Alarms - Yes or No

[21100]

I can only talk about our monitored vehicles, last year we had 3 attempted theft ie: electronic attacks, and 4 vehicles broke into where the alarm sounded and we alerted the customer.

Because our system is designed to stop the theft, its hard to know how many were for theft from or theft of the van.

 

[bellabee]

I can only talk about our monitored vehicles, last year we had 3 attempted theft ie: electronic attacks, and 4 vehicles broke into where the alarm sounded and we alerted the customer.

Were all of these monitored vehicles motorhomes?

 

[eddie]

Thatcham alarms were designed in the 70s when they did work, unfortunately the thief is in 2015.

Carl you know very well that Thatcham didn't exist in the 70's neither did modern alarms

 

[peterc10]

All OK but the cost of my motorhome is such that I have to have a Thatcham category 1 alarm on it - my insurers demand it. So off the Eddie I will go. At the moment still trying to decide between Strikeback or Growler. And should I have his Non Starter GSM mobilisation kit as well????

 

[Deleted member 29692]

Alarms and trackers in there present form, have had there day. There is a new generation of security systems available by lots of different companies, the enfasis being on stopping the theft in the first place.

It's the insurance companies you have to convince of that.

Condition of my insurance: Thatcham Cat 1 alarm plus either a Cat 5 or Cat 6 tracking device.

I'm not knocking the idea of what you sell, in fact I'm having a device designed to prevent the theft added to my system at Vanbitz next week, but as long as the systems aren't insurance approved they aren't ever going to be the mainstream first choice.

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[Deleted member 29692]

At the moment still trying to decide between Strikeback or Growler. And should I have his Non Starter GSM mobilisation kit as well????

Growler and Non Starter.

I'm having the Non Starter added to mine next week. It's a great idea.

 

[eddie]

Alarms and trackers in there present form, have had there day. There is a new generation of security systems available by lots of different companies, the enfasis being on stopping the theft in the first place.

You are talking nonsense. The priority for motorhomes is theft "from" not the theft of.

Funsters, don't believe me,, don't believe Carl, this is the biggest interactive motorhome club and forum on the internet. How may members have had their motorhomes stolen?

We have literally tens of thousands of motorhomes protected with our Strikeback and Growler systems, and we know of literally a handful of alleged thefts, and one of those is under Police investigation for fraud!

 

[eddie]

Alarms and trackers in there present form, have had there day. There is a new generation of security systems available by lots of different companies, the enfasis being on stopping the theft in the first place.

Really? its taking a long time for the rest of the security and insurance industry to catch up lol

 

[21100]

Really? its taking a long time for the rest of the security and insurance industry to catch up lol

That was a long time ago, im so much better looking now.

 

[eddie]

I must admit Carl that you looked very smart in your suit

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[Zigisla]

We are nearly there guys.. I have had 7 either from or of, from OTT and a handful from Vanbitz - but was that theft from or of?


I can gather that with all the visual and obvious deterrents, at least a dozen or so have been "violated" some way shape or form and the deterrents, for those few didn’t work on those scubags. I am hopeful that the excess of the 10 of thousands of motorhomes that have high end alarms do there job of preventing crime either be it theft of or from. Factory fitted alarms, immobilisers and tracking systems take care of the theft of and alarms take care of the theft from and there are some that combine both.

I think we have exhausted this thread.. Now lets get back to refillable gas...

 

[21100]

That was a long time ago, im so much better looking now.

I must admit Carl that you looked very smart in your suit

I was right though about key theft and electronic theft.

 

[eddie]

We are nearly there guys.. I have had 7 either from or of, from OTT and a handful from Vanbitz - but was that theft from or of?


I can gather that with all the visual and obvious deterrents, at least a dozen or so have been "violated" some way shape or form and the deterrents, for those few didn’t work on those scubags. I am hopeful that the excess of the 10 of thousands of motorhomes that have high end alarms do there job of preventing crime either be it theft of or from. Factory fitted alarms, immobilisers and trackistng systems take care of the theft of and alarms take care of the theft from and there are some that combine both.

