Securing one's home.

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by NotSoSneaky, Sep 1, 2014.


  1. AmericanRedoubt1776

    AmericanRedoubt1776 American Redoubt: Idaho-Montana-Wyoming Site Supporter+

    Also found this:
    Fair Use Source: p. 15, James Wesley Rawles' Rawles on Retreats and Relocation: Rawles James Wesley: Amazon.com: Books

    "Replace all of your exterior doors with sturdy steel ones in steel frames. If your house has a connecting garage, pay particular attention to beefing up the door that connects it to the house. "

    Found this. Love this great book. A little less doom and gloom SHTF-TEOWAWKI than James Wesley Rawles, this book is more "real world" from someone who lived through the worst of the Argentina 2001 crash.

    Fair Use Source:

    The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse: Fernando "Ferfal" Aguirre: 9789870563457: Amazon.com: Books pp. 30-33

    "Wait a second, don't Google it up. I know because I've studied it in college as part of my urbanism studies. The first known cities found in the Middle East 10,000 years ago were created because of two reasons:

    1) Security: Of course, being alone made you an easy victim, just like today. Raiders and wild animals were the greatest threat.

    2) Trade and Work: One poor crop could cause a family to starve to death. The first paid jobs were something that appealed to many. It's pretty simple, but some people don't seem to understand why a normal job like most people have today) is a good idea, and why after all it became the most common thing.

    If crime becomes a serious problem you'll also have neighbors to organize and work together. Not neighbors two miles away, but people close enough to provide some real help fast.

    Eventually most neighborhoods here just decided to hire security guards and place posts or kiosks on the corners. A small town or subdivision has the resources to organize things much better than a guy living alone with his family.

    Understand that a family doing guard shifts and shooting looters and gang members 200 yards away is just a fantasy. It will not happen.

    Stay focused on reality, people. When you start thinking of possible scenarios, at least look it up and check if it ever happened before, in another time or another country.

    If you can't find any you are probably just wasting your time.

    Home Security

    Home security requires a book itself. Being an architect with particular interest in home design, make that half a dozen books, several of them just on the house design theory itself, before a single brick is laid.

    In spite of that there are a few tips you can put into practice that will greatly increase your home security level:

    1) Have a well designed house. Most often people just have the house they bought and try to upgrade it, but a house designed with security and disaster preparedness in mind will of course be much better.

    If you are about to build, get professional help. Heck, look me up and hire me to design your home or at least take a look at the plans you have. Lots of things can be fixed from the design concept, including security and reducing the energy requirements for heat and lighting, just to mention the most common. You'll eventually save a lot of money and have a much safer home.

    2) Get reinforced exterior doors. These are more expensive but will increase your security significantly. Most robbers just kick the door down or use a crowbar. Replace all hinge screws with at least three inch ones. Better yet, have a contractor replace the door frame with something more sturdy. No use in having a great door if the frame is weak.

    3) Think like a burglar. How would you break in into your own house? Windows, a weak garage door, or climb to a tree nearby and get to a window on the top floor?

    4) Place motion detector lights around the house. This is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to increase your home security. Burglars usually like to work in the shadows. You can also buy motion detector lights that run off of solar powered batteries, so they will still work during a power outage.

    5) Have exterior motion sensitive cameras. These are usually used by hunters to see what kind of game they have running around. You can use these hidden in the surrounding trees to take a picture of the people that tried to break into your house. Cops will usually find the criminals soon enough if you provide a picture.

    It's also one of the best ways to deal with petty criminals that steal stuff from around your home.

    6) Have an alarm. It's a great deterrent too. Your alarm should be loud and call to your cell phone when it goes off. If you live in a small community and have good relationship with the sheriff, you can also set it up so it calls them too. Calling 911 with a message of "house being robbed at (address)" is also an alternative in some countries, but in some places this is not allowed and you have to make the call yourself. The alarm should have a backup battery, and it can be set up tor little money to use a hidden cell phone that is hooked to the backup batten- in case they cut the hard-wire phone lines.

    7) Install burglar/security bars on windows. They look ugly, I know, but they are the best way to secure windows and it's hard to find a home in Argentina or other third-world countries without them. In bedroom windows, make the extra effort and install releasable bars in case there's a fire.

    8) Avoid materials that catch fire easily. Most American homes have wood frame structure so this can be more complicated. At least avoid carpets and having too much furniture in case there's a fire. A metal roof is also desirable.

    9) Install security film on your windows. It's also called shatter proof film or safety coating. It's simply an adhesive plastic that makes your window hold together even if it breaks. This is a great upgrade you can do for very little money- A great weekend project!

