Hi everyone.

There’s always been something of an unspoken rule around caravan parks and camping grounds that stealing other’s gear was out of the question and that there was no real need to be too concerned about security. These days, however, the situation has changed somewhat, especially with camping accessories being so expensive, it seems we really cannot rely on the honesty of our fellow campers.

This morning on the caravanning Facebook pages, there’s a story going around telling how a couple had their towing hitch pin stolen from their car during the night without them knowing. As they went to leave the caravan park, their towbar collapsed and the drawbar ended up on the road.

Fortunately no one was hurt and damage to the rig was minimal.

Now I can sort of understand why someone might want to pinch a solar panel or a generator but this idea of nicking a hitch locking pin, for what seems to be for nothing more than a prank, is beyond words. Apparently its happens often enough for it to be a real concern. Another member of the group reported seeing an older man steeling their pin so it’s not just kids doing it.

Can I suggest a few additional precautions for you all. As part of your pre drive checks, ensure your locking pin is in place. Also, you should carry a spare pin in your box of tricks. You may also want to consider purchasing a lockable pin however, be careful as some of these are made cheaply and are prone to cracking. If you so buy one, purchase it from a reputable caravan accessories outlet.

One final tip, if you do find yourself in this situation without a spare pin, you can use a small socket set extension as a temporary fix.

Safe travels everyone.