I think we have exhausted this thread.. Now lets get back to refillable gas...

As I keep saying no one knows how many modern motorhomes are stolen, I assure you it is very few. Theft from the motorhome is the real issue and our customers do seem satisfied with the systems that we install, which frankly is our only concern. The best way to get further information from fellow motorhome Fun members is to search your questions for real life cases and experience. LOL is a refillable thread a "gassing post"?

I was right though about key theft and electronic theft.

Key theft has been known issue since the 1997 Euro Zone diktat that all vehicles will have a factory fitted immobiliser.

Electronic theft is really only a issue to systems tied into the CAN bus system on the vehicle, which is why we do not interface either Growler or Strikeback into the manufacturers key/remote.

I have no doubt that electronic theft is an issue to BMW owners for example, but it is pointless to try to extrapolate figures garnered from one vehicle type to make sense of security needs in another.

Motorhomes are very rarely stolen, if they are they tend to be older motorhomes. If more modern, then they do tend to be driven away as the thief has managed to steal a key.

Yes in those cases tracking is helpful, and if it does worry you, there are products about to add another level into your security regime

 

[Zigisla]

Fully appreciate that no one can be sure of figures, that's why I hoped that I would receive an" I have" "I have" type response from those that were unfortunate to be done over.
I am convinced that of the many that are fitted especially by yourselves, without anyone coming back to you and saying despite the alarm I still got done over, it is still a hung jury.

On a lighter note. The gas thread was cos I still have one open on which system to get and how much it will cost me. That too is turning into wwIII. R67 are they aren't they "n" all that.
Still only 6 weeks to go.

 

[RollingRog]

We had a strikeback fitted at vb and when we were at the pool on a French campsite thieves broke in through the window, they got as far as opening some cupboards and drawers , got away with a camera I'd left in the drawer.
When we returned to find the window damaged and the alarm light flashing we realized we had been burgled, asked the Belgian couple who were parked next door if they heard or saw anything, they said oh yes we heard the alarm go off, that was it, they didn't look or check what was going on! We were lucky I guess it could have been worse!

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[JJ]

My solution is to have a van no one would want to steal...

... and if anyone was silly enough to enter the vehicle, without wearing one of those biological protection suits, they wouldn't find anything worth stealing anyway.

JJ

 

[RollingRog]

Having now trawled through the plethora of threads on this very emotive subject, I have just one question.
Has anyone, with a sophisticated alarm system, and I’m thinking more of the Strikeback (No 1 on the thread count so far) and high end Cobra (No 2 on your threads), ever been robbed or unit stolen with the Alarm set?

Yes we had our window broken and thieves got in even though we had set the all singing all dancing alarm!

 

[Zigisla]

I really feel for you guys that have been "done over" and was going to like your post but seemed inappropriate after you had to re live that time to appease my query. But thanks for the reply. Fortunately I think it is only a few but has made me re think whether you do need the "canine ball bags" of an alarm or a much simpler and less expensive alarm systems. Maybe take Eddie up on his offer of coffee and talk to vb at the NEC show in Feb for more advice. Thanks again.

 

[ceejayt]

Literally just returned from having Growler fitted at Vanbitz - they did a great job I have to say.

The problem with alarms is no-one takes much notice nowadays. We took the option of adding the GSM messaging service and have already been alerted once by text to the alarm going off while we were in the supermarket and the van was in the car park. False alarm as it happened (as far as I could tell) but even if no-o0ne else takes any notice I can tell you I was into that car park pretty quickly when it went off.

We had a strike back previously and had no incidents in 6 years - not sure that tells you anything. Personally, with Growler, Trackstar, non start and GSM messaging we couldn't have made it any more secure (or spent any more money - it wasn't cheap). If they can stand the noise when they break in well not much I can do about that but I know for certain they can't drive it away and if it is in easy reach i can be back at the van reasonably quickly.

