Customers ask me all the time how to protect their beloved RVs. Chains? Couper lock? GPS tracking device? An anti-missile Iron Dome defense system? They’re desperately hoping I have some insider knowledge of a particular, recently invented but as yet unknown device that will assuage all their worries. 

My standard response is that protecting your RV from theft is a lot like surviving a zombie apocalypse: You just have to outrun your neighbor. 

How to Prevent RV Trailer Theft

An RV is a mobile vehicle. That’s why we love them, don’t we? That same mobility is what we’re fighting against when we try to protect our campers and motorhomes from being unceremoniously dragged away in the dead of night to a chop shop to end life as an eBay auction for “like-new!” RV parts. 

The smaller the RV, the easier to steal. I’ve never had anyone ask me how to safeguard their 38,000-lb Class A Monaco. Most of us are afraid to even drive them, let alone steal them. But I’ve had lots of inquiries about travel trailers, pop-ups, and teardrops. As RV Travel reported, something like 4 out of every 5 RVs stolen are travel trailers.

P.S. If you’re concerned about thieves getting inside your camper and stealing your stuff, check out this article here.

Does the Anti-Theft RV Gear Actually Matter?

Now, full confession: Most internet blog articles on this topic are affiliate marketing posts. In other words, the written content is just gift wrapping paper for the commissions hopefully earned from you buying one of the gadgets and gizmos on the list: a coupler lock, wheel boot, stinger lock, GPS tracker, etc. Yes, I even have my own such compendium!

This is no such article. But it’s still important. In a past life, I had sold a customer a bespoke mini trailer. Within a few months, it had vanished – stolen from under his nose, parked in his suburban driveway, in broad daylight. It was never found. 

The unfortunate truth is that a sledgehammer or power tool will make quick work of almost any safeguard you can imagine.

• I’ve lost keys to coupler locks, and a few taps with a 5-lb sledgehammer was enough to knock the lock out of the ball socket.
• A 4.5-inch angle grinder with a good cut-off wheel will zip through almost any safety chain.
• Many cheap lock cylinders can be jiggled free with a simple worm rake (thank you, LockPickingLawyer).
• And what’s to stop an enterprising thief from simply slinging some chains around your trailer A-frame tongue, attaching them to his hitch, and dragging your beloved away? Nothing, and it absolutely happens.

But you aren’t trying to turn your RV into a Fort Knox, you see. You’re just trying to make life difficult – to annoyingly buzz in the ear of the would-be thief, so to speak. A sledgehammer is loud; an angle grinder, louder still. Show a little fight, and the thief will move on to a more vulnerable target who didn’t read this article.

My Advice: Pick 2-3 Different RV Security Solutions

So I advise customers to invest in 2-3 RV theft prevention solutions. Run a heavy, hardened chain in a serpentine pattern through your rims, add a coupler or king pin lock, and stick a GPS tracking device somewhere the thief won’t easily find it. You can buy a subscription for about $25-$100/year. That’s cheap insurance. Sure, a scientist can figure out how to get through all your defenses (like a mouse in a maze), but a thief will likely move on to more innocent prey. 

Storage and location are other big factors. The more private the location, the lower the risk. If you can store your RV indoors, such as within a dedicated storage facility, even better. 

I write this little tidbit not to cause anxiety, but to relieve it. Stop searching for the silver bullet. There is no unbeatable anti-theft device. Better gear just makes better criminals. But just as a porcupine has more than one quill, so you can use more than one RV anti-theft device. To return to my mosquito metaphor, a single mosquito can be easily slapped and defeated, but a horde of them will cause any creature to falter and flee.