Safety in campgrounds

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Thanks ken maybe i will stay in Latham instead of moose river lol.
I am on the ocean side of Virginia and yes it is a small world .
Which is why ill put up whit black flies and hopefully no bears and enjoy moose river rec area.:)

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If they come out, you can always pack up and move a few miles south to get away from them. Remember, any sporting goods store up this way will have stuff that works on black flies if there is such a thing.

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ken i just noticed your fly fishing is the same weekend as the mini rally in willimington. maybe ill see you there :)

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I'm not a fly fisherman, I just looked up the black fly data. I use spinning gear. Fly fishing requires dexterity to cast. I'd be hooking trees and other fishermen.

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Orginally posted by Bill M.

The first things (IMO slightly ridiculous) my office buddies told me when they heard I was getting a used Casita/Scamp was,

1. It's not worth it economically -- motels are a lot cheaper.

2. If boondocking out in the sticks (e.g. Calif. central valley)-- the potential for robberies is high.

Other contributing factors are (since I'll be camping with my wife and a five year-old),

a. I don't carry weapons to defend myself and am worried about my family's safety (maybe I should?).

b. I'm not all that handy with mechanical fix-ups.

I'd guess your coworkers are just pulling your string. If they really think that way I'd say they need to get out more!

Is a trailer more expensive than motels? That depends on where you go, how you use it and the value you place on the experience which is quite different from a motel. A trailer opens up all sorts of possibilities unavailable to motel users such as many parks and vast stretches of forest, desert and beach. If your family is not into tent camping then there are many outstanding places you will probably not even go without a trailer. Other major benefits are the control over food and the interest write-off if you finance the trailer as a second home. Of course, you can always stay in motels or hotels for special trips.

Crime? Mostly an urban problem. You take reasonable precautions wherever and however you travel but there is nothing special about trailering. As for packing firearms, well, that's a personal choice in this country but it has little to do with real safety and more to do with perceived security and your own comfort level in handling weapons.

Potential mechanicals are a consideration. You have to take care of the trailer and the extra stress put on your tow vehicle. Most guys enjoy that. Also, it helps to have a good place to store the trailer when not in use.

A travel trailer isn't for everyone. Offer condolences to your coworkers if their lifestyle precludes this flexible and enjoyable way to travel. ;)

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I would be more likely to carry the pepper spray, air horn, baseball bat and a cell phone than I would a gun. I would also camp with one or both of my dogs if I were boondocking alone. They sound ferocious even though the worst they would probably do to someone is to lick them to death.

I fly to other cities about 25 weekends a year for work and stay in "nice" hotels where the cost of the room is usually over $125 a night. There have been hotels where I did not feel safe. I've never felt unsafe camping.

Nancy

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:wave

First off, I would stop discussing my business with my co-workers. Dont' get me wrong, but you know some people would never ever want to go camping and can't image why you would either. What with the bugs and dirt and everything - eewwww! It's so icky! I have an aunt that's been trying to talk me out of every camping trip for the last 25 years. I still go - never been mugged, robbed, beaten up or killed. I never thought of taking a weapon - I take a loaded German Shepherd dog - LOOK OUT!! Even repels bears. (Bears really hate a confrontation).

Secondly - the Casita doubles as a guest house - parked in your own drive way. More convenient than a hotel, yet still separate. Perfect!
We haven't experienced the increased maintenance on the tow vehicle. Tow package and transmission cooler were only add-ons. And we get good mileage with this 6-cylinder. You were driving on your vacation anyway, right?
Everything (and more) the Hotel room has, we have in the Casita. And I get to enjoy breakfast in bed with my dogs. Can you do that in a hotel? <img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3eb694f94dd7dBeach camp1.jpg/>

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I have read all of these and some real good points , But our most important has not been mentioned,:huh As you get older the need for your own bathroom is number 1 as we travel the back roads mostly.

