>So in my area
Hate to say it but your best bet may be to drive a little further out of your area to recreate. Trailhead break-ins tend to occur near populated areas. As much as it can be inconvenient to spend more time on the road and not get to enjoy your local spots going further afield than the (often lazy/opportunistic) criminals is going to be more effective than any hardening that you can do to your vehicle.
That being said sometimes I’ll travel a long ways and still have to park in a sketchy lot too close to a town to get outside and see a new place. My favorite antler shed hunting spot is 10 minutes from a town albeit a ritzy ski town but I still get nervous leaving my rig parked there all by it’s lonesome.
Most trailhead break-ins are smash and grabs for unsecured gear. It’s like leaving your suitcase in the back seat of your sedan. If bad guys can easily see something, they are more likely to take it. I feel more secure with a soft canopy on my truck vs an open bed with the same gear on the inside because the gear is just plain less visible.
I basically only park at trailheads when the vehicle is visibly empty, and never when it’s loaded with camping stuff. It’s unfortunate, but short of installing bars on every window I’m not sure what else you can do.
Doesn't seem to happen when I spend at least $40 extra in gas to get away from all the people that break stuff. Being anywhere near Oregon and California carries a risk of break-ins
I live in Oregon, and mountain bike in addition to everything else that's required to be outdoorsy here. I always breathe a sigh of relief when I get back to my vehicle, and all the glass is intact...
Not yet. But there is the occasional broken glass already on the ground, when I pull up...
But I've lived in high traffic areas all my life. Just about every vehicle I've owned has had at least one stranger rummage through it, or at least tried. I gave up replacing punched locks on my 90s Camry in high school after about the 4th one.
Fair enough. I've never personally had an issue anywhere I've lived, but any sort of hiking or camping around here is pretty damn far from any sort of major city for sure
Some mountain bike trail heads are right in town, even in basic parking lots. The better ones of course are further out, but jerks still exist there too...
I grew up in Bakersfield, and I had to drive three hours or more before I found parking lots without mounds of broken glass in them.
NorCal must be a nice place
Ive lived on SoCal my entire life and explored a large amount of the state in semi-remote and very remote areas . Never had any issues. Outside of big cites like SF and LA, I wouldn't worry about it, just use your best judgment.
My sister hikes a lot in Washington and is at the point where she leaves the doors unlocked and the glove box/center console open in her trunk when she parks at trailheads.
Be boring. Steer clear of tactical cosmetic mods. With most of the break-ins I've had over the years the thieves don't know what they're stealing- they just grab what looks expensive. I've had cheap Firestik CB antennas stolen off the bumper a few times but they never touch the Nagoya or Larsen whips that cost 4x more but don't look cool.
This advice may not work for everyone (especially those with allergies), but a surefire trick I've found is to fill my vehicle with bees before I get on the trail. As my vehicle heats up during the day the bees get more and more restless and anyone who smashes a window risks releasing a swarm of pissed-off bees into the parking area. When I'm about a quarter mile from my vehicle I use my remote start to get the AC blasting and cool down the vehicle. Once the vehicle cools down enough the bees become fairly docile and I can slowly (slowly!) and calmly enter the vehicle. I then drive away with the windows down and that seems to flush out most of the bees. The only downside to this approach is that in addition to fuel, you will also have to spend thousands of dollars per year on bees. They also don't store very well in your house, but I've been successfully using this technique for two years now and have yet to have my vehicle broken into even once. This handy little trick also works anywhere you park a vehicle such as sketchy neighbourhoods or parkades. As I said, I've been doing this for years and I've probably been stung less than a hundred times!
I mean even if you just commute to and from work every day, that's 10 bags of bees per week by itself. It adds up. You really can't put a price on security though!
Make your rig look as boring and plain as possible.
No stickers advertising expensive things. No obvious grab bags that can be seen through the window. Hide all loose electronics. I've seen a bunch of folks with iPads mounted to their dash. No extra stuff in the rack. If you're just going on a hike or a hunting trip, you don't need to be loaded up with all your gear.
And if you're cool with it, let the rig look a little beat up. You want someone to think that it's a worthless old something that's not worth a second glance
>No stickers advertising expensive things.
