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By *heWolfMan
over a year ago
warwickshire |
"Just a quick point of reference. If towing it's probably going to take 2/3 days traveling - don't wild camp as gangs of eastern Europeans are gasing people in their vans and robbing them. Just a word of warning."
At the risk of starting an argument here, I think this has been debunked as an Urban Myth by the Royal College of Anaesthetists - it is simply too difficult to administer the right amount of any gas to knock people out without making a hell of a racket with compressors. As the Russian police found out when they tried to free hostages in a cinema, it's very easy to kill people inside (they accidentally killed 130 hostages!)and the gases you would need are neither cheap nor easy to stroll in off the street and buy. Ether and chloroform aren't instant, even when applied with a cloth over the face, and have a pungent odour which would linger the next day.
I'm not saying people don't get robbed whilst travelling, but it's a common scam to claim you've just been robbed of everything and beg €100 from a fellow Brit to get you out of the shit. Mugs like me, who want to see the best in anyone, and hope that I'd find a Samaritan to trust me if I was in that situation and stranded, fall for that one all the time, despite us knowing it's a scam. I guess we always think "what if this is the one genuine case? It could be me standing there".
With the camper vans, it's been suggested that people on holiday get all Continental, relax and enjoy a couple of glasses of vino and then sleep soundly as thieves break in through unlocked doors or open windows. Even without some booze with dinner, many people don't sleep half as lightly as they think, and practised villains can be very stealthy.
Alarm systems in the vans don't get armed because the occupant moving inside sets them off. I think it is advised that people install an old fashioned drawbolt and lock inside the door to prevent it being opened by anyone who has mastered the art of springing a Transit door lock.
IIRC, most people who have undeniably robbed in the middle of the night in their camper van have had a bite to eat somewhere nearby and the speculation is that they have had something slipped in their drink then which brings on a deep sleep.
The advice is good though to be aware of your surroundings and find somewhere safe to sleep. God knows I've just set up my tarp and hammock in some stupid places, and it wasn't until it was pointed out to me that it would be obvious to any villain I'm carrying a nice valuable passport, cash and cards, and alone, would be an easy target, that I stopped trying to find quiet, out of the way places and now will sleep propped up underneath the cashier window at a service station in full view if I'm desperate for 40 winks!
Municipal campsites are pretty easy to find, especially if you put them into your Satnav POI files before you leave, and are generally clean, cheap and safe enough.
Why are my posts always like War & Peace? Does anyone ever read them all the way through?  |
