Blacking out the windows when dark

[dazthechippy]

as many folks seem to think their chances are betting bugging in than out (me included) due to the countryside being over run etc. have you thought about trying to hide any light you may have at home?

i may have stumbled on somethign that can help - to help our child sleep we black out the windows with curtain black out lining bought from a curtain shop. Bought by the metre and cut to the drop of the window reveal (that's inside the window recess) we fix them in every upstairs room by threading a net curtain wire through a hem we sew in to the top of the material and attach with small metal hooks that normally hang net cutrains - the bigger the window the more you need to avoid sagging...

the lining sits about 10mm from the window and the hooks are screwed into rawlplugs. We use slightly oversize material so we can tuck snugly into the reveal.

In the day we take em down, fold up and stash em. Clearly you cant have floodlights going etc. as there may be some leakage, but from outside it looks like there's no movement inside - anyone got any thoughts on this or other materials/methods they may use like sheets of wood (hard to store) or material velcro'd to the window frame (too fiddly)

cheers

[Arzosah]

In the main bedroom, I've had the curtains lined with blackout material for years - because of the sun, its always faced either south or east. Now, for both my living room and bedroom, I've been outside to check at night, and absolutely nothing shows at either window, and its all perfectly normal inside. Another window has a wooden frame fitted into it for sound sound protection - thats the room I work in, and any light from there is also invisible at night.

Every other window in the house, however, shines like a beacon though I have a *lot* of leftover material - as an emergency measure, cardboard would do, till I got something else sorted. For a small window, even a stack of clothes, or a couple of pillows pushed in there at night, until I'd worked out what I wanted to do. Two windows have venetian blinds, and there's a curtain pole already up over the door, thats only used for lightweight curtains.

For people thinking about velcro - if you use it daily, it doesn't last that long and there speaks the voice of experience. Daz's method is a good'un, and where I've got all my ducks in a row, mine's good too

[soutie]

shoving things like cardboard and clothes etc in your windows will make your house stand out and draw attention .

i am very lucky to have access to the crawl space/cellar in my house which has full head height clearance and is dry, which i use as prepping store and will be my hiddy hole if tshtf big time !!! no light leakage problems as there are no windows , fire could be my only real threat and i think in the residential area i live in the threat is minimal.

[Arzosah]

shoving things like cardboard and clothes etc in your windows will make your house stand out and draw attention .

Not if you take it down during the daytime, I don't think. And actually, at the back, it wouldn't attract much attention at all. I have the sound-protection I mentioned on a back window, and its really not noticeable from outside.

[Attack Warning Red]

Good thread. I've often thought in that situation I'd have just one room that I'd sit in at night, so less windows to cover.

Then all you've got to worry about is smoke in the day time...

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[smoggiebowman]

The simplest solution here is what my mother used to do to keep the kids in bed in the summer - just tuck a blanket over the top of the curtain rail.. immediate blackout - no fuss and easily removed.

Providing you have a curtain rail of course

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[Ferricks]

This is a good point - I like this thread! We'll be keeping to the back of the house - the front is close to the road so I'll keep the blinds down and board the windows behind it (the board is measured, cut and in the shed with the fixings we'll need taped to each board to save time in an emergency).

The back windows will have appropriate and available textiles covering them.

I agree that smoke is our biggest potential problem so I'll be looking into reduced smoke fuels etc. to keep in reserve if needed.

[unsure]

i`ve often thought about this , the only real solution i can think of is to close all doors upstairs and sleep on the landing at the top of the stairs . its an easy to defend and seeing as most of my preps are upstairs in the spare room it seems logical .
my house is a little to close to the road , now its not a busy road being on an estate but it could be if things go wrong . its also a 2 minute walk from the nearest doctors and shops both i expect to be looted very quickly .
in think the quickest way to block out the light for me would be ,,,, fence panels , push in to the window and block in place with a few good 3x2`s . i`m not to bothered about the wall paper that can all ways be redone .

[junmist]

The simplest solution here is what my mother used to do to keep the kids in bed in the summer - just tuck a blanket over the top of the curtain rail.. immediate blackout - no fuss and easily removed.

Providing you have a curtain rail of course

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Does anyone sell blankest anymore ? I was looking for some the other day and could not find any of the good old fashion type that I remember as a kid

[smoggiebowman]

The simplest solution here is what my mother used to do to keep the kids in bed in the summer - just tuck a blanket over the top of the curtain rail.. immediate blackout - no fuss and easily removed.

Providing you have a curtain rail of course

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2

Does anyone sell blankest anymore ? I was looking for some the other day and could not find any of the good old fashion type that I remember as a kid

Amazon does

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