they can smash the glass, but at least the alarm will be howling at them

I've thought about bolting some sort of strong box in place of the rear seat too.
In the Hawk I've noticed, but not used a cavity under the fridge, on top of the propane box as a potential hide away.

Once while backpacking away from our Subaru I stashed a DSLR and lense under the (locking) hood of the engine compartment. I doubt many thieves would consider looking there, depending upon how much time they had. This was at a busy trailhead with lot's of other cars. In all cases, stash your stuff w/o someone watching, or deal with it beforehand like Hadley. And don't flash your gear, if you're not taking it with you.

 

[rotti]

Has anyone installed an alarm system in their camper or maybe just the flashing led warning light?
I had an alarm system in my old truck and I often wondered if just the flashing led was enough to send the evil doers elsewhere.

Some sort of safe/metal box would be a good idea also considering the cameras, computers, electronics and firearms I carry.

 

[highz]

Put your valuables in the camper and put this on the door

 

[MarkBC]

My gut-feel is that the truck cab is better because the metal and even the glass is burlier than the camper, so it'll be noisier to break into the cab. The truck windows can be broken, but it doesn't seem likely that someone's gonna bash in your truck windows while you're in the Hays Street Cafe having lunch.

But maybe you're talking about being away for a longer period than lunch? Like, going for a multi-hour hike or in a motel overnight? I only have one camera, but I have a big camera-bag of lenses, etc. If I'm away from the truck for hours/overnight I have my camera with me, but usually leave the camera bag in the cab of the truck...and hope for the best.
It's a risk I accept, and haven't been disappointed yet (an even better record than my just-once-in-250,000-miles record for getting stuck.

)

 

[MarkBC]

Put your valuables in the camper and put this on the door

View attachment 13330



Nice! To be on the safe side, maybe add this one, too:

 

[pods8]

My gut-feel is that the truck cab is better because the metal and even the glass is burlier than the camper, so it'll be noisier to break into the cab.


A quick hit to most vehicle windows will vaporize them into pieces, I think you're kidding yourself if you think vehicle glass will slow them down at all.

From there the thief have quick access to door latches they're familiar with to open up the door and grab what they want. So that familiarity is a disadvantage to me. Camper windows will likely break just as easy but then they're dealing with less familiar latches and also have to climb up into a camper, none of which caters to the "grab and go" mentality.

 

[MarkBC]

A quick hit to most vehicle windows will vaporize them into pieces, I think you're kidding yourself if you think vehicle glass will slow them down at all.

If you're right that it doesn't slow them down, then I guess there's no reason to lock the doors at all.

 

[ntsqd]

Run down to your local Harbor Freight and buy one of their "automatic center punches" and keep it in your pocket. Then when you need to break a window because you've locked your keys on the truck you'll have an easy, and I do mean EASY way to do it. That is how my window was broken. High quality tint is a second line of theft deterrent because even though the window shatters it remains more or less whole. Just try tearing mylar.....

Two words of caution about the strong box idea. Border Crossings. They are why I didn't execute one on my first Suburban. Now that I've sworn off of those....

 

[Overland Hadley]

....then I guess there's no reason to lock the doors at all.

It keeps honest people honest, and that might be about it.

 

[LuckyDan]

Nice! To be on the safe side, maybe add this one, too:

That's pretty good though not original. We used to put hazard stickers on our data loggers at work to deter people from fiddling with them or taking them, though no hazard really existed. Worked well until we got a call about our unsecured instruments posing a haz mat risk from the state DEQ.

I'd still do it to my own stuff though cuz we never lost a logger the whole time we did it!

 

[camelracer]

One thing I did to slow a thief down was to remove the interior knob on the deadbolt lock. If the rear window is broken out the door can't be opened. I keep the knob available in the camper so I can lock the deadbolt from inside if I want. The door latch lock seems flimsy so I always use the deadbolt when locking up from the outside. I had the deadbolt rekeyed to match my house so I don't have as many keys to carry.

I think the camper is a safer storage location. To get in the bad guy would have to break the window then climb in over broken glass. To get in the cab they just break a window and open the door. There are also more places to hide stuff in the camper.

 

[pods8]

If you're right that it doesn't slow them down, then I guess there's no reason to lock the doors at all.

If you think a vehicle window slows down a thief that wants to actually get in you are nuts, lots of evidence to the contrary is out there on that.

The second part of your comment is ridiculous as well and ignores the different levels of thief's out there. You've got folks that are going in regardless (ie window breakers if need be), folks looking for a quite snatch/grab (ie will prey on unlocked vehicles only), and folks that aren't thief's.

I pointed out a logical aspect that the unfamiliarity of the camper might slow down a thief. Where as the window glass in a camper or vehicle isn't going to stop a thief that wants to break it regardless.