    The window won't shatter and fall apart if there's a storm or a burglar wants to break in. For those that are a bit more paranoid, it also keeps Molotov cocktails from getting thrown through the window into the house, or "commando" criminals" and cops gone bad from throwing flash-bang grenades inside to stun you before attacking...

    10) Install good quality locks. These are expensive but well worth the money. Your exterior doors should have at least two different locks. Buy quality name-brand deadbolt locks.

    11) Secure your interior garage door. It should have at least two locks on both sides just like any other exterior door. The door that connects the garage to your house should be very sturdy as well, also with good locks. This door will be your family's last line of defense if criminals hurry into your garage when you come back home, so consider it an exterior door. It would be great if this door could be made bullet proof with the addition of steel plates or Kevlar panels.

    12) Don't leave tools in the garden. A ladder in the back yard can be used to get to the roof and break into the house. If you have a shed, keep it well locked and secure any tools such as pry bars or hammers that can be used as weapons or to break in.

    13) Don't provide concealment. Don't leave any overgrown bushes close to the house that criminals could use to hide behind and ambush you. Low walls and fences sometimes do more harm than good.

    14) Place thorny plants under the windows. This will complicate things a bit more if someone tries to crawl inside. It doesn't sound like much, but every-layer of security helps.

    15) Install heavy curtains. Many criminals just walk by, looking around. Don't turn your windows into display cases for them. Place things such as expensive electronics out of sight and away from the windows.

    16) Get two safes. Criminals mostly expect to find one, not two. The first one is mainly a decoy. There you have some cash, a few papers and envelopes that look important but are really junk, and some cheaper jewelry.

    In the worst case scenario where they have you and your family at gunpoint, you surrender this visible or poorly hidden safe. You can rig it to send a silent alarm that calls the cops too.

    A second smaller fireproof safe that is WELL hidden will be safer for keeping large amounts of cash, jewelry and precious metals in case you are lucky enough to have them.

    17) Make your house much safer than the houses of your neighbors. It's sad, but it's a fact. The less secure home is the one that gets robbed. If the burglar has his eye on three homes, he'll go for the easiest one. Make sure your house is not it.

    18) Have a perimeter fence. Or wall. An iron fence with spikes on top is just about prefect. Whatever you do, it must be at least seven feet high and go all around the house. This may not be an option for you, but know it's one of the best security measures you can implement. Chain link fencing is also great, and with the right plants covering it, it doesn't look bad.

    19) Install security lights to go on automatically when there's no power.

    These emergency lights are easy to install and make life a lot easier if power goes down frequently.


    YOUR SECURITY:

    Security is one of the things you'll have to worry about the most after SHTF.

    As unemployment, crime and frustration gets worse, expect more and more violent criminal activity.

    AT THE HOUSE:

    All the security measures taken in your home are of little use if your family doesn't incorporate security discipline as well.

    * The exterior doors remain closed and locked at all times. Period!

    * No one opens the door until 100% sure of who's on the other side. If it's the police or power company for example, they'll have no problem waiting outside until you look the number up and call the power company or police station to verify them.

    * Install a peep hole and an intercom camera to clearly see who's outside.

    * Don't give the key to strangers, like people that will be working in the house for any given reason. Copies can be made without your knowing it

    * When ventilating the house, open top floor windows or windows that have burglar bars. An open window is just as good as a wide-open door, people.

    * Place china, cups or lamps next to the windows, so that if a burglar manages to break in, he'll drop it, making noise and alerting you.

    * Going in and out of the house are, by FAR, your most vulnerable moments when criminals make their move. So do it fast, and before going out look through windows and the door's peephole to make sure no one is hiding.

    * When on vacations, have someone pick up the mail, turn a few lights on inside, and take out the trash. You might want to leave "fake" trash bags ready for the friend or neighbor to take outside. These trash bags will have mostly paper, cardboard and plastic to throw away. The important thing is to have a bag of trash outside, to make your home appear to be occupied.

    * Your garage door should be remote controlled. Before purchasing one, make sure to buy the one that opens and closes the garage door the fastest. Buy a quality keypad unit for the garage door that can't be pried off and "hot-wired" to open the garage door.

    * When answering the phone, don't give ANYONE your personal information. Don't tell them who you are with, if you are alone, or anything else. Just hang up if any of this is being asked. Cops don't call you to tell you that a relative had an accident (common trick used here), they show up at your door instead in those cases.

    * Eventually a large number of people will start showing up at your door. Some beg for money, some for food, and others for whatever it is you can spare. My advice? Answer from a safe distance, and tell them you don't have anything to spare. If you want to do the "Christian" thing with all of them, you'll go poor yourself rather fast.

    Then only give a little food away and only to children. I don't give them money because they'll usually take it to their parents, who just end up buying drugs. If the same kids show up two days in a row or too often I tell them I can't spare any more.

