Take care! It can happen.

That happened 10 years ago Mr Brown. back in the days when we had a few bob to spare.

There are nutters everywhere ..... even on here. No names, no pack drill but one chews a straw and the other oinks. :raofl:
 
maingate said:
That happened 10 years ago Mr Brown. back in the days when we had a few bob to spare.

There are nutters everywhere ..... even on here. No names, no pack drill but one chews a straw and the other oinks. :raofl:
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you're right there,i can't decide my weapon of choice for these loonies-sledgehammer or toy tractor? bowie knife or ginsters pastie ?
 
magbrin said:
I suggested that the only thing that would be really helpful would be if they could lend us, say €20. We would take their address, and send it as soon as we could.
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Just a thought....

If I was travelling a long way from home, I wouldn't normally have a problem with lending/giving someone a small amount of cash if I thought that their need was genuine, as it obviously was in this case. But my suspicions may be aroused when they asked for my address so that they could post the money back to me. This is a useful trick used by burglars and their accomplices, who will then know that your house is most probably unoccupied and therefore an easy target.

I don't know how likely the chances of this happening are, but it's worth bearing in mind if someone shows an interest in your home address while your travelling.
 
magbrin said:
I really don't want to dwell on it. I thought I had made it clear in the OP that the van was locked and alarmed. The way the theives broke in is not really relevent, brute force is brute force.
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A very, very weird response to a very simple question. Not asking you to dwell on it, just to be a little more informative about what happened so that others might learn from your mistakes.

Doesn't seem a lot of point warning people about a happening if you are going to be secretive about what happened. Obviously your alarms weren't much good in that particular situation, so even some info about what sort of alarm it is and how they got around the alarm might be useful to others. If a window was smashed then there are ways to minimise that too.
 
scampa said:
Just a thought....

If I was travelling a long way from home, I wouldn't normally have a problem with lending/giving someone a small amount of cash if I thought that their need was genuine, as it obviously was in this case. But my suspicions may be aroused when they asked for my address so that they could post the money back to me. This is a useful trick used by burglars and their accomplices, who will then know that your house is most probably unoccupied and therefore an easy target.

I don't know how likely the chances of this happening are, but it's worth bearing in mind if someone shows an interest in your home address while your travelling.
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i'll just explain something from my point of view.lending is actually giving,if you get it back hoo ray,but if you lend it with that expectation,you're dreaming.i have more than once given half my assets to someone to help them out,but as much for my gratification as theirs.last one was a a guy in france in a stupid old army lorry with his girlfriend and baby,his gearbox was knacked only did second third and fourth, no first or reverse.this guy was a total tosser,but his girl was in the crap.i pulled them out of the dip they were in,gave/lent them 40 francs for fuel,gave them the address of a farmer for grape picking and left.of course the money was gone,and it was half of all i had at the time,but i'm resourceful,and he was a ******-what can you do?
 
If ever I lend money I usually write it off straight away. I have been called soft by people who I then watch put 30 quid or so in a fruit machine. Money means nothing to me really as long as I can afford a beer and fags, (well obviously my house and food etc. and I would like a new boat, and a gold plated Porsche). Well, you know what I mean, as long as I am solvent I am happy.
I know some very wealthy people who are really tight, I suppose that is how they got to be wealthy, but nothing annoys me more than somebody who is so obsessed with money that they deliberately avoid buying a round or sponsoring somebody etc.etc.
 
n brown said:
you're right there,i can't decide my weapon of choice for these loonies-sledgehammer or toy tractor? bowie knife or ginsters pastie ?
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I am sorry Mr Brown, but I think you've gone a bit too far with the Ginsters Pastie!
 
I hope you've managed to put this behind you. If you're going to warn people though it would be better if you could say just what the warning is against. I guess windows in the cab were broken?

magbrin said:
. . .
while we cleared the broken glass,. . .
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At one time I thought of protecting my door windows with mirrored plastic film but I read somewhere that any film had to be capable of passing at least 80% of light to be legal. I wasn't able to determine how much light the film let through and I didn't pursue the option. I'm very ware that the glass is a weak point.

My email is web-based and all important documents are stored on there so accessible from any internet connected computer. I have a new (to me) van and I still have not added any security. In the habitation door I intend to fit a dead-bolt (I've used them in two of my previous vans). They are a simple turn to lock, turn to open so shouldn't present a danger to us but only simple if you have the splined key which I hope burglars don't have as a routine bit of kit.

pic0007z.jpg


There's no way that I can see to fit them in my cab doors so I'm still working on security there.

But - there's only so many locks, bolts and bars you can fit, not least before you become a danger to yourself but this sort deadbolt security is a basic minimum for me. I'd still be interested in ways of protecting glass if anybody knows of a way. Maybe the plastic film?
 
Hey sparks, just fit Irish registration plates to the van and caravan.

Best security device known to man. nobody dare come near your outfit. :p
 
Yeah, well . . .

Nothings infallible and if you take that to it's logical conclusion you'd take no precautions whatever. Don't lock your van - you're just telling a thief there's something worth protecting. And that's a point of view I've seen expounded!

You've just got to see what's available, listen to the advice of others and make your mind up.
 
For any of you with sb sprinters, they are easily broken into with just a punched hole underneath the door handle. ( I would imagine that maybe all vans of that ilk are the same) Ours was a 2002 model

We were overnighting on a French services, 6 am I was woken by a slight noise, thought nothing of it, then heard the passenger door open (we had nothing at all on display in the vehicle). Luckily I was awake enough to shout "xxxxx, the door slammed, & whoever ran off" It took us about 3 days to work out what had happened, my oh originally thought he had maybe forgotten to lock the door. After that episode, he drilled a hole through the door frame, & into the side of the van & we used to push a long nail in, so that even if anyone did manage to open the door, it would jam. Also the nail head wasn't noticeable from outside, but if we needed to we could get out in a hurry. We also fixed a dead bolt on the inside of the sliding door, & a decent household door lock on the outside of sliding door, so that we could lock it when we left it. Also had bolts on the inside of the back doors.
The main thing with any sort of security device you put in when sleeping in your van - you must be able to undo it quickly & not have to fumble around, if for example you have a fire - simple is best.

One thing that really used to unsettle me was having bikes on the bike rack, so eventually bought folding ones, which actually when folded sat on the passenger seat & footwell, leaving the driver's side seat for a quick get away if needed.
 
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n brown said:
you're right there,i can't decide my weapon of choice for these loonies-sledgehammer or toy tractor? bowie knife or ginsters pastie ?
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I'm gonna leg slap somebody in a minute. think on young man :mad2:
 
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