I am taking a few minutes to write down my "philosophy" on making a home physically secure.
Background
Every layer acts like a filter; some unwanted threats will slip through while some desired contacts will be repulsed.
This is similar to a quality-inspection system in a factory. Important characteristics are inspected at several stages because...because some defective material will slip through even the best inspection stage.
Taking a page from quality-inspection, having multiple "layers" is a good plan and so is having effective layers.
The calculation for the amount of defects that slips through is 100% - (100% minus catch-rate)^(number of inspection layers). So four "layers" that are 80% effective has a calculated effectiveness of 1.0 - (1.0-0.8)^4 or an effectiveness of 99.8%. In a similar way, four sequential filters with 60% effectiveness have a combined effectiveness of 97.4% or almost 13 times more "leakers".
At this point, some of you who have been paying attention are likely to point out, "Hey, that is fundamentally wrong. The first filter removes the lazy and stupid. Later filters will never be as effective."
I have no argument with that observation. Which leads to the next observation: The filters must be complimentary. That is, they filter on different attributes.
Concrete examples (not a complete list)
Filter 1.0: Don't be the house that "stands out". Don't be a $500k house in a neighborhood of $200k properties. Don't have vehicles that are twice as expensive as the typical neighbor. Don't be the first house in the neighborhood to have the snow melt off of you garage roof. Don't flaunt expensive toys. Keep your garage door down and don't put political signs in your yard.
Filter 1.1: Drugs, Cash and Handguns are the lightning rods that attract the wrong kind of attention. Felons cannot legally own firearms and yet guns are keystone to the image many felons desire. Unlike a flat-screen TV, a "hot" handgun can be fenced at 100% MSRP. This is where you must be an attentive parent. Sometimes a kid will post pictures or write things on social media that makes your home a target.
Filter 1.1.1: Breakdown all boxes before putting them out for the trash-man. Remove or obscure logos or take broken down cardboard to recycling.
Filter 2.0: Set the stage. Great doors. Great locks. Good windows. Keep "inside" inside and "outside" outside. Sorry if you love sliding, glass doors...but they don't cut the mustard.
Filter 2.1: A barking dog calls attention to the person with ill intentions. Those kinds of people hate attention.
Filter 2.2: Don't allow your landscaping to shelter vermin. Vermin hate light. They hate visibility and attention. Motion activated lights are a good move. Removing tall shrubs that assailants and people plotting to break into your house is a good move.
Filter 3.0: According to Fer-FAL, the easiest way for a motivated goblin to breach your home defenses is to wait until you come home after a long day at work and then bum-rush you through the door you just unlocked. You are tired. You are hungry. You are hyper-focusing. Be mentally prepared to drive around your block if anything looks "goofy". Two hinky-looking dudes loafing near your house? Maybe call the spousal unit and kids and call an audible that you are going to meet at Vito's for an early dinner.
Cheap-and-easy
Cheap-and-easy, that's how I roll.
Most of these steps are passive or don't require much effort.
I don't consider myself an expert on gadgets and bang-sticks for home security but will take a stab at a blog-post if there is interest on the subject.
All seems eminently sensible to me - you want the perp to choose a "softer" target, or what looks like a more lucrative target than you.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget that you don't have to be impossible to get in or ultra uninviting - just harder to get into and less inviting than other places nearby. Criminals are lazy and go for the nearest easy target.
ReplyDeleteNow, if you live rural you need to be much harder since you don't have "competition" and they likely chose and cases you.
Commander Zero has a category of posts called"Harder Homes and Gardens " he made a post there today about battle hardening a home. https://www.commanderzero.com/?p=11975#comments
Jonathan
You are the neighborhood watch program. Be the sign that says, "We don't call the cops, except to come pick up the bodies."
ReplyDeleteCommander Zero's article is how the US Army trained to turn old school stone German houses into quick bunkers.
ReplyDeleteMost American homes have essentially ZERO Bullet Resistance. So, most of it isn't very useful.
A suggestion for quick and dirty extra hardening ideas if you like:
FIRST have a PLAN and A Duress Code the Family practices. Training yourself and your family about closed mouths about certain subjects is critical (and you did mention it a bit above).
Family has to DO it often enough it's automatic. Otherwise, the kids bragging about that NEW AR in public has put a possible target on your home in the near future. Not just from thieves but anti-gun activist trouble. If they're burning Telsa showrooms it's not a far jump for that, friends.
Duress code is a subtle way for that "odd phone call" OR welcoming "Chat" as you come into the home that allows you to know somethings NOT well at home.
Windows and sliding glass doors. As you mentioned weak spots and targets for trouble.
A "mostly peaceful but flaming bottle of protest" (to use Media BS terms) outside the house is a problem. One INSIDE the Home is a REAL PROBLEM as too many things burn really well and flash over as Firemen talk about happens faster than you think.
HAVE Fire extinguishers in your home, ready for use. Expensive but if you have them ready can help a lot. If nothing else time to evac the kids.
Measuring your windows and buying and pre-cutting welded wire used to make rabbit cages (not chicken wire) along with the screws-nailing strips needed to install quickly when things get weirder. Battery drills and fully charged batteries really help.
Some precut 2X4's and such to support the wire over the sliding glass doors is a good idea. BTW you WANT a little bounce in your wire a bit of a belly as I've tested throwing water filled bottles at them, and they tend to bounce away and NOT break.
My wife's not fond of the Mad Max look but I know from practice I can fit all my windows in a busy afternoon.
