logo
mobile-logo
HomePosts Tagged "Home Security"

It’s your home; you should feel safe and secure here. People are always worried about the safety and security of their family. Everyone wants to make sure that their family is safe in their homes. Family security always starts at home. If you feel your family is not safe at home, you need to take action immediately.

Most home safety improvements are just common sense put into action. Put a Home Security System in your plan. While you can’t ensure your home security by a single action, and no single product will completely protect you, taking the many smaller steps to provide the highest security of your home and your family, is worth it just for the peace of mind.

Here are some easy steps to make your home more secure.

Get a Burglar Alarm System

Burglar alarm system can detect intrusion – unauthorized entry – into your home. Burglar alarms have become standard equipment in stores and other businesses, and they’re becoming increasingly common in private homes as well. Most alarm systems are actually built around the same basic design concepts. While you can’t prevent any unauthorized entry at your home by simply setting a burglar alarm, you can make yourself, your family, the neighbors and the Police aware the instant it occurs. There are a lot of burglar alarm systems available in the market at various prices, and a lot of options. Do your homework.

If you can’t afford a real one you can buy a fake alarm system too, complete with a sign. One other note: Wireless is all the rage – no mods to the homes electrical system, wireless communications between the system and emergency response personnel, wireless control by you from anywhere. All pluses. One minus, wireless systems can be hacked. Repeat, do your homework.

Secure the Doors

Perform an inspection of all doors around your home. Doors frames should be strong; the hinges should be protected and make sure the wood is not hollow. All exterior doors should be solid and made from Fiberglass, solid wood, solid wood core or metal. If installing a new door and frame, consider a fiberglass door that swings outward rather than inward. Having a door open in this way helps absorb any forced entry.

There is a downside, it is easier for an intruder to pull open an outward opening door than push an inward open with you blocking. Install a deadbolt lock build into the doorknob. You can also add a dead-lock which is an exit only lock. While it might be noticeable in the entryway, it can’t be broken into without pulverizing the door. You should secure the sliding entryways doors by installing keyed locks at the best and base and install cylinder guards around the lock cylinders. Additionally, a large dowel along the bottom rail will delay an intruder, though a glass door is, after all, glass.

Get a Dog

Dogs are the first security system and have been called man’s closest companion for quite a long time which is as it should be. One of the fundamental jobs of the trained dogs has been to ensure its proprietors and prepare for undesirable individuals or animals. If a person your dog doesn’t know approaches you on your lawn, your dog starts barking and some dogs can become aggressive. Dogs, for one, are loyal to the death. A dog is probably going not just to assault any intruder to your home; they’ll make a plunge directly into the face of potential threat to secure you and your family if they need to. Dogs can act and react a lot faster than any human could.

Even a small dog can help keep you safe at home by being a reliable and very noisy alarm. Barking can hinder many would-be-criminals and, in the occasion that woofing doesn’t drive away interlopers, the noisy quarreling of any pooch is sufficient to influence neighbors to crest out a window to see what’s going on, potentially notifying police.

Get Familiar with the Neighborhood

Having friendly neighbors improves neighborhood security and makes things easier for everyone. Knowing your neighbors is always a good thing. Wouldn’t it be nice to know somebody was watching over your property when you’re on holiday or down in your rural home? A favor you can not ask of a stranger. You might also discover it means you can share backyard equipment like cloth hanging lines, childcare, recipes, movies or transport. Your neighbors will do something if they see anything suspicious around their home and yours. Neighborliness is a valuable part of everyone’s life, and there are compelling reasons to know your neighbors.
Say hello to your neighbors, go pick your child personally from the neighbor’s house, Attend neighborhood meetings. Be active in virtual neighborhood groups and be proactive.

Add Security Signs

Yard signs and stickers that say a security system protects your home can scare off potential burglars. Those that say things like “We Don’t Call 911” may be your position BUT they are not as effective as ones from known security services. Usually, thieves search for homes with a simple entrance and escape route, yet security frameworks don’t take that into consideration. The clearest advantage of using yard signs and window decals rather than a security framework is that it’s substantially less expensive. Buying yard signs and stickers with home security logos will just set you back about $10, and a significant number of the most well-known security brands logos can be bought online. The sign helps, potential thieves may pass you by for an easier target.

Install Fake Security Cameras

This method is along the same lines as having fake home security signs, but it might be enough to keep intruders away. You can really purchase fake security cameras online beginning at around $10 to $20 and these will help deflect thieves from coming into your home.

They look like genuine security cameras and even have red squinting lights to add to the act. It’s just a cheap and easy idea to consider if you don’t want to invest in a more expensive security measure.

Put up Motion Detecting Outdoor Lights

Nothing makes burglars run faster than bright lights flooding the cover of darkness. You can find motion-sensing floodlights for $25 and up and these don’t require a full-fledged home security system. Motion sensor lights basically consist of a little focal point that detects quick changes in heat or movement.

You could get motion sensor lights in a standard hard-wired version, which are generally introduced by experts, or as a remote, battery-powdered set which could be easily set up; other versions could also be solar-powered. As for alarms, the device could produce a siren or be silent, depending on your preference. Motion sensor lights should be set 6-10 feet over the ground with the goal that it covers the main section spots and conceivable blindsides around your home. The area the gadget covers at that point relies upon how you set it up,  particularly how you set its angle and distance range. Point range could be balanced and set somewhere in the range of 180 to 270 degrees. The separation could likewise be balanced up to 70 feet or more.

These inexpensive steps will again, add peace of mind to your home and maybe, just maybe, prevent you and your family from harm. Be safe out there.

1 Comment

It’s your home; you should feel safe and secure here. People are always worried about the safety and security of their family. Everyone wants to make sure that their family

ClearYourHomeAndBeSafe

Standing to the left of the door, with the gun close to his body, the author prepares to push open the door and quickly take a step back to his original position.

 

My lazy beagle Toby was loudly barking as I’d never heard him before.

Usually I would have waited a minute or two to see if I heard any footsteps, strange noises, or a window breaking, but I didn’t have time to spare. My mother, who had cancer, was bedridden on the couch on the main floor of our house and I needed to get to her before a potential intruder did.

