​What to do with the vehicle parked on a long trip?

[Guest]

Alan’s continuing adventure probably has some of us pondering our left behind vehicles and what to do with them.

I know there are a lot of different strategies for dealing with that, some work for me, some don’t. And the effectiveness may depend on how dicey a locale you park to trip and travel. The Adirondacks or Boundary Waters seem more reassuring to me than Meth lab Ozarks backwoods or Mexican border territory.

With the tripping truck loaded for travel I sure as hell can’t take everything with me in the canoe. On local trips the less left behind the better, but on multi-day drives I want my full complement of truck gear, tools and equipment along in the vehicle.

I do bring my wallet with me; cash, driver’s license, insurance cards, credit cards, etc, but I skinny it down to the barest of essentials before the trip and leave the drek at home. I don’t really need the two grocery store cards, the Tru-Value rewards card, local library card, free pizza punch card, Friends of the Whatever card. . . . the wallet gets pretty skinny.

I keep a front & back photocopy of those important cards stored separately in my essentials bag. Hmmm, so, the number to call to report a lost or stolen credit card is. . . . . . on the back of the card? And what was that credit card number and code? Oh fark, I don’t have those memorized, any more than my13 digit/letter driver’s license number.

I would wager than no one knows their health insurance member ID code, much less the out of area 800 authorization number to call. Photocopier, 50 cents, one double sided piece of paper front and back. Don’t leave home without it.

I never thought about the passport. Or the US passport card. Now I really wish I’d gotten one of those cards as well a passport book the last time I renewed. I think it was an extra $15 at the time, and I could keep it in the skinny wallet and photocopy it as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Passport_Card

What else? I put locking lugs on a previous tripping vehicle. They were mostly a continuing PITA and I eventually took them off. Hoping I didn’t just jinx myself and come back someday to find my truck on blocks or with the drums sitting in the mud.

A friend used an apparent beater vehicle. He left it empty, glove box open and doors unlocked. It was mechanically sound but didn’t look like it would get very far, and was never bothered. Also not for me.

What little I can and do do:

Stash or hide anything of obvious value left behind, which still wouldn’t dissuade or stymie a lets-search break in prowler.

Close all of the curtains on the cap. That may help, or may simply make the fully curtained contents of the bed more intriguing.

I believe the most helpfully thing I do is I take the roof racks off and stick them in the truck bed or back of the van, leaving just the little Thule Tracker II posts or a naked rain gutter to show.

I do appreciate having easy to remove roof racks. Empty canoe racks at a put in, especially a tripping put in, is like a sign saying “Off paddling, help yourself”. With no paddler rack signal on the roof I could presumably be nearby, returning from a walk or taking a leak in the woods. A couple weeks parked in the same place, meh, not so much.

Even if parked more briefly on a day trip those towers and crossbars are pricey; it would really suck to come off a trip and have no practical way to transport the canoe. Even with “locking” crossbars any of the manufactured gunwale stops or cradle accessories are as simple as unscrew and run.

No, I’m not paranoid. I have been cleaned out five times, albeit always in urban areas. Once they actually came close to cleaning it, taking all of the trash off the floor. If they had used a vacuum, some Windex and a rag I’d have paid them for detailing it.

What do you do, besides try not to think about it?

 

[GearFreak]

Try not to leave any valuables in the vehicles and always travel with my important ID. Copies of ID are at home. Wife worked in claims of an insurance company years ago - and we have been hit too. Both taught us better ways, but in some areas up north, the youth are bored, drunk, angry or all three. If you are at a bush party site and a group roll thru your vehicle is going to be the entertainment.

Not much you can do to prevent. I have heard of folks paying for "Security" and finding youth having jumped on the car hood on their return. Car was intact though.

 

[Odyssey]

We take everything with us. Sealed plastic bags (doubled up) for our ID etc. I leave a second set of keys at our vehicle; poorly hidden. Usually sitting on top one of the wheels or roof. danged plastic wheel well liners prevent magnetic key holders nowadays. No, I don't know my health card number; hell, I can't even remember my phone number. (I never call myself.) Sometimes I have a small container of gas inside the vehicle, in case of gas siphoning, but not always. There's only so much you can do. In a book by Bill Mason long ago he suggested the perfect tripping vehicle was one which nobody would bother to steal or mess with. Boy, I've driven plenty of those, just not always to the put-in! On some drives with my honey she eyes the dust motes drifting round my dash, and wistfully wishes out loud
"I bought a lottery ticket this week; Gee I'd love to buy a new car..." I tell her "Baby, we're a danged sight nearer my dream car than you can imagine!!"

 

[yellowcanoe]

Sometimes I pay to park at a sportsmans lodge or a campground.
Sometimes in a park parking lot like Algonquin
Or the Adirondacks
Or the Everglades
I don't take the rack off. It could be a good idea

Long ago I was told to carry my passport on canoe trips in Canada. I carry it on me at home. Within 60 miles of the border CPB can ask you for it. I have been asked five times around the Paul Smiths area for my passport on Rt 30.

