Lock it or lose it: fitting a caravan safe

Nigel Donnelly wants to beef-up security for caravanning trips to festivals, so opts for a simple safe installation

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CARAVANS AREN'T THE easiest things to keep secure.

You can clamp the wheels, fit hitchlocks, and install an alarm, but there's always that nagging thought: what if someone still breaks in? Our 1998 tourer, Penny, is often at music festivals - in crowded, noisy fields with heavy foot traffic. It's an environment where petty crime is more likely than at a commercial campsite.

We already do the basics: keep valuables out of sight, lock up when we're out. But we wanted a little more peace of mind, so we decided to fit a simple caravan safe.

We weren't after something for cash, laptops, or anything bulky - just a secure place for our wallets, car keys or passports. Something hidden, and tougher than just stuffing things in a drawer.

Getting started

Milenco has been making a compact safe designed for caravans and motorhomes for years. It's a lightweight, no-frills option that adds a layer of security without much hassle.

The word 'safe' might bring to mind a heavy steel box with a key lock and bolt holes - more Fort Knox than festival field.

But that kind of set-up just isn't practical in a caravan. Anything close to a domestic safe is simply too heavy. Penny has a generous payload of around 280kg, but burning 20kg of that on a strongbox makes no sense.

Even if you went that route, you'd need to reinforce the floor and risk drilling into areas not designed to take that load.

The Milenco Caravan Safe is a compromise. It's small, light, and easy to fit without major surgery to the van. It's not meant to defeat a determined burglar just to stop the casual tea leaf who might be rifling drawers looking for a quick win.

For that, a tough little lockbox is ideal and that's what the Milenco delivers.

Out of the box