Practical Home Defense Discussion Thread.

[dozer wright]

I want to reinforce my walls with kevlar.

My old house was Cinder block cement filled rebar supported . I loved that house .
Tried to drill a hole for a cable line . Was fun .

[Mopar Guy]

Good posts. Lots of options discussed. The gun is only used when all other measures have failed.

[Foebia]

I love non lethal ideas. My wife has a x26 taser, (she actually took out a zombie with it at the zombie shoot way back when) being non lethal no hesitation to wether it's the last resort or not.
Wife does not like dogs but thats a great idea.

[wpage]

Much responsibility goes with using you gun in home defence...

[Lonestargrizzly]

Self defense cats!

[Can'thavenuthingood]

I use motion detecters for outside lights.

This is good and inexpensive.

http://nightlock.com/nightlock-home-security/

Vick

[mjheinz]

Thank you for starting this thread.
A couple of things to add.

1. Remote control for downstairs lighting ($30.00 on Amazon)
2. I keep a pair of electronic earmuffs in my nightstand next to my 40.

[BennyAdeline]

Thank you for starting this thread.
A couple of things to add.

1. Remote control for downstairs lighting ($30.00 on Amazon)
2. I keep a pair of electronic earmuffs in my nightstand next to my 40.

Good points! I keep ear pro by the bed too, but I worry about fumbling with it and wasting precious seconds. I also worry about my baby and pets ears if I ever popped off in the house.

I'll also add...have a light on your gun! You have very little time to identify a threat and seeing clearly is important.

[calif 15-22]

LIGHTS. Porch lights at all doors. Leave them on all night, mine are on timers that replace the switches. On at dusk, off at dawn. If you're worried about cost, replace incandescent with led.

Yard lights to eliminate dark areas to hide. Cut back bushes for the same reason. You cannot stand in any hiding place in front of my house at night. Every time I speak to cops in my yard, granted, only a couple times, they glanced around and said, guess whose house isn't going to be broken into. My neighbor's cooperate by turning out all of their lights when they go to bed. My house looks like a German POW camp during an escape. All night, every night.

A light on my flagpole. I fly old glory because I love her, but I also read that criminals know that houses flying the flag likely contain an armed owner.

Put a couple interior lights on random timers.

FENCES/GATES. Hang a "beware of dog" sign on them, visible from front, and LOCK THE GATES. Will they jump the fence anyway? Maybe, but again, my neighbor's don't lock theirs, so they don't have to.

DOG. Get one that barks.

Door locks, invest in good ones.

Alarm. Alarms will pay for themselves with a 10% discount on your homeowners policy, they give you signs to put up, and will give you more if you ask. I have signs near every door and at the property line in back. I paid extra, but my entire house is hard wired, no window or door can be opened without tripping a sensor. When I'm away on a business trip, I don't worry about my family.

Plan. Plan ahead. Talk about it, fire, earthquake, intruder, etc. figure out what you'll do in various situations before they happen. Play what if with yourself. Play what if with your family, get them thinking.
As an example, we have a code word that means grab some floor, whatever is happening, lay down, daddy's getting ready to lay down some fire. My daughter thinks it's hysterical when I yell it, but she gets down. I'll never have to use it, but that's what I said about my life insurance policy, too.

Great info Citadel . . . I do all of those above. Lights on all night. Neighbors asked why and I told them why.
Locked gates with signs that read attack dog.
Attack Labradoodle behind those gates

Plan . . . this is where my situation breaks down a bit. While I have earthquake, fire, etc plans, I have yet to have an "intruder plan".

I have 3 sons all living at home (24, 22, 18 I know the older two should be out), but have yet to include them in "arming". As of now I have three FAS1 safes around the house and the bulk of firearms in my safe downstairs that is not readily accessible if there in an intruder. All my sons who shoot with me have asked "should we have the combo to the safe and FAS1s incase you are not home". I'm still not comfortable with that yet. Not sure why

Do any of you that have teens or young adults living at home give them access for when you are not there??

[Chewy65]

Great ideas. One thing I didn't see mentioned was video surveillance. Some cameras out of sight, but some obvious ones to direct persons to do their shopping elsewhere.

