Camp Security.

[John Sheridan]

I saw these personal alarms in jaycar the ones where you pull the pin and they set off a siren, put the pin back in and it shuts up, was thinking I could use those and connect them to my pack at night and everyone tried to pinch my gear when I was sleeping they would get a nasty surprise

Do you guys and gals do anything to secure your camp, moat with drawbridge ???

I only was thinking of this as I was wanting to go camping by myself mostly and was wanting to hammock camp and my gear would be on the ground

I guess I could put some trip wires up too and maybe some flares :p

I don't have access to grenades or claymores

If you think I am nuts, I understand, but your pretty vunrable when you out alone, but I think I am just nuts :p

Cheers.

[ULWalkingPhil]

I hang my pack of the tarps ridge line at my head end. I don't leave anything on the ground, a lot easier if you have lightweight gear.

[Graham51]

If you mean when you are out bushwalking I couldn't imagine anyone taking your pack or anything else. I.ve never given going off for the day and leaving everything set up in camp a second thought apart from it'll be safe. Is it different on the Mainland?

[The Trout Hunter]

Interesting thoughts..

I grew up in the country not locking doors and so on so it was a shock to think I had the same problem whilst out hiking last week, when I left my iphone in the middle of my sleeping mat by mistake and went for a 4 hour day hike, I actually felt a little funny about leaving it behind and wanted to go back and get it just in case.. When we returned there were another 4 tents camped around our site and the previous hikers gone and all our gear was untouched - like usual.

It really did just reassure me that most people are.. good people and there for the same reason.

[stepbystep]

Strange thoughts...

I find people in general everywhere are honest. Over the years I've lost 2 wallets with cash, in the city. Both were handed in untouched. Although people do things that make the mind boggle at times I'm never going to be so paranoid as to live in fear of something that might happen...

I pity the poor buggers camped near you when a possum sets off your alarm!

[sambar358]

I've had the odd issue with pesky possums getting into my pack stashed under the tarp at night and had a bunch of jays do-over my food bag that I'd carelessly left out of my pack one day. Everything got a bit of a pecking but no serious damage apart from a pack of trail-mix spread everywhere and all the peanuts gone ! My fault mainly though by forgetting to snug-down my gear before hitting the bag or going for a wander. Had a good backpack tent badly torn by a bunch of Keas in NZ years ago and we lost a few items of our gear that they'd snuck off with....great birds but very destructive if left unsupervised....LOL !

My main concern really is leaving my 4WD at road ends for a week or so....had it tamapered with a few times and lost 2 pair of driving lights and some thief had a pretty serious go at getting the bar and winch off it once...but failed luckily. Heard of a bloke last year who came back to his truck in the high country after a few days off hunting to find it sitting on bits of wood and all 4 wheels missing !! Now that's about as low as anyone can stoop I reckon. Cheers

sambar358

[forest]

My main concern really is leaving my 4WD at road ends for a week or so....

Me too. I never seem to worry about security much when out walking. Obvioulsy if I walked into a big drive in campground I'd be ?? about leaving gear there for a few days. Generally though walkers are a good bunch and if you've walked in somewhere everything is fine. You never know though. Maybe I could get Joe at Zpacks to make me a cuben claymore with unobtainium UL BB's, Under 25grams and I'd take that

I seem more worried walking round that last corner to the car. Is it there, has it been broken into, windows broken, are the tyres let down/stolen.

[sthughes]

Generally I think the low lifes are too lazy to go bushwalking so don't take any precautions at all, except perhaps when staying in OT huts - where I simply don't leave the iPhone etc. "on display". When I'm camping in proper caravan parks over Christmas (when they are very busy) I tend to put little pad locks on my big tent if going out for a while - I've heard a few people getting robbed in such settings, but never bushwalking.

Possums and Currawongs a definitely the biggest theft threat in Tassie.

[doogs]

Try watching "Home Alone", I reckon you may pick up a few good tips from there

[Dale]

John - this is a good question and an issue that is often overlooked when hiking overnight. I take three of these - well positioned around my tent and find it deals with most issues. I would only recommend the titanium version with the built in solar charger to save on weight.

titanium sentry gun.jpg (6.06 KiB) Viewed 12713 times

[Overlandman]

I usually have a tiger snake in the first bag in the top of the pack.
Regards Overlandman

[ILUVSWTAS]

Damn, strolled onto this thread too late. All the smartass replies are all taken.

[Nuts]

Awww you could thank Overland Man for telling us where he keeps his tiger snake

Locking up gear in the bush, have I stumbled on aliens here

[mikethepike]

I take three of these - well positioned around my tent and find it deals with most issues. I would only recommend the titanium version with the built in solar charger to save on weight.

More thought for others please Dale! I fell and hurt my ribs today and just must not laugh. That photo nearly killed me!
Seriously though, I've never had a problem with anything going missing in ordinary camping grounds, let alone in wilder places. In many situations though, I'd still keep my wallet and small item valuables on my person when away from camp.

[Swifty]

Damn, strolled onto this thread too late. All the smartass replies are all taken.

I usually get my teddy bear to walk around on sentry duty while I sleep sucking my thumb..

