Home defense / Keeping Perspective on Things

[jansman]

In Liverpool in the late 80's/early 90's burglary of Council properties was at an all time high. Nothing was safe. Most Council properties are back-to-back terraces with a covered entry(us Midlanders say entry, Northerners call 'em a Ginnel I believe) and most of the gates had been removed over time.
Liverpool Council had a programme of replacing the (locking) gates. You know what? Burglary dropped by 90+ % in a month. It stopped the opportunists.

[ukpreppergrrl]

As others have said I'd concentrate on what is useful now, and then occasionally allow yourself to wander into tin-foil territory once you've got the basics covered. I like the adage: you don't have to run faster than the lion, you only have to run faster than the person you're with. To deter the casual burglar you make your property seem less appealing that your neighbours'. 95% of the time you're trying to deter the casual burglar, so things like a burglar alarm (it's its mere presence not the noise it makes), a Beware Of The Dog sign, lights on when you're not in, TV on when you're not in (or that nifty pseudo TV light), no ostentatious wealth on show, and lock your doors and windows when you go out! The remaining 5% of the time is the determined burglar, the rioter, the zombie horde - and these folks you are unlikely to deter.

If someone really wants to get into your property the most you can actually do is slow them down with dead locks, toughened glass, bars etc.. Once they're in the important thing is a) you and yours are NOT there, so make sure you can get out if necessary; b) they don't find your most treasured stuff. According to the Police most burglars only give kitchens and bathrooms cursory looks (unless they're after alcohol and your stash is in the kitchen!). They're also highly unlikely to bother to pull the loft door down, pull the ladder down, climb up with a torch and check out your attic. Ditto any unlit cellars you may have lying around! So there are places you can store stuff that 95% of determined burglars/rioters won't look.

Anything beyond that (hidden rooms, secret trap doors, panic rooms) is probably in the tinfoil-hat territory, and undoubtedly well beyond the scope of what's possible in rented accommodation. Doesn't mean you don't think about it, just don't concentrate on it as your primary line of defence.

[handyandy]

really depends where you live,the type of sensible home defences differ.the less appealing your property looks the better.
the off grid im building atm is rural on an acre and a half and surrounded by deep water filled ditches,brambles and barbed wire fencing
whereas the house im renting (while I build) is such a shithole nobody would expect anything of value therein!
I have invested in a 'Burglar removal system' (her names Sasha!)

[bikerjoe83]

I'm probably one of those who might be taking it too seriously, but to me I'm being prepared for as worst case a scenario as possible, when it comes to someone breaking into my home. If the SHTF, I have my house arranged as such that my partner and I know exactly which piece of furniture to grab to block doors - dining table to wedge between cabinet and back door, two small cabinets to wedge between stairs and front door (whilst still being able to get up the stairs). Bathroom door is lockable, two bedroom doors have cabinets next to them to delay entry.

With regards to 'weapons', I could obviously only use household items. My pool cue sits in its soft case, unzipped, next to my bed - it's a two-piece cue. The sharpest kitchen knives are stored in a specific kitchen drawer. We know which ornaments are the heaviest and they stay in the same place on shelves/ledges. We have a small cabinet at the top of the stairs which could be launched down said stairs. We have hairspray in a bedroom cupboard where we happen to keep a lighter (to light candles of course), and we have various maintenance sprays dotted around (to maintain things of course) which coincidentally happen to really sting when you accidentally get spray in your eye!

Less 'grey-area' defences could be super-bright LED torches - an intruder can't see you coming from the side whilst your missus blinds him with the torch. Or you can get defence dye sprays, or ultra loud personal alarms, both of which would certainly surprise and confuse an intruder if you used darkness as your ally. You could also hang cheap wind chimes in front of curtains/net curtains in case an intruder comes in through the window. You could stack CDs on window sills - they make a racket when they fall over/get knocked over.

I wouldn't want to hide in the loft as that's the first place smoke will find in the event of arson. I wouldn't want to hide at all, I'd want my presence to be known and I'd like to think with our prepping we'd have element of surprise.

I'd like to think I've prepped for a number of scenarios. Worst case, if an intruder climbs in through my kitchen window, moves the cutlery stand out of the way so they don't send it clattering onto the floor, somehow gets past the terrier without her barking or biting, somehow gets through the folding door dividing the kitchen and living room (with the intentionally broken roller which makes an absolute racket now), spots the stair gate at the bottom of the stairs and opens my bedroom door without the ear-splitting door alarm (£2.99 from Maplin) going off, they'd be some sort of Jackie Chan super-sleuth and I'd be dead before I knew they were in anyway.

