How to fortify the Beaver Dam

When someone wishes to live in an RV in the city the issue of safety inevitably comes up. When you take away the padding of normal neighborhoods with normal people, eliminate the physical layer of sidewalks, stairs, bushes, porch lights, and neighbors dogs you have a rather exposed situation.

So during my week working on photo shoot for one of the most respected tactical companies, I took this perfect opportunity to ask a very qualified person about a simple and realistic strategy regarding fortifying the beaver.

Nate's having fun here illustrating that this gun is too big for the Beaver.

If anything, he gestures at a much smaller size.

Nate, is ex-military. He's been on nearly a hundred photo shoots with us, and I always like having a reason to talk to him. He's done and seen some things, so he's a perfect person to ask his advice on beaver security.

When he asked what was new with me I said "I got this RV called a Beaver and as an experiment I'm going to live in it, and I started a Beaver Blog." He blinked two blinks in one beat and in military flatness he says "Your Beaver has a Blog?" I nodded yes, totally glad he didn't act shocked I was going to live in an RV. Relieved he didn't think I was crazy.

First he mentioned to always park in a well lit spot. When I started to roll my eyes as if to express duh, he reminded me that most people don't think about that. He also mentioned to not leave anything in sight that was slightly appealing. "Maybe put something that would belong to a guy in plain sight." He wasn't trying to be particularly protective (and I liked that because it reinforced my confidence that he wasn't even the slightest 'unsure' or felt like he needed to dissuade me) but of course anyone would address the fact that I'm alone in there. He suggested I put a mag on the dash. Although somehow I'm not sure someone breaking into an RV would be that discerning. Maybe loose ammo though? "Make them wonder who is in there, and be discouraged." He says.

I was curious what he'd say about what weapons I should have.

"Baseball bat?" I suggest, liking the idea of having a metal bat (because they are so much lighter than wood ones) just leaning against my front door, all tough like.

"Mm no, not enough room to swing it."

"Mace?" I threw it out there.

"Too confined of space."

"Hmm. Knife." I say already settling on it.

"Yeah, a knife. That way you can get someone off you." He nods. Then he made a joke about a flashlight first to see what the person looked like and then a knife if I didn't like what I saw. Again, I was glad that there was not much concern and could make a light hearted comment like that.

We came to the conclusion that a fog horn type dealio would also be a good idea. Something to instantly create a loud attention getting noise that didn't require contact. It actually may be preventive. That, and a knife would be realistic.

All of this reminds of what an old friend who was very into Martial arts once explained to me: to not allow your enemy to see the range of your weapon. He described having a big stick at your side but holding it in such a way that doesn't allow your opponent to see the full length of it. Your opponent shouldn't know what you have or won't you don't have. They should not be able to sum you up.

Part of me is like oh my god I don't want to have to think about this! However, considering that I'm sleeping on the streets basically, it doesn't hurt to have a plan.