When you surround yourself with sun, sand and surf, it is pretty easy to forget minor things like putting your GPS unit out of sight (or removing it from your car). But every year 1000’s of GPS units will be stolen.

So, as a public service to all my readers, I’m going to give you 3 simple tips that will make things a little harder for thieves, and may even skip your car.

1) Always remove your GPS unit from your vehicle. It sounds like such a logical thing to do, but we have all left it in plain sight before (I know I have). Don’t just take the unit itself out, but also remove the windshield mount and charging cord (otherwise it’s just an open invitation to check out the rest of the car).

2) Enable the security function on your GPS unit.

Of the "big manufacturers", only Gamin and TomTom seem to understand the threat of your device being stolen, so they have added a PIN protection option. Garmin even include warning stickers for your car, alerting wannabe thieves to their security features.

On a TomTom unit, go to your preferences screen, select "set owner", then "options" and set a 4 digit pin.

3) Remove as much personal information as possible. I’ve always suggested removing your home address from your GPS unit.

If someone steals your bag (containing your home keys and GPS unit), then it’s pretty easy for them to head over there and help themselves to some more goodies.

Of course, it is always handy to have your home address programmed in the unit, so feel free to do so, but call it "police station" or "grocery store" to fool the thief.

Set the "home" address to your office or a mailbox service (if you have one) so the device can be returned if an honest person finds it. But an even better option is to attach a Stuffbak locator sticker to it.