Protecting gear in your car

The 1999 BMW 5 series station wagon (not sure about other years) has a basement with a full size spare tire and storage area. The cover for this basement is substantial and cannot be opened unless the rear liftgate is open. The rear liftgate latch mechanism is electronically actuated. Remove the right fuse, or install a switch, and you’ve got the perfect thief-proof storage space. Better than any lock box, and completely invisible. 

Nick Goldsmith wrote:

#2. if you do have to use your firearm for  self defense that sign will absolutely be used against you in the resulting legal proceedings. 

Not necessarily. In some places, you’d probably get a medal.

Nick Goldsmith wrote:

What good is the shotgun. It's just one more thing to steal. 

It’s no good at all. Just like the other suggestions here. If someone wants to break into your vehicle you’re not going to stop them unless you’re standing right there with a shotgun.  Even then it may not be a deterrent  

At most you can reduce your risk. 

Nick Goldsmith wrote:

those things are always st00pid.

#1 it tells the thief that there are firearms to be stolen

#2. if you do have to use your firearm for  self defense that sign will absolutely be used against you in the resulting legal proceedings. 

1.  Really it's just bluffing, making the thief second guess their actions.

2.  It was an attempt at humor, perhaps I failed with the literal crowd.

3.  I would rather have my possessions stolen than have to actually resort to that... 

Climbing Weasel wrote:

I have a beat up dirty dented and scratched Honda fit, so already less obviously break in worthy, if that makes sense. I then put a tarp I’ve used for gardening over my climbing gear- think worn, full of holes, dirty, etc. Finally I have an old rat trap, smooshed seltzer can, and potting tray I sprinkle over the top. Add in a 5 gallon bucket of potting mix on top of that, nobody’s going to want to steal from that car. Worst case though, I have an AirTag sewn into my climbing bag, and an utterly unhinged, scary note in the top pocket along the lines of “if you’re reading this, that means you stole my shit. I know your location, description, and who you are. I’m coming for it now. There are four other trackers that you missed. Leave my stuff alone and you might survive.” The actual note is much scarier sounding- I know it won’t actually do anything if my stuff does get stolen but I hope it will make the thief deeply unhappy for a while. 

This.

Make your vehicle look as hobo as possible. I leave random newspaper coupons and sales ads scattered in my front seat. 

I once had my house broken into, they stole everything in my room that was valuable. They missed a laptop that was on my couch under a pillow. Best to bring a pillow wherever you go.

A more environmentally climate friendly option would be the M-15 Bear snare with a 3/16 cable, mount it to the rear axel of your vehicle, if you use a 6 Foot cable the unfriendly will be exactly 6 feet from your axel, not even 6 feet 2 inches away!  You can even bring a tape measure with you in your back pack and measure upon your return , measure from ankle to axel, it will be exactly 6 feet.

[[]]

Has anyone tried out the smash and grab window film? I feel like the extra 30 seconds to break into the car, and an alarm, would be just enough to scare people off. 

I would like to make a contribution.

I have an SUV, and I did the whole build-a-platform-thing-so-you-can-camp-in-your-car-real-good. It works great because when the seats are up and the accordion fold is retracted, it serves as a two-tiered shelf that I can put things under, and it just looks like some plywood in my trunk.

But mostly what would deter someone is my second idea. Take your rack of cams and thread a bike lock through the thumb loops, and attach it to something in the car. It’s the sort of situation that would require a set of clippers or a multi tool to be able to secure the bag. If you don’t have cams with thumb loops, get cams with thumb loops, lol. 

The thing that really gets to me is that trailhead theft is actually pretty easy to combat yet the 3 times its happened to me the cops declared that there was nothing they could or would do about it. too busy running speed traps to raise revenue. No time or funds to catch real crooks.   Seems like it would actually be fun to set bait cars and catch real crooks instead of practicing the taxation through law enforcement that is largely responsible for alienating the police from the civilian population and fostering the us vs them mentality. 

Bury your stuff in the ground somewhere away from the vehicle and make yourself a treasure map. 

But seriously, just don't let would-be thieves read all these theft deterrent ideas on mountain project. 

Nick Goldsmith wrote:

The thing that really gets to me is that trailhead theft is actually pretty easy to combat yet the 3 times its happened to me the cops declared that there was nothing they could or would do about it. too busy running speed traps to raise revenue. No time or funds to catch real crooks.   Seems like it would actually be fun to set bait cars and catch real crooks instead of practicing the taxation through law enforcement that is largely responsible for alienating the police from the civilian population and fostering the us vs them mentality. 

