2000 calories: Perimeter Security 24x7

A reader request. Let me preface this by stating that I am NOT an expert in this subject so you will probably read recommendations you have already seen in other places.

But, a request by a loyal reader is a request, so here we go...

Perimeter security

Defense-in-depth refers to the idea that multiple layers of defense require depth-of-field to be effective. Various layers will stop different threats or each layer will filter out or stop a certain percentage of attackers. 

The moat around a castle prevents various engines-of-war from being wheeled up to the walls and breaching them. It also discourages attackers from tunneling beneath the wall. In this case, the order of defenses (moat then wall) is important.

The rings-of-defense can be tweaked to improve their offensive weapon potential like the crenellations at the top of the castle wall.

Distance is time and time means effective response

Most houses are too close to the road to provide an effective time-lag between sensing of perimeter attack and mounting an effective response.

Multiple responses spring to mind. Working from the outermost defense to the closer ones:

Neighborhood, mutual-aid alliances: Better to end a threat when it attacks a home closer to a main road than when they attack your home.

Warning signs: "Only one person must approach the house at a time. More than one person will be seen as an attack and dealt with."

Barriers: Fences, thorny hedges, perhaps with strategically placed gaps where multiple fields of fire can be brought to bear. Right-eye-dominant shooters shoot more effectively at targets that are on the left-side of their field-of-fire while left-eye-dominant shooters shoot more effectively at targets on the right side of their field-of-fire. Shooting directly to the front exposes more of the defender to the attacker than shooting obliquely.

If I had the ability, I would put yellow-jacket nests or Africanized bees in the gaps the attackers are being funneled to. I do love biologicals that work for free.

Must not obstruct fields of fire. People are more honest when they know they can be seen. It is my casual observation that only about 10% of the population is capable of hitting a man-sized target at a range of 70 yards. Unfortunately, very few of us are more than 70 yards from the road or live on properties large enough to clear a seventy-to-one-hundred yard field-of-fire around hour home.

Grove of pecan trees

If every square-foot of ground is needed for food/fuel production then, theoretically, much of the ground in the field-of-fire could be planted to standard trees like pecans, walnuts or mast-producing oak or chestnuts. The first two are preferred because they have more transparent canopies (important when they are young) and because they lose their leaves in the winter while juvenile oak and chestnuts almost always hold on to theirs.

Every adult knows how to use firearms and every child over age six is trained using a BB or pellet gun.

Firearms are staged over doorways with bolts-open and magazines are close at-hand. It used to be common practice for Granny to have a 20-gauge single-shot or a .22 LR rifle behind the kitchen door. She know that a single woodchuck could destroy an entire row of green-bean seedlings in a single go or a dog could run all of a small flock of sheep to death in an afternoon.

Adults who are outside are "carrying" and have enough ammo to deal with threats or distract attackers long enough to activate "the plan", whatever that is.

Dogs. Several of them. In Rhodesia during the most troubled times it was common for farmers to have a half-dozen "barkers" and a couple of larger attack-dogs that had their vocal cords removed. The barkers alerted and distracted while the attack dogs attacked from the flank.

Fancy electronics: Tend to be expensive BUT phonograph needles run about $2 apiece and have the potential to be MacGyvered into seismic sensors. Pair them so one is optimized for transverse (up-down) waves and the other is optimized for longitudinal waves, run through an amplifier and play the resulting signals on speakers. Train the dogs to light-up when they hear the speakers. You may want to put the system on a timer so it does not keep going off during the daytime.

Internal security

Mr Sutton, can you tell us why you rob banks? Willie Sutton answered, "Because that is where the money is."

 

It is my belief that about half of the burglaries are perpetrated by people who have some kind of relationship with the target. It may be an ex-girlfriend, a shiftless cousin, a kid who was booted out of the house to help them grow up.

They see theft as the path of least resistance to get what they want. The see theft of items on your property as the easiest, fastest path to getting their next fix or to get the price of a large pizza.

Humans are funny animals. We have the ability to rewrite narratives to make ourselves heroes and RIGHTEOUS. Some small slight can be nurtured into a vast injustice and stealing from "those rich bastards" suddenly seems like a virtue. 

The two simplest defenses against attacks from these sources is to go beyond "don't flaunt your wealth" to actively broadcasting "we are as poor as country church mice". And the best way to do that is to have several, anonymous looking doors or lockers that are only unlocked when the resource they are protecting is needed.

In the scenario we are playing with, there is also the temptation of one family to sneak into the pantry and gobble the peanut butter and to "lift" a jar of jam for their own, personal enjoyment.

The habit of keeping the goodies locked up puts a stop to that in a hurry. Casual visitors will not know the extent of your valuables, nor will they know where to look for the quick grab-and-go. Even if they know, locks reduce opportunity. So keeping your wealth on the down-low addresses two of the bubbles on the Venn Diagram shown above.

We already discussed NOT letting perpetual malcontents into the life-boat.