    DOGS:

    Dogs are great alarms. Roman emperors used to sleep surrounded by their guardian dogs since they didn't even trust their own guards when sleeping. The Gaucho Juan Moreka once said he only trusted his horse, his knife, and his dog when he slept under the stars.

    Much better than one dog is having at least two dogs.

    A friend of mine had all of his dogs killed with poison at his farm, so train your dogs so that they eat only from one same place and only when you feed them. They shouldn't just eat anything they find."​
     
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2014
  2. AmericanRedoubt1776

    AmericanRedoubt1776 American Redoubt: Idaho-Montana-Wyoming Site Supporter+

    This year, once we budget-save up the money, we will replace our main deadbolts with this company's product:
    Abloy :: Manufacturers :: Security Snobs - Assa Abloy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Abloy Protec2 Single Cylinder w/ Lockable Thumbturn Deadbolt :: Deadbolts :: Door Locks :: Security Snobs

    We learned about them from our local gun store who swears by them since they are bump-key proof (Lock bumping - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and the key is very difficult to duplicate. When a local gun store was robbed via what some surmise was from the bumpkey method, he told me, "That won't happen to me due to the Abloy locks."

    Abloy key
    Main article: Disc tumbler lock
    Abloy keys are cut from a metal half-cylinder. The cuts are made at different angles, so when the key is turned in the lock it rotates each disk a different amount.

    Nearly all the houses in Finland use Abloy keys, although they are also widely used in various locales worldwide. These locks are considered very secure and almost impossible to pick.[20][21][22]

    Lockpicking
    Disk tumblers are difficult to pick,[3][4][5] and are sold as "high security" locks. Picking the lock is not impossible, but requires a lot of time, a dedicated, professionally made tool and special expertise. The disc tumbler lock cannot be bumped. This level of difficulty tends to drive attention to alternative methods of gaining entry.

    The locking mechanism can be disabled destructively by drilling into the lock to destroy the sidebar. Anti-drilling plates can be installed to prevent this.

    Disc tumbler lock - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Please note Security Snobs does not generally recommend standard thumbturn high security deadbolts (be Abloy or other brand). There are various ways to bypass standard deadbolts, especially if the door features a near by window or peephole. An attacker with some basic skills an tools can generally defeat them (sometimes with no or little sign of entry). Doors are most vulnerable when the house is left empty for long periods of times, like vacations, or after closing time for businesses. These vulnerabilities are not unique to Abloy but any sort of standard deadbolt. For this reason we generally recommend customers purchase the Abloy Lockable Thumbturn Deadbolt, it features all the convenience of a standard thumbturn with the additional features of a double deadbolt. It is more money and some people are looking for the other benefits of the Abloy locks, so we do sell the standard thumbturn deadbolt.
    Fair Use Source: Abloy Protec2 Single Cylinder Deadbolt :: Deadbolts :: Door Locks :: Security Snobs

    [​IMG] [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Abloy Protec2 Jimmy Proof Deadlock Deadbolt :: Deadbolts :: Door Locks :: Security Snobs

    You can also retrofit existing deadbolts with the better cylinders from Abloy:
    Abloy Protec2 Hardened Steel Mortise/Rim Lock :: Rim / Mortise :: Door Locks :: Security Snobs
     
    Last edited: Sep 1, 2014
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  3. AmericanRedoubt1776

    AmericanRedoubt1776 American Redoubt: Idaho-Montana-Wyoming Site Supporter+

    Just found this. I "sort-of" like this book by Sean Brodrick who appears to be a true believer global-warming, Bush-bashing liberal -- see the following reviews that identify his clear liberal-bias Amazon.com: Blanco's review of The Ultimate Suburban Survivalist Guide: T..., and Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: The Ultimate Suburban Survivalist Guide: The Smartest Money Moves to Prepare for Any Crisis, and Amazon.com: A dude's review of The Ultimate Suburban Survivalist Guide: T... --- since his book can potentially introduce prepping to Leftist Democrats (but I am being redundant with that term); although they probably will not read it anyway if you give it to them.

    It is certainly not as useful as the much more detailed security preps info found in Joel Skousen's (The Secure Home: Joel Skousen: 9781568610559: Amazon.com: Books) which gave us many ideas along with James Wesley Rawles' How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times: James Wesley Rawles and Joe Nobody's https://smile.amazon.com/Holding-Your-Ground-Preparing-Defense/dp/0615497551.

    Fair Use Source:

    Sean Brodrick's The Ultimate Suburban Survivalist Guide: The Smartest Money Moves to Prepare for Any Crisis: Sean Brodrick: 9780470463161: Amazon.com: Books, pp. 190-192

    Intruder Alert! Protecting Your Home

    "Along with being a shelter, a home is your refuge from the turbulent world outside. And as times get tougher, it's likely there will be more people trying to break into your home and steal your stuff, or worse. In this section, I'll cover several ways to protect your home.

