Devil's head camper shoots carjacker pike national forest

Look at any RV message board or Facebook group and you’ll see posts about “the knock.” For some people, it’s just that they parked in the wrong place and tried to sleep against the rules or some local ordinance aimed at the homeless. For others, a stealth van life setup wasn’t stealthy enough, and someone figured out what they were doing. But, what if it’s not the police, a security guard or someone else with good (but annoying) intentions?

This happened to someone in my family once while sleeping in a slide-in truck camper. They knew for sure that the Walmart parking lot they were camping in allowed it, but around 3 AM there was a strange sound below them near the cab. Then, someone tried the doors to see if they could get inside. Fortunately, an exterior light switch was in easy reach of the bed, and the sudden illumination scared the thieves off. But, we’ve since discussed what they would have done if the people weren’t so easily startled (or had come back in greater numbers).

Let’s start with preventing an attack/robbery. Unlike your home, it’s not always as easy to fortify an RV, and it’s even harder to provide some security for a tent. But, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

Let’s start with an RV. I’d personally never sleep in anything soft-sided in an urban or suburban environment. You’re always one knife swipe away from trouble unless it’s something like a pop-top van where the soft sides are out of reach. But, for hard-sided campers, you can take many home security ideas along on the road. Things like hardening the doors, adding latches and applying anti-break film to the windows can make it harder for intruders to get in. Security cameras are a great option, too.

For tents, it’s a good idea to find safer places to set up. While the homeless population in many blue cities lives in tents, they’re often the victims of crime that goes unreported. So, it pays to find a place that’s secluded or secured in some fashion, like an RV park. Out on public lands, it’s best to stay away from major roads where you’d be seen and easily targeted. Finally, setting up some tripwire alarms (some of which fire a shotgun shell) can help you buy valuable time to mount a defense.

Should security and preventative measures fail, you’ll also want to be prepared to use force, and there are two things you have to consider.

First, there’s a good chance as a traveler or camper that you’re away from your home state. So, you’ll want to know what the laws are for weapon possession and use of force. Surprisingly, even California doesn’t try to disarm people who are in camp, but knowing whether it would be legal to shoot is a good idea nonetheless. Resources like Handgunlaw.us are a great place to start.

Another thing to think about are your defensive skills. It makes sense to consider taking your tent or RV out on public lands or an open-minded shooting range to practice. You’ll probably want something like a plastic “blue gun” to get used to moving around your campsite and getting familiar with what you’d be facing. Then (following all safety rules, of course), consider setting up some targets and going for some defensive drills.

Finally, read up on other people’s experiences with criminal activity during camping. Google is a great place to start, but we’d also like to hear about any experiences readers may have had with this, so be sure to share them in the comments!

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111 COMMENTS

  1. NY can be tricky as we continuously rewrite laws but for most people here the best bet was to have a hunting permit and use it for invasive red squirrel. Year round no bag limits and while it does limit your camping to hunting grounds it does allow for carrying firearms in the wilderness without carry permits (pending injunction and other fun legal games). This may become even more the case as we officially ban open carry of long arms in public short of hunting and related activities. For normal states whatever you are comfortable packing is probably fine unless you have issues with cartel grow operations, large bears, or packs of aggressive wild dogs in which case whatever works for you.

    • Surprisingly, even California doesn’t try to disarm people who are in camp…”

      That’s because our State’s rental law goes back decades, when we were a conservative place before the modern Marxists infiltrated. Any residence rental contract deems the immediate location as your legal temporary domicile for the term of the agreement. That means longer terms such as apartment leases, all the way down to overnighters such as campsites. So if someone threatens you on your immediate campsite within the timeframe you rented the site, CA views it the same as if you were on your own property.

    • When you are camping on America’s national lands, you have the right to possess a firearm in order to defend yourself under Federal law.