I cleared the house as quickly and safely as I could, and my mother was fine. I never found out what Toby was barking at that night, but I have no doubt he scared away a burglar.

Having my mother restricted to the main floor of the house made it necessary to leave my bedroom that night and make sure she was okay. However, if it’s 3:00 a.m. and you hear a window break or you know someone is trying to enter your house, the last thing you want to do is leave your bedroom to go and confront the person. In the ideal world you would get your family together into your designated safe room (such as your master bedroom) and wait there until the police arrive.

Of course, we don’t live in an ideal world. Perhaps you’re like I was and you have a family member living on the first floor or even in the basement. If this is the case you have no choice but to leave your bedroom; therefore it’s necessary for you to know how to safely clear your house.

If you’ve ever seen the police clear a house, you know they always go in with a minimum of two people. But you and I likely won’t have the choice to grab someone else at 3:00 a.m. to come help us, so here’s how you properly clear a house by yourself, even though it’s a dangerous situation you want to try to avoid at all costs.

OnTheStairsSafety

The author slightly leans to the left as he’s clearing a corner, so an intruder will hopefully see the gun first before the rest of his body.

First off, if you hear a noise in the middle of the night and you need to clear your house, you had better be able to take one or two steps from your bed and have access to your gun, which should be “cocked and locked.” In other words, the gun should have a round in the chamber so all you have to do is pull the trigger to shoot. Right next to your gun should be your flashlight.

Many houses have enough ambient light for you to maneuver around without the need to have the flashlight on all of the time, so just use it for target identification purposes so you don’t accidentally shoot the wrong person.

Once you’ve got your gun and light, it’s time to leave the bedroom. If you’ve got a traditional house, you’ll likely end up entering a hallway. Stay close to the wall on the one side of the hallway and avoid walking down the middle, so you minimize your outline and make yourself less of a target.

As you slowly move down the hallway you’ll probably come across a bedroom or bathroom door. What should you do? If you’ve got a family member living in the basement and time is important, and you’re pretty sure nobody made it upstairs, then just move on past the door. I know this isn’t tactically correct, but we’re talking about a real life scenario here. If you’ve got your daughter sleeping in the basement, then no parent is going to take the time to clear every upstairs bedroom when they hear an intruder on the first floor or proceeding down the basement stairs.

SafeAtHome

Try and expose as little of your body as possible. If the intruder happens to have a gun, you don’t want to be an easy target!

However, if you don’t have to rush downstairs, you’ll certainly want to check the room ahead. But before you attempt to open the door (or any door in your house for that matter) you need to pull the gun close to your body so the inside of your wrist is practically touching your rib cage. In other words, instead of having your arm fully extended, your elbow should be bent about 90 degrees. This position gives you more control over the firearm in case someone was to try and reach for it. Another reason you bring the gun in close is so that you don’t accidentally point the gun at your other hand while it’s opening the door.

Assuming the door you’ve approached is on your right, you’ll want to stand against the right side wall, with your gun close to your body, while reaching for the doorknob with your other hand. (Do not stand in the doorway. You should be reaching across while remaining against the wall.) If the door opens away from you then turn the doorknob and give the door a solid push and immediately take a step backward against the right side wall again. If the door opens towards you, pull the door swiftly towards you and again take a step backward.

Once you’ve opened the door it’s time to “slice the pie.” This is a method used to clear corners and doorway entrances where you clear each area in small slices. For instance, if you had just pushed your door open and stepped back you would be standing against the right side wall. Obviously, from this position you can’t see into the entire room and you certainly don’t want to take a step into the doorway and fully expose yourself.

So, you would begin to take small side-steps in a semi-circular motion. In other words, if you’re on the right side of the door, you’ll end up on the left side by going in a wide semi-circle around the doorway entrance. Each time you take a side-step, have your body slightly lean in the direction you’re headed so that if an intruder is in the room they will see the muzzle of your gun first and the rest of your body won’t be exposed.

Each time you take a step, give a brief pause so that you can scan as much of the room as possible and you can determine if that part of the room is clear. Once you end up on the left side of the door, you’ve done as much as you can to clear the room from the outside. Also, I realize slicing the pie may seem confusing, so please refer to the diagrams I created, which should make this process clearer.

approach

If you approach a door from the right hand side, take small steps in a semi-circle, until you eventually end up on the left side. Once you’ve accomplished this and have scanned as much of the room as possible, it’s time to enter.

Don’t forget to have patience while clearing a corner. This is not a time to rush unless a family member is on a lower level and you must immediately reach them.

Now that it’s time to enter the room, you’ll want to quickly step through the doorway and move to the opposite corner. For instance, if you’re entering the doorway from the left side, move to the right corner and give a quick look over your shoulder to make sure nobody’s hiding in the left corner. Don’t forget to check all places an intruder could be hiding such as under a bed, in a closet, under a desk or under any other large object.

Once you’re satisfied the room is clear it’s time to continue moving through your house. The next obstacle you’ll run into is the stairs. But before you just stand at the top of the stairs and make yourself an easy target, you’ll want to slice the pie just as you did with the doorway so you can make sure nobody is waiting at the bottom of the stairs to attack you. Again, start on one side of the wall and take small steps in a semicircle so you can see a little bit more of the stairs each time.

amanda

Amanda Hanson demonstrates how the gun should be close to the body before attempting to open a door. This helps to prevent someone from grabbing the gun out of your hands. Notice, she also has her finger off the trigger.

Once you do a full scan of the stairs, make your way down, while at the same time scanning everything you can see. The stairs are a nightmare because you’ve likely got a room entrance at the bottom of the stairs to your left and then you’ve got a large hallway to your right with a number of openings too.

Since there is no way to see into the room on the left while going down the stairs, try and scan as much of the hallway to your right as possible. Once you get to the bottom, slice the pie for the room on your left while constantly glancing over your shoulder to see if anyone is approaching on your right. As you can see, it would be very easy to get ambushed while going down the stairs (which is just one of the many reasons police officers always go in teams of at least two while clearing a house).