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We take our annual 2-week vacation on a $600 budget. We live in Indiana, and have been to Maine, Smokie Mtns, UP Michigan, all the way around Lake Superior, and more. We're going to Colorado this year. $600 a pop. Two weeks. This includes campsites, entry fees, activities, ferrys, and whatever gas and eating out we wouldn't have normally spent during that two weeks. Try THAT in motels!

We recently went to Dallas for a week. We stayed one night in a motel each direction. We paid about $75 a night along the interstate, and these were disappointing rooms. Also disturbingly unclean. The continental breakfast was inedible both mornings. We ate meals in restaurants both ways, four days total, for over $200 in meals. Fortunately, we had free housing while in Dallas, or the housing while there, assuming we stayed in $75 rooms, would have cost an additional $450, and meals, an additional $325, for just one week. So, this trip has a "motel equivalent" cost of $1125 for one week. It would have cost us, based on our proven annual average, just about $300 to camp it. So, in one week, we saved over $800. I paid $850 when I bought my Scamp.

Regarding safety, I don't have hard numbers to quote, but I'll bet my fillings that more crime is committed in motels than campgrounds. Also, as noted, in a motel, you are shut in your room and isolated from everyone else. What takes place in your room is unknown to everybody else, including theft, rape and murder. In a campground, unless you are really boondocking, there are usually other like-minded people keeping an eye out for you. I routinely guide other people's kids away from dangers, and if I saw someone loading up my neighbor's stuff, I'd saunter on over and "introduce myself".

Speaking of introducing myself, on our various camping trips, we have met numerous people who have really enriched our experiences. I have lots of memories. And, most of my fond memories of my childhood revolve around family camping.

I don't carry weapons. Nor do I feel the need. The only times I've had stuff stolen has been while at rest areas or truck stops, where I'd be anyway. And, frankly, my stuff is worth less than the risks of weaponry. If I pull a gun in defense (I'm not certified, but I'm a pretty good shot), I'm gambling that the other guy doesn't also have a gun, and that if he does, I'm faster than him. Too chancy. If he wants my stuff badly enough to pull a gun, he can have it. I hope he won't shoot me (hey - I'm being cooperative!), but if he does, oh well. If he goes for my wife or daughter, he'll go through me first, at which point I can only trust God for their safety (which is exactly what I need to be doing from the get-go).

Would I trade my camper for a lifetime pass to Super 8? Aint no way!!!

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I am not yet a trailer owner, but I did a lot of trailer travel with my family growing up and I have done a lot of budget travel in skeezy hotels when I am traveling off season or too chicken to sleep alone in a tent. Most were not that bad, a few became fodder for my travel adventure stories as I played "what's that smell?", "is that hair in the tub?" and "was that a NOISE?" I stayed in a particularly memorable place near the NJ turnpike where the door didn't lock, the clientele looked like entrepreneurs, and the whole place was so skeezy we all slept in sleeping bags (there were three of us and a dog, when the car broke down this place was our only choice!). I also really enjoyed explaining to the ditzy hotel manager (at a reasonably nice hotel in Williamsburg) that it IS possible to find a BEDBUG on the FLOOR! (I wonder if she ever understood what I was trying to say???) :o

I agree with previous posts about cost. Almost anything has a cost spectrum. My boss refuses to stay in anything less than a Hilton and most of those are below his standards (yet he tries to tell me he is a simple farm-boy). His vacation cost thousands more than mine, but I see a lot more than he does. I have a friend who bought a brand new camping van for $55,000. After ten years she and her kids have crisscrossed the country and seen almost every state in it. They paid much more than I can afford, but they have gotten their money's worth.