      You can thank the Obama/Biden administration for giving folks the ability to be armed in millions of acres of national park, national forest and federally managed lands, thanks to the Democrats passage of the CARD Act of 2009.
      In 2009, the Democrats held the majority in both the House and the Senate, as well as the presidency and they used that political capital to remove Ronald Reagan’s ban on the possession of firearms in national lands, restoring your gun rights on millions of acres of taxpayer owned lands.
      Y’all can try and spin it anyway you want, the facts of history have not changed.

      Last year, over 300 million people visited our national parks and forests, and the Obama/Biden ministration restored their right to possess a firearm for self-defense, returning state authority by removing federal government prohibitions.

      https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/visitation-numbers.htm

      Happy Camping!

        • “Still pretending it wasn’t for funding that they didn’t have the votes for otherwise?“

          Nope, you continue to be full of shit.

          You made this claim on other threads, I provided actual text with source document citation showing this was a law protecting working folks from predatory lending practices and had nothing to do with funding the government.

          “The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 is a consumer protection law that was enacted to protect consumers from unfair practices by credit card issuers by requiring more transparency in credit card terms & conditions and adding limits to charges and interest rates associated with credit card use.“

          https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/credit_card_accountability_responsibility_and_disclosure_act_of_2009#:~:text=Under%20the%20CARD%20Act%20of,free%20to%20cancel%20the%20account.

          • @Miner49er

            Ya know, if you had not cherry picked his comments out of context and applied context properly you would realize how stupid and ignorant your reply post was.

          • Lol you are a sensitive little bitch on this topic especially when you are hilariously wrong. What is it about Obama not vetoing a spending bill in a republican dominated congress has you ready to die on that hill?

            • “you are a sensitive little bitch on this topic especially when you are hilariously wrong“

              How fascinating, you continue to make empty claims without offering a shred of evidence to support your position.

              The facts of history have not changed, no matter how you feel about the failure of Donald Trump to expand gun rights for Americans.

              “out of context“?

              The article is specifically about using firearms for self-defense in national parks and forests during summer vacation.

              I know it galls you folks somethin’ fierce that it was the Obama/Biden administration that restored your right to carry firearms on these national lands, but your feelings don’t change the facts of history.

      • minor49iq you silly happy camper…You really do not have to work so hard to look as dumb as a box of rocks…Your nauseating accolades for the self serving lord marshall b. h. obama who is a self proclaimed constitutional scholar that would not say the 2A was an Individual Right and his pal Jim Crow Gun Control nazi democRat joe whose dope addict son has 3 gun related felonies are somehow by the stretch of your LSD imagination have ever done a decent thing for the 2A is ludicrous. FJB.

        TRUMP 2024.

        • joe’s Gun Control does nothing but guarantee defenseless people will be shot, stabbed, ran over, beaten, robbed, raped, kidnapped, etc. And joe’s solution? Replenish the ranks with more defenseless people while hypocrite joe and his democRat pals are protected by armed guards 24/7.

          What exactly is it joe and his democRat pals don’t say and never have said to their gullible Gun Control history illiterate audiences? Gun Control in any shape, matter or form is Rooted in Racism and Genocide.
          https://youtube.com/watch?v=4hH4mvlfOVI&feature=shared

      • I don’t care how that 2009 legislation is spun. Anyone who votes D today is voting against America. If dems keep the WH & control Congress they will pack the court and gut the 1 and 2nd Amendments.

        Vote hard R the entire ticket.

      • MINOR49er, The article does not refer to national parks…It refers to the State of New York’s parks…

  2. What if faeries appear in downtown New York?

    What if a Waffle House becomes sentient and starts killing people?

    What even is this fear-mongering nonsense?

    Get a fucking grip on reality. Violent crime rates are the lowest they’ve been in like 100 years.

    • Know two people that either shot or held at gunpoint someone in the Adirondacks and have had to shoot a rabid coyote. But yeah bigfoot is a concern up here as well. And you are more than welcome to come visit ultra safe NYC, Buffalo, Utica, Syracuse, Schenectady, Troy, Albany, and Saratoga and see how low we keep our crime rates. Be sure to check out the bar districts we keep them very safe and clean.

