Yet more planning for The Big Trip…

I’m thinking about how best to keep things like passports, cash, etc in the van on our European trip. I’ve had a look around at the options, and in the van for good hidey-holes, and it seems to be that the choice is hidden but not secure (i.e. tucked into a hidey-hole in the interior of the van) or secure but not safe (i.e. I can buy a little safe and stick it under the passenger seat, but it’ll be pretty easy to find).

What do folks reckon is best?

Campers are easy targets & if you have plastic habitation windows are V. easy to break into. If you need to leave irreplacable items in the van I’d install a small safe bolted to something solid. It also has to be concealed to make finding it difficult in the space of time a tea-leaf is on the inside.

D.

devious concealment is the best way forward.

Dont wate money on safes and locks.
Just invent a perfect hidey hole:
Under one of the seats (taped package),
Behind the water tank,
In a plastic bag in the engine bay?

Or use a dummy baked bean can etc.

It also needs to be relatively easy to use, otherwise you won’t put your stuff in it.

Our old van had a key-locked strong-box under one of the rear seats. It was bolted through the floor.

Ah, good old STW, opposite answers in minutes 🙂

I’d install a small safe bolted to something solid. It also has to be concealed to make finding it difficult in the space of time a tea-leaf is on the inside.

That’s the problem, I don’t really have a space for a safe that is concealed.

I think cunning hideyhole is the way forward…

Hidden in plain sight…

+1 for concealment.

Whatever you do, don’t use the first place you think of. It’ll be the first place someone else thinks of.

What if the whole van is stolen?

What if the whole van is stolen?

Then I’m screwed 🙁

I take it you’re suggesting that we should always have that stuff with us.

More or less. When you’re travelling anything precious or irreplaceable should go with you or be left at home.

What van have you got IHN?
I installed a safe under the rear seat of my T25, held it in place with bolts and a backup cable looped through the back of the safe, under the van round a strut and back again.
Also fit a cheap shed alarm, it wont stop the thieves snatching stuff but will make sure they don’t hang about.

I wouldn’t bother with a safe, all that will happen is you’ll still loose everything but they will do loads of damage in the process. A good hidden stash and a decoy is what you need. Old bunch of keys, couple of wallets with £5 and some old bank cards and a broken compact camera. All flung in the glove box and your sorted.

Decoy is a very good idea.

mixture of all of these IMHO
Decide what you cannot afford to loose and these should be easy to stash – passports , cash /credit cards,insurance documents that sort of thing.
Obvious trinkets easy to find as above crappy camera, wallet etc as a sacrifice but not easy to find but a bit obvious – drawer etc. Hope they take it and go.
I would use a safe personally as most people wont try if they have already got some stuff IMHO – and it acts as as a distraction.
I would then hide in plain sight like a fake tin as mentioned above for cash jewelery whatever.
A magnetic box that you place somewhere on the outside/metal that they probably cant be bothered looking for,chasis above an exhaust in engine bay etc – no one – not even customs ever found my tin 😉

You can go OTT and get stuff to drop into your water tank. Hidng near you toilet cassette – assuming you have one is somehere only a dedicated thief would go – perhaps hide stuff inside the poo blue as I call it [empty one obviously]
false floors/panels work really well if you can be bothered fitting one

false floors/panels work really well if you can be bothered fitting one

I bet that could lead to a rather long delay at customs as they dismantle your van. 😉

no quite a few vans have them as standard where the lay insulation between the van and the body of the vehicle. My dads 60k van has a false floor for example. he hides his laptop and flat TV in there.
FWIW my Dad once filled the entire water tank with wine from france and got away with it

Passport can be replaced easily enough.
Valuables which can’t be replaced, leave them at home.

no offence DS everyone knows that i doubt he will be taking family heirlooms or his only photo of Grandad.
that said who wants to loose their money, cards, insurance docs, computer, E 11 camera. phone etc.

Is van alarmed?
Fit some of those personal alarms to windows and glovebox or wherever you want to hide stuff, use clear fishing line to attach pins 8)

no offence DS everyone knows that i doubt he will be taking family heirlooms or his only photo of Grandad.
that said who wants to loose their money, cards, insurance docs, computer, E 11 camera. phone etc.

No offence taken as common sense is the least common of the senses. 😈