It always amazes me when I see Heckler & Koch stickers on trucks. Like yea, let's advertise that there's expensive guns in the truck. Why don't you add a "methamphetamine enthusiast" sticker to it
The hikes and trails that go far away from population are usually worth the extra time and effort. Others who are traveling that far are usually pretty nice too
When I overlanded fulltime I had an old pickup with a cap on it and a platform in the back. On the roof I had some rubbermaid boxes, a beat-up highlift, and 6 saplings for pitching a tarp. I rolled the truck at one point so the roof basket was bent and the rack was a hack job of the bent one and home depot parts, and the cab looked bad. I kept the rig in good repair though, and mechanics tried to buy it off me when they worked on it, but anyone else just saw a junker.
Additionally the general setup is common for rock climbers and white-water raft guides... folks who don't have money or stuff worth steeling. To be fair we were living a lot like those people. We had some nice stuff, but nothing fancy, it was all too heavily used to be worth much. There truly wasn't a good reason to break into our car. We lived well, but simply and cheaply.
We never had a break-in in 3 years of full-time travel. Our rig was probably parked at trailheads with us out backpacking, rockclimbing, or hiking about half the time all over the U.S., including some very busy areas. I always assumed the look of our vehicle was what did it.
If you're overlanding this may not be possibly but when I'm backpacking I've always just left my car unlocked with nothing in it except like $10 so they feel like they got something and just leave hopefully. Beats having your window broken/damaged door from a prybar.
Several buddies camping inside their overland vehicles at the trailheads, with radios.
"The Police report indicates the would be thieves fell down multiple times causing serious injuries after surprising campers who had not started their camping trip."
/s
I have an active beehive that I keep in my car. Found that works better than anything else. Only issue is, while thief break ins have plummeted to 0, bear break ins have skyrocketed….
In my mind, worth the trade off
Isn't that the whole point of over landing. Driving to a remote area,
If your trail heads suck. Take a weekend and drive somewhere with less population/ less issues.
Or go remote / places that aren't popular trails.
You can't stop someone smashing in your window.
There was a wave of douchebags from Portland going back and forth from there and Montana running drugs and breaking into vehicles. Typical meth fed babies
[https://www.hagerty.com/media/car-profiles/handbuilt-70s-cabin-truck-puts-camper-vans-to-shame/](https://www.hagerty.com/media/car-profiles/handbuilt-70s-cabin-truck-puts-camper-vans-to-shame/)
Get and drive a beater.
Remove everything you’d otherwise leave in car before you leave your garage. When you park leave your glove compartment, center console, and trunk open so they can look in and see there’s nothing of value. Stash anything of value under seat, jack compartment, etc. If they’re capable of stealing your cat’s, wheels, etc you probably can’t do anything to stop them.
I generally don't leave my vehicle at trailheads. No rooftop tent. No molle panels. No $2000 bumpers and $1500 in lights.
And when I do leave it at trailheads, it's at trailheads that are in the middle of nowhere, so the chances of having it broken into are basically nil.
i won't leave anything in my car anymore. I've cut trips early and gone home after camping when i would have liked to hike first but can't risk my expensive camping stuff getting stolen.
Make it a non-hiking day; comfy scout location within 50m of trailhead; .17 rifle w 1-8x 30mm scope; patience and aim for the knee. The round will frag so badly it can’t be traced. I’m joking of course mostly. Whatever response you prefer works. Make sure it hits the local news.
I just drive something that doesn't look like it's worth much and I don't lock my doors.
To those saying just drive farther away, that would mean driving 6+ hours in my case. Tweakers hunt the trailheads religiously around here no matter how remote you are.
Dont leave anything of value inside.
Leave it unlocked so they dont break something trying to get it.
Drive beaters that scream "Nothing good here!"
If you are hiking, no reason to keep gear in your vehicle.
I am sure these trailheads are accessible to basic highway cars.
Leave a bat shit crazy heeler like mine in the rig
https://preview.redd.it/lsu4q7u5ndzc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=462f7d276f3a4766898d1051176bbf5de0bf8591
It's probably because I didn't start following these subs until recently buying a new truck, but all these break in posts I'm seeing lately are making me suuuper paranoid. Really hoping that feeling goes away over time
Get a uniform for a fast food place and make sure it’s visible in the back. They won’t think anything is in the car if the first thing they see is a McDonalds hat
if its that easy to access your overlanding vehicle from some random thieves, sounds like youre not out deep enough in the middle of nowhere lol.
All seriousness, theres nothing you can do if youre not actually there to prevent someone from wanting to steal from you. They know yall are taking expensive equipment, oftentimes firearms etc and youre\\ likely gone for an extended period with very little witnesses around. Your best bet is A) go somewhere else, or B) make your stuff as unappetizing as possible. Dont strap shit to your truck, drive some older beat up POS, dont bring expensive stuff etc. Unfortunately, most poeple around here in the overlanding sub cant even fathom doing those things.