So I take all ID and the one credit card I have with me on canoe trips. Nothing stays in the car to indicate my address. Yes that means insurance and reg goes with me.
I ask around the area I am going to canoe in if there any concerns with kids having too much free time.. there is one provincial park with indirect access and a very obvious party site at the put in.

I've not had problems in the Ozarks but typically use a shuttle. I use shuttles that keep my vehicle on their property and deliver to the take out on the specified date we have agreed to beforehand. I have done some 14 trips there.

 

[Robin]

Not much.
I asked Memaquay about the parking at Marshall Lake and he said should be ok, which it has been every time.
This year I stopped in Nakina (end of the road town above Highway 11, Northern Ontario) and asked about a shuttle. It didn't work out and the guys final words where "you're not leaving your truck at Marshall Lake are you". Again, no problems, but it gave me something to think about.

I hate having a new set of tires when I leave the truck. I leave the glove box open, seats pushed forward for a better view of the items in the back, usually just traveling clothes. My cap doesn't lock and I have left good stuff back there, maybe a stove in case there's a fire ban, some rope, a cooler with some beer...sort of a "peace offering"

My son had someone climb in thru his cap and sliding window, empty his and his buddies stashed wallets, then put them back.
He got to a Deli in southern Vermont and were surprised when they had no cash to pay for those two nice sandwiches they ordered (before debit cards)

My friend Marshall lost a set of wheels and tires at the Bonaventure River in Quebec, he felt it was because they did their own shuttle

 

[yellowcanoe]

To add.. When we did twelve days on the Teslin/Yukon we got not much help from the outfitter re parking so we parked the truck at Wal Mart. We found it nested in a sea of RV's two weeks later
This next summer ( 2017) we plan on doing the Yukon via Lac Laberge and while it will be a shorter trip I am not looking forward to leaving the truck and this time a travel trailer unattended for six days.

Suggestions?

 

[Odyssey]

The clever Japanese who designed my minivan placed hiding compartments under the fitted carpets in the floor! I keep forgetting about those. Would the border customs officers think to search there for beer and beef jerky?
I had a friend who drove an MG convertible. One day I remarked "Pierre! Tabernak! You leave it unlocked in the parking lot?!" He explained that it was cheaper to replace coffee change in the ashtray than replace a sliced soft top. Ahh! Smart guy that Pierre!
Our vehicle always looks empty. And it generally is. I can't stop miscreants from breaking in, but I can prevent them from finding anything worthwhile to steal. Besides coffee change.

 

[Odyssey]

I'm currently planning a cycle tour. Kinda like canoe tripping, but with bicycles instead. One suggestion to prevent opportunistic thieves is to hang dirty laundry from our bicycle panniers. Maybe YC can disguise her RV as a hillbilly tramp trailer. Or a rolling still?

 

[Muskrat]

I just keep a case of Old Milwaukee in the truck bed. A clear sign that I don't have expensive taste.

 

[Mihun09]

In Manitoba, if leaving a vehicle in a put in lot, even if Near a campground, don't leave anything in the vehicle with your home address on it, such as the insurance slip in the glove box. It has happened that someone breaks into your car, they know you are in the bush and they have potential access to your house in your absence to take what they want.

I leave my wallet at home, take pertinent ID and Debit, Credit Card, Health Card. That's it. There are places here I am uncomfortable leaving the vehicle even for a day or two. Most access points in Nopoming PP are unattended. Wallace Lake is good as it is a campground, have never had issues there.

I'm actually surprised Alan still had a car to drive. But had he gone another 2 minutes up the road he could likely have parked at Wollaston Lake Lodge which would have given much better peace of mind rather than another unattended park.

 

[memaquay]

Our neck of the woods seems pretty tame. I have parked in multiple back-woods places and never had a thing done once. Likewise, I have many friends who have parked all over the place and been fine. Robin, I wonder about that comment from the guy in Nakina. I have only ever heard of one incidence of vandalism at Marshall....someone cut a gas line to get gas from a vehicle. However, there have been hundreds of cars there over the last couple of decades, and that's the only negative report I ever heard.

 

[Odyssey]

I've read of campsite and car park thefts further south around here. I haven't suffered those yet; I lock the canoe on the car and toss blankets and jackets over packs etc. On busy portages I place the canoe well aside from the trail upside down and stash our packs under it as we complete the carry. If you want to look through my stuff you're going to have to make an obvious effort, and there's no way you can "accidentally" take my gear. I'm probably being paranoid, I don't own anything worth stealing, but ya never know.
Old Milwaukee, warm; now that's a nice touch.
I read somewhere of someone leaving their vehicle interior in a gawdawful messy state to deter break-ins. Who suggested that?
It sounded like an excellent idea. I just need to take the grandkids on a daytrip to achieve that detailed disguise.

 

[Uncle_Skwid]

I typically leave my Jeep wherever, generally with the key in the ignition, generally with thousands of dollars worth of molding gear fogging up the windows. But then, from in front of my house (I live in a small city), my entire Jeep was stolen, with boat and gear attached/inside. I did get the Jeep back, but the boat is still at large.

