"Safe Rooms"

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twoblink

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I'm watching some TV show introducing the finest celebrity houses in Beverly Hills. They showed a woman, who was so in fear of crime, that she has over 18 cameras installed in her house, and she has a "safe room" and looking to build a second one, for "peace of mind".

OK people, get ready for the price tag..

Her safe room (which is bulletproof (The walls are about 2ft thick of steel, it's basically a walk in vault), has it's own vent system, and a hard telephone line to the outside world) costs....

$200,000 !!!!!

And she's thinking about building another one!

Last time I checked, a Ruger GP100 4" + a box of 125 grain JHP's came out to be less than $500 total..

I'm no math genius, nor do I play one on TV.. but I'm just saying...
 
They have their panic rooms, we have our SHTF rooms.

200 grand on a fancy room or .5 grand on a Sig...now who's the "intellectual"?:evil:
 
870expsyn18.JPG


$299 get's you an 870 plus a box of #00 buckshots..


"You broke into the wrong wreckroom!!" :evil:
 
I just LOVE how people think that cameras make a place safer. Cameras are there so that they can CATCH the person who raped and murdered you, they do nothing to actually prevent the act from happening.
 
One of the local millionaires has one in his house. A friend of mine who was working in construction took the wife and I on a tour. All I remember was it is off the master bedroom, looked like a bank safe, had a bathroom, electronic room and an area equipped for food and supplies to last a week. Couldn't check it out any closer, because the owner pulled up in his Mercedes and one "hugh" bodyguard. Our exit was fast! He never spotted us. It was 5-6 times larger than the one in the movie Panic Room.
 
I hate to be a wet blanket, but comparing what is essentially a light bunker to revolver or a shotgun is just silly.
 
$200,000 sounds like a lot, unless you're including full NBC capability . . . and a self-contained air system. I mean, back in the '50s lots of homes had fallout shelters built into their basements, and even allowing for inflation, the cost was moderate. All you really need is solid concrete walls, a vault door (preferably two, one at each end) and spancrete for the ceiling. This will stop entry by all but the most determined and prepared bad guys.

Call it a "tornado shelter" and you might even be able to take advantage of a Federal tax credit . . . IIRC there's a program for this type of thing.

I'd like one for my guns . . . my collection is beginning to overflow my safe. :D
 
A panic room would be imcomplete,IMO,if it wasn't designed to have an escape tunnel.

I would want to use it only as a temporary safe spot.ex.When the JBTs' kick in the doors & windows I'd(hopefully)be able to retreat to the panic room.Once there I'd be able to contact the news media & explain my predicament.Also my bloodsuc...I mean my lawyer.After my plight has been made known I'd then expect to make my escape via tunnel to a waiting vehicle(not registered in my name of course)located at least 1/4 mile away at one of the tunnels ends.I think I'd want a white Bronco just for ironies sake.:uhoh:



:neener:
 
A safe room needs a cell phone. Land lines can be cut.

Safe rooms have many uses. Tornandos, hurricanes, home invasions by BG's or JBTs. Storage of valuables.

Some people are not up to arming themselves for defense. Some people are physically not capable. Safe rooms are good ideas. If I had the means, I'd build a $200k safe room myself. But my whole house didn't cost that much.

I'm sure that price is a small sum when compared to the total price of " finest celebrity houses in Beverly Hills"

To each their own.

Smoke
 
A safe room needs a cell phone. Land lines can be cut.
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In a safe room with 2-ft-thick steel walls, a cell phone MIGHT be useful for tapping messages in Morse code through the walls...

Don't think your reception would be all that great, though.
 
Panic Room was a great movie BTW.
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Except for the fact that had there been a 12 gauge in the apartment the whole movie would have been over in about ten minutes.

But it was very nicely shot, David Fincher is a good director.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.
 
Don't think your reception would be all that great, though.
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Cellular repeater/amplifier systems are cheap and easy to install. You'll still have a cable running from the safe room to the amp, then to the exterior antenna, but unless the perp knows what he's looking at, he'll likely think it's some sort of cable TV equipment.

IIRC, a kit to cover a home is about $500 and would be overkill for a saferoom. Installation is just mounting components, running cable, and pointing the exterior antenna to your nearest tower. If I lived somewhere where the cell signal is weak, I'd invest in a system for my house.

Chris
 
A safe room needs a cell phone. Land lines can be cut.
Click to expand...

For those lines the line is burried, rather than just running outside the house.

What distance they are burried for likely depends on how much the home owner was willing to pay, but it's typically a different phone line than the ones seen comming into the house that would be cut by a burgler.

The point of a safe room is that you don't have to put yourself or your family at risk by confronting an intruder in your home.

You just get yourself and your family in the room, call the cops, and wait for the all clear signal from the dispatcher on the phone.

I just LOVE how people think that cameras make a place safer. Cameras are there so that they can CATCH the person who raped and murdered you, they do nothing to actually prevent the act from happening.
Click to expand...

