Some of us don't have to develop such a rep; it came pre-wired.
Backyard knife-throwing targets? Naturally.
Posted on 01/09/2012 3:23:41 PM PST by fightinJAG
If you missed this thread of a few days ago on a 14-year-old boy shooting an intruder in N.C., or if you didn't see all the responses, it's definitely worth checking out. The thread is also linked at the "read more" button below.
On that thread, I asked for freepers' thoughts on whether there were things that made some homes more vulnerable to home invasion than others. (It seems like it would be obvious that a more rural or remote home would be more vulnerable, but news reports in my area do not substantiate that assumption at all. Homes in crowded suburban neighbors get hit, too.)
Also, it's clear that, for various reasons, not every person in a household is going to be able to use a gun, even if one is available. I asked about ideas and discussion on ways that might deter invasions in the first place, although it goes without saying that nothing is foolproof and no one wants to live in a total fortress environment.
A poster suggested I make my questions into a stand-alone thread, and I decided to do so. Reading reports of several local home invasions in today's news, as well as a rash of "smash and grab" buglaries, had nothing to do with reminding me of the topic. Right.
So, yes, we know about guns and dogs (and tips regarding those are always still welcome). But what other things might be unobtrusively effective in deterring home invasions or allowing them to have a "happy" ending (dead perp)?
In the comments on our local crime stories, I saw that some people were using baby monitors to be alerted to noises around their back doors, etc. Thus, allowing them more time to investigate or prepare if a break-in developed.
(Excerpt) Read more at freerepublic.com ...
Yeah, I heard about wasp spray several months ago, so keep a can by the front door now. Won’t kill anyone, but will throw him off his game!!
JC
You guys used to be married to each other or somethin’ like that??? HAW
JC
Sounds like Imperial Beach or Chula Vista, CA 35 years ago! It was like a locust invasion every night what with the illegals running north. I lost a nice S&W .357 there, but I think the crooked cop living across the street stole it. Glad to move away!
JC
Yes, you would need some sort of quick releases to be able to escape in case of fire; the perps trying to break in wouldn’t know about that>
JC
So the cops shot him over weeds on his property?? Sounds like WA state to me!
JC
Glass Block.
Frame and then hang on your front porch a target from a shooting range showing a cluster of hits within the bullseye.
Great comments, I’m coming in late but here’s one that I think is worth passing on. Despite your best efforts, invaders may get the jump and force a breach. They may even have a family member hostage by the time you respond. For example, they jumped your young daughter in the open garage bay, and forced themselves inside through the unlocked inner garage to house door, typically into the kitchen or laundry room. So your first inkling of a problem is not only a home invader, but a home invader behind and clutching a terrified hostage.
Which leads me to one of my little secrets. Knives are not as good a pistols, but an 8” serrated “Ginsu” type carving knife is a fearsome close-quarters combat weapon, and they are cheap to buy. You can get a six pack of razor-sharp steak knives for almost nothing. These can be left concealed but within reach in strategic spots, such as on top of a refrigerator, taped under a cabinet, between a mattress and box spring grip out, etc etc etc. You are limited only by your imagination.
The key is to place them where you can grab them only by feel. For example, at the angle between the fridge top and a cabinet extending alongside and above it. You hand sweeps down into that “V” and finds the grip, sight unseen.
Why does this matter? If your home invaders must deal with captives, they will likely herd them someplace so one guy can guard them while others search the house. If the guard’s attention is diverted for even a moment, and a moment later you have a totally unexpected 8” serrated Ginsu carving knife in your hand, you have a good chance of executing a crippling or killing strike at that moment. Or, you might be able to palm a knife, and conceal it inside your belt or elsewhere, until the guard turns his back for a moment.
The point being, super-sharp knives are cheap but deadly weapons, and you know your house and where they are hidden.
Motion sensor lights in addition to exterior lights are also effective. Lights that are unchanging may present certain shadow zone approaches, especially around shrubbery. A sensor-activated light going on makes a house too twitchy to approach. I have several, and use them randomly. Sometimes they “false alarm” on windy nights, but I don’t care. A house with lots of spotlights seen to be going off periodically is one that burglars will avoid. They don’t know when or where they will trip a light off.
Of course, if nobody inside is paying attention, invaders can make a close approach in plenty of time to force an entrance. If they have already decided to pull an armed, violent home invasion, lights won’t matter. Mainly, they discourage sneak thieves and burglars, not invaders who are already psyched up to do major violence.
Along with random shots at night, a billion candlepower portable spotlight is also fun. One can suddenly go on at any time or place on a property, lighting up those acres like a battleship’s light. THen off. Then on somewhere else. Makes people think the property should be stayed off, unless they want to be looking at the sun, with a shotgun behind the sun.
Some of us don't have to develop such a rep; it came pre-wired.
Backyard knife-throwing targets? Naturally.
Yes, don’t open the door to strangers! An amazing number of home invasions use a pretext or ruse to get the victim to willingly open the door. Sometimes dirtbags will even send their loser girlfriend with some tale of woe. Don’t fall for it! The dirtbags might be a few steps around the corner, just waiting.
Small dogs are great, especially if they are trained (or it comes natural) to always alert anytime anybody approaches the house from any direction. Their hearing can be many times better than yours, giving you time to react and get armed.
It really says, "Stay away!"
Sort of making the same point....
LOL bump!
Snakes are great! I always show off my wild-caught rat snakes, well, enough so the neighbors all know, “That guy keeps snakes around.”
There are certain types of people for whom snakes are long-range Kryptonite. They will stay far away, based just on the thought of snakes being around there.
Back to the drawing board. LOL!
Or if you relieve yourself on it...my FIL did that to his trashcans in Houston...roaming dogs never came back.
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