home defense items (non-firearms)

[mr_dove]

What non-firearm items should one have on hand for home defense? I.E. what items would you grab when you hear a bump in the night?

flashlight is a given but what else?

 

[BerettaNut92]

Phone--both cells and land lines have their dis/advantages.

 

[Vic303]

Cry Havoc! And let slip the dogs of war.

 

[41mag]

flashlight-dogs-45-baseball bat(less than lethal disuader)

 

[Car Knocker]

Fire extinguisher.

 

[foghornl]

6 D-cell maglite, dry powder fire extinguisher, baseball bat, LARGE knife.

Those dry-powder fire jobs are bad news. When the powder gets wet, makes some kind of stuff that will etch the copper off circuit boards. Imagine a face full of powdered ammonia.......[powder might be ammonium sufate, but I really don't remember]

Witnessed that first hand in 1983.....had a fire in one of the "film chains" in the TV station where I worked. An over-zealous guy [NOT me] grabbed the dry powder job and blasted the electronics part of the film chain. in less than 6 hours, all the exposed copper had been etched off the boards.

 

[Sgt Stevo]

dog from hell

I have a rott -pit mix named malice. he is great with my kid and cat,etc. but you would need the jaws of life to pull him off an invader..

 

[MrMurphy]

4D cell Maglite. Baseball bat or machete. Dog, preferably multiples. Various knives.

 

[VaughnT]

I'm a big believer in the fire extinguisher as a defensive implement. Not only can you get a big one and use it as a whacker, but you can station smaller ones at ever door without raising eyebrows.

Other than that, if you have a vest, don it. If you have a cell phone, dial it. If you have a grenade, pull that pin!

 

[JamisJockey]

Just to clarify, a firearm is a weapon that uses cartridges filled with gunpowder to propel an object from them, right?
So, my choices for non-firearm home defense:

 

[MrMurphy]

Well if you count medieval weaponry, I'm a medieval swordfighter, and have a nice small armory (two or three daggers, a sword and a mace) in my closet. But I was counting non-obvious weapons......

 

[mr_dove]

My original intent may not have been clear.

The intent was NOT to find alternatives to a firearm for home defense but supplements to a firearm.

A flashlight is a supplement while a baseball bat is a replacement. A well trained dog could be either although its not an option for me.

I just didn't want the thread to degenerate into gun X vs. gun Y so I specified that I did not want to discuss firearms as part of the thread.

The mideivel weaponry is pretty sweet though. I'd probably choose a good mace for a weapon.

 

[emc]

An icepick! My ex-wife proved that she was capable of using one rather effectively.

emc

 

[TrapperReady]

Dogs, 2 each, non-self-cleaning
Surefire 6P
Electronic hearing protection
Wife with cell phone, land-line and shotgun (ie. backup)
Fire escape ladder (for another avenue of escape -- just in case)
A plan

 

[sm]

Air Horn

Yes the compressed air type.
Elderly, blind, disabled folks especially. No Phone, or electricity, no cell phone. Will alert the neighbors and NOT be dismissed or ignored amongst the normal sounds of LEO or Fire Sirens.

Just a Plan I suggest to those less able to defend,or deal with fire and other emergencies with a plan worked out with neighbors.

Ever heard one of those things go off ?
Try Indoors !

 

[clipse]

I've got a miniture weiner dog from hell.


clipse

 

[Black Snowman]

Leatherman or equivilant mult-tool can be useful in many ways for many unforseen issues and includes a knife if you don't have a better one.

Planning and practice are probably the biggest 2 things lacking for any home defense. I know they are primarily what I'm lacking

The electronic hearing protection is a really good idea but I'm afraid of losing directionallity in my hearing causing a possible delay in reaction. The .223 I use for HD is going to be plenty loud but I think the person on the other end of the barrel is going to get it worse than I am.

Fire extinguisher is good to have. . . I'm lacking in that department. I have 2 but I need more as neither are redily accessable from my bedroom.

 

[Kestrel]

I'm not sure I understand the use of the fire extinguishers. What do they do? I'm assuming you're talking about spraying the burglar in the face. What does this do? Does it blind them?

Thanks for any clarification.

(By the way, for a flashlight being used in defense, I prefer a 5-Cell, "C-cell" Maglite. The C-cell is smaller in diameter and is easier to swing faster. It's easier to manuever the flashlight quickly. Try wielding a D-cell light vs. a C-cell light. It's kind of like using a tennis racket with a bit smaller grip vs. one that is a little too large.)

Steve

 

[Preacherman]

You could always do what a friend of mine did back in South Africa... He and his wife were in their 70's when I knew them, and not in great physical shape. He had a handgun, and could use it, but his reaction time was not great, and he needed an edge. His solution? Bear traps (the jaws-with-teeth type), placed two at each exterior door, and two beneath the two front windows that were easily accessible from outside (the others were blocked to a greater or lesser extent by vegetation). It took him less than ten minutes each night to set them out, and the same to collect them each morning. He had a break-in one night - the cops arrived to find him sitting on the arm of his sofa, with his wife bringing him a cup of coffee, covering a very sore and somewhat profane burglar who had his leg firmly caught in a bear trap, bleeding all over the rug!

 

[armoredman]

Dog is crippled now, so down to (non firearm) fire extinguishers, OC spray, baseball bats, poolcue, drawer full of kitchen knives, etc. Anything I can grab will be used as a weapon, if I need it, even if it's one of my kids action figures! C'mon, imagine GI Joe in your eye.....

 

[QuakKillz]

Streamlight Scorpion and a 2'piece of 1'' rebar with a crude duct tape/athletic tape handle on it....works GREAT...just cant take it outside ('clubs' are illegal in TX)

 

[Dr.Rob]

Cell Phone
Flashlight
"Boys" axe (you know fer choppin wood and such)
Cold Steel rifleman's hawk (for smaller logs and throwing at playing cards)
Naval Cutlass (It came with the pirate coat)
Large Bowie Knife (Bagwell Plainsman)
Bit of a sawed off pool cue wrapped with leather (it has sentimental value)
Choate "letter opener"

My apartment doesn't allow crack-fed pit bull terriers. And I sold the cross bow.

But I keep eyeing the Spetznatz shovel...

 

[orangeninja]

I would use somthing NOBODY else has even thought of...psychological warfare. Oh yes my friend...I would wear a leather mask with whitey tighties on and bright yellow rain boots. I would run down each hall shrieking at the top of my lungs yelling out

"WHO WANTS A SPANKING FROM BIG POPPA!?!?!?!"

or singing the lyrics to James Brown's "Sex Machine" with a gigantic phallic device weilded in a threatening manner.

Then, upon confronting the would be assainlant I would start doing my best Jim Carey "Ace Ventura" air hump while yelling out:

"LETS GET IT ON"

Repeatedly.

I gaurantee no theif will want to:

A.) have even the most remote chance of losing a fight to you, in case you decide "to the victor go the spoils of war".

B.) want to touch anything your freaky @$$ might own.

C.) Have to explain to the cops what happened if he actually DID kill you.

D.) Live through this and tell ANYONE.

 

[kool]

bottle rocket and lots of em'. bottle rockets are the perfect thing to get rid of the pesky home raider. I would also grab a maglight and my dagger.