    • This a$$h0le obviously hasn’t heard of illegal marijuana grows on National Forest land, where foreigners with AK-47s guard some of the weed he probably smokes. Or the constant stream of illegals crossing monument land in Southern Arizona, escorted by armed smugglers (also known as coyotes), the same illegals he employs to cut his grass and clean his house.

      The communist media doesn’t report these dangers, jerk-off, because it doesn’t fit the narrative of “Violent crime rates are the lowest they’ve been in like 100 years,” especially when commie run cities don’t report their crime stats to the FBI to cover up for the usual suspects.

      I won’t go so far as to hope you are a victim of one of the criminals coddled by the current regime … oh hell, yes I will. You’ll either be rendered inert, or become a convert to the cause.

    • This gentleman obviously hasn’t heard of illegal marijuana grows on National Forest land, where foreigners with AK-47s guard some of the weed he probably smokes. Or the constant stream of illegals crossing monument land in Southern Arizona, escorted by armed smugglers (also known as coyotes), the same illegals he employs to cut his grass and clean his house.

      The communist media doesn’t report these dangers, because it doesn’t fit the narrative of “Violent crime rates are the lowest they’ve been in like 100 years,” especially when commie run cities don’t report their crime stats to the FBI to cover up for the usual suspects.

      I won’t go so far as to hope you are a victim of one of the criminals coddled by the current regime … oh yes I will. You’ll either be rendered inert, or become a convert to the cause.

      • Too coherent and concise. Tries for the quick gotcha but typically lacks analytic rigor.

    • jsled, the lowest they’ve been in a hundred years? Well, even that’s true it’s little consolation to the person that was just robbed, sexual assaulted, murdered, etc. I saw it all. I’ve said it before., for 25 years I mostly a historian and a janitor. I wrote down what happened and cleaned up the mess. You are responsible for your own safety. Act accordingly.

      • Back to the actual topic what would you generally recommend for Florida based camping as your state should have some options available outside of stupid levels of permits?

        • SAFE, Florida has Constitutional Carry for those hunting, fishing and camping legally in Florida. As of this July 1 no concealed carry permit required. Last time I counted 35 states share resprosity with Florida. First time I went to NY it was to visit an army buddy and do a little hunting. A friend went with me. I took two Winchester model 70s, a Remington 870, a Galil ARM w/4 spare mags, a 1911 w/two spare mags. Oh yeah, a 4″ stainless kit gun in my hunt pack. I forget what Rick bought along.

          • Glad no one checked your bags with a badge back then. Would stainless be the better option down your way with whatever is carried for a weekend to a week out in the woods/swamp due to humidity? Normally just about anything is fine finish wise up here but the last few years have rivaled Ft Leonardwood and the Chesapeake bay in terms of humidity and have had to do a lot more cleaning and oiling lately.

            • Safe, no one checked my bags because I drove. I always drive. I have more options. Not afraid to fly. The first time I did it the army asked me me to exit the airframe.
              That C-141 was still 1500 feet off the ground. Stainless is good here. I’m at the farm now. There’s a stainless Ruger GB model with a factory folding stock laying on the seat next to me. Yes it’s hot and humid.

              • Safe anything in the.357-.44 works here. Some like 10mm. There are bears (an occasional problem), panthers (a very rare problem), gators bigger than two men and snakes. Rattlesnakes and moccasins are as common as dirt. Oh! Keep a gun on the boat and watch your ass at the the beach. Three shark attacks a couple of days ago off south Walton. 30A. My sister owns a condo there. Casey’s beach house is within spitting distance of the attacks. Been there many times. One woman lost an arm. A young teenager in critical condition. They suspect a bull shark. Those things are no joke. Even though the great whites get all the press. Florida may have Disney World but this ain’t no Mickey Mouse movie.

            • And the badge would have done me no good. NY has a minimum/mandatory two year sentence. At least they did back then. No carve out for LE. Sorry if I disrupted an urban myth. When it comes to 2A I just do what I do. Everyone else can figure it out later.

