Fitting a safe

[Inca]

I've never seen it mentioned anywhere, but has anybody ever fitted a safe to thier motorhome?
A friend of mine has recently been gassed and burgled in his Spanish villa. This actually made me realise how vulnerable we are in a motorhome, especially when parked up on aires or during the odd night of wild camping when on a long journey.
I'm considering fitting a small electronic (battery controlled) safe inside one of the lockers, bolted through the wall/floor, just to hold passports, cash, cards etc....
Any thoughts and/or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[gjh]

I've seen a number of posts about fitting safes on various forums over the years so you may find something doing a Google search. Mind you there are also plenty of videos on You Tube on how to break into electronic safes so I'm not convinced of how good they are.

I'm interested that your friend was apparently gassed when his villa was burgled though. Do you have details from the police report of the gas (and method) used and of the medical treatment he received as a result?

Friends of ours had their motorhome broken into at a motorway aire on their return journey from France a couple of years ago. The police said something about gassing but, as he admitted, they were very tired after a long drive and had had a few drinks before going to sleep. The only things they lost were easily accessible to the thieves as they had been left in vulnerable places close to the point of entry.

Graham

 

[TonyJones]

Hi Eric
Not tried an electronic one, but I fitted a lockable steel cashbox in a previous van, under the rear sofa. I used slotless coachbolts through the chassis member and floor, with the nuts inside the box.
Our present van has had the passenger seat-box converted to a lockable "safe." Not sure how secure it is, but it's all about making life as awkward as possible for the bad guy.
Like Graham, I'd be interested to see chapter and verse of your friend's experience. Everything I've read about gassing, apart from unsubstantiated anecdotes, suggests it can't be done without killing people. The Royal College of Anaesthetists puts out a statement to that effect more or less every year.

 

[Inca]

Hi all,
Apologies for not replying sooner.
In reply to your questions, my friend and his wife bought a property in a gated community not far from Alicante. On thier first visit/holiday in the property a few more nth ago, they woke one morning with very fuzzy headaches only to find out the villa had been ransacked while they slept. Two other properties/families on the same complex suffered the same fate on the same night. The Guardian Civil were very good apparently, moving them to a hotel whilst they conducted investigations/forensics and also arranging hospital check ups for all concerned. Apparently, medical exams confirmed some kind of gas inhalation and the police said it was metered in via the air con.
Eventually, though no perpetrators have been caught, the police claim it's the work of "Russian Mafia".
Sounds incredible I know, but this is the first time I've actually heard of this happening en masse. I've heard of it happening to truckers and a few motorhomers, but never homeowners.

 

[gjh]

Apparently, medical exams confirmed some kind of gas inhalation and the police said it was metered in via the air con.

Must have been a heck of a big gas tanker to push enough in through the air con system to fill a room sufficiently to cause occupants a problem
Given that there was gas involved I should have thought it rather more likely to have been something sprayed into the faces of sleeping people.
Easy get out for overworked (or lazy) police though.