Bike Security at camp

JabGopher · April 2021

Could everyone share how you all secure your bikes when at camp? Both on the overnight and also when you're away and don't take the bikes with you?

Lock to a picnic table? lock to the trailer? Lock to the bike rack?

I'm getting a new TV and looking at possibly getting a bed cap. The number one reason being, to secure the bikes inside it when not in use. However, if there are more reasonable ways to secure it at camp, I'd rather forego the cost and loss of visibility from getting a cap and just go for a tonneau cover.

Verna · April 2021

I always use a thick 6’ titanium cable, run it through the T@B’s tire, then through both tires and frame on the bike. This makes the bike right under the window I keep open to the first lock so I can hear if any noise is going on outside. A small dog is a good listening device (pleasant way to say she hears everything and barks at noises close by).

I did buy a new chain that actually looks like a heavy bike chain with an attached lock. I haven’t tried it as my new eBike hasn’t been delivered yet.

ScottG · April 2021

I think whatever works for you is a good solution. We tend to take our bikes places to ride, so they mostly stay under a cap in the back of my truck. If I feel the need, I secure them with padlocks on the fork clamps. If they are off the truck I might chain them to a tree, but frankly I don't loose much sleep over them being stolen in the places I usually camp.

Whatever you do, don't break camp and drive off with bikes still chained to the picnic table. I actually saw this happen last October. I notified the office and hopefully they were able to contact the owners before they got too far down the road!

Denny16 · April 2021

All good suggestions, but most truck camper shell type bed caps are not really lockable, most are very easy to pop open, especially those that use the twist handle type lock systems. They pry right open. A locking tailgate helps. Their best use, is keeping stuff inside the cap out of sight. I would still lock the bikes to the bed cargo rings, in the truck bed. This is what I do, haven’t lost a bike yet.
cheers

Bayliss · April 2021

@JabGopher, I do the same as @Verna, but lock the bikes to the front Boondock platform and/or trailer frame. I have a "Jack-IT" bike carrier for transporting two bikes, so I use the same lock to secure the bikes - - a separate cable/lock for each bike (routed through the bike frame, tires and "Jack-IT" tower.) I also use a separate cable lock to secure my spare tire to the front trailer Boondock platform.

JabGopher · April 2021

Thanks all.

@Verna, @ScottG, @Denny16 - seems you all have truck caps on ... my biggest apprehension in one is the lowered rear visibility out of one. Does one just get used to it? mainly an unwarranted nitpick?

Denny16 · April 2021

I had a cap on my previous Dakota truck. I have a bed tonneau cover on my current Jeep Truck, which I like better, and it has quasi locking against the locking tailgate. On the Dakota, visibility was good, as I had side windows in the cap. A cap with solid sides, would limit visibility at the sides of the bed area on the truck, but this is covered by the side mirrors. The trailer is going to limit visibility more than a cap will.
cheers

ScottG · April 2021

The cap does cut your rear visibility, but--like Denny16 noted--so does towing a trailer. With either you learn to adjust and use your side mirrors more.

That said, after camping season I take my cap off and install a soft tonneau cover. I do like the look and the open feeling better. However, the cap is great for letting me transport bikes under it and kayaks over it!

Verna · April 2021

@JabGopher, I have owned mostly pickup trucks since 1979. I always get a cap to have secure (relatively safe....long story), but mostly for dry storage.

A blind spot—you get used to it and use the tools you have available—two side mirrors and a rear view mirror (depending on the load) and today’s models may have a back up camera. Worse case—get out and see how far you need to back up.

You have a big blind spot on most vehicles already, by the way--the vertical support beam on either side of the windshield—you get used to it or you get t-boned or you t-bone someone else at all of the new round-abouts.

JabGopher · April 2021

Thanks again all. All good points of getting used to it.

GatorEgg · April 2021

We went traveling after buying a new Tacoma. Cap was on order. Our bikes were locked in the bed of the truck. I forgot to lock the removed front wheel. Some fine person though they needed my wheel more than me.
Lock everything up!

DougH · April 2021

Denny16 said:

All good suggestions, but most truck camper shell type bed caps are not really lockable, most are very easy to pop open, especially those that use the twist handle type lock systems. They pry right open. A locking tailgate helps. There best use, is keeping stuff inside the cap out of sight. I would still lock the bikes to the bed cargo rings, in the truck bed. This is what I do, haven’t lost a bike yet.
cheers

Off topic from the OP's constraints, but I was looking at the Softopper for the Jeep truck at $800 with its flexibility and extremely light weight, versus an A.R.E. Classic Aluminum $1200 (100lbs) shell or the A.R.E. fiberglass CX $2400 (MUCH heavier) shell... all to protect a locked up e-bike in the bed, and maybe a locked down utility box. With the lowish carrying capacity of Jeep, I think you just convinced me to get the lowest weight and lowest price option, since my recumbent is too tall for a tonneau cover for bike security.