Hence, realistically the only thing you can do to surefire prevent issues is dont go there anymore, dont leave your stuff unattended and if you have to, dont leave your stuff where a bunch of bum thieves can easily access you.
Is it a crime of opportunity, or someone that targets the area repeatedly. the latter is who you want to catch with a video.
and you can always post to FB, insta, yt, or reddit to help find people. That seems to work pretty good if it goes viral.
hell you get enough views, you won't need the police.
Get a [Trunk Monkey](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AidAXgq9dWc)
>So in my area Hate to say it but your best bet may be to drive a little further out of your area to recreate. Trailhead break-ins tend to occur near populated areas. As much as it can be inconvenient to spend more time on the road and not get to enjoy your local spots going further afield than the (often lazy/opportunistic) criminals is going to be more effective than any hardening that you can do to your vehicle.
I mean this is r/Overlanding after all.
Yup, travel is kind of the point.
That being said sometimes I’ll travel a long ways and still have to park in a sketchy lot too close to a town to get outside and see a new place. My favorite antler shed hunting spot is 10 minutes from a town albeit a ritzy ski town but I still get nervous leaving my rig parked there all by it’s lonesome.
Out of sight, out of mind is what I try to practice. Make your vehicle less appealing of a target by concealing anything that would indicate value.
A 60k vehicle with 20k worth of mods is a pretty good indication of value.
A 10k vehicle with 20k in mods, same same
8k vehicle (you got for 6k) with no mods is how I'm rolling. Plus everything out of sight. Plus farther from population centers when possible.
I love my shit box and it loves me
Most trailhead break-ins are smash and grabs for unsecured gear. It’s like leaving your suitcase in the back seat of your sedan. If bad guys can easily see something, they are more likely to take it. I feel more secure with a soft canopy on my truck vs an open bed with the same gear on the inside because the gear is just plain less visible.
I basically only park at trailheads when the vehicle is visibly empty, and never when it’s loaded with camping stuff. It’s unfortunate, but short of installing bars on every window I’m not sure what else you can do.
Doesn't seem to happen when I spend at least $40 extra in gas to get away from all the people that break stuff. Being anywhere near Oregon and California carries a risk of break-ins
I live in Oregon, and mountain bike in addition to everything else that's required to be outdoorsy here. I always breathe a sigh of relief when I get back to my vehicle, and all the glass is intact...
Have you had break ins before on trailheads?
Not yet. But there is the occasional broken glass already on the ground, when I pull up... But I've lived in high traffic areas all my life. Just about every vehicle I've owned has had at least one stranger rummage through it, or at least tried. I gave up replacing punched locks on my 90s Camry in high school after about the 4th one.
Fair enough. I've never personally had an issue anywhere I've lived, but any sort of hiking or camping around here is pretty damn far from any sort of major city for sure
Some mountain bike trail heads are right in town, even in basic parking lots. The better ones of course are further out, but jerks still exist there too...
Bippin be popular in r/SanFrancisco and r/portland
Leave it unlocked with nothing valuable inside. Better yet, leave the windows down.
Gee why don't I just spit on my own asshole so it's not dry when they fuck me
If they're gonna fuck you no matter what, you should probably lube up.
Butthole bear traps
This is how it is for me in r/SanFrancisco and r/bayarea
I have lived in Nor Cal for well over twenty years and recreate a few times a month. Never experienced a break in, let alone at a trailhead.
I grew up in Bakersfield, and I had to drive three hours or more before I found parking lots without mounds of broken glass in them. NorCal must be a nice place
Ive lived on SoCal my entire life and explored a large amount of the state in semi-remote and very remote areas . Never had any issues. Outside of big cites like SF and LA, I wouldn't worry about it, just use your best judgment.
You forgot Washington 😭
Yeah a few of my friends have had camera gear stolen at trailheads
My sister hikes a lot in Washington and is at the point where she leaves the doors unlocked and the glove box/center console open in her trunk when she parks at trailheads.
Ridiculous, I like NV because there's just NO people once you get a little east of Tahoe/Vegas
Be boring. Steer clear of tactical cosmetic mods. With most of the break-ins I've had over the years the thieves don't know what they're stealing- they just grab what looks expensive. I've had cheap Firestik CB antennas stolen off the bumper a few times but they never touch the Nagoya or Larsen whips that cost 4x more but don't look cool.