Family training must include in addition to duress code where they gather IF forced from the house. Nothing is so sad when doing a Fire EMS run to see parents looking for their kids as we fight the fire. Sometimes later found at neighbors, inside the doghouse with their pet (yes, really true) and wandering around the neighborhood.
Inside the house drills have the kids go to the designated safe room if intruders are around. Hard to sweep your home for trouble IF your Kids are running around scared.
Having Chaos kits premade so when a window breaks at O dark 30 you can check if it's trouble or a windstorm branch and deal with it easily. Power tends to fail so flashlights and HEADLIGHTS so you can work with both hands are wonderful.
Don't wear a headlamp if you're clearing the house. A flashlight away from your body is an old police trick to keep from getting shot when they shoot at the light.
Enough for now. Looking forward to others ideas.
Iron sharpens iron
Extremely interesting topic, that we could all benefit from. Motion detectors, basic camera set-ups for those of us not tech geeks. Ways to use cameras without monthly plans?
ReplyDeleteFor those that do not work in Quality, this can also be visualized as the "cheese grater" model, where the purpose is to make sure that the "holes" do not overlap.
ReplyDeleteThe bright side of being on an elevated story in an apartment with no directly accessible windows is a lower concern about those (not so great for a fire, of course). The biggest controllable weak point for the apartment is the door - cannot install a deadbolt, but can get a door bar.
Look at these guys for a little added security.
ReplyDeletehttps://nightlock.com/
Fitty
Apply hurricane or anti-vandalism film to windows to make the much harder to break and less of a cutting hazard when they finally do.
ReplyDeleteA driveway gate will slow approaching vermin.
ReplyDeleteA fence with gate will slow them more.
A dog inside the fence even more.
A good steel door (s) and jamb with a good deadbolt is hard to get through quickly. Like the metal doors in the side entrances to commercial buildings. Entry doors AND bedroom. There is little more frightening than laying in bed with three or four nasties standing bedside - just trust me on this.
Hurricane film on the windows makes them hard to break through- I tested 8-mil film on some discarded windows- a brick would shatter the glass, but it took several hard throws for it to actually break a hole .
I don't know much about cameras, but some inside the home to see past locked doors might be useful-bullets go through houses in two directions. Plotting vectors from various vantage points in the house could be useful.
A home security concern that many people are unaware of.
ReplyDeletehttps://ktla.com/news/local-news/criminal-trend-continues-another-hidden-camera-found-in-southern-california/
Thorny shubs and trees can be strategically planted. https://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/living-fences-zmaz10onzraw/
ReplyDeleteGood points on security. Simple, easy ways to maybe make a difference.
ReplyDeleteWhen we looked at houses for sale, the glass doors really made me uncomfortable. I want solid doors, difficult access.
We keep lights off, most people don’t know there’s a house here. Can’t see it from the road.
Southern NH
I was hoping someone would mention reconning your OWN house. Walk around it in the AM with your wife inside trying to keep an eye on you.
ReplyDeleteNote blind spots. Also note as Joe mentioned above areas where they can get close before getting spotted.
Extra Value buy a liter bottle of soda. Mark a safe no window wall with a blue painters tape square for a window sized "target".
Replace the soda with water as eventually the bottle will leak and it's less messy. Don't ask me how I know about soda in the soda bottles.
That accurate throw gives you a pretty good idea how far a blue haired freak can throw a "flaming bottle of peace" into your windows. Call that your defensive RED ZONE.
Do the same after dark. Walk carefully in the moonlight to see how your own lights show where you are and movement inside the house.
For those with longer driveways like mine. Turn ON all your lights including the outside ones. Drive around and see how far away they can be seen at night. You might be less than pleased how far it really shows. Even glimmers in the woods are a "tell" someone lives off the beaten path and maybe a lone target.
Start turning off the ones you figure are the giveaways. Learn what light NOT to turn on if things get frisky.
Invest in blackout curtains. Not perfect but your afterwards recon will show an improvement.
Buy HD Black Plastic sheeting and blue painters' tape (or duct tape but wife *might* accept the painters' tape better) for true blackout for at least the windows that roadside traffic can see.
Know that non-buried power lines running into the woods is a "tell".
If things get really weird the cattle gate has a series 200 hardened lock and chain. They can get past it, but it Establishes INTENT, and the IR Game Camera I can watch with my cell phone will give some details of my visitors.
True Story, once when I was a younger soldier, I noticed a fellow military guys dome light on in his car. I walked over in the dark to let him know about it so he could drive to work in the AM.
As I walked up, his dog was raising merry hell inside. Then I heard him say $^%#@&* Stupid Dog shut up.
I walked back home, he's too stupid to turn off the dome light and he ignores his dog.
Iron sharpens iron so I look forward to other ideas here.
If possible invest in quality safe(s) to keep valuable in...and anchor them. No matter how hard you try id someone wants in they wilp get in, especially if no one is home. Make their efforts harder to bear fruit. Hidden rooms are great but difficult to implement. A hardened safe room is best for those who are in the process of building a home. Try to think like a criminal. Many criminals are lazy...not stupid. See what they see.
ReplyDeleteGood ideas and thoughts,would certainly like more.
ReplyDeleteThe more of a pain in the ass you make your home to break into,the more likely the criminals will move on.
I would say a good dog and tools of protection that are practiced with could be very helpful,especially if you live out in the sticks,911 will only be doing chalk outlines of bodies,make sure they are not you or family/friends.