    The first rule: Don't make it easy for intruders to enter your home, whether they're intent on burglary or something else. Intruders can access your house when:

    • Your door is unlocked.

    • The doors can simply be kicked in.

    • The door lock can be hammered until it simply falls off.

    • Your lock can be drilled out using a power drill.

    • The locks can be easily pried off with pliers or wrenches.

    • The door frames can be spread apart using a spreader bar.

    • There are panes of glass in the door itself or beside the door. The panes can simply be broken before the intruder unlocks or destroys the lock.


    Many of these problems can be fixed by installing a good lock with a deadbolt in your front door. And make sure that door is solid wood or metal, and the frame the deadbolt goes into is also solid and has metal strike plates.

    For extra security on the cheap, you can install a bar brace. It isn't pretty, but it will let you sleep well at night. A bar brace is basically a heavy, adjustable steel bar that wedges against your door at an angle so that it can't be opened. These usually cost less than $25 and are easy to install.

    Electronic Home Security Systems

    The FBI estimates that a break-in occurs around every 16 seconds. You only have to be burgled once to decide you need a home security system. It's best to get one before your heirlooms, electronics, gold, and guns are stolen. If we are in a worsening economic crisis, it's likely there will be more burglaries. And a study in Britain shows that electronic alarms really work. Only 1.6% of households with good home security systems were victims of burglary. But 22.5% of households with little or no home security measures were burglarized.

    The home alarms most people are familiar with are perimeter systems—detectors or sensors placed on and around main entry locations such as windows and doors. These usually work using magnetic detectors, switch detectors, and glass break detectors for windows. The alarm will be triggered if any of the sensors detect a foreign presence.

    Most home security systems are comprised of a control unit, detectors, or switches built into door and window frames that sense when the door or window is opened. These then trigger a siren or bell. Most sirens sound for 20 minutes and then shut off. Some alarms are connected to a monitoring service via phone line.

    Wired electric alarms have their good points and bad points. The pros:

    • They're inexpensive.

    • They're easy to operate.

    • They will alert the police.


    They also have cons:

    • Most require a functioning electric grid.

    • While they sound loud, they don't do anything to discourage a determined burglar.

    • The time between alarm and police response is fairly long— long enough for a burglar to get inside, grab your most expensive stuff, and split.


    Wireless home security systems have important differences. First, they're battery powered and they transmit a radio signal to the control unit in order to trigger the alarm—no wiring is involved, so the wire can't be cut, and those systems won't fail if the electric grid goes down. Second, most wireless systems I've seen are do-it-yourself systems and are not connected to a security company. So there won't be anyone picking up a phone.

    Doing it yourself is cheaper over the long run (no monitoring fee), but you have a bigger investment up front. Going with a corporate provider is usually cheaper up front (they may even throw the system in for free), but it involves a recurring charge.

    If you choose to go with an electric alarm, you'll want to make sure the alarm you choose is loud enough. Anything less than 95 decibels can't be heard from a distance.

    Choose a big name for your monitoring (ADT, Brinks, APX). ADT is the leader in the industry and they have five interconnected monitoring centers throughout the United States.

    If you want a better price, go with an ADT Authorized Dealer. They own their own equipment, so you'll probably pay less at the time of installation.

    An independent dealer (as opposed to a corporate representative) may also throw in extras to get your business—a free panic button, motion sensor, smoke detector, or an additional door sensor—along with the main home security package. But you'll never know unless you ask.

    A good site for reading about home security systems is www .homesccurityguru.com. Another is www.securehomeadvice.com.


    A Home Security System with Four Legs

    There is a home security system that can be cheaper than an electronic alarm (not always) and is certainly more cuddly—a dog. Many burglars will ignore a ringing alarm during a quick smash and grab; they will not ignore a dog, and they usually won't take their chances on one, either. For home security, you want a dog that sounds big and vicious. Teacup poodles and other tiny dogs are not effective home security systems.8

    Other cheap home security systems:

    Lock the doors: Yeah, it sounds simple, but you'd be amazed how many burglary victims don't lock their doors.

    Seal your windows with paint: Paint over your window seals on the ground door. A thick coat of paint will make your windows much harder for burglars to open, and most burglars, being lazy good-for-nothings, are easily deterred by any unanticipated difficulty. Sealing your windows will also make your heating and cooling bills lower.

    A neighborhood watch: Neighbors watching out for each other is one of the best deterrents against crime. And if you see suspicious behavior around the neighborhood, don't keep it to yourself. Saving someone from being burgled is a great way to be a hero. The safer your neighbors are, the safer you are.


