Author Topic: What would/did you do ?  (Read 2569 times)

ourclarioncall

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What would/did you do ?
« on: March 16, 2023, 06:36:54 PM »
Scenario

Your on your own in your tent and your bikes outside

Someone is outside the either stealing or trying to steal your bike

What would you do ?

Have you ever been in this situation?

mickeg

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Re: What would/did you do ?
« Reply #1 on: March 16, 2023, 10:23:28 PM »
Make a lot of noise and turn on my light to the brightest setting as I start getting out of my tent.

Have not been in that situation.


Matt2matt2002

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Re: What would/did you do ?
« Reply #2 on: March 16, 2023, 10:48:13 PM »
Way back in '15 ( 2015, I'm not that old😉), I had pitched my tent next to a traveling companion, Enio, from Catalonia, on the Pamir Highway somewhere in Tajikistan. We had pitched our tents on an open field. ( Long story but it really was the best option, given the unusual circumstances).

I was suddenly awoken around 3 am by a very loud noise outside the tent. It increased in volume and sounded like wild animals.
I must admit to being very frightened.
I called out to Enio and he replied in impeccable English, " It is alright, Mattue, it is the cows returning to their home. Do not be afraid."

Oh, how we laughed later that morning....

Best

Matt
Never drink and drive. You may hit a bump  and spill your drink

mickeg

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Re: What would/did you do ?
« Reply #3 on: March 17, 2023, 11:45:14 AM »
On my last two tours, once on each of them I heard some noise in my tent vestibule.  It was small animals that were quite interested in the food in my drybag that was in my tent vestibule.  One of these occurrences was at a large national park campground, the other was at a private campground, both of these campgrounds were mostly used by RVs.  So not exactly a wilderness area, no bears or other large predictors that would require more careful food storage.  Noise and light chased them away.  I never store food inside my tent, but often do in the vestibule in such areas.

I have since bought an Ursack.  It is a kevlar fabric bag that animals can't get into.  I suspect it is only sold in North America, as it is sold for food storage when camping in areas with a lot of bears.  Bears can crush any contents in the bag but they can't eat any of it, so they are not trained to look for those in campsites.  I plan to use a dry bag inside the Ursack for food storage on my future trips.  If you tie it to a tree, it will be there in the morning.  See photo, this was my food one night this past summer on a backpacking trip in an area frequented by bears.

And no, in bear country I am not stupid enough to store my food in my vestibule.  With the Ursack, I can store food farther from the tent and know it will still be there in the morning.

Second photo, in a campsite in Grand Canyon which has been a national park for decades.  There are wild deer there that have lost all fear of humans because there is no hunting allowed, you can see how close they were, my backpacking partner is sitting at a table in the photo.  Those deer were grazing right in our campsite area during the night for the two nights we were camped there, they were quite noisy.

John Saxby

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Re: What would/did you do ?
« Reply #4 on: March 17, 2023, 09:23:04 PM »
Well, I've heard leopards coughing at night, elephants wandering by (wasn't worried about them, they're delicate creatures), and hyenas making their weird noises.  But I'm still here, and more to the point, none of the above happened on a cycling tour.

If you think the problem might be malevolent humans, I'd suggest camping in a campground. People Pinching Things could happen, but in my experience there's a code that campers adhere to.  More generally, if there are people around, a whistle is always a good signal for "Help!"  Be really sure it's an emergency before you blow it, though...

Another option might be to tour with a partner. I realize that opens up a bunch of other questions.  Depends on how worried you are about things being stolen, or worse.