Ever witness crime while wild camping ?

Vivienne23

Greetings !

I have my van for approx 3 years and wild camp in car parks about 98% of the time with no issue ,

Last night while staying in a village in Co. Clare ( don't want to be too specific ) I witnessed attempted car break ins in progress in the car park we were staying , they also seemed to be heading for our van just before we high tailed out of there ,

Just wondering if any of you have come across this ? I don't want to give up wild camping but it would definitely affect my trips in future

crabbypaddy

Vivienne23 wrote: »

Just wondering if any of you have come across this ? I don't want to give up wild camping but it would definitely affect my trips in future

Apart from the odd drug deal and clowns doing donuts never seen anything but we generally stay home the august bank holiday as its skanger land all over Ireland. Lahinch is always full of scum on the bank holiday may have been that crowd out prospecting.

I spent the guts of 4.5 years full time wild camping, these days I tour a few weeks at a time every other month or so. Ah you develop a spider sense after a while. I've been graffitied thrice, 2 stolen hub caps, one person tried to lift the chequered plate off my tow-bar and gave up. Broken into twice on the quays in Dubland..all while I was away.

One stabbed tyre, one wantonly broken mirror while I was in.

I was visiting a friend one night and two dodgies walked past and cut the lock off a sporty looking motorbike with a bolt cutters. Later that night I was hitting the sack with the burner going and a van pulled up, 4 lads lifted the bike about 4 hours later. Police had them in 30 mins. after both myself and my mate offered descriptions.

I've had a few wastrels try the doors looking for a bed or a quick buck and drunken eejits climb my ladder to prove their manhood. Usually a commanding eff off gets the wind up them.

Kids on halloween making moves towards the diesel tank with fireworks.

To be honest the less I wash the motor the less hassle I get.

Mostly when I'm on my own I overnight in the more salubrious parts of town these days or on hillsides when I have more time for the journey..skyboys don't bother me...actually fond of a bittov rallysport tbh.
Mrs Alot has converted me to campsites when we're urban these days if we're galavantin' together

It only seems like a lot when you write it down...these things would happen mostly if I was there or not...I wouldn't let it put me off.
No bills, no anchors, no neighbours, no worries, no 9 to 5...priceless.

Ironically Joe Public has more of a problem with wild campers than I do with him.

Camdec

Always have a good lock and chain with you and be sure to tie it around the bike rack also and you'll have no problems. In Roscoff a number of years ago at night they tried it on my camper and after taking off a few bungee straps they gave up after they saw the lock and chain, and there were several other vans parked beside me! I never heard a thing!
If you leave your van parked up always be sure to have a bag for your back so that you can bring your most valuable possessions with you, even a laptop or ipad, etc.
Never close your blackout blinds when you leave your van. I think it is better to leave them open, because if they happen to force your door, if they have the guts, and they are closed there won't be a chance that they will be seen by any passers-by who might/may be aware that something isn't right!
Happy motorhoming!

crabbypaddy

Camdec wrote: »

Always have a good lock and chain with you and be sure to tie it around the bike rack also and you'll have no problems. In Roscoff a number of years ago at night they tried it on my camper and after taking off a few bungee straps they gave up after they saw the lock and chain, and there were several other vans parked beside me! I never heard a thing!
If you leave your van parked up always be sure to have a bag for your back so that you can bring your most valuable possessions with you, even a laptop or ipad, etc.
Never close your blackout blinds when you leave your van. I think it is better to leave them open, because if they happen to force your door, if they have the guts, and they are closed there won't be a chance that they will be seen by any passers-by who might/may be aware that something isn't right!
Happy motorhoming!

Saw them trying it on a motorhome in Vannes too, scally on a moped came around to scope it out first then the skinheads in trackies arrived to take the bike, I turned the key in our van and they legged it .