    When Things Get Really Bad—Guard Your Windows

    I grew up in a house in Maine that was so old that it dated to the French and Indian Wars. One of the windows still had Indian Shutters—an interior piece of wood with a built-in gun slit. In good times, the Indian Shutter was recessed into the wall. In the bad times, you pulled that shutter tight and started shooting out the gun slit. Securing the windows (and doors) against attack saved lives more than once.

    We can hope that things don't get that bad for our kids and us. But too many U.S. homes are designed with little thought for safety; there are windows directly beside the front door or close enough that a thief could just smash it and unlock the door. Sliding glass doors that open to patios and backyards are big enough to literally drive a truck through.

    So how are you going to secure your windows? Newer homes in hurricane-prone areas are already equipped with nice steel hurricane shutters. You can put them up in a matter of hours—much more quickly than a breakdown in society will take.

    If you're going to turn your home into a refuge, seriously consider steel shutters, roll-up shutters, or retractable shutters for your first-floor windows. Alternately, you can get impact resistant windows, a security grille, or retractable security grates.

    Once you have your outside secure, it's time to think about the inside."​

    ----

    Fair Use Source: Sean Brodrick's The Ultimate Suburban Survivalist Guide: The Smartest Money Moves to Prepare for Any Crisis: Sean Brodrick: 9780470463161: Amazon.com: Books, p. 199:

    Want to Know How Intruders Will Break Into Your Home? Ask a Fireman!

    "Firemen are the real experts at breaking and entering—they do it all the time to rescue people who are trapped in burning buildings. Here's an excerpt from Fire Nuggets by Eric Guida:

    Forcible entry is an art. On an engine company the art is in accomplishing the job with the tools that are ordinarily carried on an engine. Anybody can grab a circular saw and cut their way into a structure. The true art comes in doing it with just a Halligan and 8-pound flat-head axe.9

    A Halligan bar is like a pry bar on steroids. It's a multipurpose tool for prying, twisting, punching, or striking a way into a door or wall.

    Mr. Guida's article is an eye-popping introduction to the forcible breaking and entering that fire departments do all the time when they rescue people from burning homes. You can find his article by pointing your Web browser here: http://tinyurl.com/a2v6ym, You should go see it just for the photos.

    So if you're not reinforcing your home because you worry that the fire department won't be able to get you out in an emergency, stop worrying—these guys could bust open Al Capone's vault in a New-York minute."​
     
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2014
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  4. ditch witch

    ditch witch I do stupid crap, so you don't have to

    I want to do the security film, but we're kind of waiting for a good hailstorm so we can get new windows first. :D
     
  5. AmericanRedoubt1776

    AmericanRedoubt1776 American Redoubt: Idaho-Montana-Wyoming Site Supporter+

    This is from a short and sweet book from the wonderful blogger M.D. Creekmore of the TheSurvivalistBlog.net ~ Survival Blog, Preppers, Be Prepared

    Due to being SO short and aimed at people wanting to live in a trailer, it not as useful as the much more detailed security preps info found in Joel Skousen's (The Secure Home: Joel Skousen: 9781568610559: Amazon.com: Books) which gave us many ideas along with James Wesley Rawles' How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times: James Wesley Rawles and Joe Nobody's https://smile.amazon.com/Holding-Your-Ground-Preparing-Defense/dp/0615497551.

    Fair Use Source:

    Dirt-Cheap Survival Retreat: One Man's Solution: M.D. Creekmore: 9781581607475: Amazon.com: Books pp. 44-48:

    Security:

    "This chapter isn't meant to be a definitive study of retreat security, but rather a short overview of things you can do to protect yourself and your property while living off the grid and out of sight of the neighborhood watch.

    The most common crime in my county is vandalism or property theft, but we have had a number of home invasions and several murders. Surprisingly, these crimes have happened in town. Apparently, the perpetrators know folks living outside the city limit are armed, so they look for easier prey elsewhere.

    One aspect of living in a trailer that might not occur to you right away is the easy penetrability of the walls. A travel trailer offers less protection against a bullet, even a pistol bullet, than even an automobile would. For this reason I have an escape hatch in the floor under the bed that drops down into a foxhole underneath the trailer. Another advantage to this floor escape hatch is that a lot of trailers only have one door in and out, and this hatch provides an extra exit in case of fire. Plus, it gives me access to everyday goods or supplies stored under the trailer without having to go outside in the blizzard to get them.

    At any rate, having warning devices and safety measures in place makes sense, especially considering the remote location of your dirt-cheap retreat.