            • Safe, if you come down here you will appreciate stainless. Two custom Winchester model 70s. Stainless. Custom Remington 700. Stainless. Kimber Montana. Stainless. A 6″ 629, 4″ Mountain Gun, 6″ Python, stainless. The stainless.22 LR handguns are what really shines. 5 1/2″ Ruger MK II bull barrel, 4″ S&W round butt kit gun. Etc. The squirrels are shy of the stainless guns though. I hunt them with blue steel handguns.

              • Revolver it would be unless I get something new then. Guessing 357 to 44 would be fine for just about anything down there absent Biden deer.

            • Safe, if you want to visit the panhandle, let me know. I can arrange a few free days at my sister’s condo. She lives with our mom,. Rents it occasionally, but it mostly sits empty. You do have to walk across the street to get to the beach though. So there’s that.

    • It was 2/100,000 lower in 2015.

      What’s your metric for saying “lowest in 100 years”?

      Sure, it’s still lower than it was in the 90’s but just like inflation being slightly down from a spike isn’t really down down.

      • Highest ever for most NY municipalities outside of NYC (70’s and 90’s still worse barely for 70’s) but we do have other factors at play the rest of the country (mostly) does not.

      • “What’s your metric for saying “lowest in 100 years”?”

        “The Variability of Homicide Rates across Time and Space in the U.S.

        Substantial and rapid rises and falls in homicide rates among unrelated adults, 1607-present
        Substantial variation in the timing of changes in homicide rates across regions prior to the Great Depression
        Remarkably low aggregate homicide rates in the mid-18th century and early 19th century
        Lower rates of commission by African Americans than European Americans through most of our nation’s history
        Remarkably high rates during the early and mid-17th century, the American Revolution, the mid-19th century, and on contested frontiers and in the late 19th and early 20th century South“

        https://sites.nationalacademies.org/cs/groups/dbassesite/documents/webpage/dbasse_083892.pdf

        • Wait a second; Miner49er has been going on about how all these laws that loosen restrictions on firearms and self-defense will result in blood running in the streets. Now he is touting that we have less crime?

          • “Miner49er has been going on about how all these laws that loosen restrictions on firearms and self-defense will result in blood running in the streets“

            Nope, never claimed any such thing.

    • Crime isn’t being reported and democrat moles in the government are skewing the stats.
      You are not very intelligent.

      • That’s not the case. Crime is in fact being reported increasingly.

        But keep on with your cope.

        • Not so sure about that, jsled.

          People here in my local area are increasingly hesitant to even call LE for anything due to how cops usually don’t even show up, let alone actually arrest anyone due to the expectation that the D.A. will “catch and release” without charges.

          I myself chose to forego calling our Sheriff station anymore after two separate calls (including drugs, gunfire, and witnesses ready and willing to give statements) received the roll-eye response and no follow-up. No uniforms here want to do anything unless the criminals are actually on scene and ready for a simple scoop-up.

        • “That’s not the case. Crime is in fact being reported increasingly.”

          False. Crime IS NOT being “reported increasingly”.

          First, the ‘condition’ that not all states or police departments report. There are, for reporting to FBI, 5% less police departments reporting now than there were in 2022/

          Second, there is also the ‘condition’ that in the states or police departments that do report their own internal ‘conditions’ determine what is and is not reported. For example, a crime for which a person has not been prosecuted and adjudicated ‘guilty’ yet may not be reported thus even if a person has been arrested for the crime it may not be reported. The number of exceptions to reporting have also increased, for example, since 2021 those sentenced to a ‘diversion’ type program to avoid imprisonment are no longer reported to FBI from any state or city that has a Democrat leadership.

          Third, there are a lot of crimes reported for which the perpetrator, either known or not known, has not been arrested. These numbers have doubled, and still increasing, since 2021.

          Fourth, the FBI’s own internal ‘conditions’ mostly dictate various levels of ‘prosecution’ to apply for reporting in stats. For example, the FBI homicide (in terms of actual murder) stats only include those for which there was a conviction with an adjudication of ‘guilty’ and in many murder cases the perpetrator is not adjudicated ‘guilty’ due to technicalities of the law even though the perpetrator committed the crime.