Plant placement, especially if overgrown, can provide cover to miscreants.

Don't forget the little things, like stopping the paper when on trips and having a neighbor pick up mail (I don't recall if the Post Office will hold it).

Don't forget that a lot of burglaries happen during the day.

There is probably something much better, but I believed that sliding patio doors offered easy access as they are easily lifted off of their tracks. We used to drill a hole in the upper track and pin them to stop that. Newer doors may be designed better. I don't know.

I believe that many communities will do a security check if you request one from your sheriff or police department. Perhaps budgets no longer permit that.

[Citadelgrad87]

Great info Citadel . . . I do all of those above. Lights on all night. Neighbors asked why and I told them why.
Locked gates with signs that read attack dog.
Attack Labradoodle behind those gates

Plan . . . this is where my situation breaks down a bit. While I have earthquake, fire, etc plans, I have yet to have an "intruder plan".

I have 3 sons all living at home (24, 22, 18 I know the older two should be out), but have yet to include them in "arming". As of now I have three FAS1 safes around the house and the bulk of firearms in my safe downstairs that is not readily accessible if there in an intruder. All my sons who shoot with me have asked "should we have the combo to the safe and FAS1s incase you are not home". I'm still not comfortable with that yet. Not sure why

Do any of you that have teens or young adults living at home give them access for when you are not there??

Labradoodle? Meet Gus, my labradoodle. More lab than doodle, apparently. Best dog I ever had.

[calif 15-22]

Labradoodle? Meet Gus, my labradoodle. More lab than doodle, apparently. Best dog I ever had.

That's a good looking Doodle there Citadel!

Here is "Gunner". We got him long before I ever owned firearms. Great dog!
He's more doodle than lab (hates the water) but is very protective of our clan.

[calif 15-22]

Apologize for the "guard dog" tangent . . . now back on track!

[meaty-btz]

Harden the house first. As Citadel said, lights, proper landscaping (thorny is better) but offering no hiding places.

I have rose bushes under every window. Looks beautiful smells great. My breeds often have thorns that curve and yes they have bladed sharp sides so they go in like a fish-hook and are about has hard to get out (I've gotten hooked a few times... ouch).

But besides cameras, harden your door frames. That is a huge weakness in most modern houses. Most exterior doors will be hard to smash to pieces but the door frames on most homes will splinter on the first kick.

Also I recommend the riot-proof glass on every window or just the first floor. It has the plus side of adding some more R-factor and noise reduction. Also, it looks better than bars and offers pretty much the same level of protection.

The last thing is to prevent your home from being targeted by not looking like a target. Why is your bigscreen visible from outside the house? Are you seen bringing in high end items? Do you wear bling?

As far as gun laws, even in California. If they are in your house, they are considered a threat of harm.

But the point is to not let them get that far by other deterrents because regardless of the law or reality we have everything dictated by the worst kind of political will in this state.

It is far harder for a (D) DA to craft that you were not in danger when the intruder had to apply enough force and effort to breach hardened doors/frames (steel reinforcing) or take the time and TOOLS needed to break through Riot-Proof Glass. The effort, time, and tools shows greater intent that is all but impossible to polit-craft into you being the badguy.

Remember that a ROCK is considered a deadly weapon. It takes more than a rock to break the anti-riot glass and it usually takes 10-15 min of bashing with a sledge to get in.

One more thing on windows and sliding glass doors, they should all be set with a metal wedge that isn't magnetic so that they cannot just be forced open or pried/popped from their track.

Overall the costs to do the above are vastly less than the cost of a lawyer and or the cost of replacing stolen goods. Even with insurance you will find out really fast that insurance does not "cover you" like you think it does and they will nickle and dime you out of everything till you are left holding the bag.

[BennyAdeline]

Do any of you that have teens or young adults living at home give them access for when you are not there??

My first child comes in 3 weeks. Just like my father did, she will have access to firearms as soon as she proves she can handle the safely. I had a pistol and shotgun in my room when I was 12.

Someone here mentioned cameras. I use nest cams and they are great. I get alerts on my phone and can watch everything in real time.