Trailhead Vehicle Surveillance

Trailhead condition requests, questions, alerts, etc.
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jschooch
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Trailhead Vehicle Surveillance

Post by jschooch »

I'm a frequent hiker around town and have several 14ers and backpacking trips planned this year. With the uptick in vehicle break ins and catalytic converter craze I have been thinking about buying a cheap security camera to hang up at some of the less traveled trailheads to keep an eye on my vehicle. Wondering if anyone else does something similar or has a recommendation for a CHEAP, battery powered camera that records to an internal memory or SD card?
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cottonmountaineering
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Re: Trailhead Vehicle Surveillance

Post by cottonmountaineering »

a trail camera might work

im not sure if it will prevent anything though, you'll look at the footage and be like yep, meth
bluegrassclimber
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Re: Trailhead Vehicle Surveillance

Post by bluegrassclimber »

Skip the camera. Two pit bulls and a ring of cattle fencing (the roll up kind.) Effective against marmots too.
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madbuck
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Re: Trailhead Vehicle Surveillance

Post by madbuck »

cottonmountaineering wrote: Wed Apr 28, 2021 9:00 am im not sure if it will prevent anything though, you'll look at the footage and be like yep, meth
:lol: ](*,)

Some jackasses stole our bikes from the back of our car in the armpit town of Council Bluffs, Iowa (can't say bad enough things about that place), and it was caught on hotel camera.
Not clear enough to capture license plates, and never got the bikes back.

I did get to watch the video several times and get angry, though!
And I learned about extensive meth problems there.
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Trotter
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Re: Trailhead Vehicle Surveillance

Post by Trotter »

cottonmountaineering wrote: Wed Apr 28, 2021 9:00 am a trail camera might work

im not sure if it will prevent anything though, you'll look at the footage and be like yep, meth
Trail camera would be way to go.

Keep in mind, unless you get a good clear shot of their license plates, photos aren't worth much.
After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. -Nelson Mandela
Whenever I climb I am followed by a dog called Ego. -Nietzsche
ker0uac
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Re: Trailhead Vehicle Surveillance

Post by ker0uac »

Here's a pro tip - plaster your car with bumper stickers, lots of it of don't tread on me snakes and MAGA and USA flags, and leave empty cans of Nat Light beer on your back seat.
Those who travel to mountain-tops are half in love with themselves and half in love with oblivion
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mtree
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Re: Trailhead Vehicle Surveillance

Post by mtree »

I've never had a break in or problem at trailheads. I don't worry about it.

If you're concerned, leave your doors unlocked and leave nothing you value in your vehicle. As for the catalytic converter, heck, if they're so determined they'll travel to a remote trailhead to get one, its theirs! Odds of that seem pretty low when so much easier to snatch in town.

Setting up a camera seems like a waste of time to me, but to each his own. I'd be more worried about someone pilfering my beer from the creek!
- I didn't say it was your fault. I said I was blaming you.
pvnisher
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Re: Trailhead Vehicle Surveillance

Post by pvnisher »

ker0uac wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 8:02 am Here's a pro tip - plaster your car with bumper stickers, lots of it of don't tread on me snakes and MAGA and USA flags, and leave empty cans of Nat Light beer on your back seat.
This advice applies to nearly every situation.
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ezabielski
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Re: Trailhead Vehicle Surveillance

Post by ezabielski »

Why wouldn't you just use an always-on pair of dash/reverse cameras? Will also help you capture the much more likely event of a traffic accident on the way to the trailhead.
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Trotter
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Re: Trailhead Vehicle Surveillance

Post by Trotter »

ezabielski wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 10:18 pm Why wouldn't you just use an always-on pair of dash/reverse cameras? Will also help you capture the much more likely event of a traffic accident on the way to the trailhead.
Well if they broke into the car, wouldn't they just steal the dash camera too?
After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. -Nelson Mandela
Whenever I climb I am followed by a dog called Ego. -Nietzsche
jschooch
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Re: Trailhead Vehicle Surveillance

Post by jschooch »

Good points brought up everyone....or almost everyone :lol: . Maybe not worth the effort. I do have a few trail cameras that I use for scouting and maybe I'll throw one of the cheap ones out there sometime. Appreciate the feedback!
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