          Fifth, not all crimes are prosecuted even though there is clear and convincing ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ evidence that could be used to prosecute. We see more of this in today’s world with left wing prosecutors who simply refuse to prosecute for ‘social or political’ agenda reasons.

          Sixth, many crimes are simply not reported. This can be for various reasons, for example, fear of retribution or lack of confidence in the legal system and police.

          However, all of these when they are reported to police, reside in police reports even though they never make it into the FBI stats.

          My wife (and some others who work with her) does an annual research project under contract through the NIH each year. She gets access to systems with data bases that show police reporting – not the stuff reported to the FBI or appearing in FBI stats but the actual police reports and stats/information in various state and private research data bases and its eye opening. I get a peek at their work, here’s some of it:

          Violent criminal stabbing/slashing attacks with knives against victims happen (at current levels) ~ 2,900 times daily across the United States.

          Violent criminal attacks with hand-feet/blunt objects against victims happen (at current levels) ~ 4,200 times daily across the United States.

          Violent criminal attacks using any non-firearm ‘weapon’ (including hand/feet) for purposes of ‘sexual assault’ (either with or without rape) against victims (at current levels) is ~5,600 times daily across the United States.

          Violent criminal ‘trans-on-trans’ or ‘trans-on-gay’ or ‘trans-on-straight’ (collectively) attacks using any non-firearm ‘weapon’ (including hand/feet) for any purpose (including ‘sexual assault’ either with or without rape) against victims (at current levels) is ~4,700 times daily across the United States.

          (Note: Clarification for :

          “Violent criminal stabbing/slashing attacks with knives against victims happen (at current levels) ~ 2,900 times daily across the United States.

          Violent criminal attacks with hand-feet/blunt objects against victims happen (at current levels) ~ 4,200 times daily across the United States.”

          These are not for purposes of ‘sexual assault’. They are things such as, for example, robbery or domestic abuse assault or other assaults or home invasion or attacks on students or school staff in schools.

          at current levels = was at the time I got these numbers in the current level research calendar which runs Dec 1 of the previous year 2023 to April 1 2024. Haven’t had time to look at the rest in 2024 yet.)

          An Example: According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, (though use of) National Crime Victimization Surveys, since year 2000 to end of year 2022 (I haven’t done examination of 2023 yet).. for the two categories of crime of rape and murder … there was an average of 207,000 (rounded figure) rapes and 436,000 (rounded figure) murders prevented annually by Defensive Gun Use in the form of brandishing only. That’s 643,000 violent crimes (just for two types) prevented annually just by the victims defensively brandishing their firearm. Crimes by the perpetrator (starting or partially carrying out the crime before stopped) that were defended against – crimes they were (attempted murder, attempted rape – with associated actions crime e.g. assaults), but ya don’t see these these numbers reflected in the FBI stats now do you.

          Another Example: https://www.rainn.org/statistics/victims-sexual-violence … “On average, there are 463,634 victims (age 12 or older) of rape and sexual assault each year in the United States.”

          Ya think all of these were carried out because the criminal attacker used a firearm?

          and https://www.rainn.org/statistics/perpetrators-sexual-violence > “Personal weapons—such as hands, feet or teeth—are used against victims of sexual violence in about 2 out of 3 cases.” …. in 11% of cases of these attacks a firearm was used 6% of the time, a knife used 4% of the time, and other weapons 1% of the time…but about 66% of the time “Personal weapons—such as hands, feet or teeth” were used. Or in other words, there are annually over ~300,000 criminal assaults for purposes of rape and sexual assault where the perpetrator used a non-firearm weapon.

          So: Add up the numbers your self – and its quickly seen that a whole lot more crime happens than what is seen in FBI stats. Its not a secret, its just not directly publicly exposed so the public never hears about it making them ripe for exploitation, for example, the false narrative that crime is down under Biden when the FBI stats are used when in reality its not down just not reported in the FBI stats and actually its increased.

