@PNW, I agree that any serious thief would have easy entry via the panels. But I’m still with @JKD and plan to install a hasp before I (hopefully) take a longer road trip later in the summer.
My thinking is that thieves fall on a spectrum from thieving out of convenience to serious “professionals”. If I leave my truck at a trailhead for multiple days…I don’t think it is a stretch to imagine that there are some people out there who would see gear in the back, guess how to open the GFC (or have read about it in Outside Magazine), and might take their chances with going after the gear. Opening the tent in a parking lot would be a normal looking activity, meaning it wouldn’t arouse suspicion, unless someone knew the thief was not the owner of the truck.
If I lock the panels and the tent, I’ve now limited potential thieves to those that are willing to do serious, and probably loud and obvious, property damage to gain entry. And since there is never anything particularly valuable in the back of my truck - I hope that raising the bar to ripping off a side panel would be enough to convince even a serious thief that it isn’t worth it.
To each their own. If the panels are locked and the thief gets in through the tent they would either have to break open the panels from inside to get stuff out or haul it back up and through the tent, which would definitely look suspicious. I chose not to get a rear window purely so people wouldn’t see inside. Everyone’s calculations and acceptance of risk are different.
I’m curious, has anyone’s GFC been broken into or obviously accessed through the tent? I know the sample size is still pretty small but our collective GFCs do have quite a few hours sitting in parking lots, at trailheads, etc. in the last 12-18 months. Has anyone had an incident?
A solid majority of the people who ask me about my gfc don’t even realize the top opens until I explain it to them. A lock up there might just draw someone’s attention.
My guess is that it would take about 10 seconds to get in through a panel using a crowbar or a screwdriver/hammer. Locking the tent might stop somebody who didn’t have those tools. But, I will continue to roll without a locked tent because you’re not going to keep out a motivated criminal, especially out in the boonies.
What size is the security screw? I am trying to find some torx security screws in 10-32 × 1/4" but they are hard to find. I think 1/2" might be too long. Where did you get your security screws?
Thanks
For what it’s worth, my truck was broken into in a parking lot in central Texas. I have the rear window in the GFC and a small cooler and a backpack that had a couple days if clothes in it in the bed. The thief punched the lock on the cab door and took a backpack out of the backseat that was in the floor. Unfortunately my laptop was in that bag. Thief didn’t even try to open the rear, as he would have found that I had forgotten and left it unlocked. So the thief passed up an unlocked GFC with cooler and bag in it to punch the locked cab door and steal the same type of backpack from the floor. Who knows what people are going to do but if someone wants in bad enough they will find a way in. Like they say locks keep honest people honest.
A lock is simply a visual deterrent. We all know the best policy is to keep nothing in your vehicle (or at least nothing in sight).
The main vulnerability of the GFC is any window (obviously) and the fact a thief can use a box cutter along our hinges and take any door off in about 5 seconds.
For what its worth I had a theif break in to my truck today. It was a smash and grab in the cab of my truck and they broke a rear window. I have the GFC tent locks myself but I feel like they wouldent even try anyway to go through the effort of opening and climbing into the opened tent. Regardless I like the tent locks and will probally be adding a decked system again just to feel safe. Especially after tosay. If they had gotten in the camper there was lots of outdoor equipment for the taking (climbing gear, tent, sleeping bags, backpacks) In the cab they smashed my back window (my windows are 5% tinted in the back where they stole stuff but they could still see a bright bag). Unfortunately they stole over $12k of camera gear that I had in the cab… I’ll also be getting a goose gear drawer and 40% rear seat delete to keep things in the cab out of sight. The trucks with the campers are flashy and I feel like the more stuff out of sight and behind locks the better… (The red bag in the photo they were unable to pull through the back window as it is full of camera trap gear and very very heavy. They never opened the doors maybe to not set the alarm off.)
This happened to me a couple years back… renters insurance or homeowners insurance is gonna be a saving grace if you have it. I had over 10k worth of camera gear that was taken… thanks Seattle
I just tried locking my door with my fob and reaching in the window to unlock and open the door. My alarm doesnt go off. Anyone know why? I do have the green flashing security light from toyota dealership.
I don’t understand what homeowners or renters insurance has to do with someone breaking into your car? Can you explain more? I have my GFC camper covered with State Farm with its own policy, so curious if I need to add something else.
My experience is that homeowners insurance covers some things that are unexpected. I had a mountain bike stolen from the roof of my vehicle while traveling and homeowners kicked in to cover replacement costs. Check your policy…
I know that renters insurance for the most part will cover all of your possessions regardless of where they are stolen (there may be exceptions). My bike was stolen from in front of my office and my renters insurance covered it in full. Homeowners policies do tend to be more specific to your residence. It sounds like @GFC706 has a policy that did cover items away from the house so there is more variability there.
The most important thing is having documentation of what was stolen (photos, serial numbers etc.) I keep a google doc that lists anything of mine that has a serial number just in case (came in handy when my bike was stolen and the shop that I bought it from wasn’t able to find their record, but I had it stored away), and in order to file a police report most will require a serial number as that can be proof of ownership. Then most insurance companies either want a police report or proof of ownership.
Great idea. Not sure this will work on the side of a v2. There’s no longer an extrusion track on the upper side between the opening and closing of the tent.
