Rural defense

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This reply is particularly aimed at Balrog and Birdhunter. If you want to go to the expense of it, there are infrared sensors for outside that will send a signal to your houses and let you know that somebody or something has broken the beam of that photoelectric eye, giving you advance warning.
Or, you could mount some outdoor-type motion detector lights powered by solar panels at "strategic locations" that would either light up the area being "trespassed" or aimed at the house to warn you.

Just thinking - - -.
 
Birdhunter1 said:
JT I’ve thought about driveway alarms but I’m pretty sure deer would have them set off all night.
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That was hubby's concern as well, but with the cattle guard deer are not going to walk on it so there are few (if any) false alarms. They aren't that big of a deal to install unless your drive is paved.
 
Excellent responses so far.

I like homes that position the house away from the road and that have a nice long driveway.

My folks use a magnetic style vehicle sensor that works pretty well.

Getting to know your neighbors is a must and maintaining those relationships can be fun and mutually beneficial.

My place is on a small cattle ranch and we have the long driveway with a nice heavy gate.
There is a large light that comes on every night placed on top of a pole in the yard.

Dogs are a great thing to have around. For lots of reasons.

My new place will have a few cameras.

A carbine and a few pistols are available.
Flashlights. are. everywhere.

Keeping your eyes peeled for you and your neighbors is a big one.

Really good thread so far.
 
Corpral_Agarn said:
Keeping your eyes peeled for you and your neighbors is a big one.
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+1

Our neighbors are away on a cruise, and won’t be back until the first part of next week. Like us, they have a couple of motion detector lights outside, as well as several lights on timers inside.

But I believe the best protection they have against a burglary while they are away is they notified us and the sheriff’s office that they’re going to be gone. They also called the post office and had their mail held, but they just let the newspapers keep coming – I’ll hike out to the road in a little while and pick up their newspaper, along with our own mail. On Wednesday morning, I’ll wheel their big, blue trash bin out to the road, and after the trash truck comes, I’ll wheel it back.

Keeping our fingers crossed, we won’t have to shovel out their sidewalk while they’re away. But if it snows, we’ll do that too. Because the whole idea is to make things appear as if our neighbors are home, and not lounging around on a ship somewhere, getting a suntan, while the snow just gets deeper and deeper on their front walk.

They do the same things for us while we’re away. For that matter, most (not all) of the neighbors around here look out for one another even when we’re not away. Last Friday, when my wife got home from work, the first thing she said was, “I’m going to call Carol and see if she’s okay. Her car hasn’t been moved in a week.”

Carol is the older, widowed lady that lives down the road a ways. She was okay. She said she was just being lazy, hadn’t had anywhere she really needed to go in a while, so she was just staying inside, out of the cold. And she thanked my wife for checking on her.

At any rate, I believe in neighbors looking out for, and being aware of what’s going on around one another’s places. Some people call it “being nosy,” but I don’t. It’s just being neighborly, and I think it helps keep the bad guys away.
 
.308 Norma said:
At any rate, I believe in neighbors looking out for, and being aware of what’s going on around one another’s places. Some people call it “being nosy,” but I don’t. It’s just being neighborly, and I think it helps keep the bad guys away.
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Good post.

As to nosy vs neighborly it is a fine line and different neighbors like different levels of involvement.

Getting to know them is the best way to make sure you are not nosy.
 
Fine Figure of a Man said:
It won't keep anyone out, at least not anyone with bad intent.
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But with sensors, it will slow them down enough for you to be prepared, call for help, make the kids safe, etc.

Things like thorny bushes under the windows limits access points, security cameras allow you to see who is approaching, and as mentioned, dogs.
 
In my original post I forgot to mention that this advice was, in fact, the exact same advice I gave years ago to folks concerned about their home security down here in the endless suburbia that is south Florida... Your best defense is not only good neighbors - but also you, yourself -- being a good neighbor (and if a bit of tolerance for minor defects of one neighbor or other is in order - I'm all for it).

I'm sad to say that at present I don't know all of my neighbors (fair number of young families moving into my neighborhood this past year or two... with small kids.... ) . Hope to rectify that sooner rather than later...
 
Good posts! We live very rural. Off a dirt road that has about 5 cars go down it per day. Honestly, I wouldn’t say we worry about it, not to say we don’t think about it. Here’s our setup:

2 Great Pyrenees. They protect the animals, and at a combined weight of over 200 lbs, and loud barks, they are a great deterrent and warning system.

Motion lights on the house. Mostly so we can see what we’re doing when outside. It gets so dark that you can’t see your hand in front of your face.

Great “neighbors.” They take care of our place when we’re gone, and we return the favor. If a car goes down the road that looks even remotely suspicious, we all know within a minute or 2.

Target shoot. I enjoy it, and it lets anyone around know that you have and know how to use a firearm.

A shotgun by the door, and a pistol on the nightstand. But truthfully, that’s more for critter problems.

When we go to bed, it is complete darkness outside. I think “security lights” are better for someone up to no good than someone inside. They allow them to see what is where. Someone would need some large gentlemen bits to wander through the woods onto our place in complete darkness. We sleep well.
 
We live in a golden age of home security stuff! Nothing is bulletproof of course but you can get remote IP cameras that you can monitor by cell. IR sensors for your driveway and foot paths are cheap and effective. Camera systems can be set up with UPSs in case power goes out. You can set them up with hard drives to record for the cops if you have a break in.

