Shutters On Windows

[Newold]

What are peoples thoughts on having shutters on windows and do you have them on your boat?

Anyone got any photos of where they actually look nice?

Are they a hazard perhaps although offering added security even if it is just peace of mind for those who want them?

Would love to hear peoples thoughts.

Thnks.

[matty40s]

are these to stop the nightly kicking in of windows that takes place everywhere, or just to provide additional insulation from the Arctic blasts??

[Naughty Cal]

Closed shutters on boat windows just advertise that no one is home.

[Newold]

are these to stop the nightly kicking in of windows that takes place everywhere, or just to provide additional insulation from the Arctic blasts??

I wouldnt know about the windows being kicked in Matty but if that was a worry they would help I suppose although the insulation aspect sounds good to me.

Ive seen some and often thought jeez if there was a fire....

Phylis wouldnt a knock on the door confirm no one was in anyway but with closed shutters making the easiet way to get into a boat no longer an option?

IM only making an uneducated guess as I dont know.

[Naughty Cal]

I wouldnt know about the windows being kicked in Matty but if that was a worry they would help I suppose although the insulation aspect sounds good to me.

Ive seen some and often thought jeez if there was a fire....

Phylis wouldnt a knock on the door confirm no one was in anyway but with closed shutters making the easiet way to get into a boat no longer an option?

IM only making an uneducated guess as I dont know.

 

Your average thief is an opportunist. He/She isnt going to go around knocking on doors to see who is or isnt in. They will target boats/cars/property where it is obvious no one is at home. Big padlocks, shutters on windows and items left scattered around the decks are an open invite for them to enter.

 

Yes make your boat secure, but it neednt be fort knox nor plainly obvious that you are not at home. You seem to be worrying far too much about towpath security. In reality it is a safe place to be and boat breakins are thankfully rare. Most people will travel the system with few if any problems with troube or breakins.

[jenlyn]

thieves WILL knock on your boat to see if you are about, saw it happening last summer when there was a series of break ins on the uxbridge section of grand union. A guy knocked on my boat, i was a little slow answering, and he was unzipping my back cover as i got there. I do wish people would not make uneducated guesses when commenting on such items!

[Tim Doran]

thieves WILL knock on your boat to see if you are about, saw it happening last summer when there was a series of break ins on the uxbridge section of grand union. A guy knocked on my boat, i was a little slow answering, and he was unzipping my back cover as i got there. I do wish people would not make uneducated guesses when commenting on such items!

 

You have polite thieves in you parts! I hope you made him take off his shoes.

 

More seriously you seemed to have had a lucky escape

 

Edit to remove !!

Edited December 17, 2010 by Tim Doran

[Naughty Cal]

thieves WILL knock on your boat to see if you are about, saw it happening last summer when there was a series of break ins on the uxbridge section of grand union. A guy knocked on my boat, i was a little slow answering, and he was unzipping my back cover as i got there. I do wish people would not make uneducated guesses when commenting on such items!

 

You have exceptionally polite thieves. There is nothing uneducated in my response. We have spoken to people who have woken to find thieves in their boats as they slept. No knocking just entering. I do wish people wouldn't generalise when commenting on such items!

[mayalld]

You have exceptionally polite thieves. There is nothing uneducated in my response. We have spoken to people who have woken to find thieves in their boats as they slept. No knocking just entering. I do wish people wouldn't generalise when commenting on such items!

 

Thieves don't all work the same way, but it is probably safe to say that MOST (but not all) thieves appreciate that the chances of getting away without being caught are improved if nobody is at home.

 

Knocking on the door on some pretext ("sorry to disturb you, but have you seen my dog" etc) allows them to check this out before breaking in.

[Naughty Cal]

Thieves don't all work the same way, but it is probably safe to say that MOST (but not all) thieves appreciate that the chances of getting away without being caught are improved if nobody is at home.

 

Knocking on the door on some pretext ("sorry to disturb you, but have you seen my dog" etc) allows them to check this out before breaking in.

 

Why would you knock on the door of a boat with shutters up at the windows and a great big padlock on the outdise of the door? Do you know many boat owners who sit in the dark after having locked themselves in their boat from the outside?

 

My point was that not all thieves work in the same way.

[ditchcrawler]

Your average thief is an opportunist. He/She isnt going to go around knocking on doors to see who is or isnt in. They will target boats/cars/property where it is obvious no one is at home. Big padlocks, shutters on windows and items left scattered around the decks are an open invite for them to enter.

 

Yes make your boat secure, but it neednt be fort knox nor plainly obvious that you are not at home. You seem to be worrying far too much about towpath security. In reality it is a safe place to be and boat breakins are thankfully rare. Most people will travel the system with few if any problems with troube or breakins.

As we travel down the cut we can often spot boats that are obviously locked up and empty and not just for the evening but for several days. I do wonder if the OP is considering shuttering all his windows every night when he is onboard.

[RLWP]

<snip>

Do you know many boat owners who sit in the dark after having locked themselves in their boat from the outside?

 

<snip>

 

Judging by the "self protection" thread that's running, there are loads of them. All cuddling their fireproof safes and clutching a shotgun

 

Richard

Edited December 17, 2010 by RLWP

[mayalld]

Why would you knock on the door of a boat with shutters up at the windows and a great big padlock on the outdise of the door? Do you know many boat owners who sit in the dark after having locked themselves in their boat from the outside?

 

My point was that not all thieves work in the same way.

 

Indeed not.

 

However, put yourserlf in the miscreant's shoes.

 

You want an easy ride, breaking into an unattended boat, so you select one that looks unoccupied.