[Deeps]

I'm probably one of those who might be taking it too seriously, but to me I'm being prepared for as worst case a scenario as possible, when it comes to someone breaking into my home. If the SHTF, I have my house arranged as such that my partner and I know exactly which piece of furniture to grab to block doors - dining table to wedge between cabinet and back door, two small cabinets to wedge between stairs and front door (whilst still being able to get up the stairs). Bathroom door is lockable, two bedroom doors have cabinets next to them to delay entry.

With regards to 'weapons', I could obviously only use household items. My pool cue sits in its soft case, unzipped, next to my bed - it's a two-piece cue. The sharpest kitchen knives are stored in a specific kitchen drawer. We know which ornaments are the heaviest and they stay in the same place on shelves/ledges. We have a small cabinet at the top of the stairs which could be launched down said stairs. We have hairspray in a bedroom cupboard where we happen to keep a lighter (to light candles of course), and we have various maintenance sprays dotted around (to maintain things of course) which coincidentally happen to really sting when you accidentally get spray in your eye!

Less 'grey-area' defences could be super-bright LED torches - an intruder can't see you coming from the side whilst your missus blinds him with the torch. Or you can get defence dye sprays, or ultra loud personal alarms, both of which would certainly surprise and confuse an intruder if you used darkness as your ally. You could also hang cheap wind chimes in front of curtains/net curtains in case an intruder comes in through the window. You could stack CDs on window sills - they make a racket when they fall over/get knocked over.

I wouldn't want to hide in the loft as that's the first place smoke will find in the event of arson. I wouldn't want to hide at all, I'd want my presence to be known and I'd like to think with our prepping we'd have element of surprise.

I'd like to think I've prepped for a number of scenarios. Worst case, if an intruder climbs in through my kitchen window, moves the cutlery stand out of the way so they don't send it clattering onto the floor, somehow gets past the terrier without her barking or biting, somehow gets through the folding door dividing the kitchen and living room (with the intentionally broken roller which makes an absolute racket now), spots the stair gate at the bottom of the stairs and opens my bedroom door without the ear-splitting door alarm (£2.99 from Maplin) going off, they'd be some sort of Jackie Chan super-sleuth and I'd be dead before I knew they were in anyway.

Everyone's situation is different when it comes to a robbery but the Police recommend that if you have burglars downstairs you shouldn't go down to confront them but make a noise upstairs so they grab what they can and scarper. Its not my preferred option personally, I'm a little more old fashioned when it comes to strangers in my house but I can see the logic if you're unwilling to confront burglars. There's nothing wrong with your preps for burglary but for me a house is for living in and that sometimes means things being all over the place but I'm a scruffy begger so probably not the best example. Unless you live in a mansion then most burglars are going to be small time/opportunists so not looking for trouble and if they're long term drug users then not physically scary although they may be armed (I guess this is why the police advise you to stay upstairs and make a noise, a few hundred quids worth of insured gear is small potatoes).

In a SHTF scenario then nobody is going to think logically, if you're the only guy in the street with food/water (or even if people think you have) then your neighbours (and possibly friends/extended family if they are aware of your prepping) will be chapping on your door looking to be your BFF. A mob doesn't need to be a bunch of teenagers in hoodies, it can be a bunch of hungry 40 year olds (with 20 year old kids) who live in your street. I would say that to 'bug in' and do it properly you'd have to be a bit cold hearted to ignore your neighbours but I daresay it would be the cold hearted ones who would prosper in the worst case scenario. I'd be crap personally, I wouldn't exactly say I'm a soft touch but I don't know if I'd be prepared to turn my back on some people that I hadn't 'prepped' for.

[Plymtom]

My strategy either way is to deter entry, the alarm is designed to trigger upon attempted entry, all too often alarms with interior motion detectors and the like allow the buggers in before they alert you sure if they become aware they have disturbed you they may well scarper ( and with some stuff) but if the lights come on and the internal sounders are going off ( or some other off grid SHTF equivelant) leaving empty handed (and possibly uninjured) may be the better option, it has had that effect when it has been tried on our house, I do everything I can to keep them out, because I am a bit territorial, when I was young I was home alone when the local bully (alleged hard nut by reputation) tried after ringing our bell to force his way past me into our house, without thinking I quite literally booted him out into the street and left it at that, It frightened me at the time because of his reputation I thought that wouldn't be and and to it, I was right but not altogether, he confronted me in the street and told me I had been lucky, I found myself outraged once more and replied I'm not afraid of you, I got the better of you then, if you make me I'll do it again, is that what you want? He walked away.