          In other words, the FBI stats are useless as a means of determining actual crime rates or declines or increases.

          Crime is not down, as you claimed in another post for another article, and, Crime IS NOT being “reported increasingly”.

    • That was funny jsled.
      Faries wear boots and you got to believe me.
      I saw it I saw it with my own two eyes.

            • It is so heartwarming to see so many on this forum celebrating a classic protest song against right wing extremism, bravo!

              Some of you folks may remember when the skinheads would beat up ‘long-haired hippies’ for fun.

              • Miner49er you evidently don’t know what you are talking about. Learn what context means and stop trolling.

              • “you evidently don’t know what you are talking about“

                Geezer Butler says you don’t know what context is.

                “GUITAR WORLD: Geezer, you’ve mentioned before that “Fairies Wear Boots,” [from 1970’s Paranoid] was inspired by a confrontation you guys had with skinheads. Being a longhair yourself, did you run into a lot of problems in England back then?GEEZER BUTLER There used to be fighting all the time. I used to be a football [soccer] fan—well, I still am—and I’d go down to watch the [Aston] Villa [Football Club]. I had long hair at the time. Then this one day, the skinheads, or hooligans, turned on the people with long hair, even though we were fans too. So after that I couldn’t go down there. This other time we did this gig in the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare [in North Somerset, England], and we had a fight with all these skinheads. I think that’s where the lyrics for “Fairies Wear Boots” came from.“

                https://www.guitarworld.com/features/black-sabbaths-geezer-butler-and-tony-iommi-fighting-skinheads-and-war-pigs-inspiration

              • I like Steppenwolf , Bionic Jive, Coal Chamber, Revolution Red and more.
                I really like Revolution Reds, Devil For President song.

      • possum, I suspect jsled knows all about what fairies wear in his local area.

    • “Get a fucking grip on reality. Violent crime rates are the lowest they’ve been in like 100 years.”

      Yep…as gun ownership has steadily increases since 2019 (with more than 22 million buy a gun for the first time), crime rates have indeed steadily decreased.

      You’re welcome.

    • Crime is at an all time low. Inflation is nonexistent. Presidentish Joe Biden said so.

      • “The border is closed. There is no crisis.”
        “The border crisis is the fault of Republicans.”
        “We’re fixing the border crisis with new Executive Orders.”
        “Biden is at the top of his game.”

    • jsled,

      I am glad that violent crime has been so rare in your life that you dismiss it outright as a risk worth considering.

      My life experience has been quite the opposite. All of the following happened on my property or to me directly in my life:
      1) Man sexually assaulted a 10 year-old girl on my property and kidnapped her.
      2) A lady friend’s ex-boyfriend stalker ambushed us upon returning from a social event.
      3) Road rager tried to force me into oncoming traffic.
      4) Campground patron threatened me with great bodily harm.
      5) Campground patron implied intent to inflict great bodily harm.
      6) Attempted and thwarted armed robbery.
      7) Another attempted and thwarted armed robbery.
      8) Two large German shepherd dog attacks.

      Oh, and there have been two violent home invasions just a few doors down the street from my home.

      Note that ALL of these events happened in very nice and “safe” locations.

      • Varies by location and reporting structure…….. with that said the national crime victim survey may for all it’s faults be the best estimate of what we are looking at that we are going to get anytime soon.

  3. Revolvers are legal in all 50 states, so my suggestion is to have a .357 magnum handy, or a .44 magnum in more isolated environs. If you are skirting the law in terms of carry in a particularly restrictive state, you won’t need to pick up brass, especially if the encounter happens at night and you need to vacate the location ASAP to avoid persecution.

    • Let’s not overlook a Charter Arms in the venerable .44 Spl. Or, maybe a Ruger Redhawk in .45 Colt or with moonclips .45 ACP. All quite capable and not as recoil abusive. Just a suggestion.

