Home security essentials

Jm101 · #1 06/18/12, 05:15 PM

I have searched this and many other forums/ resources in regard to home security. I would like to share my findings as well as get others feelings.

Gated driveway

Motion lights

Security system, make sure your phone line is run in conduit or other wise protected I can't belive how many people overlook this. Cellular back-up is a very good idea as well.

Keep shrubs and other plants below window level preferable to not have tall plants around windows at all. You sould be able to quickly sweep the area around your house with a flashlight and there is no place to hide behind vegitation.

Dogs, need to be trained to not bark at everything just what is really out of the ordanary.

Firearms, please, please seek proffesional training if you are going this route and be very aware of when lethal force is legal. You should not reach for a firearm to scare someone. They are tools, be sure you are prepared for the consiquences before you go greet the guy outside with your shotgun. Albiet racking a shotgun will get anyones attention.

Doors that open to the outside give you more usable interior space when a door is used for ventilation, as well as being far more difficult to kick in. Also forces people to step away from the door as you answer it, makes it easier slip outside to talk to people.

Security film on windows to help prevent them from being broken in.

Bars on windows and doors are good but, make sure they have a latch the inside so the window can still be used to escape in an emergancy.

Game cameras are relitivlty cheap and invaluable for security, and fun to see all the critters on your place.

Day/night survallance cameras that record, motion activated.

Having a secure room in the house that is fitted with a heavy door/frame and has an escape route and a phone inside is a good idea as well. A place to flee in case of home invasion.

Please add any insights for home security.
I will add more if people are interested

Sawmill Jim · #2 06/18/12, 06:21 PM

Don't like doors that open out to easy for someone to block you from returning . I got the video cam from X10 wireless one need more .Got the gate and wife has a 110 lb German Shepard .Might find a gun

Next project razor wire

gila_dog · #3 06/18/12, 06:29 PM

A fenced yard containing a good watchdog. What makes a good watchdog? It pays attention, barks when somebody comes around (and seldom otherwise), and isn't a viscous animal that will attack the UPS lady. A handgun that you are competent and safe with. If kids are in the house be careful with this. The gun will need to be locked up in a way only you can access it. Good neighbors who will watch your place if you are gone. Living on a dead end road is a big advantage. Burglars don't like dead end roads.

pancho · #4 06/18/12, 08:48 PM

Good fences, a dog that will eat anything that does not belong inside the fence.
Several weapons within reach no matter where you are.
Cameras that show you who is out there.
Best of all, a reputation of not being very nice to drop in visitors.

salmonslayer · #5 06/18/12, 10:01 PM

I am thinking the OP needs to move to a better area.

Sawmill Jim · #6 06/18/12, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by salmonslayer

I am thinking the OP needs to move to a better area.

These are for the good areas otherwise i would included a gun tower in post #2

WilliamsValley · #7 06/18/12, 11:45 PM

A few more:
- Tall fencing, & completely surrounding the house w/ locked entrance gate. Barriers are a huge deterrent. Criminals look for easy targets. Multiple barriers on the doors to home are also a huge deterrent ie; Heavy metal lockable screen doors in addition to heavy main doors.
- Rose or thorny bushes directly underneath ground level windows.
- Dakota Alert motion sensing alert system. It is a transmitter which is a passive infrared sensor that can be mounted on a tree or a post to monitor activity at remote locations. When the sensor detects people, vehicles, or large animals, it will send an alert signal to the included transceiver and alert by voice what zone is being tripped.
- If you have good neighbors that would would be willing to/are able to come running (preferably armed) in an emergency, mount a strobe light & siren at the top of your house which can be turned on by the flip of a switch and pre-plan with neighbors an action plan in case of its activation.
- If you're able to choose your building site, build as far off of main road as is reasonably possible. Although sometimes this can be a double edged sword as criminals do like concealment and remoteness to carry out their dirty deeds in uninterrupted privacy.
- Night vision is a huge force multiplier, but often out of reach to many due to it's usually high cost for a quality product.

pheasantplucker · #8 06/19/12, 04:53 AM

razor wire

wharton · #9 06/19/12, 07:02 AM

Hurry, the crazy train is pulling out!!!!! "An armed neighbor to back you up". That can be a wonderful idea. I know a guy who responded to a neighbor who was getting the crap beat out of her by a huge, deranged husband. The "hero" responds with a shot gun. BTW, this is in a small town, with police a minute away. The batterer decides to drop the woman and teach the hero a lesson. Hero boy decides to threaten the nut with loaded shotgun, and ends up killing the guy. Police are pulling up, at the time. Hero is convicted of manslaughter, does a few years in state prison and basically destroys his own marriage and career. So, based on experience, the last thing I want is an untrained superhero with a loaded gun showing up to save the day.

wy_white_wolf · #10 06/19/12, 07:48 AM

Door that open out also mean that someone can pull the pins out of the hinges and take the door out of the frame.

