Hondo Garage's New Thing

I added a grab strap on both the tailgate and GFC rear door to make pulling them closed easier. My tailgate doesn't lock but it wouldn't be hard to reach over and turn the key.

 

Thanks Wiley. I’m getting the hang of this thing. Gotta work the next two weekends but than I’m going to take it for 3 or 4 days and give it a proper shake down. For now I’m going “Cabana” mode in my driveway lol. This thing is seriously amazing the more i use it the more i like it. I couldn’t be happier. And to be completely honest the quality surpasses every single RTT (that I’ve ever seen). You guys knocked it out of the park. If i did it over again knowing what i know now. I wouldn’t change a thing. Thanks for the kick ass products and tech support!!!

 

So I'm thinking unless you get a power locking tailgate, there is no way if you are sleeping in there that you can lock the camper and the tailgate? Am I thinking about this wrong? Can the camper be unlocked from the inside? That will answer the question for the scenario I'm thinking of, which is sleeping in there and a thief has access to me and my vehicle because it can't be locked and unlocked from inside.

 

You can lock the tail gate from inside the bed of the truck before closing the rear door and climbing up into the bed of the GFC.

 

Thanks for taking the time to find and post those, 274 pages, yeah. So you're telling me that they didn't think of this huh?

 

Keep in mind this isn't a fortress, it's a tent/topper. So consider the "security" to be about the same as sleeping in a tent or a truck topper, just with lots more room than a topper and faster setup/takedown than a tent. That said, you can close your tailgate, reach over and lock it with your key. Then close the topper door and pull the latches closed from the inside or use the slots we provide with some cord to pull the door closed and to act as a sort of chain lock.

 

I'm just curious, from everyone in general, how many times have folks had trouble while camping? In my neighborhood, thieves are good enough to check unlocked cars. Folks with unlocked work trucks have been raided more than once. The lesson has obviously not been learned there. But out and about on trips, I've left my tent and gear while out touring around.

It just has me wondering since this topic of locking everything down solid keeps coming up? Even driving past other campsites when rolling in late or heading out early, folks have all kinds of gear lying about that goes undisturbed.

The bigger issue that I have seen is scavenging animals.

Just looking for folks' experiences here?

 

Never had a problem. I lock my vehicle and secure loose stuff but my campsite is left unattende on ocassion. Even more so when I use/used a ground tent and would drive off for the day.

 

Locks keep honest people honest.

I don't even know what I did with the keys for my panels.

 

True, but I don't need to make it any easier for dishonest people. Mine stay locked when not actively using the GFC.

 

Enjoy this video:
https://youtu.be/PiHXv9jednI

This is my primary concern. I want to be able to lock up from the inside because the last thing I want is someone 2 feet under me in the middle of the night going through the bed of my truck when the solution could be to design this from the get go. I'm gonna buy this GFC. Future customer here. But come on. I understand I can rig something up, and their comment up there about this isn't a fortress... Better safe than sorry.

 

Yeah I don't understand why people want to lock the lower portion down while they're trying to sleep upstairs either - just makes it a pain in the ass to get out in the morning or to take a leak in the middle of the night.

I have a power locking tailgate wired to the passenger door lock, and I installed a switch near the kick panel specifically to disable it while camping.

If someone is feeling so bold as to approach an obviously occupied camper I don't think a locked tailgate/rear panel is going to make much difference. Predator (as featured in The Predator) probably knows how to open the rear tent zipper anyways - so you may also want to roll with some TSA approved luggage zipper locks.

 

As was discussed a few pages back - if your camper is obviously occupied I think it is much less likely that anyone will be approaching it. If you are stealth camping and a tweaker thinks it's empty then yes I guess it's more of a concern - but if that's your main activity the GFC probably isn't the best tool for the job.

 

Possibly? In my experience (living half my life in rural PA and suburban WA), it seems that there are about the same percentage of bad folks out there? Being honest, we park in our garage with our keys in our vehicles and usually with the windows open. My bike even has the key stored in the ignition. Good luck trying to ride off on that thing after a cold start.

If I parked outside, esp in an urban area with more people around all hours, I would be paranoid about locking up and probably go for a vibration sensor on the alarm? We are paranoid about checking the garage door is closed and have a cheap webcam there to check.

I remember once being parked on a street in Seattle while waiting for some friends. Just after sundown, a kid walked by checking all the car doors. It was funny when he saw me sitting there.

Same for me when camping though. I clean up my camp site before heading out for the day.

 

In some ways you're correct. Most of us here have extensive motorcycle/bicycle touring backgrounds as well as lots of experience traveling and camping in all sorts of places, including lots of foreign travel. We even camp in ground tents up here in bear country And maybe this will offend some but we are sort of bothered by the way that the whole outdoor scene (especially "overlanding") has been overrun with what we jokingly refer to as fear-based living: over-prepared and an unhealthy emphasis on security. I'm not saying there aren't valid security concerns, but I do think as a society we've gotten to the point where people are too afraid of things. A little common sense, some skill, and an open mind can make the world a mostly safe, and pretty rad place to live in. But I'm a person that sleeps in cabana mode pretty much everywhere whenever the weather's good

Now that I've probably derailed this thread with my philosophical rant, I will say that in spite of this outlook, we will make an add-on way to lock the tent closed before the end of the year. But that @ace7196 is correct in that we designed the camper to reflect our worldview that says the need for real security is rare and statistically unlikely.

As for the video @Dr TMAC posted, I could also make videos of the hundreds of parking lots and rest areas I've camped in where no problems were encountered. But that would make for a boring video so I wouldn't. But there are tweakers everywhere. Nothing is 100% safe. And you can lock the GFC from the inside, it just requires fashioning a strap to hold the rear door closed. I'll post some photos or a video in a couple of weeks when we're on our next photo shoot.

 

I get what you're saying. If they made two versions that cost the same, and one locked from the inside and the other did not, even with your most likely case that someone would not approach an occupied camper, the customer would still buy the one that could be locked from the inside.

 

Prowlers aren't fun. That was pretty much my experience in my previous post about parking on a city street.

I just don't see this as a major concern when out camping. As Wiley said, and like the person in the video, stealth camping will probably get this kind of bad attention?

 

@wileydavis since you're playing in the sandbox today - can you give us any more info on the puppy ventilation plans. My GFC is 'in production' on the list but Elise told me I should be on the next trailer west. I'm the guy asking for the hole in the top for my solar vent. I'm curious what you have up your sleeve as that may keep me from cutting a hole in the top...

I can PM you my phone number if you like.

 

I like the cut of your jib.

That's the worldview that I'd like to see again.




BTW, I have enjoyed your other philosophical posts / blog write-ups.

 

398,453 views, 5,503 replies. I am simply saying what other people might or might not be thinking, and aren't taking the time to speak on.

Those are your potential customers. The correct way to respond might have been to say, thank you we did not realize that this is important to people, and since we did not think of this, we are going to add it in for based on our customer's desires. You might live in a nice peaceful area and face the world without fear like in your speech above, but I know that you have a lock on the front and back door of your house. You have almost 400,000 people watching this. Most aren't going to reply, but they are watching.