Cameras allow you to identify that there is a threat and where it's located without having to take the risk of going through the house to check if someone is there.

If the cameras record an intruder, it helps in prosecution of the criminals, or may help in their capture if they flee before the police arrive. They can also help with insurance claims.

I personally can't afford a safe room, nor do I live in an area where I am likely to need one. However, I do intend to reinforce the door to my master bedroom, and install a basic security system with a couple cameras to watch entries into my home.

Reinforcing the door won't keep out a determined intruder. It will give me a chance to be armed and prepared to deal with them if they forced their way into the room.

A good quality firearm, quality ammo, and the skill and willingness to use it will make any room a safe room...
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An intruder that enters your home while you are there is also likely to be armed. If they manage to take you by surprise, you're basically unarmed. If you aren't surprised, you have the advantage of knowing the layout, but it's still too close to a fair fight.

I want to have them outgunned (12 guage).
I want to know where they are.
I want time to call the police, grab my guns, and take up a good defensive position before they can reach me.

That means a security system, cameras, and room with a reinforced door.

It also means keeping a loaded 12 guage in my bedroom.
 
Easy/cheap fix...

A nice heavy bedroom door - exterior grade if you want to go that far.

Reinforce the hinges and strikeplate, using 4" screws going into the house framing. They may take the door apart, or they may seriously splinter the frame, but the hinges and lock should still be holding when you start shooting.
 
I wouldn't mind having a safe room with 2ft of steel between me and the outside world. Certainly be nice for tornados and such. Cameras also give you a little pre-warning before someone is comming, not just to record the crime.
 
Gen. Patton said that fixed defenses are a monument to man's stupidity. A safe room is essentially a fixed defense. A lotta money for not a lot more safety than "reasonable precautions."

An intruder that enters your home while you are there is also likely to be armed. If they manage to take you by surprise, you're basically unarmed.
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The trick is to not be taken by surprise. IMHO, the BEST alarm system, deterrent, and first line of defense, all rolled into one, is your Tactical Dog.

You dog offers early warning, deterrent value, and first line of defense. I think a dog and appropriate firearms protection gives you nearly as much protection as a safe room, at a much lower cost.

And the dog is more fun to play with, too.
 
The trick is to not be taken by surprise. IMHO, the BEST alarm system, deterrent, and first line of defense, all rolled into one, is your Tactical Dog.
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Definately one of nature's best alarm systems.

Unfortunately, I'm alergic to dogs. I also live in a condo, and it's challenging to train a dog to only react to the proper situations rather than waking me up whenever the neighbors come home.

It's nice to say that the trick is to not be taken by surprise, but is it wise to assume that you won't be taken by surprise?

Time is something you can definately use to your advantage when defending yourself. Why take on an armed robber yourself when you can have the police do it? The best was to keep yourself safe is to avoid the confrontation.

A reinforced door gains you time. You can use that time to call the cops and prepare yourself.

A safe room gives you even more time.

The longer you can keep the intruder away from you, the more danger he's in from the police arriving.

Dogs are a good way to increase your security.

So are security systems with cameras and such.

So are firearms when accompanied by the proper knowledge of how to use them effectively.

Safe rooms are another good way to increase your security.

None of these are mutually exclusive.

Pick the ones that work best for you.
 
Considering a 4 x 8 sheet of 1" steel goes for 5 grand, enough to make up a room is a pretty high ticket.

I used to be hooked up with a guy who designs safe rooms and teaches overseas and domestic self defense to the wealthy in Boca Raton.
I taught them the Florida ccw and intermediate handgun instruction. If they want ed to go farther he has a former secret service agent to teach them combat defense.
I had visited a few of the homes in Boca of stock and commodity brokers who have had a safe room built for self protection.
The access is usually from a walk in closet in the bed room. They have two to three days of food and water along with toilet facilities. The walls are reinforced with fire protection and a seperate ventilation system to the outside. Battery operated lanterns for light with a seperate phone line for outside connection. A cell phone antenna is mounted in the attic with a cable for an attachement to a cell phone for reception and transmission in case land line is inoperative.
The door is reinforced and will lock into the frame from inside.

But I learned real quick in the hurricanes last month the cell towers are the first to go out, then the land lines.
I didn't have any phone service for over three days on the second hurricane.

Most of the people who I had taught thru this program were pretty much afraid of their own shadows and were taken advantage of from those fears.

Really kinda sad.
 
FeedTheHogs, you make a good point in that most of these people are very scared individuals with no confidence in themselves to handle a violent situation. They buy the gun or the saferoom as a talisman that they think/hope will ward off the bad guy. It's a sop to their feelings of insecurity, but you have to wonder how well they'll do when the time comes if they don't practice the motions of activating their defensive countermeasures.

I'd love to have a tornado/fire shelter in my house, but that's not in the cards. For now, I have a few firearms and some training in how to use them.

Which is better? You decide.
 
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