[ILUVSWTAS]

Damn, strolled onto this thread too late. All the smartass replies are all taken.

I usually get my teddy bear to walk around on sentry duty while I sleep sucking my thumb..

*

Hehehe nice extra one there....

Seriously though, i've heard Sydney is a nasty dangerous place, it must suck worse than i thought up there.

[norts]

I heard, and I think it was on here of packs going miss at lake St Clair.
Always thought if I needed a new rain coat , just walk into New Pelion on a wet weekend. They are all hanging up to choose from. Did I really say that, I am lstening to the Dark side.

Roger

[puredingo]

The thief would be sorely disappointed when checking his bounty after making off with my pack...

A billy from the 1920's

A Mid range priced tent off ebay

A Bob the builder sleeping bag

And a couple of packs of 2 minute noodles and a few no frills muesli bars.

Yep, I'm a minimalist.

[north-north-west]

I usually have a tiger snake in the first bag in the top of the pack.

Being a wanna-be ultralightist, I prefer Funnelwebs.

[seagullhike]

When I camp near or around a town and there is a chance a someone might stumble across the tent I write a note saying "please don't steal, very poor". I guess if someone is going to steal someone's pack/ gear they wont really care if the persons poor or not. Maybe I should leave my student concession card and hope they take pity. lol

That said I have never had any problems whilst hiking, I think most people who are going bush walking are pretty like minded in the regard that gear is holy and shouldn't be disturbed also they probably don't want extra weight lol.

[CaptainC]

I haven't had any instances of gear being taken from my camp myself, although I've heard a small number of stories over the years. In an early edition of Wild magazine there was a story about some guys camped at one of the regular camps in the Grampians. They returned to their camp and sleeping bags and other gear had been stolen. Then there was another report of a guy in NSW who left his car parked near a cliff, when he returned it had been pushed closer to the cliff, but not over it. In Tassie years ago there was a guy who used to go to car parks at the start of walks and smash the car windows and pinch whatever he could, I'm not sure if that still goes on. Also I've heard that food drops left at places like Melaleuca on the South Coast Track are occasionally broken into, especially for luxury items like chocolate. One of my mates said he once left a food drop somewhere and found a guy who had broken into it. He confronted the guy who said that he thought the food was there for anyone. My only brush with crime was walking to the Crinoline in Victoria in the late 80's. We left one car at Tamboritha saddle and one down by the Wellington River. Finished the walk and when we tried to start the car it was completely dead. Looked under the bonnet and there was no battery. Had to hitchhike out and call the RACV who brought a battery. I've camped in that area a hundred times since and had no problems.

[north-north-west]

The only thing I've ever had stolen whilst out in the bush is a hat from Cleve Cole Hut. I'd left all my gear in the hut and headed up to the Bogong summit, intending to set up camp when I got back. Being a coolish afternoon I wore the beanie rather than the hat. Everything else was untouched (was there an insult intended in that?) but the chair on which the hat was sitting had been moved and the hat gone.
Bit cheesed off as it was a brand new Squishy that fitted perfectly, a replacement for my beloved tattered, battered, patched, grotty old felt hat which went walkabout on a blustery day in Canberra when I got mugged for my camera . . .

[melinda]

Stepbystep said:

I pity the poor buggers camped near you when a possum sets off your alarm!

I pity the poor possum when he sets off the claymore!
John Sheridan, I always feel safest when I'm in the bush!

[doogs]

Camp security? I reckon Mardi Gras would be a good place to look, I am sure you'd find a couple of camp security guards who'd look after you

[rogo]

Camp security? I reckon Mardi Gras would be a good place to look, I am sure you'd find a couple of camp security guards who'd look after you

There you are ILUV, thats a different take on the subject.

But as everyone has said, I feel very safe leaving my gear around in the bush. I pack up all my food though and put it in my tent, but that is only for the mice in the Bibbulmun huts.

I just returned from a few days on the track and due to an unfortunate incident I had to make a quick dash back to my car (16kms) and thought I could drop my pack on the side of the closest road to pickup on my return. This caused me much more worry than I have ever had before. But I did hide it the best I could and it was there safe on my return a few hours later.

[madmacca]

Most people out bush (even 4WDers) know that they are leaving you in a potentially dangerous situation if they take your tent, sleeping bag, etc. And most walkers are exhausted enough carrying their own gear - I figure they don't want to have to carry out mine as well. That said, I do make sure that my valuables (wallet, phone, etc) are always with me - avoid temptation with small portables.

However, I am more careful if I am within sight of a 2WD accessible road - more non-bush-aware people, and it's too easy to grab stuff and drive off with it.

[ULWalkingPhil]

Just use heavy gear, No one will take them for the fear of carrying all that weight.

[ULWalkingPhil]

I hang my pack of the tarps ridge line at my head end. I don't leave anything on the ground, a lot easier if you have lightweight gear.

I should have adhered to my advice. The other day I left my Collapsible Platypus one litre water bottle under my hammock, woke up to find a hole in it and the mouth piece chewed.

[John Sheridan]

Zombies !!!!!