JabGopher · April 2021

DougH said:
Off topic from the OP's constraints, but I was looking at the Softopper for the Jeep truck at $800 with its flexibility and extremely light weight, versus an A.R.E. Classic Aluminum $1200 (100lbs) shell or the A.R.E. fiberglass CX $2400 (MUCH heavier) shell... all to protect a locked up e-bike in the bed, and maybe a locked down utility box. With the lowish carrying capacity of Jeep, I think you just convinced me to get the lowest weight and lowest price option, since my recumbent is too tall for a tonneau cover for bike security.

Have you considered something like the RSI Smart Cap?

DougH · April 2021

@JabGopher Thanks, but steel structure and steel doors that can support weight on top sounds heavy, and then there's the $$$$ of the RSI. I'm ancient and remember when truck toppers were only a few hundred instead of $4k. And back then we walked miles uphill to school...

Unless I'm looking at the wrong cap.

Denny16 · April 2021

I agree Doug, adding a heavy topper to a truck with a limited payload makes no sense. I am also looking at the new Soft Topper when it becomes available in the black Twill to match my tonneau cover. A heavy fiberglass or overland type topper is just too much weight. Just getting the gear out of sight is half the battle.

Cheers

ScottG · April 2021

DougH said:

...
I'm ancient and remember when truck toppers were only a few hundred instead of $4k. And back then we walked miles uphill to school...
...

I won't claim to be ancient, but I'll brag that my cap--now on it's third truck in twenty years--was a busted POJ I bought for $10 at a yard sale.

Of course, I've probably put $100 in paint and parts into it, and we won't even discuss the value of the countless hours I've spent tinkering on it. It's no beauty, but it serves the purpose and we been together so long I don't think I could bear to part ways with it. :-)

JabGopher · April 2021

DougH said:

@JabGopher Thanks, but steel structure and steel doors that can support weight on top sounds heavy, and then there's the $$$$ of the RSI. I'm ancient and remember when truck toppers were only a few hundred instead of $4k. And back then we walked miles uphill to school...

Unless I'm looking at the wrong cap.

You looked up the right one. I just mention it as it's a really popular cap with the Gladiator crowd.

Weight wise, funny enough at 175lbs, it's very similar and in some cases lighter than the fiberglass caps

Also, uphill both ways correct?

CharlieRN · April 2021

DougH said:

. . . And back then we walked miles uphill to school...

Nothing to add about toppers or bikes but wanted to say that @DougH had a piece of cake growing up. We really had it tough - not only did the whole family sleep in a discarded shoebox by the side of the road, all the kids walked miles uphill to school, then miles uphill back to the shoebox for our dinner of tepid pond water - if we were lucky . . .

(with apologies to Monty Python)

4ncar · April 2021

@CharlieRN: why apologize! "Bring out your dead!"

ScottG · April 2021

@CharlieRN, you scoundrel for derailing this discussion. "I taunt you twice!" ;-)

Tampakayaker · April 2021

“Have you got anything without spam?”
“Well, spam, egg, sausage, and spam – that’s not got much spam in it.”

CharlieRN · April 2021

Is this the right forum for an argument? - I've told you once.

No you haven't! - Yes I have.

When? - Just now.

No you didn't! - Yes, I did.

You didn't! - I did!

You didn't! - I'm telling you, I did.

You did not!!! - Oh! I'm sorry, is this a five minute argument or the full half-hour?

CharlieRN · April 2021

Back to the OP's question: I too wonder about bike security. My bike is pretty dear to me as I built it up from a bare frame, and customized it for my needs.

For city travel, I have a Kryptonite lock with heavy cable for the saddle (or front wheel). I rarely use it - it's heavy, bulky and hard to bike with - and much prefer bringing the bike into the building rather than locking it on the street. We just got our T@B, so haven't yet had a chance to camp with the bike, but it may be worth bringing along.

When I've traveled with the bike in the past, I use a simple cable lock on the bike rack on the car so that it doesn't disappear when I stop for coffee. The cable is only a deterrent for casual theft, as it can be easily cut. Of course, angle grinders make short work of nearly anything, including a Kyrptonite lock.

Bottom line is that a determined thief can defeat almost any locking system, and whatver lock you use should be backed up with a good insurance policy.

Denny16 · April 2021

True, but the harder you make it for a thief, the less likely it will disappear.

Cheers

Slackers · April 2021

I've seen videos of NYC bike thieves defeating some of the best of them in seconds--no supplemental power required.

Denny16 · April 2021

Yes, it big cities like New York, LosAngeles and SanFrancisco where stolen bikes are a big business, you have to keep your bicycle inside or with you. No bike rack is safe, no lock will stop these professional thieves.

cheers

Dereco · April 2021

I lock to a tree or the Tab frame around the front. But we also use a pretty neat bike carrier that clamps to the receiver portion of the hitch (unlike the versions that plug into the hitch, which are pre-empted by...towing the trailer). This way, we can carry our bikes on the carrier when we leave the site. See here.

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