You’ll clear the rest of your main floor just as you cleared your top floor when first leaving your bedroom. Every time you come to a corner or a door, you’ll want to slice the pie so you’ll hopefully see the bad guy before he sees you. If you have a basement, you’ll systematically clear it the same way too. Also, remember to have patience throughout this entire process. Each time you take a semi-circular step around a corner or doorway entrance, pause and scan the area from the floor to the ceiling.

Perhaps most importantly, since clearing a house is such a dangerous activity, you need

tools

The author’s clearing tools of choice: Glock 19 9mm handgun and SureFire G2X Tactical light.

to practice it as often as you can. For example, last month I got back from a ten day vacation in Utah. I knew my house was secure and no alarms had gone off, however, when I got back to my house from the airport I didn’t just rush in and plop myself down on the couch.

Instead, I opened my front door and took a step back and sliced the pie. Next, I cleared my entire house to make sure it was empty. Not only is this good practice, but I had been gone for ten days, so there’s always a possibility someone could have been hiding in my house.

Another good activity is to practice clearing the house with your spouse or kids. Tell them to go hide somewhere and play a fun game of hide and seek. When you’re searching for them you’ll want to pay attention to see if they see you first or you see them first. Also, if you’re slicing the pie, have them point out the moment they see you or what body part they see first. This will help determine if you’re doing it correctly—the muzzle of the gun is the first thing they should see, not your legs. Obviously, if you do play this game, don’t go around with a real gun. Use your finger or use a plastic training gun instead.

Again, I can’t emphasize enough that clearing a house by yourself is the last thing you want to do. If you still don’t believe me, and you’re the macho type with a huge ego, then play the hide and seek game I mentioned above. After your spouse has surprised and “killed” you for the tenth time, you’ll fully realize that if possible, waiting in your safe room while the police clear the house is the much smarter option.

 

2 Comments

Standing to the left of the door, with the gun close to his body, the author prepares to push open the door and quickly take a step back to his

You may have a plan to evacuate during a house fire or even a plan to evacuate during an earthquake. But does a home defense plan exist in your home? The answer to that is probably no, right? Sure, the thought has crossed your mind, but you are probably among the few folks who don’t have a sure-fire plan in place.

Let alone know how to proceed if an intruder gets into your house while you’re there. Not knowing what to do should prompt you to take action to protect yourself and those that you love in the case of the unthinkable happening.

 

 

Have a Designated Safe Room

There are many actions you can take to further protect your loved ones and yourself prior to a home invasion occurring. The number one course of action to take is to have a safe room created. Your safe room does not need to be fancy either, it can be something as simple as a basement that has a re-enforced door. Regardless of your skill for creating a safe room, there are many ways that you can create at least a safer room if not the perfect safe room.

First – Install a sturdy main door in a metal frame. Then add a durable doorknob and a re-enforced deadbolt. With most inside doors being slim and light, and hollow they can get kicked in quite easily. You must make it problematic for the invader to reach you.

 

Second – If the area includes a window, replace the window with glass that is shatterproof; consider using shatterproof film for glass windows as a cost-effective alternative.

Third – Adding an extension to your security system is not a bad idea. These will enhance your current system. So if you don’t already have a panic alarm inside your safe room, get one installed. Having this feature will allow you to notify the police without having your main security alarm armed.

Fourth – Have a miniature camera installed so you can see beyond your door. This can also be an extension of your home alarm system or you can install it as an independent camera. If you do use it as an independent unit, make sure that you are able to view its live video via a smartphone or computer so you can identify law enforcement as they arrive.

Fifth – Place a weapon safe inside. If you own a weapon, then it is a good idea to have a weapon safe to go with it. This will ensure that your 12 gauge shotguns, handguns, and/or rifles will be safe and accessible by only you.

Response Time is Everything

It can seem difficult to respond properly to the sound of broken glass in the early morning hours. Your response time is crucial at that point.

If you are alone, your best bet is to remain where you are, put a defensive behind your bedroom door and contact law enforcement immediately. This would also be the perfect time to get your firearm ready just in case the burglar is determined to enter your room. Even if you don’t have a weapon, you can give a verbal warning that you are armed and fully trained in your weapons use. This warning should be given while you position yourself in an area that you can defend easily and where you will have a full view of your “kill zone.”

If you have children or other individuals that you are responsible for in your home, then the entire plan completely changes. Normally, you would feel discouraged from leaving your bedroom, but because you have loved ones now involved, you are more determined to go and rescue them from the potential danger. Again, stressing the fact that arming yourself can’t be stressed enough.

Close-Quarter Defense Training

If you own a gun and have received the necessary training, then experiencing a home invasion will definitely test your ability to safely defend your home. This will also put your close-quarter training to the test as you move throughout your house. You have to realize though that your close-quarter training will be nothing like what the police receive. The main difference is the goal. As a homeowner executing a home defense plan, your goal is to get you and your family to one designated area safely because your ability to search for your family safely will be non-existent.
If you are unsure of what you need to consider for your home invasion plan, here are 8 things to keep in mind:

One – Rehearse every movement you plan to make. Make sure your route is clear and non-visible. Consider things that might happen in the dark.

Two – Make sure you have a gun safe within reach at all times and near your bed.

Three – Have a reliable light source as you search. Even though many guns can have a flashlight attached, they are deemed as useless for conducting searches.

Four – Make sure that all family members are involved. To be more successful, it’s best to work in groups of two. But if your family is not big enough, then conducting your drill together is ideal.

Five – The age of your children will play a huge factor because of their level of understanding. But if they are old enough, they need to be included. If they are too young, you may want to refrain from sharing the details. What you can tell them though, is to hide in a prearranged area so that you can come for them in the case of danger.

Six – After you have your family together, have your next move set. This could be staying where you are and creating your defensive. If your safe room is near you then head that way quietly. Whatever you do though, it is considered unwise to return to the area where you originally started from. So the wisest thing you should do is safely and quietly exit your home.

Seven – Having a fully charged cell phone on your nightstand is an absolute must. You will be able to quickly call law enforcement.