    KNOW YOUR AREA

    The first precaution is to know your area. Little goes on around my place without my knowing about it. I know every tree, twig, and rock within a two-mile radius of my retreat. Frequent walks and observation breed familiarity and awareness of even the slightest disturbance to the environment.

    Most thieves watch a residence for several days before breaking in. I look for footprints, broken twigs or tree branches, impressions made by someone lying down on the ground or standing, trash littered about, and other signs that someone might be casing my place.


    DAKOTA ALARM

    I have a motion-activated Dakota WMA-3000 (Amazon.com : DK-WMA-3000 Wireless Motion Alert 3000 : Infrared Motion Detectors : Camera & Photo "driveway alarm" set up to cover the most likely approach leading to my retreat. The transmitter operates on one 9-volt battery and is easily mounted on a tree or post to cover an approach.

    The Dakota WMA-3000's transmitter uses a passive infrared beam to detect people or vehicles up to 80 feet away and then transmits a signal back to the receiver, which can be up to 600 feet away. This alerts you to anyone approaching your place, in plenty of time for you to prepare.

    I have the transmitter hidden inside a hollow tree trunk to keep it out of view. I'm sure you can come up with other ways of hiding the transmitter, depending on individual circumstances. The point is to keep anyone from seeing the transmitter and possibly avoiding the infrared beam, thereby getting past this security point undetected.


    FAKE SECURITY CAMERAS

    Fake security cameras (Amazon.com : Outdoor Fake, Dummy Security Camera with Blinking Light (Silver) : Camera & Photo which sell for as little as $20, are difficult to differentiate from the real thing. Mine operates on three AA batteries and has a built-in motion detector. It will remain still until someone passes by, and then the "camera" will move back and forth and a red light will flash.

    One of these "cameras" mounted near your trailer or entrance point may scare away an intruder, and "Protected by Video Surveillance" stickers and signs may help strengthen the effect. However, I would not rely exclusively on this ruse, as most hardened criminals will be undeterred.


    PAINTBALL MINES

    Some have reported using paintball mines to dissuade thieves and trespassers. These are sold at many department stores or online by vendors catering to the paintball enthusiast. The mines won't "hurt" anyone, but the paint makes the would-be intruders easily identifiable (though this is only temporary as the "paint" is soap-based and washes off) and potentially scares them away.


    DOGS

    Dogs are great for warning you when someone is near. I have four dogs, including a pit bull terrier, but my best watchdog is a Chihuahua mix. Anything she sees, hears, or smells out of the ordinary starts her to barking and pacing in circles. I think it is more important for a dog to bark than attack an intruder, so the size of the dog doesn't matter as much as its alertness. And small dogs eat less.

    Some people have reported having good luck with guinea fowl or geese as an early-warning system, but I haven't had much luck with them. They do call out with their loud, shrieking voices if concerned about intruders. But my birds are all over the place and never seem to be around when someone approaches. But both these options do taste better than dogs, if it comes to that.


    OUTSIDE LIGHTING

    Reliable outside lighting can be a problem off-grid, but it is necessary for security and peace of mind. I have two solar-powered motion-activated security lights, which I bought online, and so far they have worked well. The downside is that the dogs keep tripping them, although adjusting the angle of the sensor can minimize this.


    HIDING YOUR VALUABLES

    Hiding your valuables may be your best defense against theft. For obvious reasons, I'm not going to tell you where or how I've concealed my treasures, but suffice it to say that, if I were to die, it is unlikely anyone would ever find what I have hidden.

    I know a man who constructed a hidden compartment inside his bedroom wall to hide firearms and other valuables. To anyone looking at the wall it looked perfectly normal, but he had made a removable panel from one sheet of plywood, secured in place by magnets inside the wall and metal strips glued to the back side of the paneling."
     
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  6. techsar

    techsar Monkey+++

    Like this"
    [​IMG]
     
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  7. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    Yes, that looks like it! The key on the outside, shifts the bar over, and allows the door to be opened. You will not force that, without major door damage.
    Looks a little different than the one I recall, where did you find that?;)
     
  8. techsar

    techsar Monkey+++

    Just a pic of one I found online...Fox made several styles, some with double bolts that spread across the door,
    [​IMG]
    others similar to the previous pic...
    Pic is from The Keyless Lock Store (The Access Control Specialists ) Nokey.com - The Keyless Lock Store.

    I just use a reinforced door frame (homemade from 2x6), a 18 ga steel entry door with deadbolt reinforcement, and for additional resistance there is a board cut to wedge under the doorknob and rests against the base of the entryway step-up. No sense going any further as at this point windows would be much easier to breach.
    Prior to reinforcing the (replacement) door and jamb, it took 8 good hard kicks to break the old door with only the knob locked. No damage to frame, but figured some reinforcement wouldn't hurt. I went with the Door Devil kits with hinge side bolts. Easy install.
     
