Does Anyone Have Experience With Boat Alarms?

[WIGuide]

Last week either Thursday or Friday night, a sticky-fingered little slime ball decided to swipe some stuff from my boat. I had a few combos (including my gf's combo) that I left on the rod ramp I was planning to take out when I got home Thursday, but because I was in a hurry to get to my birthday dinner, I left them in there. When I went out Saturday morning to grab a gopro mount I thought I had left in there I noticed those rods were gone as well as my spare stainless prop that is normally stored in my back compartment which is left open to access my onboard charger's plug. I've lived in the same rural neighborhood virtually all my life and theft has never been an issue here. I was lucky this time since all my tackle and expensive gear didn't get taken, but this definitely has me thinking it's time to beef up security a little which leads me to this post. I was thinking of ordering a T-H Marine 2 way boat alarm or something similar. The ratings for it seem to be all over the board, so I was wondering if anyone here had any experience with them or other types of alarms. If you have one, would you recommend it? I also have seen recommendations for using motorcycle alarms instead and am wondering if anyone else has done that.  

 

Also considering purchasing night vision goggles and quitting my job to lay and wait for them to return and see how they like batting practice when they're standing in for the ball....haha just kidding.....maybe.... 

[A-Jay]

Sorry to hear you got ripped off - and on your birthday no less - That's Bogus.

May I suggest a different type of "security".

Sort of Old School but time tested & often rather Effective.

A-Jay

[WIGuide]

On 5/22/2017 at 12:37 PM, A-Jay said:

Sorry to hear you got ripped off - and on your birthday no less - That's Bogus.

May I suggest a different type of "security".

Sort of Old School but time tested & often rather Effective.

A-Jay

It happens, at least they didn't get away with what they could have. That would be a good route to go!

 

 

[jr231]

Probably kids. 14-17 years old..  if there's one thing I've learned in life it's this. The more things I have, the more I have to lose. Sucks feelin that way but it's true. The world isn't as friendly as most may like to think. It's actually pretty dark and nasty..  

 

At least you're safe and live another day. And at least he stole your girlfriend's pole and not your girlfriend ! Lol 

 

In all seriousness good luck ! And hopefully better fortune is headed your way. 

[Ski213]

Sorry to hear that. I hate a thief, especially one that takes fishing equipment.

 

I've thought about a boat alarm myself but I couldn't ever get a good feel about how well it might actually work for my application. 

 

If you haven't already, file a police report. It likely won't get your stuff back.  LE simply can't dedicate a ton of manpower to all isolated thefts but if there are some folks targeting your area and there is a concentration of theft they may be able to do a little more. Law enforcement can't know it's happening if it's not reported. 

 

I live in the country and it's usually no issues. Every so often somebody decides that they're going to target this area though. Two years ago a couple guys went on a spree out here. I lost a weed eater and a chainsaw. A lot of other ppl lost more. Most folks reported it. That allowed the police to justify a little more presence and we had an awesome detective. What info he got from various thefts he would pass along to some of us. Vehicle description, etc. That led to people watching for certain stuff. That in turn led to a guy several miles down the road having a pretty good idea of when he was being cased and that led to an arrest, conviction, and a lot of folks getting a lot of their stuff back. Including my chainsaw. 

 

Sorry for going on but one more thing, if you go with plan b, go with thermal imaging. 

[boostr]

That sucks, do you lock your compartments?

[cwill92]

The T-H Marine Two-Way Boat Alarm is a great option. They've recently lowered the price too. I've installed several of them with no trouble. As long as you properly mount the sensor and wire it directly to the battery you'll be in great shape! The vibrating key fob is the deal too!

[BaitMonkey1984]

I would also look at the TH mArine Loc-R Bars. They will keep your lockers secure. You never really understand how vulnerable your property is until some low life teaches you that lesson the hard way. Hope you had a decent bourbon or two to ease the pain. 

[Junk Fisherman]

Are you talking about a permanent alarm or just periodically?  I have a couple motion detector alarms that I will put in the bow of my boat with the alert in my hotel room when fishing tournaments.  I too have heard of the motorcycle alarm.  My wife suggested a baby monitor for overnights.  Pretty cheap methods for a little protection.  At least they allow me to sleep at night.  

 

 

[WIGuide]

On 5/22/2017 at 4:24 PM, Yeajray231 said:

At least you're safe and live another day. And at least he stole your girlfriend's pole and not your girlfriend ! Lol 

 

In all seriousness good luck! And hopefully better fortune is headed your way. 

2

 

Very true, especially since I have a good one! haha Thank you, I hope so as well. 

 

On 5/22/2017 at 7:33 PM, Ski213 said:

Sorry to hear that. I hate a thief, especially one that takes fishing equipment.

 

I've thought about a boat alarm myself but I couldn't ever get a good feel about how well it might actually work for my application. 