Between some good electronics and cultivating relationships with neighbors you'll go a long ways towards security. Some stuff like lights on timers can be helpful as are the fake TVs that make it look like the TV is on. Insurance is of course a good idea! No one wants to be robbed but if it happens when no one is home and no one is injured then it's an expense more than a problem. Make sure to use good locks and lock your windows, too, even upper floors. Often your insurance claim will be denied if there's no evidence of forced entry.

Dogs are great as another layer. Bad guys have ways of dealing with dogs but again, layers. Some kinds of birds are also good and I've read that Alpacas and donkeys are good security animals.

To me firearms are the last layer. Again, no one wants to be burglarized but that's better than suffering a home invasion. If it happens when you're gone it's just "stuff" and stuff can be replaced. In the event of an actual home invasion the stakes are higher. When I've lived out of town my HD/zombie gun has been an AR, at least up until I got my Bren 805. An AR or other MSR with decent ammo, a sling and a WML is about as good as you could hope for for HD in a setting where help might be a long time away, ranges might be longish and you could face multiple invaders that you'd have to deal with for a while before the cavalry arrives.

I get poo-poo'ed sometimes when I suggest armor but it's not a bad idea in a rural setting. Greg Ellifritz is a bit advocate of having rifle armor for an emergency and he's a pretty solid authority when it comes to firearms, training and bad guys in general.
 
Here is another option that will not only scare the deer off, warn you, and maybe, even scare off the trespassers. They are trip wire alarms that use 12 ga. shotgun shells.
Do NOT use shells with "shot" actually in them. These are designed for use with shells containing flares, pepper gas, or blanks as only the base of the shell is held in place. The brass side and plastic hull is exposed as you can see in this video.

Defense Devices has these alarms for sale except in the states of AK, HI, IL, CA, MA, DC, or NY. (Alaska surprises me but not the others.)
They do specify "blank" shells in their webepage but you can probably use the pepper gas and flares safely. The only danger with the flare-type shells is the "fire hazard" possibility.
https://www.defensedevices.com/shotgun-alarm-signal1.html
 
Distance George, distance. That's why I said in Post #26 about the photoelectric eyes. That would warn the house but do nothing to intimidate the perps. These shotshells would do a better job of that.
 
JTHunter said:
Here is another option that will not only scare the deer off, warn you, and maybe, even scare off the trespassers. They are trip wire alarms that use 12 ga. shotgun shells.
Do NOT use shells with "shot" actually in them. These are designed for use with shells containing flares, pepper gas, or blanks as only the base of the shell is held in place. The brass side and plastic hull is exposed as you can see in this video.

Defense Devices has these alarms for sale except in the states of AK, HI, IL, CA, MA, DC, or NY. (Alaska surprises me but not the others.)
They do specify "blank" shells in their webepage but you can probably use the pepper gas and flares safely. The only danger with the flare-type shells is the "fire hazard" possibility.
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The way Murphy treats me when the trespasser was some dollar store lawyer would demand a change of venue and have the case heard in Lake or Marian county where he could spin yarns of a booby trap learned in the jungles of Vietnam based on the 12 shotgun, a weapon capable of inflicting horrible but non-lethal wounds. Keep in mind the old adage that juries are comprised of people too dumb to beat jury duty and ask yourself if the 12 people are going to know the difference between a blank firing device and an actual weapon.
 
JTHunter said:
Distance George, distance. That's why I said in Post #26 about the photoelectric eyes. That would warn the house but do nothing to intimidate the perps. These shotshells would do a better job of that.
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However, IF it hurts someone, even accidentally, it could open you up to lawsuits - much like the guys who have booby-trapped their front door against intruders with crossbows, etc.
Lights, dogs, alarms, fences, locks, etc. are IMO your best defense (along with guns and a signal to the sheriff
 
Mine is like Keith G minus dogs and more guns. End of dead end road and neighbors all along it watch who is coming and going. You don't come here if you don't belong. Not antisocial but not open to the public either.
 
You couldn't get me to live even in the suburbs of a major city anymore. That said, a nice smaller city with decent medical (as I age) is good enough; preferably surrounded by either open public land or at least great rural farm land.
 
Balrog said:
I may be about to relocate to 100 acres of land, which is mixed timberland and agricultural land, of which I would build a house. The grounds for the house would be 5 to 10 acres. I would plan on fencing the acreage the house lies on. Its out in the country, and would be under the jurisdiction of the Sheriffs department. Not sure exactly what response time for law enforcement would be if there was a problem. I am thinking about how one would defend oneself there. Its not totally out in the boondocks, but it would definitely take a deputy 15 minutes to get there I would think.

A good dog or two, exterior lighting, fence around the part with the house on it would all be good ideas. Do any people in rural areas have any other ideas on how to harden up property out in the country?
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In isolation, there's nobody to hear you scream.
In post-collapse rural Argentina, according to FerFAL...
They'd come in force, a carload or two, or maybe on foot.
They might surveil the place or have gotten a tip from nearby townspeople/friends/neighbors that you have might have something of value.
Then they'd overtake you at an opportune time, and proceed to leisurely torture/rape/kill for a day or two until they've coerced you out of your valuables.
 
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