    Last edited: Sep 1, 2014
  9. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    Yes, then we get into "z" bars, and something I've noticed. Folks block the bottom of a door but not the top. If the bottom can't move the top will cave in under assault. Put matching keyed alike deadbolts in the top third and bottom third of the door. This adds support to the latch side of the door. Or install barrel bolts, top and bottom, if it is for inside use only. Do not use slide bolts vertically, they will not lock on their own, as barrel bolts do, and may lock you out, or retract on their own.
    If you have multiple deadbolts in the same door, leave one unlocked. (burglars will likely pick all three, then try he door, not knowing they picked one lock shut).
    "Z" bars are to drop a crossbar into to bar a door shut. They are not pretty, but work very well, when properly installed.
     
    AmericanRedoubt1776 likes this.
  10. chelloveck

    chelloveck Diabolus Causidicus

    Interesting concept as an early warning device. I did a bit of research and found a patent document for one such device. http://www.instructables.com/files/orig/FFF/K9DH/G1QWAASU/FFFK9DHG1QWAASU.pdf

    Build a Paintball Mine

    Just a bit of imaginative speculation...not that I would suggest actually that anyone try doing it...(and if silly enough or desperate enough to try doing it...beit on your own head) In a WROL post apocalyptic zombie invasion, replacing paintball liquid with capsicum spray fluid...or powdered ceyenne pepper might be a non-lethal option for slowing down and reducing the zombies' capacity for accurate fire.

    Oh...if using paintballs....red and brown might be the best colours. They can think that having trod on the device that they are either bleeding or that they have sh!t themselves. ;)
     
  11. Bear

    Bear Monkey+++ Founding Member Iron Monkey

    There's a simple solution without replacing your door hinges with ones that can't have their pins pulled... just requires a trip to hardware store for a few screws and a drill and bit... even if your pins are on the outside and are removable... this simple solution will not allow the door to be removed even without the pins...
    Sort of hard to explain without pics... but if anyone is interested... I'll post some pics and explain... a few bucks... a few minutes per door and you will have peace of mind...
    As many know... I like simple but effective... and replacing hinges is just not my idea of fun... unless of course it's an exact fit and I don't have to do any adjustments... seems like every time I had to replace a hinge or lock... I had to do some woodwork too....
    Let me know if anyone is curious... you can do it to all your doors... even if you have those unremoveable pin hinges (which by the way can be cut and unless you have a solid security door doesn't make much difference if someone wants in) my solution will hold the door longer even if the hinges are cut... (nothing is going to stop someone who wants in) giving you extra time to also load the second one, grab some extra mags and get loved ones into their hidey holes ;)

    Lots of good ideas here.... its a great thread...

    Take Care and God Bless,

    Bear
     
  12. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    I know this trick as well, @Bear ;)
    You create locking pins, by drilling a screw hole in one half of the hinge, and a screw head hole in the other half of the hinge, then run a large screw into the screw hole, but don't sink it all the way. Leaving about 1/2-3/4" exposed. When the door closes, the head acts as a locking pin in the other half. This can be done multiple times per hinge, and face both directions. This IS cheaper, but if they brought cutting tools, they would have easier ways in, than cutting security hinges.(they are not light weight brass hinges.)
    I don't have any trouble fitting hinges with just a hammer and flat wood chisle1", but by ordering matching size and type, I seldom have to make any alterations. (Might need to make the hinge pockets just a tad deeper, due to thicker hinges, but that depends on the fit of the door and it's frame.)
    Locking pins are good, if you want to keep the same hardware.
    Edit: the same tool used to cut the hinges will also cut the locking pins, as soon as they are discovered.
     
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2014
    AmericanRedoubt1776 likes this.
  13. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Ah!! So the screws behave like vault bolts using the hinge plates to take shear if the pins come out. I LIKE that.
     
    kellory likes this.
  14. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    1. And, don't forget latch covers. small ones cover the latch lock assembly to prevent tampering. full length latch covers prevent the door from being pried out of the opening.
     
  15. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    Most true security hinges have this feature built in. If you use screws, cut the heads off, and you can use smaller head holes for less play/movement.
     
  16. Clyde

    Clyde Jet Set Tourer Administrator Founding Member

    In our last home, we had issues with sun. I researched products that could "block" the UV rays and some of the heat as our entire east side of the house was 50% glass. I landed upon 3m window films. It had a two fold protection: Block the sun and deter break-ins through door walls (sliding doors and other windows). These films are on 1/4 glass so thicker than your home, but with a dog/other safety precautions, an ounce of deterrent is with a pound of lead.



