What do you do when you are going to be away from your campsite most of the day?

[uchwear]

When you leave your campsite for a day long hike or fishing trip do you all usually leave your campsite set up or do you fold down the camper and lock it up?  Has anyone ever had any problems in State or National parks?  Sorry for asking questions like these but this is our first time out.

Thanks for any help you can give.

[wavery]

When you leave your campsite for a day long hike or fishing trip do you all usually leave your campsite set up or do you fold down the camper and lock it up?  Has anyone ever had any problems in State or National parks?  Sorry for asking questions like these but this is our first time out.

Thanks for any help you can give.

That's a good question and there is no "RIGHT" way to approach this subject.

I have been camping for some 45 years. I have never taken any special measures when leaving camp to go play. I've never had a bad experience and I've never known anyone that has. I've never even had a flashlight or cooler go missing.

I like to think that campers sorta look out for each other and I think that thieves realize that. Stealing something from a campsite would seem to be risky business and thieves are usually cowards.

[Cheryl]

We have found that the best safety measure is to not tempt fate. We don't leave items of value either outside the camper or inside, for that matter, if we are going to be away for any time. Locks, after all, are really only for the honest - especially camper locks. We have camped for almost 30 years and have found that most campers are considerate and friendly people. We are all paying good money to relax and enjoy nature and our surroundings. Keeping an eye out for suspicious behavior and reporting it in a timely manner to the proper authorities keeps things as safe as possible. Just my $.02 worth.
Cheryl

[ForestCreature]

We leave incidental things out, but do put away anything of real value. Also keep the coolers with us to keep out curious critters, both 2 and 4 legged ones. Depending on the weather forecast we put all chairs in the van so they stay dry if a passing shower pops up. In the many years we've camped...either way back in the woods or at a State Park nothings come up missing yet.



Oh and one more thing......
GO WINGS !

[flyfisherman]

Since I have a small popup (8' box) I always carry the tent along, too. Will set it up (if a downriver canoe trip is not in the planning) and use it for a storage shed. I keep all major items of any value out of sight, i.e., the Coleman lantern, ice chest, outside cook stove, extra L/P tank, OUTBOARD MOTOR, ALL fishing tackle, the axe, chain saw.  Will leave out two of no account lawn chairs, old coffee pot setting on the picnic table, the extra water container and a dish towel hanging on the line.

Quite often I'm away for a good part of the day and so far nothing has showed up on the missing list. A couple of times I thought there were missing items but it just turned out I mis-laid them somewhere!



Fly

[wernstriumph]

We leave our stuff set up and lock all important things in the TV. So far we haven't had any incidents, although once we had some beer go missing from our cooler one night (they left the soda and the wine!). Now I put the cooler under the bunkend I'm sleeping in and stack stuff on top! Don't mess with my BEER!:D

[wavery]

We leave our stuff set up and lock all important things in the TV. So far we haven't had any incidents, although once we had some beer go missing from our cooler one night (they left the soda and the wine!). Now I put the cooler under the bunkend I'm sleeping in and stack stuff on top! Don't mess with my BEER!:D

How much beer was it? :p

Maybe you just don't remember what happened to it :!

 :J

[Ribs1]

I always try to introduce myself to other campers in the campground.  This makes it even more likely everyone will look after everyone elses stuff.

[Old Goat]

We put the cooler inside the camper and lock the stepper door. Chairs, BQ, etc. stay out. If leaving for a short time we leave every thing out. Never had a problem in many years of camping....

[ScoobyDoo]

I try to secure evrything so it won't get wet or blow away in a storm. Make sure the wildlife stays out of the food..

[wernstriumph]

How much beer was it? :p

Maybe you just don't remember what happened to it :!

 :J

It's funny you should say that! My buddy had the site next to us and all our beer was in one cooler (sounds like a proverb). The next morning he said,"Man you drank all that beer!?" I said,"NO, I thought YOU drank all the beer." Boy those raccoons are really smart...and choosy!:D

[SpeakEasy]

At least twice I have OBSERVED people taking things from my neighbors' campsites. I was glad to see it happen.


Now, before you get in twit about my behavior and attitude, let me 'splain.


These were in national parks, and there were very clear rules about how to maintain a clean camp in order to discourage bears from invading the campground. It was made clear that no food or coolers were to be left unattended at the campsites. Both of these were cases where the campers had flagrantly ignored that rule. There were open food and drink containers all around as well as multiple coolers. A virtual invitation for bears. The people taking things were the camp rangers, and they were confiscating the stuff that should have been put safely away. In both cases they left written messages to the campers telling them where to go to retrieve their stuff.

Aside from that, I have never experienced any theft from a campsite.


-Speak

[AustinBoston]

None of the things we do are intended to prevent theft.  They are more in line with reducing liability and/or the likelihood of an accident,or reducing natural wildlife.

We put things like lanterns and folding chairs in the camper or under the bunk end.

Coolers are stowed inside the camper out of the sun and out of sight.

The stepper door is closed and locked.

Thses things won't prevent theft, but might prevent some wandering toddler from getting hurt (call the lawyers), coming back to find all our chairs have puddles in the seat from the unexpected shower, coming back to find the black squirrels have chewed the cover off the peanut butter, coming back to find the black bears have chewed the cover off the peanut butter, etc.

Have we had stuff stolen?  I don't know.  There are two things that we can't account for (a coleman fuel lantern and a single-burner coleman fuel stove).  But I don't know if 1) they were stolen from the campsite, 2) we failed to pack them up when leaving (it's happened before), or 3) they were stolen from our storage site. (At that time, it was a set of metal shelves just inside the hallway of our apartment.  The spot was visible from the street, and although it would have been B&E to open the door, it was seldom locked and would have taken two seconds for someone to take the stuff.  I believe that is what most likely happened.)

Austin

[fshnfool76]

We lock bikes if not talking them. The one time we didn't lock my wifes bike, it was stolen. We put the seat part of the CG table on top of the coolers to keep critters out and take any bags of food with us. Stepper door goes up too. Anything valued like cameras are in the truck with us.

[Camping Coxes]

We have camped in state, county and private parks.  We've never had anything stolen.  We leave our coolers under our outside table (where I prepare food, near the door) to take advantage of the shade.  If we bring bikes, we either park them under a bunk, or we have locked them with a long cable to a tree or just together.  No sense in tempting some kid who might otherwise be honest.

We do flip up our stepper door and lock it.  That's basic security, just in case.
 
Dh was convinced someone stole our axe once.  We had the leather cover, but no axe, and he was convinced he left it sitting on a rock near the road.  We heard someone chopping wood and he even went to investigate, convinced it was his axe.  A week later when we folded down our trialer, there was the "stolen" axe, sitting on our roof where he left it.
 
Don't be paranoid, and use common sense.  Don't leave your MP3 player out on your picnic table while you leave; don't leave your bike set up ready to jump onto next to the road while you're gone for hours.  Most folks camping are just like you --they just want to make some memories and relax.