Self-defense while sleeping in a car

TLDR; how would you protect yourself if you're a woman sleeping in the back of a subcompact car in a deserted campground.

For complicated reasons, I have to sleep in a campground for a few nights every few weeks. I'm a woman camping alone.

I'm usually the only person staying in the campground, but it's in a park that can be busy during the day and people often wander through the campground just checking things out. There is a ranger's house a short drive away, otherwise I'm basically alone out there at night after the rangers do their last drive through around 8.

My fear is someone will see I'm camped there alone and come back at night, or that someone will camp there who is trouble, and it'll be just us out there. (I once had an issue with a man who was sleeping in his truck in the campground. I just left.)

I usually have a tent set up, but I'll only sleep in it if there are families or couples in the campground. Otherwise I sleep in the back of my car, which is a subcompact. I don't have privacy curtains in the car, but I'm planning on getting some. In the car I always keep my keys in the same spot so I can find them quickly and set off my car alarm (though who would hear it), and I keep pepper spray, my phone (I get service), and a flashlight next to me. (I'm not sure if the pepper spray is kind of pointless, because if I'm spraying it while I'm still inside a car or a tent, won't it mess me up too?)

My guess is if someone was trying to attack I would wake up to them breaking in one of my windows, or blocking my car with theirs and then breaking a window. Or they would have a gun.

What would you do for added safety in my situation?

As a note, I can't get a big dog. I have considered a gun but I have no experience with them, and wouldn't take one with me without having trained with one for a while. I am considering trying to get a bigger car, like a Honda Element, for more privacy when I sleep in the back.

I realize the chances of an attack aren't huge. But I do feel like I'm rolling the dice a little every time I'm out there. Thanks for any thoughts. It's appreciated.

Submitted March 25, 2023 at 11:40PM by cyc1esperfecta https://ift.tt/WuT02po