I am hoping to move up to trailer camping for several reasons:

10. I do think I'll save money based on even cheap hotel rooms because I am buying used and I plan to use the trailer for a long time. I also plan some extended stays or possibly living in it while I do volunteer work. :sunny

9. I get really tired of fast food when I am on the road longer than the icechest will stay cold. I know I'll save money on food and eat healthier with my own kitchen. And I am tired of playing "did the melted ice actually seep into this container or was the yogurt always this runny?" :sad

8. I want to do at least some travel (and move cross-country) with my parrots and they are unsafe in a tent or the car.

7. I am sick of trying to find hotels that will take my dog:omy

6. I am sick of begging to get into a hotel with the dog and the bird then panicking every time one of them makes a noise:O

5. I like sleeping in the same bed no matter what state or province I am in.:zz

4. What looks like a town on the map of South Dakota might not be an actual town in the sense of having a place one can stop to pee at midnight and when since there is little cover in the prairie even a quick "field stop" can get mighty embarassing as trucks come barreling through every few seconds. :red

3. I'd rather have my kids/dog/parrots/me on bedspreads that have only sand/dog hair/parrot poop than whatever the previous occupants left on them. :sick

2. I'll never really be homeless again no matter how many times I move to a new place. :lol

1. I want to see and experience the world rather than watch it on tv! I am really puzzled by people who think the vacation is all about having cable and a pool. :reye2

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JR,

That was excellent (as was all the other ones on this thread)!

Well did I open a floodgate or what? :lol

Tax writeoff and Extra-room are two wonderful ideas to remember....

Now the writeoff is interest only - n'est ce pas?

That means I have to have a loan on one? Used ones bought with cash don't qualify?

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>>Now the writeoff is interest only - n'est ce pas?


Oui!

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If you used it strictly for business, that might be a different story. Just like you can write off your business expenses when traveling.....I dunno, check with the tax man first.

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Mine is, along with my road expenses as well.

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Economics of buying a camper:
It's even cheaper to stay home and never do anything (Probably what your friends indeed are doing). :)
If you're only using it one weekend a year at a site 1500 miles away from home - they are probably right. But if you're using it regularly, it makes more sense. More importantly - it depends on what you want to do. I personally enjoy camping more than 'moteling'. It's an experience, not just a warm bed.

Safety:
In my experience - most criminal types are pathetic slobs who certainly aren't gonna commute out into the sticks for a few hours in order to steal some beer, hot dogs and maybe a propane tank. At a campground, you're a LOT more likely to be the victim of a raccoon than a human.

mkw

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Maybe. But keep in mind that some of those pathetic slobs already live in the sticks, as you call 'em, and don't have far to commute. Like everyone else's our camping adventures have been remarkable pleasant and safe. But I never will forget a terrifying incident quite a few years ago when some local rowdies in a scruffy jeep decided they would head down to the remote campground for some drunken "fun." By sheer good luck nobody got hurt, or worse, but as I said my wife and I won't forget it. And it won't ever happen again.

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Hi Bill, to your original question on vs.

Have you and your buddies take a room in a motel for a night. When the lights are down thrown on a black light ( ultraviolet ) and have a look at what you are sharing the room with.:m

I think your buddies might buy an rv too! A place that you can call your own...anytime...anywhere.

Happy Trails.... and welcome.

Mike

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Orginally posted by Mike T



Have you and your buddies take a room in a motel for a night. When the lights are down thrown on a black light ( ultraviolet ) and have a look at what you are sharing the room with.:m

I

Hi ..I think that you hit the nail on the head.....Been there...Benny

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Orginally posted by Robert Brummett
But I never will forget a terrifying incident quite a few years ago when some local rowdies in a scruffy jeep decided they would head down to the remote campground for some drunken "fun." By sheer good luck nobody got hurt, or worse, but as I said my wife and I won't forget it. And it won't ever happen again.

this reminds me of a story.
My husband used to work for USDA. they helped build some of the lakes and ponds and rec. areas. well anyway. one area was being harassed by kids and young people on motorcycles. they would drive through tents and knock stuff over. so one night when they came though the campers were ready. they placed a tent over one of the concrete tables. made the young people take notice. course they would get sued now days.

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Re: At a campground, you're a LOT more likely to be the victim of a raccoon than a human.

Been there - Sue still thinks I ate all those Double Chocolate cookies on our trip to the Oregon coast...

:)