I always keep valuables in the car when we are away from the tent and if we are there, I keep the valuables in the sleeping pods. As a lot of other people have mentioned if someone really wants to steal something from your tent, then they will. Although the thing with camping sites is that people come and go all the time, so thieves wouldn't necessarily know if you're going to be away from the tent for 5 mins or 5 hours.
Some years ago we were robbed during the night whilst asleep also. They just slashed thro plastic window at front of tent while hubby and i slept a couple of feet away. Most units (tents and caravans) on the stie were also burgled (all except those that had a dog). Scary! We are still camping tho.
We were at C&CC site in Scarborough last year. It just shows that if someone is determined it doesn't matter how 'secure' a site is, does it?
Thats a disgrace that that happened but, I'm sure you'll agree that nutters exist and if they want to break in, they will. However, generally, most opportunists won't. I agree that all valuables should be kept in the car but I would always suggest that the mallet (or an alarm) is kept close by in a pod. In my experience, where-ever you camp, there is an affinity amongst neighbours because we are all in the same "boat", and as many contributors have so far suggested, there is very little to worry about as this is a very infrequent occurence.
I always post when this comes up - its happened to us as well, and according to the police its not an uncommon occurence. Like the others who have posted here it happened at night, in our case they pulled out a couple of pegs and slid under the flysheet. We didn't have anything 'valuable' in the tent, but they just grabbed the likeliest looking bag and scarpered. In the end with a rucksack, sigg bottles, map, guide book, map case, suncream, etc it came to just over £100 worth of stuff. Our friends had all their kitchen gear taken, again in a rucksack. It's not enough to not have valuables, you mustn't have anything lying around that looks like it might contain valuables. You can't secure a tent so you need to make sure the toe rags can see that there's nothing to take!
We have been lucky enough never to have had anything stolen other than a few bread rolls and a loaf by some hungry ducks on the campsite.
We did think about using a small padlock but decided against it as it would draw attention to the fact that the tent was unoccupied. We often leave tables and chairs outside our tent when we go out for the day aswell and they have all been fine up to now.
We never leave anything of value in the tent when we go out ie mobile phones, laptop, portable dvd player - they all go in the car with us if we go out anywhere.
As other members have said previously, make friends with your neighbours and in turn look out for each other.
I'm sure everything will be fine and you will have a great time when you go.
Interesting to read these as we had our first camping trip 2/3 weeks ago and the first thing the wife did (because I forgot ) was to go to the shop for a couple of padlocks. When she asked for them the warden reciprocated and asked what we wanted them for, the warden then went into the facts and figures regarding the number of 'incidents' on the site (which was reassuringly small) and also added that the camping fraternity tend to look out for each other as a rule. This was heartening and further strengthened our thoughts that camping was going to be a good experience.
Again, just be sensible with the valuables (as you would in the Costa Brava or wherever - crime exists in every area) and as others have said, don't draw attention by having Fort Knox.
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Topic: Sercurity on tent
) was to go to the shop for a couple of padlocks. When she asked for them the warden reciprocated and asked what we wanted them for, the warden then went into the facts and figures regarding the number of 'incidents' on the site (which was reassuringly small) and also added that the camping fraternity tend to look out for each other as a rule. This was heartening and further strengthened our thoughts that camping was going to be a good experience.