 

[Zigisla]

Thanks to all who replied to my question. I have always been convinced that the mh is safe from theft, but it was would the unruly go for a mh that had flashing led, signage bleeping etc. If this doesn't stop those unsavoury types would you best be fitting a much cheaper model or still spending a fortune on the state of the art alarm and still those unwashed wanting to target your van. I still believe my mh needs an alarm, but which one is still under debate.

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[eddie]

Yes we had our window broken and thieves got in even though we had set the all singing all dancing alarm!

When did we install your system and what did we install if you don't mind me asking? We have been installing motorhome alarms since 1990 so there is a lot of variance

Eddie

 

[Speve]

I think the answer is spend what you can afford on a good alarm at least it can be some sort of deterrent even if only to make the thieves deaf, but at least you have done all you can to prevent it happening to you if it does happen after all this that's what insurance is for.
There are a lot of opportunists out there who will see the alarm and think it's not worth the risk as it attracts attention to them and move on to a van that doesn't have an alarm.

 

[meanderer]

I just love the way forum threads weave in and out (and sometimes off...) of a topic. Read this one end-to-end as it has particular interest now I'm trying to get quotes for a camper.
Interesting opinions on all sides, but an alarm isn't an option if the insurers are saying so. Next email has to be Vanbitz I guess

 

[Jim]

Interesting opinions on all sides, but an alarm isn't an option if the insurers are saying so. Next email has to be Vanbitz I guess

I just wrote a review on the Broken Link Removed

 

[meanderer]

Hi Jim - already read it
Question is, where does it end? Going to go for a simple (HA!!!) alarm that does perimeter alarming at night. Bad enough that the garage has three doors that I want to protect

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[Wunderlust]

Well, I enjoyed this thread as I'm looking to fit a security system to my 2007 MH shortly. It comes with a factory fitted alarm/immobiliser but no tracker. I have it down to possible installers, VanBitz or Outsmart the Thief. I'm leaning towards Outsmart the Thief at the moment but I need to do a bit more research on each offering. Don't know whether the factory fitted alarm/immobiliser will be good enough and therefore just need to add a tracker, or start from scratch and replace the lot.

 

[APACHE 1988]

Bought a flashing rear cycle light from the £ store. Fitted it with re chargeable AA batteries. There is a small unexplained hole in the door of an overhead cupboard in the bedroom area of the old girl. Put the flashing lamp in there propped up on a pair of winter wear bed socks with the pulsating red light showing through........several people have asked me what sort of alarm it is that we have fitted.

 

[maison]

Some years ago we returned to our motorhome, parked in a busy car park in Cornwall.

When I tried to use the remote to disarm the alarm and unlock the doors I found that the batteries in the remote had died. Knowing that we had a spare hidden in a locker inside the m/h I unlocked the door manually, causing the alarm to sound.

We jumped in then realised that we couldn't remember exactly where we had hidden the spare.

There we were, alarm blaring, and us rifling frantically through the lockers, in full view of holidaymakers. It took us a couple of minutes or more to locate the spare remote and disarm the alarm.

At no time did anyone ask what we were doing or show more than a passing interest, although we could easily have been robbing the m/h. Although we still have an alarm fitted to our present unit I don't have an awful lot of faith in them.

 

[Kool Kroozer]

I have only just seen this thread an its a coincidence that the alarm that's fitted to our van from new by the previous owners less than six months ago is nothing but a pain in the ass and I want it either removed or turned off.. It's not a vanbitz alarm by the way.. It's a auto Watch system.. Arms itself randomly.. Triggers without any apparent reason.. All I want from an alarm is something that arms the van when I press the arm button on the fob and turns off when I press disarm.. I had the same issues with motorbike alarm. I had that removed.. Just more trouble than they're worth in my opinion

 

[Big Nick]

Personally I'm having one fitted as we wild camp quite often and it will alert me to anyone tampering with the bikes/rack or attempting to enter the van whilst we are asleep

Not much protection when away from the van but then again what is?

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