Alas, I will probably be more careful now, though not too. An easy sense of reckless abandon keeps everything light. Keeps everything from getting too serious. Keeps me from getting too angry about someone walking off with my crap.

My shuttle bike I lock with a logging chain and big 'ole padlock. Just to keep the honest kid honest. (And it's worth more than the Jeep.)

 

[dogbrain]

I miss my old toyota tercel. When the tape player broke, then the radio tuning knob, I pulled it out and there was nothing but a hole in the dashboard. The glove box wouldn't close any more either. When backpacking I usually just left a couple of the windows partly down and the car unlocked just so nobody would break a window to get in. My friends used to laugh and say that it looked like someone had already been through it. I wouldn't have taken that vehicle on a cross-country drive though.

When I travel now I always have extra stuff with me, but I do remove any kinds of ID, money or cards. I've been really lucky up to now, and assume that my number will come up at some point. I'm pretty sure my insurance covers this type of loss, so at some point I'll probably have to make a claim. I just try to never leave anything that is irreplaceable in the vehicle. Once I parked at a really shady trailhead that I was worried about losing some valuable camera gear. Since it was all in a pelican case, I carried it a quarter mile up the trail and stashed in a random place a hundred yards off the trail in the woods under a log. That worked out well.

I did a winter camping trip once with a friend and we left the car unlocked and left absolutely nothing of value inside. Some dirtbags broke a window and ripped apart the dashboard of the car with a crowbar to, I assume, voice their disgust at not finding anything.

 

[BWCA66]

Never left a vehicle more than 10 days and in all my years of tripping only once did I ever have an issue. Came out of the BWCA once to find the back window of my van literally shattered all over, there was some even on the dashboard. Local sheriff had already left a note in the car saying they suspected local kids using a baseball bat looking for cash. They got the wife's purse but less than $5 cash but she had to cancel all the credit cards and get a new drivers license. Since then I try not to leave anything of real value in my vehicle.

 

[scoutergriz]

I leave my car filthy dirty and put used fast food containers on the back seat and floor. If in a really nasty area I might even pull the volume knob off the radio, heater, and what ever else comes off and throw an old beatup pair of vicegrips on the seat. Torn dirty seat covers help too! had cars on both sides broke into, but never mine- I think they're afraid they'll catch something

 

[GearFreak]

That's the spirit!

I keep saying that is why I drive a minivan. if you drove a grand cherokee your going to get hit - a minivan? Nothing good to steal in a minivan.

That's the hope anyway. Sad that it happens but I do believe it is sometimes luck of the draw.

 

[Grandpa Paddler]

That's the spirit!

I keep saying that is why I drive a minivan. if you drove a grand cherokee your going to get hit - a minivan? Nothing good to steal in a minivan.

That's the hope anyway. Sad that it happens but I do believe it is sometimes luck of the draw.

That's why mine stays home, locked w/alarm set and in a locked garage. Security provided by my wife and a 12 ga pump.

 

[latremorej]

That's the spirit!

I keep saying that is why I drive a minivan. if you drove a grand cherokee your going to get hit - a minivan? Nothing good to steal in a minivan.

That's the hope anyway. Sad that it happens but I do believe it is sometimes luck of the draw.

Ha! In my neck of the woods (nyc) the Town and country/ caravan are in the top 5 for stolen vehicles... with that said, the only thing I have had in my minivan was some mice at lows lower dam. They were afforded a weeks time with a box of graham crackers that were left behind in the stow and go.... mouse poo everywhere, dash, seats, floors. They had a grand time.

Jason

 

[Odyssey]

Ha! In my neck of the woods (nyc) the Town and country/ caravan are in the top 5 for stolen vehicles... with that said, the only thing I have had in my minivan was some mice at lows lower dam. They were afforded a weeks time with a box of graham crackers that were left behind in the stow and go.... mouse poo everywhere, dash, seats, floors. They had a grand time.

Jason

Pick up trucks are the hot item around here, so to speak. And their tail gates. It's gotten to the point that you'll see trucks driving around without them, drivers having removed them to prevent theft. Or maybe they were all the victims? Hmm. I've driven vehicles I wished would've been stolen. Where's a car thief when you need one. I guess even they have standards.
The mouse thing. I also had one living in my van. Picked it up with a load of old junk and lumber I took to the dump. I never actually saw my mousy squatter, but had a forgotten lunch left over reduced to crumbs, the paper napkin wrapper neatly nibbled till it looked like a dainty doily with lacy edges, surrounded by tiny white confetti. And no, those dark little bits aint cracked pepper. It was the mouse turd souvenirs that drove me to place mouse traps all around the interior. Kinda embarrassing to explain to people so I didn't, merely saying " Sit down carefully and don't make any un-necessary moves. Mind the mouse traps, and leave the peanut butter alone. The traps need that." My buddy just looked at me sideways with a worried look on his face. Don't think it was the traps that worried him. Being a farmer I thought he'd understand. Never did catch the little bugger, and no awful smells either, well, not attributable to the mouse anyway. He just kinda left how he arrived I suppose, a little critter vagabond hitching a ride to somewhere else. I was just worried he'd chew on my wires.