Posted on 09/16/2014 3:36:55 PM PDT by Q-ManRN
I have prepped my wife to something similar. I have also instructed her to be in hysterical panic as she tosses her purse to a mugger upside down and in the direction opposite she is planning to run. If we are together, I told her to wait until I am also ready to toss my wallet and we'll toss together. The diversion should give her a second to get clear and me a secone to draw.
(All of this assumes that we have been caught completely by surprise.)
Thanks much! I appreciate the reply.
Each person has their own taste as far as a pistol goes. I prefer a revolver for safety reasons. Less chance of an unwanted DC and if loaded it's still ready to go otherwise. Teach family members firearm safety starting with kids at Toddler age. Teach older members from about 12 on up self defense.
Get a good dog. It doesn't have to be a Pit Bull, Dobie, or the likes. I use Two Ratty Security. They are accurate, alert me to things going on I can't hear {I'm half deaf, and there's no liability concerns. Smaller dogs are also easier to deal with living inside.
Next thing is security monitoring for detecting unwanted guest before they even get to your door. How expensive? How effective? How High Tech? I keep it simple. For about $15 a pop Harbor Freight sells battery powered Bunker Hill motion sensors and you can buy them to where they are on the same channel or different channels. By placing the receiver in separate locations from others you can tell where the perp is. Place them in positions the intruder has to pass by to enter the home. One drawback is animals sometimes set them off. Other drawback IMO is they are white so I use a Sharpie and change the color to that of where I'm placing it. Do not color the lens.
Next is real important and often the most overlooked and that is lighting. The idea is to discourage someone from wanting to try and break in. Outside lighting is the downfall in many cases. I use flood lights PAR 38 I think it is at about 90 watts because 120 watts is hard to find. A good energy saving alternative is a couple of well placed street lights. Don't skimp on the wattage. I like the floodlights because it puts perp at disadvantage of having to look into them. Next is indoor lighting. I keep about four lights on all night in a 1200 sq ft home. None of the lights are in direct line of sight from the bed. IOW I can see into the living room enough to identify anyone but they would have difficulty seeing me. The lighting doesn't blind me. Lighting gives you better aim conditions and really is a good idea in event of other issues such as a fire.
Other than that I make it difficult but not impossible to gain entry. The perp will have to make lots of noise which triggers the Two Terrier Home Security System LOL.
It works, technically I wasn't being home invaded, since I was taking a bus from Los Angeles to Oceanside, but the people sitting next to me never attacked me the entire 2 hour trip, in fact they were obviously staying out of my way.
This flashlight kicks butt! I’ve had mine for 2+ years, banged it around, dropped it from 10+ feet and it is still going strong. Best light I’ve ever owned and I’ve been trough more than a few high priced flashlights.
http://www.streamlight.com/product/product.aspx?pid=186
Thanks much for the reply.
Ooooh...nice! I like the adjustable light levels. Thanks much!
LOL...I can relate.
We have the Corgi [with ears like a bat] security system...that dog has hearing like no dog we've ever had before and she let's us know it.
If they get inside the house they’re dead. Pretty simple.
I never said I owned just one shotgun. The sweeper is a rather (ahem) very short barrel. You never shot double odd buck out of one???
Good post we have done most of those same things We don’t have motion sensors outside but we do have lights in and outside the house. A good monitored alarm system and a neighborhood patrolman who is an off duty HPD. We have 4 dogs which is better than 2. 3 are JRT’s and one is blind so his hearing is fantastic. The 4th is a big fat hound dog with a deep bark. All 4 dogs sleep in our bedroom......... NO ONE is going to sneak up on us.
Oh yeah, we are armed. :)
This guy is out of a bad movie. Get a gun, load it up, put it on your nightstand. Shoot and kill anybody who invades your home. Then after they are dead let your kids spray them with wasp spray. :-)
Our big Ratty about 20 pounds comes from Beagle mix. The Toy Ratty comes from a Chihuahua mix and neither one is scared when it comes to alerting us or taking on a Booger LOL. The small one also is my wife's companion and we've taught her to be her service dog as well. If my wife needs me and I don't hear her the Toy barks till I check on her. If I'm asleep and she needs me, my cell phone rings, or gets a text, she comes in and jumps on my chest LOL. I can tell by their reaction when my outside motion sensor goes off as to if it's a car coming up the driveway or not.
I found this just now looking for some info on laser dazzlers.
http://www.protectglobal.com/front-page/products/fog-cannons/qumulus
Might be handy in delaying a perp doing a home invasion. Between that and strobe, even a swat team would have trouble finding their way to the bedroom.
Here is one that is much easier to carry, even in your purse, is much brighter, cheaper, yet better, and it uses two different types of battery, one 18650 rechargeable, or two smaller throw aways.
http://www.fenix-store.com/fenix-pd35-led-flashlight-2014-edt/
Uh, no you’re not.
I am critical of the police, but that is simply a foolish statement.
The dogs is the best deterrent. Unless the perp is messed up on drugs most do not want to stick around once their presence has been announced. LOL.
I'm kinda isolated from neighbors and on a dead end rural road. We watch out for each other but we can't see each others houses especially early spring - late fall.
One thing about the alarm. If it's monitored off site you need to bury the phone line and leave the aerial cable up as well. More experienced perps cut the phone line first thing. My dad was a Bell Tech and he had one customer he had to keep going back and stringing the dead overhead phone cable back up for him LOL.
Second thing is make sure the alarm system can't seize your phone line. The cheaper systems do just that. I used to work maintenance in a retirement community. I'd have to answer alarms. Most of the time I had to manually disable the system to call the alarm company.
(All of this assumes that we have been caught completely by surprise.)
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True, but in a situation where there are people around it also gives you an opportunity to get the ‘lay of the land’ and see who is who and where they are.
Naturally don’t even plan on opening fire until absolutely necessary.
The throwing stuff in different directions is ‘old’ but tell people that and they say “now that is a good idea”.
It is right up there with having a ‘fake’ wallet or money clip with some ‘bait’ money.
Also a good thing to have a ‘key word’ so she (or you) know to duck when you are ready to discharge your weapon.
Main thing is to ‘have a plan’ - I am ‘anal’ when it comes to that.
We are right in the middle of Houston on a very busy city street in a nice neighborhood. That doesn’t matter, crooks just think we have more good stuff to steal so crime happens all around us. We have been fortunate.
A cross the street neighbor had his house cleaned out (and I do mean cleaned out) last year. The took his furniture, pictures off the wall and clothes out of his closet. He was at work and they spent the day there stealing his stuff.
His alarm was not sufficient . Our monitored alarm is connected to a cell number so we have no wires. We have indoor scans in case the glass breaks don’t work.
We have tried to cover all possibilities but of course, we could still get robbed. People are being followed home and accosted in the garage. it could happen.
All good points in your advice. I only dissagree with lights on in the house. I want my house dark. I know where everything is, I assume a perp is less familiar and doesn’t have night vision goggles.
But as you say, I expect to be waiting for them by the time the finally get into the house. Soon after, there should be only some paperwork and mess to clean up.
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