 

Then, you knock on the boat anyway, just in case you misread the situation, or perhaps the owners are out at the pub, but the ferocious dog is on board.

 

I wouldn't suggest that all thieves work that way, but many do (both boat and house thieves)

[Naughty Cal]

Indeed not.

 

However, put yourserlf in the miscreant's shoes.

 

You want an easy ride, breaking into an unattended boat, so you select one that looks unoccupied.

 

Then, you knock on the boat anyway, just in case you misread the situation, or perhaps the owners are out at the pub, but the ferocious dog is on board.

 

I wouldn't suggest that all thieves work that way, but many do (both boat and house thieves)

 

You seem to know a lot about this subject. What is it you do in yoru spare time?

[mayalld]

You seem to know a lot about this subject. What is it you do in yoru spare time?

 

Nothing that I could possibly tell you without killing you.

[Lady Muck]

I wouldnt know about the windows being kicked in Matty but if that was a worry they would help I suppose although the insulation aspect sounds good to me.

Ive seen some and often thought jeez if there was a fire....

Phylis wouldnt a knock on the door confirm no one was in anyway but with closed shutters making the easiet way to get into a boat no longer an option?

IM only making an uneducated guess as I dont know.

 

It might stop them getting in - we had an attempted break in a couple of Christmasses ago, they tried to jemmy our steel doors open but they fit very flush so they couldn't get in. We have portholes (and bars on the bigger windows), but I think they tried the doors at the bow because they could hide under the cover.

 

But I now make a point of taking the cover off when we're away - cratch covers and pram hoods provide a safe space for the thief to hide in whilst he tries to bereak in.

 

They're opportunists aren't they? They'll look for what looks like the easiest one to break into.

[alan_fincher]

You seem to know a lot about this subject. What is it you do in yoru spare time?

Well I'm now our local Neighbouhood Watch co-ordinator, so get all the e-mail alerts from our local Police, and distribute relevant ones forward to my neighbours.

 

I have been genuinely surprised at how much house crime now goes on with people actually in the property, and often involves someone being disturbed crime in progress.

 

But I still think a boat that advertises itself as "likely locked up, and unoccupied" is a more likely target than one that might or might not have someone onboard.

 

 

Q: What is by a mile the most common crime I'm currently being (very repeatedly) alerted to ?

 

A: Obtaining car keys from a property, to drive off high value vehicles left outside.

 

(With fishing for keys through a letterbox or open window of a house being reported time, and time again.)

 

If you leave you car outside, make sure the keys are hard to get hold of......

[GeoffS]

Well I'm now our local Neighbouhood Watch co-ordinator, so get all the e-mail alerts from our local Police, and distribute relevant ones forward to my neighbours.

 

I dont know if its the same everywhere but in Bedfordshire anyone can subscribe to the E Mail alerts, not just NW co-ordinators.

 

My linkClicky

 

I, too, am amazed at what goes on within yards of where I live, scary.

[Newold]

Judging by the "self protection" thread that's running, there are loads of them. All cuddling their fireproof safes and clutching a shotgun

 

Richard

Oh I love the tone of that!

I get people like you come up to me after a class and they say if only I trained with you a year ago I wouldn't have got glassed,bottled,stabbed ect.

Take the Mick all you like my skin is very thick!

I'm not planning to lock myself in at all but I do wonder if the boats I see with shutters are based on a bad experience after realising their blasie attitude bite them in the ass!!

[alan_fincher]

I'm not planning to lock myself in at all but I do wonder if the boats I see with shutters are based on a bad experience after realising their blasie attitude bite them in the ass!!

I would seriously contend that less boats are either fully shuttered, or have window covers, than was the case some years ago.

 

I'd not put that down to people being blasé - more a case that things have actually improved over the years, and not many truly need them.

[Québec]

Closed shutters on boat windows just advertise that no one is home.

I think I'm missing something here

 

Are we talking about shutters on the inside or outside i.e. the nb equivalent of shop shutters?

 

Surely ('don't call me Shirley' ) closed curtains or blinds - which we have - esp. during daylight hours, are as much of a 'No one's home' signal as shutters?

 

Putting security considerations aside, and having once lived in an old house with lovely, internal wooden shutters, I have occasionaly thought it would be nice to have some wooden shutters on the inside - for both warmth and look.

Edited December 17, 2010 by Québec

[jenlyn]

Why would you knock on the door of a boat with shutters up at the windows and a great big padlock on the outdise of the door? Do you know many boat owners who sit in the dark after having locked themselves in their boat from the outside?

 

My point was that not all thieves work in the same way.

 

no, you stated quite clearly that thieves do not knock!

[Artimis]

Im seriously thinking of internal shutters as an alternative to blinds/curtains.

They would be more thermally efficient and have the bonus of adding another level of security

[Newold]

Thanks Alan I was being sarcastic I did think it was perhaps just a design trend once.

I've also noticed more boats with wood or plastic sheets that drop over the window!

So how commen if at all is it that windows get put through?

I know with many things they just don't get reported so I wonder how accurate statistics are?

Thanks.

[RLWP]

Thanks Alan I was being sarcastic I did think it was perhaps just a design trend once.

I've also noticed more boats with wood or plastic sheets that drop over the window!

So how commen if at all is it that windows get put through?

I know with many things they just don't get reported so I wonder how accurate statistics are?

Thanks.

 

I do know of a long line of boats moored up on the offside, all of them have shutters/shields over the windows.

 

Do you suppose it is rampant vandalism caused by the imminent collapse of society, or the fact they are moored opposite a golf course?

 

Richard