What would you keep "at the ready", in place of a "real" weapon?
Baseball bat? Propane torch? Nail gun? kitchen knife? chainsaw? Household chemicals?
By the door in the garage, I've got an aluminum baseball bat, 2 farming hammers, 2 machetes, 2 hatchets, a fire extinguisher, and some nasty chemicals in spray cans. There's some more brush clearing stuff out there, if the need arises.
Near the front door, fire extinguisher, and windshield de-icer spray (in all seasons).
In the bedroom, large folding Buck knives, .75 oz. of mace (OK, I need to work on that room)
Kitchen - 18" curved "boning" knife (one of several items we bought from at a yard sale of a guy whose father was a butcher), fire extinguisher.
Somebody recently asked about what their friend should carry with them when driving; looking at taxi driving jobs. My 1st advice was to ask other cabbies, 2nd was to point out that NJ only allows .75 ounce of mace on your person, but doesn't regulate Windshield DeIcer
(those big yellow cans).
In the car, I 've got more deicer (handy stuff, and it goes on clearance every spring!), a non-OEM tire iron (the old bent hockey stick style), a folding shovel/pick (not military, but about 30 years old; it's made pretty sturdy), and a hatchet/sheath knife combo pack. Plus flares, of course (I try not to ever have less than half a dozen). With that said, I shouldn't have to mention the old multi-tool, screwdrivers, etc.
We had a small spontaneous fire in the bsmt. a while ago , so fire ext.s are all over the house now. We used to have 5 large dogs, but in 18 months we lost 4 of them (3 to cancer, 1 bullmastiff to old age at 13 years) and gained a runty boxer (she's a good watchdog, though). I used to feel a bit safer with all the dogs around the house, but we've still got the 45 lb. boxer and the 200 lb. English mastiff
If cats count, do chinchillas?
Note: we also have some "out of date" cell phones in certain spots around the house. They can only be used for 911, but sometimes that might be all you need.