Eight – Unless you are evacuating your family out of the home, you should never attempt to conduct a “sweep”. Not only is it dangerous but you never know what could be around the corner in your own home.

Unconventional Weapons To Use

You have to make your home defend-able at all costs because a determined intruder will not stop. That is why using unconventional weapons to stop their advances will come in handy. If you are one of many gun owners, then chances are you will be able to stop them if you confront them with your weapon. But, if you don’t own a gun, you may want to consider using any and all of these to defend your home:

  • A knife
  • A lamp
  • A fire extinguisher
  • Baseball bat
  • Hot liquids
  • Pepper spray
  • A taser gun

Whatever you do, never think that a home invasion will never happen to you. Times have changed drastically and safe neighborhoods have started to become targets. This isn’t meant to scare you, it is just the truth and you should remain vigilant if you do see yourself staring a burglar in the face after hearing your window breaking. Therefore, having a home defense plan in place is so important.

4 Comments

You may have a plan to evacuate during a house fire or even a plan to evacuate during an earthquake. But does a home defense plan exist in your home?

On castles of old, the front gate was often the “soft spot”–the easiest place to breach. Modern homes aren’t built with siege defense in mind (sadly), but doors are still the most common point of entry for thieves and intruders–something like 85% of forcible entries occur through the front door.

How to secure your doors? The photo to the right, a security door from a company in Bogota, Colombia, is a pretty good “best case”. It’s armored, bullet proof, steel cored, with a vault-style locking mechanism and a steel frame. It will even stand up to power tools and mild explosives. Pretty awesome, and if you can afford it, I’d say go for it. There are several domestic companies that produce similar doors; I’d contact a reputable locksmith or security door company and go from there.

However, this high-end, vault-like door is probably a bit much for the average home–we want to look at the principles at work here and see what we can do for less. Click the link below for more.

Before we get started, some basics:

  • Deadbolts are the standard and exterior doors should have a deadbolt, as a minimum. The lame little locks built into door knobs can be defeated in about 3 seconds with a credit card.
  • Invest in good locks; cheap locks can be picked or bumped quickly, quietly and easily.
  • Buy the most solid door you can afford.
  • Windows that could provide access to the door’s locking mechanism are a bad thing and defeat the purpose of reinforcing your door. A smashed window and an intruder can have quick access to the interior of your home. Get rid of the window if possible, or cover it with decorative burglar bars or a security film.
  • Have a way to check the door without opening it. Peep hole, security camera, etc.
  • Hinges/bolts should be on the interior, otherwise an intruder can pop them out and dismantle the door.

The average home has a deadbolt on the front door. Deadbolts are good, but need reinforcing to stand up to a concentrated entry attempt. The door jamb — typically only an inch or two of wood — is all that really stands between you and a thug trying to smash in your door. That wood is usually what gives way in a common kick-in attack. One or two kicks and the back guys are in.

There are several products available to reinforce existing door jambs — look for “door reinforcers” and “door jamb armor.” Door Jamb Armor on Amazon looks pretty good. These are steel plates that reinforce the soft points on a standard door; they’re under $75 and install with basic tools in under an hour. Once installed, they will help hard harden your doors to common kick-in attacks; the door itself will probably give way first. They’ve even tested it successfully against a police battering ram – not bad for the price.

A security door can add an extra layer of protection.

If you’re concerned about a lock picking/bumping entry, look into adding a second deadbolt – a one-sided/single-sided deadbolt. This gives you two deadbolts – one with an exterior facing key face, and the one-sided deadbolt, which has no key face and can only be opened from inside. The exterior facing deadbolt is what you engage when you’re gone. When you’re home, you can lock both. Because the second deadbolt doesn’t have a key face, that means there’s nothing for a burglar to bump or pick.

A security door is another consideration. This is a second, sturdy metal storm/hurricane-type door with its own deadbolt and reinforcement. These open outward, which makes it harder to smash in–and you’d have to smash in through the metal frame, too.  These doors have two benefits. First, if you need to open the regular door for fresh air or to talk to someone, you’ll still have a locked, secure door between you and the outside. Second, it provides a very difficult barrier that potential intruders will have to get through before they start on the main door. The door pictured, a First Alert model, is rated to 700 pounds. Unfortunately, criminals, drug dealers and stash houses often install these kinds of doors as well, recognizing the added protection they provide from criminal competition and even SWAT teams. Standard procedure for SWAT, I believe, is to rip the security door off with a chain attached to a truck. Anyways, a security door may, depending on your area and the design of the door, draw some unwanted attention or send the wrong signals. Keep that in mind.

An old school crossbar, courtesy Wikipedia.

A final solution, and potentially the most secure, is a what I’ve heard called a crossbar. This is a medieval-style bar across the interior of the door; if you want in, you’ll need to brake the bar, tear out the brackets or completely destroy the door itself. With a steel bar and sturdy, well-installed brackets, this kind of barricade can stand up to a lot of abuse. A crossbar can also be fairly easily improvised from basic materials–there’s not much to one, which makes it the go-to for improving a door’s security after TEOTWAWKI.

Here’s a modern version of the crossbar on Amazon called the Bar-Ricade. Steel tube, brackets installed into the jack/king studs of the house. Here’s a video demo. Looks pretty decent for the price and is pretty low profile.

If permanent modification of the front door is impossible, I would look into a door jammer or security bar. These wedge in at an angle between the door knob and the floor – basically a serious version of the old angled chair trick. Of these, The Buddy Bar seems to be the best recommended, and made from all-steel, versus plastic and aluminum like cheaper models are. These slide into place fairly easily and do a good job of reinforcing the door. Not as good as a permanent option, but better than a standard deadbolt alone.

With a little bit of investment and work, there is quite a bit that can be done to harden the typical front door. Maybe not medieval castle strength, but strong enough to give you adequate time to plan your response.

To go along with the great post above, I also found this video from Liberty Steve of Tin Hat Ranch’s YouTube Channel. He goes over a lot of the options above but gives some nice visuals.

