GrandMoffBrandon
Member
Have any of you read David Brin’s novel, The Postman? Despite some of the criticisms I’ve heard, I enjoyed it and have read it several times. The following quote struck me as fitting very well with my new thinking on home defense.
I think this can actually be applied to home defense. It would cost me a fortune to make all the weak points in my house into strong points. From my understanding, just getting a good, sturdy door that is really difficult to kick in is expensive. Add the second door and possibly replacement doors for the glass sliding door I have and well…
And when that is all said and done, any BG with half a brain can break a window or find some other way in. Based on what I have been reading, a really secure (as in, harder than heck to break into) home is quite expensive and out of my price range for a long, long time. If, however, I follow the idea behind how the fictional southern Oregonian army protected its border, I might be able to get somewhere.
So, here is what I take that paragraph of the quote to mean: instead of trying to make it nearly impossible for the BG to break in, I instead need to know what’s happening along the defense perimeter, i.e., my yard and the entrances into my house. It seems to me then that I need motion-activated lights on all sides of my house, I need an auto-dialer alarm system with sensors on all doors and windows, I need two small, barky dogs (I’m thinking maybe Jack Russell Terriers). An outdoor security camera system would be nice but is not necessary at first.
Adding all these things together, it is kind of pricy but it can be done piece by piece. And unlike making only one weak point a strong point at a time, which for a BG means he just has to go to the next door or window to break in, each step, by itself, makes for really good home defense. Looking around, it appears like I can put together an alarm system for a few hundred dollars, a security camera system for a similar price, and the motion-activated lights for even less. I have no idea what the price range is for the Jack Russell Terrier puppies but I consider them at the top of my list, along with sm's advice about baby monitors and pea gravel.
So, my real question is, what do you all think about this philosophy/strategy and am I going about setting it up right with my current ideas?
No fortifications overlooked the river fords. The travelers found the absence puzzling, for this valley was supposed to be where the defense against the Holnist enemy had dug in, and finally held.
Calvin Lewis tried to explain. The wiry, dark-eyed young man had guided Johnny Stevens since his earlier journey to south Oregon. Cal’s hand gestured left and right as he spoke.
“You don’t guard a river by buildin’ strong points,” he told them in the low, lazy, local drawl. “We protect the north bank by crossin’ over ourselves, from time to time, and by knowin’ everything that moves over on the other side. (Brin, p. 209-210)”
I think this can actually be applied to home defense. It would cost me a fortune to make all the weak points in my house into strong points. From my understanding, just getting a good, sturdy door that is really difficult to kick in is expensive. Add the second door and possibly replacement doors for the glass sliding door I have and well…
And when that is all said and done, any BG with half a brain can break a window or find some other way in. Based on what I have been reading, a really secure (as in, harder than heck to break into) home is quite expensive and out of my price range for a long, long time. If, however, I follow the idea behind how the fictional southern Oregonian army protected its border, I might be able to get somewhere.
So, here is what I take that paragraph of the quote to mean: instead of trying to make it nearly impossible for the BG to break in, I instead need to know what’s happening along the defense perimeter, i.e., my yard and the entrances into my house. It seems to me then that I need motion-activated lights on all sides of my house, I need an auto-dialer alarm system with sensors on all doors and windows, I need two small, barky dogs (I’m thinking maybe Jack Russell Terriers). An outdoor security camera system would be nice but is not necessary at first.
Adding all these things together, it is kind of pricy but it can be done piece by piece. And unlike making only one weak point a strong point at a time, which for a BG means he just has to go to the next door or window to break in, each step, by itself, makes for really good home defense. Looking around, it appears like I can put together an alarm system for a few hundred dollars, a security camera system for a similar price, and the motion-activated lights for even less. I have no idea what the price range is for the Jack Russell Terrier puppies but I consider them at the top of my list, along with sm's advice about baby monitors and pea gravel.
So, my real question is, what do you all think about this philosophy/strategy and am I going about setting it up right with my current ideas?