 

If you haven't already, file a police report. It likely won't get your stuff back.  LE simply can't dedicate a ton of manpower to all isolated thefts but if there are some folks targeting your area and there is a concentration of theft they may be able to do a little more. Law enforcement can't know it's happening if it's not reported. 

 

I live in the country and it's usually no issues. Every so often somebody decides that they're going to target this area though. Two years ago a couple guys went on a spree out here. I lost a weed eater and a chainsaw. A lot of other ppl lost more. Most folks reported it. That allowed the police to justify a little more presence and we had an awesome detective. What info he got from various thefts he would pass along to some of us. Vehicle description, etc. That led to people watching for certain stuff. That in turn led to a guy several miles down the road having a pretty good idea of when he was being cased and that led to an arrest, conviction, and a lot of folks getting a lot of their stuff back. Including my chainsaw. 

 

Sorry for going on but one more thing, if you go with plan b, go with thermal imaging. 

I did report file a police report and it sounds like I wasn't the only one. The officer was actually headed up the road a mile or so after they were done at my place. 

On 5/23/2017 at 8:33 AM, boostr said:

That sucks, do you lock your compartments?

I don't due to the fact that the locks on my boat no longer work. I've got new ones that I'll be installing today. Funny thing is they didn't take anything from inside the storages other than my rear one that is left open for my onboard charger to stay plugged in. I'll be correcting that today as well with a through hull charging port. 

 

1 hour ago, cwill92 said:

The T-H Marine Two-Way Boat Alarm is a great option. They've recently lowered the price too. I've installed several of them with no trouble. As long as you properly mount the sensor and wire it directly to the battery you'll be in great shape! The vibrating key fob is the deal too!

Welcome to the forums. That was the one I was looking at, but reviews are all over the board. Where have you mounted the sensor for best results?

[Dwight Hottle]

Sorry to hear about your loss. An audible alarm should help in the future if you don't have an elvis to guard the boat. The tv show Miami Vice had an alligator named elvis to guard their boat. Did you check with your boat insurer or household insurance? 

[gim]

I'm a little confused here.  Are you guys getting robbed when your boat is being stored outside or is someone breaking into your garage?  Seems to me that leaving a nice bass boat with electronics, rods n reels, tackle, spare props sit outside at night or while your gone is just not a good idea.

[WIGuide]

On 5/23/2017 at 8:33 AM, boostr said:

That sucks, do you lock your compartments?

I hadn't in the past because the actual lock portions of my hatch latches are seized. I have new locks that I'm installing to keep it locked up now. The funny thing is they didn't take anything out of the compartments other than the back one that was open to keep my charger plugged in. 

 

On 5/24/2017 at 1:57 PM, BaitMonkey1984 said:

I would also look at the TH mArine Loc-R Bars. They will keep your lockers secure. You never really understand how vulnerable your property is until some low life teaches you that lesson the hard way. Hope you had a decent bourbon or two to ease the pain. 

You're definitely right on not realizing how valuables your possessions are. I've looked at the Lock-R-Bars, but don't currently have the $500 or so dollars for them. Hopefully, in the future, I can buy them. 

 

On 5/24/2017 at 3:33 PM, Dwight Hottle said:

Sorry to hear about your loss. An audible alarm should help in the future if you don't have an elvis to guard the boat. The tv show Miami Vice had an alligator named elvis to guard their boat. Did you check with your boat insurer or household insurance? 

Haha, I wish I had Elvis! I don't know how he'd handle the winters though. Maybe Crockett and Tubbs could take over for the winter. 

On 5/24/2017 at 1:57 PM, Junk Fisherman said:

Are you talking about a permanent alarm or just periodically?  I have a couple motion detector alarms that I will put in the bow of my boat with the alert in my hotel room when fishing tournaments.  I too have heard of the motorcycle alarm.  My wife suggested a baby monitor for overnights.  Pretty cheap methods for a little protection.  At least they allow me to sleep at night.  

 

 

I was thinking something permanent, but the motion detector alarms would be a good idea! Do you use the ones meant for a driveway alarm or something similar?

[Junk Fisherman]

13 hours ago, WIGuide said:

 

I was thinking something permanent, but the motion detector alarms would be a good idea! Do you use the ones meant for a driveway alarm or something similar?

 

I keep my boat in the garage so I am only concerned with hotel parking lots while on trips.  I use the inexpensive motion detector and alarm from Harbor Freight for less than $15.  I have two and put one on each side of my deck under the cover.  It works well when I can park right next to my room.  

 

Depends how much you want to spend but I know there are security systems that use motion detectors that will call your phone.  I considered one of these from Best Buy but went with the less expensive option.  Would have gone with a Lock R arm but my boat doesn't allow it.  

[NHBull]

A buddy of mine mounted a solar powered, motion activated light on his deck and has a game camera mounted too.  He did catch one young thug stepping on to his boat a midnight.  The light is a detuant and the camera is proof to police.  All can be had for 150.00 and no wiring