Layers of home defense security

It seems so far that everyone has a long gun and most have pistols.

Woah

Only 9 out of 10 have door and window locks?!

I thought everyone did.

Frankly, I think our Akita is all the layers of protection we need.

And I would add one more I implemented, after reading about it on TFL. "Politically Correct Barbed-Wire"--aka Rose Bushes--under windows that would make good access.

my house is protected by smith and wesson. Oh, also mr glock, mr stoner's cousin bushmaster, and mr kalashnikov also take turns on guard duty

All of the above, minus the high security fence.

My situation is a bit different than average.

My studio is in a commercial/industrial warehouse space. I'm the company CEO, but also the night watchman; even though I have a residence elsewhere (house shared with friends), I rarely get there and usually choose to stay here. (I work nights until ~ 3 AM. It's too hard to hop on the bike at 3 AM to ride home, especially in winter in the rain, so...)

The space I sleep in here is behind the third locked (deadbolted) door that an intruder would have to penetrate to get to that space. Two of those are downstairs, one up. The downstairs windows have window bars. There's a phone in the room.

My 870P is up in that room. My SW 642 is in my pocket.

I don't have an alarm system, let alone connection to a security firm or police. Police here long ago stopped responding to alarms not called in via 911. I watched the actions of the security firm "guarding" my neighbor recently. I saw them sitting in their car on the street, reading a map (which is inaccurate; doesn't show this street correctly) trying to find the address for 10 minutes before 'they' got here as the alarm was going off. When 'they' arrived, 'they' were a dorky young kid in a 'uniform'. No gun. This for $30/mo? No thanks.

Like I said, my 870P is upstairs. My 642 is in my pocket.

If an intuder(s) come through the first door (or any window, or a wall), they're going to making a LOT of noise with that sawsall.

I suspect that my 12 will make even more noise.

Nem

what the hell is it with everyone locking their doors and windows?

crap, I dont even take the keys out of my truck half the time, I just leave them in the ignition!

-locks on my doors and windows (front door is steel, with deadbolt, latch, chain, and an extra bolt that goes upward into the door frame)
-dog that is very fond of barking
-motion sensor alarms on my glass patio door, and windows.
-Winchester 1300 defender next to bed. S&W .38 strapped to nightstand.

First there's the clothing, then the epidermis, then the dermis, then a very heavy layer of subcutaneous fat and yellow adipose, then some bone, and if the bullet gets that far then OK I'm dead.

Layered defences

I've got an alarm, doors and windows locked, a dog (warning only, mild mannered Lab), the 12 ga. is first choice, 1911 if no time to get 10 feet to the shottie. Don't forget the flashlight you need beside your weapon.

i feel bad that i could only check four of the options. I'll have to work on getting an alarm, even if it is only a cheap one.

Umm, doesn't it seem a bit odd that, at least at this point, more people checked handgun than checked locks?

What, no drawbridge and moat?

And do I get extra credit if my dog is a pitbull with AIDS?

i know the difference between a privacy fence and a security fence- intention wise, but how tall does it have to be before it is considered a security fence? I noticed 3 people checked yes, care to tell us about your fence?

I remember seeing a great window sticker at a gunshop:

This house guarded by Smith & Wesson 3 nights a week. You guess which 3.

...or something to that effect.

barking dog loop

Part of my business involves a professional sound system. I have several 'studio monitor' speakers that are easy to move, and some recording gear.

A friend of mine recently suggested an interesting trick. I don't have a dog, and won't for some time to come. (My life style and living location doesn't allow it now).

Therefore, my friend suggested 'sampling' (digitally recording) a large dog barking & growling ferociously for about ten minutes. Then, hook up a playback device to a motion sensor so that the barking sample will play inside at amplified levels.

I'm not sure I'll actually do it, but i thought it was a cute idea.

Nem

I saw that trick on a episode of "All In The Family". It didn't work. I'm not going to post what I have here due to that fact that any burglar who reads this post will know some of my secrets. Suffice to say that breaking into my house is as smart as running toward the president with a briefcase shouting "Allah!!!!".

At home and...

At home, my wife and I have an alarm system, we lock all of the doors and windows downstairs and have a 85lb Shiloh Shepherd that has a very intimidating bark. A SigSauer P226 is upstairs with us. Home defense is much more important than at work, because if someone wanted to get to me at work they would have to get by the multiple ARLIEGH BURKE class guided missile destroyers, and our own self defense systems (NATO SEA SPARROW, RAM, CIWS)...

So, I am much more concerned about home defense than defense at work.

