Neal, I enjoy your posts they are always informative and helpful. However I don’t know where you’re hanging out but it seems like you have had some issues. It all comes down to age and risk tolerance. I can see some people in the rv community as being targets, wealthy older etc. I don’t have any issues because I’m younger and have a hardened demeanor about me. If someone comes up and tries to hustle me I tell them to beat it. Best advice and I agree with posters here, dress casually and have nothing suspicious like the nra/ political stickers and the like. I have seen it, not assuming anyone here does that. I personally carry a maple stick/club it’s not a weapon just a piece of wood I found laying on the ground, also fire extinguishers are handy for things other than fires, in my car I carry a mag light that has 4 c cells. Works as a legitimate flashlight and an improvised club. Best advice, avoid sketchy areas, don’t talk to strangers and always keep your head on a swivel, don’t be an easy mark.
also more importantly be aware of common tourist scams. Look them up, when I was in Seattle I watched as hustlers would hand a home made cd to Asian tourists then refuse to take the cd back them make a scene while yelling at them and demand payment. Not speaking very good English most of them just give the hustlers money to leave them alone. Lots of great YouTube videos on the tourist/traveler scams. It’s worth checking out.
most often I have seen the average looking middle aged guy, drives a decent looking car at a gas station that walks up to you and tells you a sob story about he is traveling and lost his wallet and doesn’t have money for gas, says he’s trying to visit his daughter in college. It’s believable for some people, problem is the scam was so common that everyone in the area was aware of it.