Once they get in the house at short range, anything is a weapon :) A good drill is to practice looking around the various rooms of the house and identifying potential weapons which can be grabbed in an emergency. The kitchen is a good example: you've got knives, other utensils (which can be thrown as well as wielded--in Rapid Fire Brandon Lee gets trapped in the kitchen, so one thing he does is grab a drawer full of silverware and toss it in his attacker's eyes--then he slams the refrigerator's freezer door into his nose, LOL!), frying pans (I remember Samwise used one of those in Moria :). . .If you find a room without weapons handy, think of something you can keep there.
I just don't want to bring a steak knife to a gunfight.
Good tips, I am all for using anything as a weapon in a desperate circumstance, but I don't like the idea of any average woman using a hand-to-had weapon on a likely-to-be-stronger intruder.
Better to have guns in every room. :~D
Clearer: I don't like the idea of any average woman ~thinking she should rely on~ using a hand-to-hand weapon on a likely-to-be-stronger intruder.