0 Comments

On castles of old, the front gate was often the “soft spot”–the easiest place to breach. Modern homes aren’t built with siege defense in mind (sadly), but doors are still

It is the sound that almost everyone fears at some point. ‘That noise’ you hear while you are in bed that doesn’t sound right. I don’t know how many times I have been in bed with my wife and we will hear something and she will say ‘What was that’? Already, my ears are perked up and I am trying to figure out mentally what that sound was. In some cases it is perfectly normal like my daughter dropping what sounds like a 50 pound brick on the floor upstairs. Other times it may be outside or isn’t something I can explain so I get out of bed to investigate. It is times like this that I want to have items within arm’s reach that I may need should that bump in the night be more sinister than my daughter.

You aren’t much more vulnerable than when you are sleeping at night. Usually, we aren’t in clothes that would provide any reasonable protection. We don’t have shoes or socks on and if you are woken from sleep, you could be groggy and disoriented. Going from being warm and comfy under the covers to ready to defend your life doesn’t happen immediately, but the sooner you can be prepared to address a threat, the better off your chances of survival will be.

There was a time after the death of our last dog and before we got the latest survival dog that we couldn’t depend on a canine friend to warn us of danger, or to investigate strange noises. If something was wrong I would spring from bed and do my best job of investigating any noise and clearing rooms to ensure I hadn’t missed someone. Now, I would do the same but I would be sending my dog ahead of me because her senses would be far superior to any human at finding any trouble quickly and potentially starting to deal with the threat.

Even with a dog there are items in my nightstand that are ready for me to grab in seconds if a situation like this happens.

Gun – Assuming you aren’t anti-gun or they aren’t illegal where you live a gun is my first priority when it comes to home defense. Why not something like a baseball bat? Because a bad guy might have a gun and I would rather stare down a criminal who is bold enough to enter my house while I am sleeping with a gun that try to assume I can crack him on the skull and not get shot. In my case, the gun of choice is a 1911 .45.

Flashlight – There are some downsides to having a flashlight from the sense of showing the bad guy where you are, but the benefits of being able to see what you are shooting at far outweigh any downsides. For the obvious reasons of being able to see where you are going and what is the source of the noise a flashlight is extremely valuable. Add to that proper identification of the threat and you should agree that having a flashlight could save a life too. If you think someone is in your home and you have a gun in your hand you should be able to see accurately what you are aiming that gun at before you pull the trigger.

Phone – You may need to call 911 from your bedroom and if you are somehow trapped in your room you want a way to call out.

Knife – Why have a knife if you have a gun? For me, I have my knife on my nightstand anyway simply because it is part of my EDC gear that I have to wear daily. The knife is a worst case backup. What if the bad guy breaks down your door before you can grab the gun, or the gun jams? Not my ideal choice, but it is redundant gear that I have anyway.

Glasses – If you need glasses or if you sleep with your contacts out, you need something to help you see as quickly as possible. This is probably a no-brainer for anyone who does have vision issues but I know some people by routine leave these in the bathroom.

Shoes – Ideally something that you could slip on fast and I am not talking about slippers.  If you have some violent altercation you would be better equipped if you had sturdy shoes on or at least something that would give you traction and could protect your feet. What if there was a broken window and you needed to move through the area with broken glass? You would ideally not have to worry about what you stepped on as you moved through the home and you wouldn’t want to slip and bust your ass on the stairs either.

So there are 6 items you can keep in your nightstand or directly next to your bed in the event you need to spring into action to investigate something in your home. I left off the other basics of a notepad to write down ideas…. or a glass of water. What are your ideas for what to keep in your nightstand?

0 Comments

It is the sound that almost everyone fears at some point. ‘That noise’ you hear while you are in bed that doesn’t sound right. I don’t know how many times

In this article we are going to discuss different methods of securing your home or business in areas that tend to have higher crime rates than some other areas. On our community we often spotlight areas and analyze crime statistics to try and be solution orientated as to a relevant solution.

City Life

Areas that do have high levels of crime such as burglary, theft and criminal damage are these days unfortunately commonplace and the statistics tend to increase if you live in a city. This is obviously due to the higher population but in my opinion there are many other factors to be considered when looking at this cold hard fact such as poverty, availability of work, education and housing. But alas this is not a political or economic article, it is merely meant to give advice on how to improve your home security intelligently without sticking out like a sore thumb.

Trip Wires

Protecting your home in these areas can be quite difficult and is definitely not straight forward. Aggressive technique can sometimes have a back firing effect. Simply trying to improve security in the wrong way or as mentioned above, using aggressive techniques can make you the target of criminals or thieves who simply have too much time on their hands to test out your new 12 camera CCTV system and 10 feet proximity alarm with added trip wires. This is obviously stretching out an example of a paranoid setup but the point is to try and attain a balance between security needs and having a practical solution to securing your home.

BS3621 vs 5 Lever Locks

First of all you should look at what you have mechanically first. Do you have 5 lever sash or dead locks in your main exit doors? This is a requirement for most insurance companies but sometimes people overlook the BS3621 part of this area and just go ahead and get a 5 lever lock. The problem with this is that the non BS3621 models rarely come with the required extras to make this grade such as anti drill plates, anti pick curtains, minimum bolt throws of 20mm and additional testing of the lock itself to make sure it makes the grade. This grading can be found by the BS3621 stamp found on the faceplate of the lock itself. Ensuring you adhere to the BS3621 will ensure that you are protected against these methods of entry and also a very subtle way of improving your security.

Windows

Windows come in a few different forms; the most common are sash and casement windows. One of the main forms of entry of a criminal is through the windows. Ensuring that you fit window locks is key to preventing this and also can provide some added benefits outside that. For Instance, fitting window restrictors can reduce the chance of someone opening the window from the outside but also will help if you have children around the home and need to secure a second floor window. Window stops can also achieve the same effect while stopping the window from being completely open, leaving a gap of around maximum 4 inches would be sufficient.

Having closed circuit TV camera’s on your home can alert you to intruders.

