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Hi, just about to get back into camping after a 15 year break.

With- how the world has changed and all that sort of stuff.

what security arrangements do any of you take,

locks for tents? 

Leaving equipment in / outside tent during night and when out for the day?

What precautions do we need to make?

or am i being a bit over cautious. 

hiya,we just make sure we have what we call entertainment bag nintendo ds camera ipod etc and when we go out we just pop the stuff in it and take it with as well as the laptops no worries then but ive never had any probs with tents being touched etc.

lindsey x

Hi, just make sure we take any valuables away with us. 

I personally have never, nor known anyone have things pinched from inside/outside a tent.  On the whole, campers look after each other.

One thing I would never do is lock the tent, if someone wants to get in then they will by slashing the tent.  Our tent is our most expensive item so I'd rather someone nick something from inside than ruin my tent

Pauline

Isn't stuff more likely to get stolen from your car when out and about or do you carry everything around with you everywhere you go? 

I have been wondering about this. My husband has a nice camera which he carries around with him but sometimes if we go to the beach we don't want to take it and leave it lying around on the beach if we go swimming. Also it is tempting to take a laptop as a lot of campsites have Wi-Fi but you can't carry everything about all the time surely and I wouldn't want to leave a lot of expensive stuff in my car as these get targeted.

It's a bit of a dilema, we are buying a trailer would it be safe to leave items locked up in this?  I think I would rather take my chances on the campsite where I've always found people to be honest than leave stuff locked in my car.

We only started camping last year but all 3 times we camped I never really gave security a thought - all 3 sites we stayed on were full of friendly people and everyone seems to look out for each other.

We even took a tv and dvd player last time and just zipped up the tent and off we went.  Maybe this is a little too relaxed and I should lock things in the car but I haven't heard anyone say they have had anything stolen out of a tent yet!

me and oh were camping in Milton Keynes a couple of years ago as we had driven down from Glasgow to attend a Bon Jovi concert at the Milton Keynes Bowl.  Had a great night and then upon returning to the campsite we found someone had ransacked our tent and taken my watch, 2 rings and some aftershave.  I had forgotten that i had left them in my bag and would normally have locked them in the glove compartment of the car but the one time i was lax about security i got stung.  Always put things in the car when either me or the oh are not around the tent now and have become a bit paranoid because of this.

If something gets stolen from a locked car, then there is a good chance it would be covered by insurance.  However from an unoccupied tent it wouldn't be

Do a search under tent security. It comes up with lots of threads that will (hopefully) cover your concerns.

I was going to post the link but it made the page go wide and I don't know how to do it any other way!!

My opinions on tent security . . .

DO NOT PADLOCK YOUR TENT

Firstly it screams "VALUABLES INSIDE" and secondly, to gain access it only takes seconds with a stanley knife to the tent fabric and a thief is inside anyway! So not only will you have been robbed, but your tent will be ruined as well ! ! !

Keep valuables with you or locked (out of sight) in the car.

Chaz