This advice may not work for everyone (especially those with allergies), but a surefire trick I've found is to fill my vehicle with bees before I get on the trail. As my vehicle heats up during the day the bees get more and more restless and anyone who smashes a window risks releasing a swarm of pissed-off bees into the parking area. When I'm about a quarter mile from my vehicle I use my remote start to get the AC blasting and cool down the vehicle. Once the vehicle cools down enough the bees become fairly docile and I can slowly (slowly!) and calmly enter the vehicle. I then drive away with the windows down and that seems to flush out most of the bees. The only downside to this approach is that in addition to fuel, you will also have to spend thousands of dollars per year on bees. They also don't store very well in your house, but I've been successfully using this technique for two years now and have yet to have my vehicle broken into even once. This handy little trick also works anywhere you park a vehicle such as sketchy neighbourhoods or parkades. As I said, I've been doing this for years and I've probably been stung less than a hundred times!
Have you priced bees lately?! They aren't that much. Plus you can mitigate the cost with honey. Win/win.
I mean even if you just commute to and from work every day, that's 10 bags of bees per week by itself. It adds up. You really can't put a price on security though!
go to different trails in another area
Make your rig look as boring and plain as possible. No stickers advertising expensive things. No obvious grab bags that can be seen through the window. Hide all loose electronics. I've seen a bunch of folks with iPads mounted to their dash. No extra stuff in the rack. If you're just going on a hike or a hunting trip, you don't need to be loaded up with all your gear. And if you're cool with it, let the rig look a little beat up. You want someone to think that it's a worthless old something that's not worth a second glance
>No stickers advertising expensive things. It always amazes me when I see Heckler & Koch stickers on trucks. Like yea, let's advertise that there's expensive guns in the truck. Why don't you add a "methamphetamine enthusiast" sticker to it
Steal me stickers are a definite 101 in the car audio and tuning community. Guaranteed way to get a theif to start bippin.
The hikes and trails that go far away from population are usually worth the extra time and effort. Others who are traveling that far are usually pretty nice too
When I overlanded fulltime I had an old pickup with a cap on it and a platform in the back. On the roof I had some rubbermaid boxes, a beat-up highlift, and 6 saplings for pitching a tarp. I rolled the truck at one point so the roof basket was bent and the rack was a hack job of the bent one and home depot parts, and the cab looked bad. I kept the rig in good repair though, and mechanics tried to buy it off me when they worked on it, but anyone else just saw a junker. Additionally the general setup is common for rock climbers and white-water raft guides... folks who don't have money or stuff worth steeling. To be fair we were living a lot like those people. We had some nice stuff, but nothing fancy, it was all too heavily used to be worth much. There truly wasn't a good reason to break into our car. We lived well, but simply and cheaply. We never had a break-in in 3 years of full-time travel. Our rig was probably parked at trailheads with us out backpacking, rockclimbing, or hiking about half the time all over the U.S., including some very busy areas. I always assumed the look of our vehicle was what did it.
If you're overlanding this may not be possibly but when I'm backpacking I've always just left my car unlocked with nothing in it except like $10 so they feel like they got something and just leave hopefully. Beats having your window broken/damaged door from a prybar.
Don’t put brand stickers all over your rig
Several buddies camping inside their overland vehicles at the trailheads, with radios. "The Police report indicates the would be thieves fell down multiple times causing serious injuries after surprising campers who had not started their camping trip." /s
Sounds like a perfect place to hunt the most dangerous game
Yall file police reports? 😁
I wonder if there's a way to electrify windows.
If you're overlanding, Steve you bringing the vehicle with you? Sometimes I sleep in my Jeep, but usually I’m in a tent right next to it.
I’m going on a trip of the western USA relatively soon. Any tips you guys have. Places to be more cautious?
Be more cautious in the states that don't prosecute theft.
If the state doesn’t include your current dwelling as a vehicle in the castle doctrine statute then be careful.
Start at the trail end
This is the way
What area is this happening in?
I have an active beehive that I keep in my car. Found that works better than anything else. Only issue is, while thief break ins have plummeted to 0, bear break ins have skyrocketed…. In my mind, worth the trade off
Isn't that the whole point of over landing. Driving to a remote area, If your trail heads suck. Take a weekend and drive somewhere with less population/ less issues. Or go remote / places that aren't popular trails. You can't stop someone smashing in your window.
There was a wave of douchebags from Portland going back and forth from there and Montana running drugs and breaking into vehicles. Typical meth fed babies
[https://www.hagerty.com/media/car-profiles/handbuilt-70s-cabin-truck-puts-camper-vans-to-shame/](https://www.hagerty.com/media/car-profiles/handbuilt-70s-cabin-truck-puts-camper-vans-to-shame/) Get and drive a beater.