CCTV

Having recorded images and video of criminal activity can be extremely useful when it comes to prosecution of criminals in court. What I would like to stress is not to overdo it. If you think this system would benefit you, time really should be spent on thinking about the area of installation, model and components you will need. We recommend checking the IP rating and Lux rating of the CCTV camera to see how it will perform in rough weather conditions and during the night time hours. Placement of the camera should be out of sight from passersby but visible when close by if possible. Adding 1 or 2 pieces of CCTV signage will work wonders as a visual deterrent but please don’t overdo it as you will certainly bring attention to your home or business for the wrong reasons.

Access Control

These types are of systems are soon becoming commonplace and will replace older style mechanical locking solutions. At the moment we are in a bit of purgatory and manufacturers have been designed models to work standalone but also to work in conjunction with mechanical systems rather than straight up replacements for front and back doors. We design a wide range of access control systems and our specialists speak to customer’s everyday regarding this interesting type of security. In areas that tend to have higher crime rates these models will unfortunately be less effective though and you are much better off relying on a high quality mechanical 5 lever lock to take care of your security unless you are looking to have them work in conjunction with each other in which case your security would be improved two fold.

0 Comments

In this article we are going to discuss different methods of securing your home or business in areas that tend to have higher crime rates than some other areas. On

 

Yesterday I started with an overview of some security questions I had about our own house from the perspective of a total breakdown (Without Rule Of Law) societal event. In that post we discussed the importance of gathering intelligence, of actually knowing what is going on around you. Now that we know what type of scenario we may have to defend our homes and families from and have a general understanding of knowledge that can help us, I want to talk about some options. Again, just to be clear that anything we plan for can be undone by a wide variety of factors. The suggestions aren’t meant to imply that you will have an impenetrable fortress, but it may buy you some time and will offer more protection than just closing the curtains.

wndwbrdng5

Boarding Windows works great for Hurricanes and Looters

Step 2 – Preventing access

Knowing when someone is approaching is only half of the problem. The real challenge is to keep them away as far as possible. If you have a group of people, this may mean meeting whoever is approaching far away from your property and dealing with any threats there as opposed to your front door. If this isn’t possible and you are forced to retreat, then your next best bet would be to not let them have an easy way into your house.

Starting with the driveway and your yard, if you can, move your car further away from the house to block access. Provided the bad guys don’t drive through your yard, this would prevent them from rolling up close to your house very quickly. Every yard is different of course, but these are just ideas. In a true collapse scenario it may be necessary to block the road entirely. Of course, this only matters if cars are still functioning, but let’s assume they are. This is something you would want to discuss with your neighbors naturally, but could be an effective way of blocking or slowing vehicle traffic. Blocking access to your neighborhood can be done a lot of ways and could provide a first line of defense against anyone who isn’t supposed to be there gaining access easily.

No matter what the roadblock is, unless you have a high wall guarded by a moat with crocodiles, even if they have to walk a little, they will eventually make it to your home. I started thinking about the preparations that homeowners make before a hurricane and this seems perfectly logical to apply to this situation. During a hurricane, windows and doors are boarded up to protect your home from a vicious assault by Mother Nature. The same could be done with your home to great effect. There was actually even an episode of Doomsday Preppers where one of the featured preppers, Jay Blevins already had this idea.

door-with-barricade-bolt

A barricaded door can buy you additional time.

With some planning now while everything is relatively normal, you could acquire sheets of plywood and have them cut to fit over your window openings. This of course could be done later I guess, but it would be quicker to have them pre-cut and numbered for easy installation. Jay’s plan was to cover all of the ground floor windows and doors to prevent people from entering while leaving the second story windows open. This seems like a great idea too because he could coordinate fire on the people below if they really started trying to get in with axes or chain saws. The plywood boards themselves are attached via long bolts to a horizontal board going over the window opening inside so there are no nails or screws that can be pried out. That is pretty smart.

The weather is a consideration too because if it is hot outside you likely aren’t going to want to board up all of your windows and doors. Even drilling vent holes in the windows won’t help much and could weaken the strength of the board.

Even if you have everything boarded up, you will likely still need to get into and out of your home unless your supplies of food and sanitation can keep you comfortably confined for a while. An exterior door with protected access would need to be your way out, but you could have this barricaded with items that can be moved later.

Slowing access

Maybe you don’t have the time or money to have every window and door around your house fitted with heavy-duty plywood. You can still board up windows and doors. This is another reason to keep scrap wood and lumber around because if you can’t keep someone out permanently, at least you should be able to slow them down. Couches and refrigerators in front of doors will slow people down. Implements like the Bar-Ricade bar or something like the Master Lock Door Security Bar will reinforce your entry doors and should slow an attacker down. The Armor Concepts door jamb hardware kit is simple to install and will reinforce your doors so they can’t be easily kicked open. Will they stop a big police style battering ram? I don’t know but they are better than nothing.

Reaction Plan

If you have some level of difficulty set up on your exterior entrance points, there will undoubtedly be noise associated with someone trying to get in. You may have a dog that is warning you also and I would say pound for pound they would make the best intrusion detection system unless your dog was like ours and got a little too sleepy after steak night. That’s my fault though.

You should prepare well in advance for situations where someone is trying to get into your house. Several methods can be deployed to try and fool you into thinking the attack is coming from one direction when actually it is coming from two or three. Once you have been alerted to someone trying to gain access, the key is to move quickly. Knowing ahead of time who is going to the front and who is going to the rear will give you two sets of eyes instead of one and hopefully you have some firearms for self defense so you will have two means of defending yourself and your home also. This may be easier said than done if the members of your party are wounded, sick or tired from guarding against assault all night. Depending on your defenses, the people attacking if they are smart will come at you from more than one location. This is so that if they can get you to focus on the front door while another one of them sneaks in the back they can attack you from two sides.

Plan for distractions

If the people attacking you are a small group they will likely try to distract you with noise or commotion in one area while they sneak in another. If possible have one person deal with the commotion in the front and position another in the back. This will give you the ability to at least deal with someone from either direction. If this isn’t possible you may have to fall back into a hallway or some other narrow spot so that you can concentrate fire if they do enter your house.

blockingthestairs

Placing obstacles on the stairs will slow attackers.