Thought exterior lighting would have been more common...

I have all of the above except the fence.

But I got cameras mounted throughout that can be viewed on any of the TV's in my house

If someone's not welcome, they'll soon know it.

Security fence makes me think of the 10 feet tall chain-lenght fence with the razor wire on top.

Or maybe here's a security fence.

That reminds of me Holloween 1990s when I was a high school principal

Back before I had a real job I was a high school principal. The students, the less than brilliant ones, told me they were going to TP my house, assuring me that "Ya' gotta sleep sometime, ain't ja'?" I faked two dogs “Rottie” and “Pitty” into existence. Heck, I didn’t even own a dog, but they didn't know any better. My parting caution to them, "If the dogs bark, I hit the garage door button--and I'm not going to feed them for three days before Halloween ...they'll be ready to eat you alive!"

Then, when I arrived home, I carefully unpacked about 300 feet of "trip wire"...green trip wire. I carefully, and strategically "wired" my perimeter. I tied soda pop cans onto the trip wire to alert the neighbors vicious dogs. Then, after wiring the perimeter, I took out an additional 300 feet of trip wire and cross-wired the inside area so if the tired to run, they would (you got it) trip. As a closing insult, I tied back several young saplings with 20 pound test translucent fishing line. When broken, yup, up and back comes a "slapling" in the face!

Well, about 2:00 in the morning, the dogs hear the popcans...I waited about 30 seconds and hit the garage door button. As the door opened, the boys ran, or better stated, tried to run for the miserable little, insufferable lives! But PRAISE THE LORD, the trip wires worked miracles. They were poopin' and scoopin'! They ran through the "slapings" and tasted leaves as a parting gift.

The next day I saw their Mother...she was a school board member. We had a heck of a laugh...seems they were so scared one of them actually pissed his trousers! God as my witness! The others were so scared about "Rottie" and "Pitty" getting them my the butt that they ran inside their homes crying like babies. The parents and I had a hell of a laugh as we stood there in the hallway the next day telling the boys the entire story of how the principal psyched them out...big time!

Dang, I loved being a principal. See, that's they way to deal with high school pranksters...they don't need suspending...they need “educating”.

Oh, yeah, regarding our security, all but the HIGH fence and motion detector apply for us. If anyone of you ever stops by, careful "Rottie" and "Pitty".

Doc2005

I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you ...

Surfice it to say that it would be very noisy and slow to get into my house. I have plenty of ways to deal with you if you decide to continue inside.

Door and window locks - YES
Burglar alarm on doors and windows -NO
Motion sensors (interior or exterior) that set off alarm NO
Dog YES - see below
High security fence - NO, privacy fence around backyard
Exterior flood lights - YES
Handgun (live in NJ, choose not to say...)
Long gun (live in NJ, choose not to say...)


Yes, I lock my doors and windows, no I don't have a burglar alarm or motion sensor alarm. We have a chain link fence around the backyard, deck. We do have floodlights outside, some motion sensing, some not. Firearms are probably available, considering we're on THR, but I'd rather not go into detail.
I do have a set of all-weather video cameras that I'm hooking up to a quad cam unit, so we can turn on any TV in the house and check outside, but I don't have a channel modulator hooked into our new digital cable system yet (seems like it might be a pain, not sure yet). Then the power supplies for the cameras, a PC, and a 24 HR VCR can be hooked into a UPS, and allow me to watch even if the power goes out/is cut. Of course, if the cameras go out, then the alert level rises anyway. It's pretty easy to use some software that looks for motion on the cams, too, and set up an alarm module tied to that, but we've got too many bunnies, neighborhood cats, etc.(edited to add camera info)

Dogs? Yes. They function as motion sensors and burglar alarms, don't need battery back-up or a connection to 911. I'm aware they are susceptible to poisoning, but MOST bad guys would probably move on to my neighbors, or another block.
Also, our dogs are never all outside at the same time. Because of this, I'd probably know something was wrong if one of them was poisoned or killed, before I let another out. In that case, I would in a much more alert mode Orange? between yellow and red). Along with theoretical firearms (NJ, remember...), there's a selection of useful items near the door that the dogs go out; machetes, aluminum baseball bat, fire ext., chainsaw , etc. I can walk into the back yard with a machete or other tool and disturb the neighbors a lot less than if I was carrying a 12g.

If the bad guy comes in the door or window (breaking the glass, or if someone forgets to lock em then they have an evil mutant Dalmatian (down to 85 lb.s now) and the guys in the picture to face...