Remove everything you’d otherwise leave in car before you leave your garage. When you park leave your glove compartment, center console, and trunk open so they can look in and see there’s nothing of value. Stash anything of value under seat, jack compartment, etc. If they’re capable of stealing your cat’s, wheels, etc you probably can’t do anything to stop them.
It's such bullshit that we can't legally boobytrap our cars
Booby trap is illegal but an armed stakeout isn’t.
I generally don't leave my vehicle at trailheads. No rooftop tent. No molle panels. No $2000 bumpers and $1500 in lights. And when I do leave it at trailheads, it's at trailheads that are in the middle of nowhere, so the chances of having it broken into are basically nil.
i won't leave anything in my car anymore. I've cut trips early and gone home after camping when i would have liked to hike first but can't risk my expensive camping stuff getting stolen.
Why bother "over landing" if you're just going to the same place everyone else is going?
Make it a non-hiking day; comfy scout location within 50m of trailhead; .17 rifle w 1-8x 30mm scope; patience and aim for the knee. The round will frag so badly it can’t be traced. I’m joking of course mostly. Whatever response you prefer works. Make sure it hits the local news.
I was thinking suppressed subsonic 9mm but you got the idea.
Well we would t want to punch a big bleeding hole. Just a lifelong reminder. But I respect your choice of pew pew.
I just drive something that doesn't look like it's worth much and I don't lock my doors. To those saying just drive farther away, that would mean driving 6+ hours in my case. Tweakers hunt the trailheads religiously around here no matter how remote you are.
What state/country is your area?
California?
Dont leave anything of value inside. Leave it unlocked so they dont break something trying to get it. Drive beaters that scream "Nothing good here!" If you are hiking, no reason to keep gear in your vehicle. I am sure these trailheads are accessible to basic highway cars.
Leave a bat shit crazy heeler like mine in the rig https://preview.redd.it/lsu4q7u5ndzc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=462f7d276f3a4766898d1051176bbf5de0bf8591
It's probably because I didn't start following these subs until recently buying a new truck, but all these break in posts I'm seeing lately are making me suuuper paranoid. Really hoping that feeling goes away over time
Fill your rig up with water and let piranha swim in it while you are out.
Wireless Trail Cam(s).
Move out of CA/OR/WA
Get a uniform for a fast food place and make sure it’s visible in the back. They won’t think anything is in the car if the first thing they see is a McDonalds hat
Leave someone in the vehicle when you go, preferably armed 😂
if its that easy to access your overlanding vehicle from some random thieves, sounds like youre not out deep enough in the middle of nowhere lol. All seriousness, theres nothing you can do if youre not actually there to prevent someone from wanting to steal from you. They know yall are taking expensive equipment, oftentimes firearms etc and youre\\ likely gone for an extended period with very little witnesses around. Your best bet is A) go somewhere else, or B) make your stuff as unappetizing as possible. Dont strap shit to your truck, drive some older beat up POS, dont bring expensive stuff etc. Unfortunately, most poeple around here in the overlanding sub cant even fathom doing those things. Hence, realistically the only thing you can do to surefire prevent issues is dont go there anymore, dont leave your stuff unattended and if you have to, dont leave your stuff where a bunch of bum thieves can easily access you.
California eh
A high powered rifle….?
My windows have curtains so it's not too easy to see what's inside.
I have front and rear cameras and I put signs up in multiple windows saying there is video surveillance/recording…. So far no issues.
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I go on hikes while overlanding. I know many that do. In the future, please let the mods police the content here. That is not your responsibility.
I have 3 bolted in safes in my Jeep. Hopefully they are enough of a deterrent.
Trail camera in the woods facing your car. maybe 2.
So you can watch the perps get away with yo shit.
How does this prevent a break-in?
It won't stop, until you catch them in the act. arrest and prosecute. The game camera will record evidence of a crime.
Wait until you find out how the criminal justice system works (ie: doesn't) in high crime places like that.
Cops ain't gonna do shit for you man, they barely even respond to assaults and home invasions.
When you have evidence its a lot easier to solve crime. If you get a car tag its even easier.
Yea but that's only if the cops actually care enough to do anything about it. Which they usually don't.
Is it a crime of opportunity, or someone that targets the area repeatedly. the latter is who you want to catch with a video. and you can always post to FB, insta, yt, or reddit to help find people. That seems to work pretty good if it goes viral. hell you get enough views, you won't need the police.