     
    Yard Dart and ditch witch like this.
  17. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    As long as you have DC power, you could also go to a maglock. (Example only)
    10MAGLOCK3UL BEA UL Listed Single Maglock – 600 lbs.
    These can be run AC/DC 12 VT or 24 VT up to as much as 1200 lbs of holding force. Run them off solar or battery bank with the flip of a switch.
    Also, no one could pick a lock without rubber gloves, if it were tied to a cattle fence charger. :)
     
  18. AmericanRedoubt1776

    AmericanRedoubt1776 American Redoubt: Idaho-Montana-Wyoming Site Supporter+

    I don't want to start a new thread for this post. So I'll post it here since I think that securing one's home has a strong connection with one's home being in a state/county that is heavily armed and "gun-friendly". In other words, truly securing one's home (means use of any firearms you wish) in a Nanny State like California, New York, Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts, etc. is much harder than in Free States.

    Here are some excerpts from the article:
    "The 30 U.S. counties with the highest rates of gun-owning residents. Some surprises, Texas is not in the top,
    30, or 50. Its first county comes up at 73. The American Redoubt even for the small size scores pretty well. However the Southern Dixie state of Louisiana has the most “counties” with the highest gun ownership.

    Neither Washington State nor Oregon state of the Redoubt have any counties in the top 30. Idaho has two, and both Wyoming and Montana have one each. In the American Redoubt the great honor goes too … Nez Perce county which is borders the Palouse in Idaho which I have introduced multiple times. It is also on James Wesley Rawles’s suggested Redoubt locations under the name Clearwater River basin area.

    3. Nez Perce County, ID – 59.0%

    10. Canyon County, ID – 50.9%

    12. Laramie County, WY – 49.6%

    14. Yellowstone County, MT – 48.7%

    Another Reddit user offered a theory for why Louisiana was so well-represented. “Louisiana has a 2nd Amendment sales tax holiday, a weekend in which firearms, ammunition and, I believe, hunting supplies are tax free,” the user wrote. “As a former resident of Louisiana and gun owner I’m not surprised by the numbers, though I figured northern Louisiana would be better armed than the southern half of the state.” More from The Blaze article Take a Gander at America’s Most Heavily Armed Counties. The Ones That Aren’t on the Map Might Surprise You, by Zach Noble. Which American Redoubt state will be the first to implement a tax-free weekend like Louisiana to purchase firearms?

    What The Blaze does not share with you is the numbers are fun, but are not most likely highly accurate. The reason is that in so many places there is no registration of firearms, thus how would you know who has a gun in Idaho and who does not? The source of the data comes from City-data. City Data does not tell us where they got the data for this list. You would assume it is a list of counties with the most registered gun owners. Might be interesting to show the counties with the most registered CCWs. That would be a fun data point. Again, fun numbers that provide a data point. How accurate it is, is questionable."

    Thanks to Alexander Barron, the self-proclaimed Bard of the American Redoubt for this:
    Fair Use Source:
    The most heavily armed counties the American Redoubt [HASHTAG]#prepper[/HASHTAG], [HASHTAG]#American[/HASHTAG] redoubt, [HASHTAG]#preppertalk[/HASHTAG] | Charles Carroll Society
    The most heavily armed counties in USA are in the American Redoubt.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 3, 2014
    techsar likes this.
  19. fmhuff

    fmhuff Monkey+++

    One of the best books and blogs I have read that are reality based and not theoretical are from FerFal (A lot darker times but Selco makes a few good points as well). Especially from the time he was living in Argentina. We all wonder what the coming SHTF scenario will actually look like with our deepest fears being Nazi Germany, Stalinist Russia, Mao's China, civil war in the Balkans or some hell hole of Islamic Caliphate. Possible, but Argentina would be my first expectation. I think it depends on us whether it degrades from there.

    This is a personal conviction but those who do not hear the cries of their neighbors their cries will also not be heard. Some will say to hell with them but like I said what goes around comes around. History has shown one man or woman can make a huge difference. I hope each and every one of you are that person.

    On the American frontier times were rough and the government was not there to bail you out when TSHTF. We had to help each other to survive from harvest, disease, natural disasters to marauders. IMHO it will be the same again.
     
  20. Home security is mostly a head game.. you want to badguy to choose a different place. Here are a few suggestions:

    Lights and TV/Radio on timers

    Extra car in the driveway ( parked or rolled in different positions )
    if the car is not road worthy, keep it clean and make it appear that it is

    6 foot fence with locked gate
    Dog or visual indication that a large dog might be around
    Solid Doors with enforced strike plates
    Area lights, Street light
    passerby or neighbors should have unobstructed view of your entry points
    visual indication that several people likely live at the address
    visual indication of recent/ongoing activity on the property
    visual indication of possible security system

    report suspicious people and vehicles
     
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