WWW

**Cabin Fever** · #11 06/19/12, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pheasantplucker

razor wire

As well as, trip wire, strategically-placed IEDs, a few camoflauged pits filled with punji sticks, and a keen sense of paranoia.

motdaugrnds · #12 06/19/12, 08:53 AM

I favor having guns handy as long as you've taken the appropriate training to know how to use them safely and as long as you know what the legalities of using them are in your area on your own homestead.

Also, a large flock of guineas and some Brown Chinese Geese to help your guard dog(s). (The guineas learn quickly who/what belongs and who/what doesn't belong on the place and send up a screeching noise when intruders are present; and a grown goose has enough strength in its bill to break a grown man's arm!)

pancho · #13 06/19/12, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by motdaugrnds

I favor having guns handy as long as you've taken the appropriate training to know how to use them safely and as long as you know what the legalities of using them are in your area on your own homestead.

Also, a large flock of guineas and some Brown Chinese Geese to help your guard dog(s). (The guineas learn quickly who/what belongs and who/what doesn't belong on the place and send up a screeching noise when intruders are present; and a grown goose has enough strength in its bill to break a grown man's arm!)

A man who let a goose break his arm I wouldn't worry much about. He couldn't carry off very much even if you let him.

frankva · #14 06/19/12, 11:52 AM

Large black and tan stub tailed dog that lays around alot.

Geese are good watch dogs.

YuccaFlatsRanch · #15 06/19/12, 01:50 PM

The biggest and most important thing in Making your home secure is having the MINDSET also know as intestinal fortitude to DEFEND IT. I have 6 dogs - 2 anatolians with the stock and 2 anatolians who defend the homestead (they are in semi-retirement). Add to that a black Lab and a border collie and at best you have all kinds of ruckus. My neighbor usually knows when I am going to be gone to town and he likewise lets me know when he will be gone. Dog ruckus = something to be checked on. He always checks ARMED as do I. Neither of us is afraid to use our weapons - both of us have been in combat and been there, done that.

YuccaFlatsRanch · #16 06/19/12, 01:55 PM

"Hurry, the crazy train is pulling out!!!!! "An armed neighbor to back you up". That can be a wonderful idea. I know a guy who responded to a neighbor who was getting the crap beat out of her by a huge, deranged husband. The "hero" responds with a shot gun. BTW, this is in a small town, with police a minute away. The batterer decides to drop the woman and teach the hero a lesson. Hero boy decides to threaten the nut with loaded shotgun, and ends up killing the guy. Police are pulling up, at the time. Hero is convicted of manslaughter, does a few years in state prison and basically destroys his own marriage and career. So, based on experience, the last thing I want is an untrained superhero with a loaded gun showing up to save the day. "

NOT SURE WHAT PART OF CRAZYTOWN YOU LIVE IN, but here in Texas I can defend both MY LIFE and MY PROPERTY with deadly force. It's called the Castle Doctrine.

What I can't do is do like the idiot (citiot) did recently in Houston, which is go to my neighbors, get in an argument, end up getting the crap beat out of myself and then shoot the guy beating me. That isn't self defense or the Castle Doctrine, that is just out and out stupidity and you can't fix stupid.

But come to my property, start damaging things or stealing things or threatening my family - BYE BYE!!! Threaten me while I am in my truck or car - BYE BYE!!!!

salmonslayer · #17 06/19/12, 02:54 PM

Its interesting how people view things differently; nothing I own is worth taking another person's life. I spent my entire adult life carrying a weapon, have multiple combat tours, and take reasonable precautions which includes usually being armed but I refuse to live live behind bars and all manor of barriers on my own land.

Fear drives this behavior and by falling prey to it your letting the criminals win just like we have let Muslim Extremists win the war on terror. No thanks.

Come to my place and youll get something all right....a big fat cup of joe and a lot of baked goods.

pancho · #18 06/19/12, 03:35 PM

I am a little different.
If it is mine it is mine for a reason. I wanted it.
I will protect what is mine. If a person will stoop low enough to take something that belongs to another person they will stoop low enough to do other things.
I don't want to be around that kind and do not want them on my property.
I will use whatever force necessary to keep what I have.

wharton · #19 06/19/12, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by salmonslayer

Its interesting how people view things differently; nothing I own is worth taking another person's life. I spent my entire adult life carrying a weapon, have multiple combat tours, and take reasonable precautions which includes usually being armed but I refuse to live live behind bars and all manor of barriers on my own land.

Fear drives this behavior and by falling prey to it your letting the criminals win just like we have let Muslim Extremists win the war on terror. No thanks.

Come to my place and youll get something all right....a big fat cup of joe and a lot of baked goods.

Nice to see the opinion of a mature, rational adult in this thread. No shortage of other posters that are quite the opposite.

Ozarks Tom · #20 06/19/12, 04:50 PM

I'm also a believer in the Dakota Alert Murs system. Have several sensors scattered around. Also a believer in thorny vines in the tree line.