Gentleman Jack discusses why keeping your motorhome secure is important, and how he upgraded the defences on his Bailey Advance
protection
After changing motorhomes, we always make it a priority to take our new vehicle to a reliable fitter of motorcaravan security systems, so that we can have ‘it’, ‘us’ and ‘ours’ properly protected.
Motorhomes are worth a lot of dosh in their own right – although actually, ours is worth far more to us than it would be to some earwig of a thief, because it’s absolutely integral to our lifestyle.
Transport, adventures, exploring, walking, foreign holidays, family weekends away, even romantic meals for two watching the sun go down on a jaw-droppingly beautiful view – our motorcaravan is essential for most of our leisure activities, so to have it stolen would be life-changing.
Personal experience has shown us the impact this can have. Some 33 years ago, someone broke into our coachbuilt ’van, and it was painfully obvious to us that the ‘car alarm’ fitted needed replacing with something designed and purpose-built to protect our motorcaravan and accessories, such as bikes on a rack.
Special protection
Back then, only one firm had alarms made to their own specification, and were keen motorcaravanners themselves – meaning that they understood the requirements differed from those of car owners. They were also approved by insurers.
I reckon that company has stayed ahead of the game ever since then, which is why for well over three decades, I’ve remained a Van Bitz customer.
Our Bailey Advance has been fitted with a Growler system, which uses the same basic Strikeback alarm as we’ve had before, but includes some useful extra accessories and features. The Growler’s key advantages are:
Three (yes, three) exterior sirens, which can create a wall of sound Two (switchable) internal sirens Blue LED variable-intensity warning lights at both front and rear, and next to the entrance door Bonnet protected by a tilt switch, rather than a pin switch Interior protected by high-frequency sensor. Better coverage and more reliable than PIR detectors, plus air conditioning or blown-air heating won’t trigger the alarm Diagnostic facility for alarm triggers Perimeter-only protection can also be selected, so Fido or Top Cat can pad around inside when their owners are out and about and the motorhome is alarmed Bikes, genny and so on are protected by an accessory loop Panic button on key fob triggers the alarm, whether it is ‘armed’ or not Approved by Thatcham and all leading motorcaravan insurers. Some providers give a discount on t
