Motor Coach Security

[MangoMike]

No firearms in the Mothership as I would be afraid Mrs. Mango may use it on you know who.

Jerry, who installed the pressure sensitive floor and motion detectors. This is the first I've heard of this on a bus.

Mike

[Jerry Winchester]

Mike,

I don't know the answer to that. It was installed on the coach when I got it. It has switches to arm the "mikes" and "pressure mats". On my home alarm, the only time it has gone off was when we left and the girls had a helium balloon upstairs. When the AC came on, it caused it to move and the motion detector went off and the alarm company called me. I think I need a big barking dog alarm to go off inside when we are gone.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Lew pulled our chain on a post on the other forum about not locking our bays, but over the years we have come to realize that Prevost owners are not well loved. The concensus is we all got our money by taking advantage of somebody else.

For that reason we trust no one. When overnighting anywhere but in a campground everything is locked. We have alarms, but for whatever reason we have never activated the system. Maybe it is because, like Jerry, we are inside. We have a double barrel shotgun, but by the time we got it out from under the bed, found the shells, loaded the gun, and pointed it, the bad guy would have everything, including the fillings in our teeth.

Having said that we are now likely to bring a pistol with us, and illegal or not, keep it loaded and accessible to us. Our grandson was our previous factor, and now that he is a high schooler and does not spend a lot of time with us conditions will permit the use of a pistol.

[Kevin Erion]

I grew up in So California and now I have 3 beautiful girls and we lock the door and the bay doors. I am sorry but no guns and no alarms. I guess I think that I am safe because of where I choose to park. If I make a bad choice, I must be stupid, do I want to be so afraid of the area that I pick to spend the night with my family.
Time will tell,
Kevin

[rfoster]

My coach is an automatic, my other automatic is .44 There a lot of idiots on drugs these days---- I'll ask questions later.
Roger

[Jon Wehrenberg]

I want to clarify a previous post. My original line of defense if things get ugly is to drive away.

We would have never ever considered personal protection if my wife had not had a guy in a MO welcome center hang with her, asking questions as she walked the dog. After she got in the coach we watched the cops arrest this guy and take a large knife from him. We don't know why the cops arrested him, but we do know I watched him talking to her from the coach and all I had to protect her if he decided to do something bad was a butter knife.

I'm in full agreement with Roger.

[ken&ellen]

Jon, Ellen & I have gone through a defensive training program and both carry concealed weapons. Actually, Ellen, qualified number one, in the class, on the firing range.
The first and most important rule is to be aware of your surrounding and avoid situations that are potentially dangerous. We were at a rest stop, late one night, to change drivers in route to Atlanta last year. Our routine, when stopped, is to check the toad vehicle. Ellen jumped out and I watched her on the camera as well as the mirrors. As she walked back along the coach she was approached by two individuals who, as it turns out, were begging for money. Although, I was prepared to come to her aid I was very concerned for her saftey. The point here is that we let our routine dictate the proceedure instead of following our training to go together to check the toad. We now go together to walk the dogs, fuel stops, or any function in and around the coach at night. Ken & Ellen

[pognumber26]

Iwas approached at a Flying J @9pm one evening by three suspicious brothers insisting they wanted to WASH my coach...It was alraedy dark and the coach was parked in the middle of an empty truck parking lot...After several minutes of SMALL TALK , I had to confront the leader,I walked the 3-4 feet over to him,looked him in the eye,and told him to get the F--- out of my face and leave me alone...Maybe it was my native NY surety or my physical presence-6'4/350 lbs...The three pulled their car across the parking lot and pointed it toward the coach with the lights on... I got back in the coach and drove 50 miles to the lighted safety of a patrolled Walmart...Since then I ALWAYS alarm and lock the coach...We even have locks all around on our towed H3 rig...I am trained and experienced in the ways of the street...But when it comes to armed conflict,these days, I refer to the wisdom of Sun Tzu...The general who must resort to armed conflict,has ALREADY LOST THE BATTLE...faced with death, I have ALWAYS chosen to live...Short of that choice, I have always found good planning and sense more powerful than raw aggression...

[Just Plain Jeff]

We're all looking forward to the much-touted Barclay dinner at the POG rally, in whatever form that takes. It'll be great for us all to have an opportunity to meet. The Ultimate Webmaster POGmeister Jim is getting the working agenda for the rally together. Looks like a neat balance between scheduled events and free time for the first face-to-face meeting between members and others. Already there are some pretty cool surprises emerging and I expect that there will be more. Helen and I will have a surpise for everyone (and ourselves) and are hoping for a tolerant reaction from the group.

Yesterday I was going through some of my old crinkly papers from the military and it said, "Counterinsurgency Experience, Republic of Vietnam, 1966-67." As to the general business of security of which I know just a a tad, it was my experience, and still is, to make sure that I am not in the wrong place at the wrong time. We have invited people on several occasions into our Prevosts in the past and had quite pleasant reactions. Some of you know about this and we got 'the eyerolls.'

Before we wised up and stopped going to Prevost in Florida, we were roaming around around town trying to find a good greasy cheeseburger. Helen stopped the truck at a place that said, "The Best Cheeseburgers in Town." Nothing wrong with that! We went in and found it was a topless joint with very loud music. I, well, er, stayed to get the food and Helen went outside and sat on the back of the truck gate. This wasn't in what you might call the best part of town. (For those who are inclined, it is called, "Waco's," and we decided NOT to post this as a campground suggestion here on the site).

We did really well, both of us, ahem, but decided to get out of Dodge and enjoy the burgers in the bus. I am sure Helen doesn't want to go there again, but I might be pushed into it...you know, for the cheeseburgers, perhaps, well.

Picking the best place to be at a given moment is most important.

I would rather be at the POG rally having fun than in a vulnerable place somewhere else.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

We have a lot to learn and maybe if there is time at the rally we can all participate in a disussion of this topic. We do not like guns, and we like it even less that we felt compelled to own them.