Take the high ground

If you have a second floor, your fallback position might be the second floor. If this happens, and they have gotten into your house you have to block their access to you at all costs. Stairways can be deadly if you are the person at the top firing down on the intruders. Obstacles on the stairs can slow them down; even throwing items at them while they are trying to navigate the stairs can slow an advance. This might sound a little too much like Home Alone, but we aren’t all Navy Seals (even the bad guys) so fight with everything you have. It may be your bowling ball, but if you crush a skull of someone who was trying to kill you who is going to care that you saw it on a movie?

Make a backdoor escape

If you are forced to retreat into the second floor, having a way out may be your last hope. This could be a window ladder down to the first floor or attic access to a point that you could escape. If this is really your last stand barricade the doors again to give you more time to exit and run if possible. Our attic gives me access to a door over the garage and I can escape through there and out into the yard. If I had to I would punch a hole in the wall to gain access to the attic and then try to escape while the bad guys were trying to get into the room on the second floor. Whatever you do you have to try and fight to survive.

If you are forced to flee, you should have a rally point already defined to meet everyone at in times like this. Hopefully everyone makes it there and you could have supplies stashed in a hidden cache so that you aren’t completely out of options for continuing to survive.

Live to fight another day

Hopefully, if things have gotten so bad that you have to employ any of the suggestions above just to stay alive you were able to defend yourself before you had to run away from the house. However, it may not work that way. You may have to run away to live and I think running and living in some cases is better than standing and dying. Now, I wouldn’t say this if I didn’t have everyone in my group with me, but I think you get the point.

Hopefully that gave you some ideas. If you have any suggestions for everyone else, please let us know in the comments below.

0 Comments

  Yesterday I started with an overview of some security questions I had about our own house from the perspective of a total breakdown (Without Rule Of Law) societal event. In

I have been thinking about security a lot lately. I am not sure why, but this is the latest thing that has been an ever present thought as I go through my daily activities. I suppose it is a logical extension of prepping after food and water sources are shored up that your mind would turn to security. I started to analyze our defensive options at our home since we have chosen to shelter in place should any type of disaster scenario happen. This carried me down several paths that I hope to discuss with you and they all focus around steps you can take to keep your family safe, or provide some additional protection in your home if things get really bad. This is the first post in a series about what problems you may be faced with in a WROL (Without Rule of Law) society. This is a worst case scenario but I believe that exercising your mind by thinking about issues like this could prepare you better for less catastrophic emergencies. Honestly, I hope to never be in a situation that requires these plans and methods, but I think it is valid to discuss them in terms of preparing your family.

Bugging In is not a perfect solution either

To Bug in and hunker down or to Bug Out and take your chances on the road. This is one of the major questions at least logistically for preppers and you will have people on both sides of this issue. Bugging out brings with it an entirely different set of circumstances and must be planned for in different ways. Hunkering down can eliminate one set of problems, but presents a whole new set of challenges. Further complicating the issue is that life gets a vote. Just because you make a decision now whenever everything is pretty much normal doesn’t necessarily mean that circumstances won’t change and cause your plans to need adjusting. In some cases your carefully laid plans may need to be thrown out altogether.

A lot of careful consideration usually goes into the decision to either hunker down or to bug out. I think that in no small part it comes down to your resources and your common sense when you are asking yourself these questions. First off the obvious question, do you have a place to go to? If so, bugging out becomes much more realistic. Then questions like how will you get there, what to take and who else will be going with you start to get answered. The pieces begin to fall into place and you can make a plan for dealing with the contingencies as you think of them. For a long trip, you can plan how to load the vehicles, where to refuel, storing caches of supplies along the route, alternate routes, etc.

If you have no place to go and there is not an immediate, life-threatening situation that is making you leave your home; if you have supplies such as food and water then why leave? For a lot of people, absent some impending natural disaster, disease, nuclear accident or chemical spill, staying where they are living currently is going to be the best option. You may have a support structure at your current location or family that prevents you from leaving. Even in war torn cities people stay behind and this isn’t without precedent historically. Bugging in would seem to me to be a logical choice in a lot of situations unless you have a fully stocked survival retreat within a few hours away or have friends and family to turn to within a relatively short distance. It may be the only choice you have if life steps in again and prevents you from implementing your Bug Out plan above.

Regardless of whether you chose to Bug In as part of your plan to be fully prepared, or are forced to stay where you are, you may have to deal with the unpleasant reality that usually rears its ugly head anytime there is turmoil or disasters. Humans can on one hand be incredibly loving and also incredibly evil and after a disaster there are usually stories of both. In this article I plan to talk about some steps you can take to protect your family from the later type if you find yourself Bugging In.

Know your enemy

1

Looting happens in virtually every crisis.

The spectrum of people who could possibly be threats run the gambit from desperate beggar to organized gangs. Burglary and looting are crimes of opportunity. The opportunity for a burglar is usually an unsuspecting homeowner or a house that is easily broken into. Looting uses the opportunity of a situation in which the perceived enforcement of laws by police has dissolved. In time after time we see situations like Hurricane Sandy where people were looting the day after the hurricane. Some of these people were even dressed like power company workers to fool anyone who saw them poking around houses. You can expect that regardless of where you live, if the crisis is bad enough and prolonged enough there will be homes near you, maybe yours that are targets for this segment of society.

I think it is reasonable to assume if we routinely see this type of behavior with what is considered a relatively minor weather event; much worse could be expected as the level and intensity of the emergency increases. Right now even with all of the lights on, food and fuel still being shipped to stores and the welfare and unemployment checks getting delivered;  we have women who are gang raped in Chicago, Veterans are beaten to death and there are attacks and murders in every major city it seems weekly. Can you imagine how bad this will get if we are plunged into total chaos? Can you foresee how completely dangerous your neighborhood might get if there is no Rule of Law (WROL)?