      • As much as I prefer other calibers 45lc probably would be the most adaptable one and done option for the overwhelming majority of the country re wilderness use.

        • Yeah, I think you’re most likely correct. I’ve got some .45 Colt that is quite mild and I’ve got some other heavy loads powered up that will start an earthquake.

    • Dude was in a standoff for a few hours with police until it was determined he wasn’t going to be charged. Honestly one of the more wild legal shoots we have had for a while and still waiting on actual details……..that it was in a trailer park was about the least weird part.

      • “Dude was in a standoff for a few hours with police until it was determined he wasn’t going to be charged.”

        Describe “standoff”?

        Do you mean he refused to submit to ‘detention’ while it was being investigated? (AKA ‘investigative detention’)

        • Refused to allow police into the trailer for several hours with the body there. May seem unreasonable unless you have an idea how unreasonable some of our prosecutors can be.

  7. Tripwire that fires a shotshell seems asking for trouble. Even if legal, one can only imagine the response by a LEO investigating the suspicious parked vehicle when it goes off. We’ve seen how some react to a falling acorn.

  8. Somebody stole my beer and cooler out of the back of the pick up when we was sleeping in a tent. When my wife went back to town to resupply she brought my pistol and Chow Dog.
    A long time ago when I was mean me and some biker friends beat up a guy who was camping and took all his sht.
    He was waving around a hatchet, that’s all he had, we took it too.

    • Had to shoot a few feral dogs (mostly pitt mixes) and a rabid coyote over the years and for that 9/40/45/357 would all be perfectly fine. Never had issues with bikers or people in the woods past the environmental conservation officers and they were just making sure I wasn’t poaching or shooting trees…….then again when I have time to go camping I am typically miles away from a road.

  9. I like to camp in unimproved areas of state and national forests. (Apparently “rustic camping” is the term for that.) Years ago I purchased about 10 heat-activated motion alarms which run on 9 volt batteries. I could thus place them all around my campsite and they would sound a very loud alarm if any mammal or human wandered within range. At the very least that would alert me to an unwelcome presence.

    The ultimate security measure is for one capable armed person to actually sleep in a separate tiny camouflage tube “tent” a fair distance away from your family’s tent/camper. Then, if robbers come calling to the large and obvious tent/camper, the capable armed person can burst on scene behind the robbers. And no, I am not kidding.

    • There are regions I could see that being a uncommon but known issue/solution. Less so I the Northeast……. except maybe Maine (not familiar with their hinterlands offhand and they do have a bit to work with. Missouri I remember quite a few safety briefings on where not to camp. NY is mostly safe except for the occasional serial killer or cult.

    • “I like to camp in unimproved areas of state and national forests“

      You must be especially grateful to the Obama/Biden administration for restoring your right to carry a firearm in those national forests and parks under the CARD Act.

      It’s interesting to consider that it was also the Obama/Biden administration that authorized both bump-stocks and pistol braces, before Donald Trump used his executive authority to take away that right.

      • you mean the Obama puppet Biden administration that’s trying to take away all 2A rights now? That Obama/Biden administration?

      • You are really pushing this gaslighting revision of history hard……new talking points for election season or field testing new disinfo?

        • His thinking pattern is linear one dimensional. Hes’ incapable of understanding what context means and applying it properly, he is emotionally based triggering and bias driven, he is confirmation biased. Hes’ ignorant on the subjects he comments on here and its obvious and he fails to see it and he doesn’t catch the meaning of reply’s used to show him this so they go right over his head, but in his mind and confirmation bias he thinks hes supplying valid and superior ‘commentary’. Hes’ overly obsessed with certain subject matter and fails to understand hes not stating anything new that we don’t already know about and accept as already happened and nothing can be done about it. He cherry picks out of context because hes’ not capable of discussion on the merits and content of the post to which he reply’s because he can’t follow the context because he doesn’t understand context thus he has to cherry pick out of context and place that into something he understands in his confirmation bias.

          He’s a typical left-wing moron.

