Prioritization for Home Defense

Status
Not open for further replies.
You know, I bet the fact that this is a GUN forum has something to do with why people here talk more about guns than door locks, outdoor lighting, and fences when it comes to home defense. Anyone else think that might be the reason?
 
You know, I bet the fact that this is a GUN forum has something to do with why people here talk more about guns than door locks, outdoor lighting, and fences when it comes to home defense. Anyone else think that might be the reason?

Well...at least as far back as post #48:

"This is a firearms forum, so it makes sense that the vast majority of people on this site are because of firearms...hunting, personal protection, sports, laws, whatever."

:):):)
 
When I bought this house 15 years ago, two of the first things I did was to add motion detector (MD) lights to the front and rear corners of the carport. There is also a switched outdoor light above and to the side of the carport/kitchen door. Then I replaced the door locks so the front door and the kitchen door are all keyed the same. Both doors also have deadbolts and I replaced ALL screws on the lock sides with longer screws that go all the way into a stud. I also replace one screw in each hinge for the same reason. The storm door on the front door (which is rarely used) also has two small "hook & eye" catches at about 1/3 of the way from the top and bottom edges to slow any "prying". As the deadbolts are "single key" styles, the 3-panel window in the kitchen door has a sheet of polycarbonate screwed down to the inside to increase window-breakage resistance.

As far as the MD lights in the carport are concerned, the sensors have gone out more than the incandescent bulbs have burned out. One 150 watt shines across the front of the house, the other (a 65 watt bulb) points towards the rear. The light at the rear corner points another 65 watt bulb towards the front but the one pointing towards the back is a 150 watt flood. The front light doesn't have to reach the far corner of the front of the house as there is a streetlight across the street and does a good job of lighting the space between me and the neighbor.

While the light at the rear of the carport lights up the patio, it doesn't stay on more than a couple of minutes. That is why I use a 1x2" board in the track of the sliding door to keep it from being opened easily.
 
Personally, I'd like an ED-209.

I'll settle for a gorilla, though. Could you imagine the look on the face of a burglar breaking into your house and coming face-to-face with a 350 pound gorilla?

If you get an ED-209 be sure to get the Mk II version!
rofl.gif
:uhoh: The original had a few bugs!:rofl:
 
I like hso's list at the top of the page.
I have a ranch in the boonies 6 miles from the nearest neighbor and accessed by a confusing network of trails.
Even if the sheriff knew the way it is the better part of an hour,.. and they don't know the way.

If I see somebody on my ranch they have already gone through a signed gate and trespassed across the adjacent grazing property some half mile to reach my locked and signed gate. Then it is a mile to my place hidden behind a hill.

Anybody I see there is not a lost hiker. They are deliberate interlopers and lawbreakers.

Prime candidates for a muzzle inspection. My muzzle, their inspection.

Sometimes the ground is muddy or snow covered, but they're gonna lie on it until I can coach the sheriff out.


Perhaps even longer,..

We are in a similar position. Yesterday, the wife went back to the old house to bring a load of stuff the movers didn't move. There was a knock on the door and the Pitts answered it with the typical dog attitude of this is our house so leave. I answered the door and it was an I'm hunting can I park in your driveway?
Did I believe him; well, no matter if he was telling the truth or not; meaning if I did or I didn't .


Anyhow, he and his vehicle are on the game/trail cameras.


 
So far the only "trespassers" we've seen are feral hog hunters looking for their dogs. Here the terrain to either side of the house is steep, very steep. At the rear, it is gradual for about a couple hundred feet, then very steep.
The game cameras have a variety of hog hunting dogs on them. I show them them the pictures.

company1.JPG
One said that's my Pitt; don't know the other dog. ;)


That leaves the driveway. Walking passed the "no trespassing" implies a person can't read. OTOH, we've had two "visitors." The first, we nicknamed the flower child. As she read somewhere, there are beautiful wild flowers here. She headed up a mountain on a dirt road and got stuck about 200' to 300' past us.. She was wearing slacks which left half her lower leg exposed barefoot in sandals. We let her use the phone.
I do my best to be a good guy; however, I couldn't help myself and not tell her this is serious snake country with copperheads and black tailed rattlesnakes.

Last Friday, the wife made a one day trip back to the house to grab a truck load. Some guy came to the door and after the Pitts said hello and I put them up; he asked if he could park in the driveway and go hunting. I answered the wife is on her way back and will need to back in to unload; so no.
Basically, the brain said did he believe the vehicles were in the garage or what??

The people or as we call them, the lake people get robbed for low hanging fruit or chainsaws, weed trimmers or whatever else is easy to sell.

Here, we read all strangers as suspicious.

Basically, I see it as it depends where each of us lives; urban, suburban, rural or deep in the sticks to how we view strangers.
 
No building is impervious to a break-in, it's just a matter of effort. I have close to nothing to steal but that doesn't mean everyone knows that. Having been to court numerous times on various occasions I can safely say that putting $10,000 into hardening the house isn't expensive compared to going to court and winning, going to court and losing is devastating. I believe that my hardened house cost me less than $5000 and that's over 15 years. Worth it? I sleep like a log when I eventually get to sleep.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top