We’re back in business!
No, they didn’t find David Towie, sadly. But there’s a new sheriff in town…
ICYMI ✌️
After taking time to get over the trauma of David Towie’s theft and giving a whole lot of thought to how to keep a new trailer safe, I took the plunge and bought a new trailer which I’ve dubbed David Twoie ✌️
The kind folks at Bend Teardrop gave me a returning customer discount and threw in a few goodies to help make up for my loss last October.
Defense in depth
You may be curious how I plan to keep David Twoie safe. In the InfoSec world, there’s a concept called defense in depth. Basically, it means taking a multi-faceted approach to keeping a resource protected from baddies. None of the measures is meant to be foolproof, but taken together, they should make it a real hassle for the malicious actor to do you harm.
I have attempted to implement defense in depth for David Twoie using the following measures:
Beefier locks — David Towie was protected with a locking pin through the hitch receiver and a couple of light-duty wheel chocks. The locking pin remains, but at the recommendation of Dave, the owner of Bend Teardrop, I’ve added a monster of a hitch receiver lock and upgraded to pro-grade wheel chocks. These babies are the first, and honestly best, line of defense.
Alarm — Credit to Val for this idea. She suggested adding a car alarm to the trailer. That would have been expensive, so I went with something cheaper: a bike alarm. Hopefully I don’t eat crow over this decision, but the thing is dang loud so fingers crossed it does the job of causing the thieves consternation and drawing attention to the heist if it happens.
Camera — I’m still in the process of installing it, but I will be mounting a surveillance camera on the trailer overlooking the hitch with a bright yellow sticker that says, “Smile, you’re on camera. 🙂” on the front panel of the trailer. This serves two purposes: 1) deterrence, 2) evidence. If the trailer gets stolen, I’ll have the perps’ license plate on video in the cloud because screw those guys.
AirTags — Probably the number one question people ask me when they hear about the trailer being stolen is whether I had AirTags in it. I did not. (In case you haven’t heard of them, AirTags are little devices that phone home with their location whenever an iPhone is nearby.) These don’t actually stop someone from stealing anything, but they could aid in recovery by giving me real-time location information regarding the whereabouts of the trailer. They also give me peace of mind when I’m away because I can open my phone and check that the trailer (or at least the AirTags 😅) is still in front of my house. You may have noticed that I keep saying AirTags, plural. I actually hid two of the little buggers in the trailer. The plan is, if dog forbid David Twoie is stolen, I’ll activate “lost” mode on the easier-to-find of the two AirTags so the perps will find it and think they’re rid of the pesky tracking device, unaware that another lurks tracking their every move!
Hopefully all of the above taken together is enough to prevent a repeat of last Fall’s events. If not, I’ll bank the insurance money and sleep in a tent on the ground the rest of my camping days. 😛
In the meantime, I look forward to future adventures with my new trailer! First up is rockhounding with my dad, sis’, and friend Michelle over Labor Day weekend. 🤘
Love this post and so great to read up on all the ways to protect your new trailer. It is such a shame though that you even have to do this. So sorry!
I’m so glad to see you’re back on the road!! Love the new trailer name 😂