          • Perhaps but here and elsewhere I am noticing a trend of similar trolls starting with the “hello fellow gun owners” followed by some revision of history on how democrats aren’t so bad for gun rights and/or how republicans are just as bad (lol ok neocons/RINO) and increasingly how crime is down. I have see it before but they actually get defensive and/or butthurt when called out on how retarded the premise is and often sperg out or continuously split hairs to drag out the nonsense. Jsled alone had posted more in this topic than I have seen from them in a month.

          • “His thinking pattern is linear”

            Well yes, it is linear, just like the actual history I am highlighting.

            I hear these claims that my posts are somehow revising history, but no one offers any evidence while every claim I make is backed up by a reference to the actual source documents.

            I realize, it’s been a bad week so far… Matt Gaetz is under investigation by a Republican-led congressional committee for underage prostitution, Donald Trump‘s spiritual advisor kicked out of the mega-church he founded for being a Chomo with a 12-year-old girl (God bless Texas!), CCP ambassador Steve Bannon headed to prison, it sucks to be a conservative.

          • The left has convinced him that Republicans are coming to take away his Mental Disability Checks…
            This makes him a Single-Issue Voter.
            So his Cognitive Dissonance will enable him to twist the details of any other unrelated subject in an attempt to try to convince people that DemonRats are are far better at anything and everything than they actually are in the Real World.

            A lot of leftist DemonRat idiots will often masquerade as ‘Libertarians’ to try to distance themselves from the Party, in an attempt to lend their clearly left-biased mental acrobatics some sliver of ‘Centrist’ credibility.
            You see that a lot in gun forums, and from a few clowns and Trump-Haters in the 2-A Community such as ‘TheYankeeMarshal’.

      • Miner49er,

        First of all, fedzilla has never prohibited being armed in national forests. National parks, yes. National forests, no.

        Second, United States Congress restored our right to be armed in national parks, NOT President Obama. Obama’s sole “contribution” was NOT VETOING that legislation.

        Third, fedzilla never had righteous nor constitutional authority to prohibit being armed for self-defense in national parks. Thus I was not grateful for fedzilla “fixing a problem” that they intentionally created in the first place.

        • “First of all, fedzilla has never prohibited being armed in national forests. National parks, yes. National forests, no.

          Second, United States Congress restored our right to be armed in national parks, NOT President Obama. Obama’s sole “contribution” was NOT VETOING that legislation.”

          shame on for confusing Miner49 with context.

          😁

      • MINOR49er, Again, the article refers to the State of New York’s STATE PARKS, knucklehead.

  10. Jennifer, thank you. A thought provoking article. For those who served in the military it’s simply “camp” security. However, factor in women, kids, latrine, animals (both), co-campers, environment, sound, it easily can get complicated. For thought and planning would be very useful.

  11. I’m going to do just what Joe Biden says with that shotgun thing he talked about. Honest! I don’t need a 200 round clip and a fully semi-auto weapon of war. Seriously, I wouldn’t lie about this.

  12. What if Proxima Centauri goes nova tomorrow? We can play the what if game in perpetuity.

    Be as prepared as you can for what might happen where you are. The vehicle pictured here is for recreational mobility. These things are not bullet proof armored tanks. Although Putting a camera or two on the outside might be a good idea. How far do you take this before there is no longer any fun to be be had and no more point in doing it?

    Let’s keep some degree of perspective here. Just like with barrel length, there is a point of diminishing returns.

  13. The only “safe storage” is on your person with a round chambered and ready to go. Never be out of arm’s reach of your bearable arms.

  14. can fed air horns work to startle and alert.
    but they don’t stop an attack. so many different jurisdictions and laws almost impossible to stay abreast. I will do what is best for ME and MINE. Will face what ever may come but I will survive.

  15. I like Steppenwolf , Bionic Jive, Coal Chamber, Revolution Red and more.
    I really like Revolution Reds, Devil For President song.

  17. Most places I could camp also have plenty of gators nearby. Go ahead and try to rob me out there; I promise they’ll never find out what happened to you.

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