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There’s an old saying that in desperate times, people will do desperate things. If the power grid goes down or societal unrest gets out of hand due to economic or political reasons, this will definitely apply.
When society falls apart and looters and marauders have taken to the streets, there will be three primary targets that they will go after in their search for valuables:
- Stores and other business establishments
- Homes
- Cars
While many preppers are acutely aware of the importance of home defense and of fortifying their homes against looters, far fewer are aware of the importance of doing the same for their vehicles, let alone how to actually do it.
In this article, we’ll dive into some effective tips you can use to effectively looter proof your car.
Always Make Sure Your Car Is Locked
This may seem inherently obvious, but you might be surprised by how many people don’t actually lock their cars after stepping out of them.
It’s very important to do this when you consider that car thieves who attempt to break into cars will first try to gently and inconspicuously check the door handles.
Be Wise About Where You Park Your Vehicle
Easily the best strategy to looter proof your car is to ensure that it remains out of sight of looters in the first place. When disaster hits, you want to make sure you avoid parking your car in any busy streets or in dark public areas.
Related: How To Prepare Your Car For SHTF
The best measure is to keep your vehicle parked in your garage or in a shop or shed on your property. If possible, try to avoid leaving any vehicles parked in your front driveway or on the front sidewalk after the grid has gone down or civil unrest has occurred.
When looters and raiders come to your neighborhood, all vehicles parked on open driveways and on the side of the street will be very vulnerable. Not only will looters break into cars in an attempt to take valuables they see inside, they also may try to steal them outright.
Install a Locked Fuel Cap
Keep in mind that besides breaking into cars to steal them or take any valuables inside, siphoning fuel from existing vehicles will be another big reason why looters target vehicles in an SHTF scenario.
To this end, installing a fuel cap to your vehicle will help discourage any looters who could be looking to siphon off fuel from your vehicle.
Cover the Car
In addition to making an effort to hide your car during an SHTF situation, you can also make it more difficult to break into in the event that any looters find it.
Covering the vehicle completely with a heavy duty and tear-resistant material, such as polypropylene.
Related: Places To Avoid: Where Looters Will Strike First When SHTF
Yes, this can be broken through if looters make the effort, but the idea is that it will add one extra step and compel them to move onto the next vehicle they find that’s an easier target.
Never Show Your Valuables
This is something that you should be practicing in your daily life anyway. One of the worst decisions you can make is to leave your belongings showing in your car, whether it’s money, electronics, firearms, ammunition, important paperwork or documents, jewelry, nice clothes, or other valuables.
Ideally, you shouldn’t leave any valuable items in your car at all. In the event that you have to, make sure that they stay hidden and secured in a safe in your vehicle, and ideally one that is bolted or attached to the car in some way.
Employ a Steering Wheel Lock
In addition to making it a habit to lock your car each time you exit your vehicle, make it a habit to place on a steering wheel lock as well.
At the very least you should do this each time you exit your vehicle after the start of an SHTF situation.
A steering wheel lock will make any looter or criminal think twice before they think about breaking into your car and hot wiring it to drive away. Most likely, they’ll just move onto the next vehicle.
But even if a looter still thinks they can get rid of your steering wheel lock, you can install more locks to make their job even harder and more discouraging.
Install a Tracking Device
In the event that your vehicle is taken, it would be wise to know where it’s being taken, right?
This is why it would be smart to install a GPS magnetic tracking device on your vehicle. This is just as smart for everyday life as it would be for an SHTF scenario as well.
Use a Hand Brake Lock
Another measure you can take in this same regard is to install a handbrake lock to your vehicle as well, which will prevent anyone from operating the gear shift by locking it to the hand brake. While it may be inconvenient to repeatedly take this on and off in everyday life, it should be done when you are leaving your car for an extended period of time during an SHTF scenario.
Use a Wheel Clamp
Installing a wheel clamp on your vehicle’s tires is another wise move to make when your car is not in use.
If the steering wheel and hand brake locks were not discouraging enough for looters to try and take your car, a wheel clamp on top of the steering wheel and hand brake locks will be.
Keep Self-Defense Weapons on Hand
In the event that you are attacked while you are inside the car, it will be very advantageous to have self-defense weapons within easy reach of the driver’s seat.
A handgun or non-lethal defensive weapon such as pepper spray will be the best bets here.
Taking the above steps to make your car more defensible against looters is not something to take lightly.
Your vehicle(s) is/are not only very valuable possessions worth thousands of dollars, they are also very useful tools to ensure that your family can bug out of dodge quickly in a disaster if you have to.
You may also like:
How To Become Untraceable When SHTF
DIY Automatic Backyard Traps and Alarms for Looters and Intruders (Video)
53 Plants & Herbs You Can Propagate From Cuttings
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