True about all of this but I will say that if locals set up cameras in break-in spots and get the thieves in action the cops are almost forced into action. Game cameras are cheap and catching thieves is fun. Any parking area with trees for a camera close by is perfect, I might start bringing one on roadtrips now come to think of it!

I love the YouTube guy who leaves packages on his porch with cameras, trackers, stink bombs and sparkle bombs inside.

https://youtu.be/xoxhDk-hwuo

-Remove all the stickers from your car.
-Keep your stuff out of sight

José Flovin wrote:

I would like to make a contribution.

I have an SUV, and I did the whole build-a-platform-thing-so-you-can-camp-in-your-car-real-good. It works great because when the seats are up and the accordion fold is retracted, it serves as a two-tiered shelf that I can put things under, and it just looks like some plywood in my trunk.

But mostly what would deter someone is my second idea. Take your rack of cams and thread a bike lock through the thumb loops, and attach it to something in the car. It’s the sort of situation that would require a set of clippers or a multi tool to be able to secure the bag. If you don’t have cams with thumb loops, get cams with thumb loops, lol. 

That bike lock idea is great!! 

M M wrote:

True about all of this but I will say that if locals set up cameras in break-in spots and get the thieves in action the cops are almost forced into action. Game cameras are cheap and catching thieves is fun. Any parking area with trees for a camera close by is perfect, I might start bringing one on roadtrips now come to think of it!

I love the YouTube guy who leaves packages on his porch with cameras, trackers, stink bombs and sparkle bombs inside.

https://youtu.be/xoxhDk-hwuo

You could start a website featuring guys taking a piss, too. 

I've had my gear stolen twice. Once (major, east-coast metropolitan area), someone stole the car; there's not much you can do to keep possessions safe in a stolen car... The other time, it was a drunk, local nitwit at the Owen's River Gorge. For the latter, things that slow thieves down would have worked. Most of my stuff that didn't get taken was loose in the car; they grabbed duffle bags because they were in a hurry. They got caught because someone saw the getaway car as it left the lot. My anecdotal takeaway is that a large fraction of breakins are not well thought out, so a little deterrence will help. 

We have one of these, which we got because work insures its laptop that I carry around if it is behind 2 locks when it gets stolen--not really because I think it will slow experienced, determined thieves much:

https://pacsafe.com/collections/portable-safes-bag-protectors/products/85l-anti-theft-backpack-bag-protector

If you do international climbing, this can also be a nice thing to lock your stuff up in hostels, sketchy hotels, bus luggage bays...

I second the use of a bike/computer lock cable fed through cams & other climbing gear as a deterrent, though this slows me down lots grabbing an extra cam off of the cable...

If you're on a road trip, it is difficult to have few enough possessions to make the vehicle look like it is empty.

If you are living in a sprinter or other decent van its impossible to not look like a camper van. even with curtains and privacy glass you have that roof vent and solar panels that tells everyone that all your belongings are in there. 

I've considered adding a system like this to our campervan which uses a couple cameras and most importantly a remotely mounted "black box" style recording device.  The camera are hardwired to the recorder (uses SD cards) but that recorder can be bolted down in any location, including in another bolted down locked box.

A thief could steal/destroy the cameras without me losing the footage.  Helpful for holding a perp accountable, but not super effective as a deterrent unless they become wildly used and everyone knows that as soon as you are in sight of the vehicle you are compromised.  

On the deterrent front- I also worry about the run of the mill American extremists seeing  a sign reading " smile you're on camera" on a shiny campervan and said newly converted freedom fighter thinks "you can't film me! here! in the freedom center of the universe!" and they proceed to vandalize they car to teach the possibly woke campervan hippies a lesson, not because they went out that morning to commit a crime but because of how normalized rage is right now.

Long story short- you can't win.  I think my best bet is being kind to everyone, without exception and hoping karma or a creator or someone or something is keeping track.  And maybe add in working to make a society with fewer people desperate enough to resort to a smash and grab that could result in years in jail.  

I use DECKED in my truck, works great

I've used one of those pacsafe cages travelling, & it's great if you want to go for a piss, though won't deter anyone with any determination. You can quite easily reach your hand through the netting, open a zip & get small things out. I took to putting valuables deeper in the pack or inside stuff sacks that don't fit through the netting.