Staying in your home and Bugging In may be the only option you have, but depending on how serious the disaster or crisis that we are going through, that home might have to be your castle and fortress. There are some steps we can take to give you an advantage if this is your Alamo and may keep you alive to see another day. Hopefully, we can at a minimum take steps to make your house a less ideal target and keep your family safer.

There is no magic wand

With all that said, I want to be realistic with you. What I am going to suggest is not going to make your house bulletproof. It will not stop a tank or military assault or prevent a fire. It will probably not stop several determined people who have the time to attack unopposed either, but it could give you just enough of an advantage that it could save your life and hopefully make them look for an easier target. What I plan to highlight are several considerations that you can implement that are relatively easily which can make it a little harder for people who want to get in and cause you harm or try and take what you have. This should offer some protection from the casual thief or looter, not necessarily the mutant zombie biker gang.

I think it is also worth saying that if someone is intent on killing you or getting to you or your family you have to consider what you are willing to do to stop them. I do not believe that it is realistic to expect bad people to simply go away because you talk sternly to them or get in touch with the pain they are feeling. If someone has made up their mind to get to you, the very least they will do is take what can either keep your family alive (food, clothing, water, money) or safe (security). If you are incredibly lucky, the only thing they will do is take your supplies. I don’t think that is realistic though and you may be in for a very horrible lesson if things get to this point. The lesson might end up costing you your life.

We have talked about the use of deadly force in several other posts in various situations. I do believe that you owe it to yourself and your family to be mentally prepared to use deadly force in a situation like this if the need arises. If you have no plans to fight back, then you should be prepared to live (or die) with the consequences. I fully expect anyone in my family and probably most who are reading this blog to be open to if not embracing the same beliefs. I never want to have to harm anyone, but if you are in my house or property with intentions to harm my family I will do what is necessary. Do I expect this is going to be easy or that it won’t change me when its over? No, but that is beside the point. I have sworn that I will do what is necessary to protect my family. That is one of the reasons I advocate carrying a concealed weapon, because violence like this doesn’t wait for a disaster. It can happen any day.

So, now we have the framework. Bad things have happened, you are forced to stay in your house and try to ride out the storm so to speak and people are or could be trying to get into your house or get at your family. If it comes to that, you are prepared to use deadly force if necessary to stop them.

Step 1 – Gathering intelligence

First things first. Before you even consider how you would begin the planning process of defending your home it helps to know what is around you. By that I mean understanding what is in the area immediately surrounding your home and expanding outward from there, further out. I recommend periodically conducting what I call the neighborhood RECON to familiarize yourself with what is going on in your neighborhood. I don’t mean simply knowing your neighbors although that is very important; what I mean is knowing how to get to your house by methods other than the surface roads. What are the landscape features that may help or work to your advantage? Knowing who has certain resources that may become targets will give you information that the looter who is driving through won’t have. This can be as simple as taking walks through your neighborhood, but the key is to pay attention to details.

Having area maps is another step you can take in planning defenses and even exit strategies if the need arises. You can go online and order very detailed Topographical Maps from the USGS store. Knowing this information before you need it can show you paths of likely drift and avenues you can use to escape.

Once you know what is around you, another prerequisite to any defensive strategy is intelligence. The first and perhaps most important piece of intelligence is knowing who is in the area. It is important to know as far in advance as possible when someone is headed to your position before they are actually at your door. For a lot of people, this would be difficult without a large group and training. If you live in an apartment complex, this article might not work for you. On the other hand, you may be able to use the other people in your apartment complex to form a network that can take turns watching activity and alerting anyone of an advancing threat. If you have a typical home you do still have neighbors unless they have bugged out already. A security network would be even more advantageous in this situation but I will discuss how that might be set up in another post. For this discussion, lets pretend you are mostly on your own.

If we think about defense in rings around your home where the first ring would be your home itself. Going out from there would be your yard and then going out from there maybe 2 houses or 200 feet in either direction.These rings would indicate where you have different methods of identifying and stopping the threats. Ideally, you would want to know that someone is coming as early as possible so the outermost ring would demonstrate that distance. How would you be able to tell if someone was a few houses away and headed to your position or who at a minimum was worthy of additional scrutiny?

stand_rightcol

Climbing stands can give you a greater view of your surroundings.

Assuming again that you are on your own, that you don’t have an squad of marines or a checkpoint at your disposal you would optimally have a method of knowing what is going on all around your property. This usually requires an position that is elevated so you can see over houses and bushes. Without having to have a guard tower installed one option could be a tree climbing stand or my personal favorite, a kids tree house. These can give you the ability to gain an advantage and see a larger piece of the surrounding area. This may not be practical or possible so your advance notice will need to be adjusted to the defensive ring that you can see. If you can only see your yard then you greatly reduce the amount of head start notice you can have for this type of situation. It may also be that you must stay inside for quarantine or weather issues.

A simple way to be alerted to approaching people is wireless Motion detectors. Motion detectors outside can alert you to someone who shouldn’t be there. Assuming that we are talking about a real crisis here, there is a high probability that the power won’t be working. This is when having your own backup power would be extremely helpful but there are other, low-tech options you can deploy that work as well. If you have power and motion detectors at the perimeter you will have advance warning of someone who is entering your yard. Using this you can run to where the threat is coming from and address it or at the very least be ready to address it when they reach your home. Dakota alert has systems designed for this exact purpose.

There are also small trip wire devices that will pull a pin that triggers a .22 blank cartridge. These can easily be set up (provided you have blank .22 shells) and can alert you audibly. You can set the wires up in the places that someone would most likely travel to make it to your home and when they go off, you would have advance warning that someone is approaching.

There are other low-tech options too like setting up a string of cans on the porch that can make noise once the line holding them has been disturbed or crushing a light bulb so that you hear the glass breaking as someone walks on it. These are less ideal and probably work better in the movies in situations with complete darkness, but can work in some cases. The perfect system alerts you well in advance of when someone is near your home, but you do have to be able to hear it.

Tomorrow we will talk about how you can prevent entry to your home and how to deal with attackers if they do make it inside.

0 Comments

I have been thinking about security a lot lately. I am not sure why, but this is the latest thing that has been an ever present thought as I go