home defense question
- Thread starter Bartman3562
- Start date
home invasions
I think an important point i think is that the bad guys may be on you before you can shoot or get to your gun. Some kind of combative training or at least combative pistol training is pretty important. I caught some home invasion videos off of warriorspathredux where the people were still sleeping while the bad guys walked around. What if you wake up while the guy is walking around your room or that really bad home invasion in new jersey where the guy kicked in the door and he was all over her. Pretty freaken awful. I think Kelly McCann's high risk combatives is pretty good and thorough.
I think an important point i think is that the bad guys may be on you before you can shoot or get to your gun. Some kind of combative training or at least combative pistol training is pretty important. I caught some home invasion videos off of warriorspathredux where the people were still sleeping while the bad guys walked around. What if you wake up while the guy is walking around your room or that really bad home invasion in new jersey where the guy kicked in the door and he was all over her. Pretty freaken awful. I think Kelly McCann's high risk combatives is pretty good and thorough.
Der Biermeister
Member
I have a half dozen smoke alarms throughout the house -- most of which I would never hear with the door closed. Also, my dogs (only one now) have the run of the house. Dogs are known to have a nack for warning their masters when there is a fire.
There is more to hardening a home/apartment than just considering to close and lock your bedroom door (I vote no.). The idea is to force the intruder to delay entry and to make enough noise to give you time to wake up, arm, and call 911. Off the top of my head:
1. Have a dog or two.
2. Put hotel bars on all exterior doors (adjustable bar that diagonals/jams between the door knob and the floor, making breaking down the door harder and more noisy).
3. Have a security system and use it. Have signs outside that say you have a security system.
4. Trim bushes under windows and illuminate the exterior. LED lights use very little electricity and/or use motion detectors.
5. Fence your yard and have a locking gate across the driveway.
6. If your neighborhood is bad enough, put bars on the windows and security doors on the entries. Or move.
7. Have your cell phone in the charger on your night stand right next to your defense weapon.
8. If you have kids, have a plan for what you will do to ensure their safety. Discuss and practice it with them.
I'm sure there's more.
1. Have a dog or two.
2. Put hotel bars on all exterior doors (adjustable bar that diagonals/jams between the door knob and the floor, making breaking down the door harder and more noisy).
3. Have a security system and use it. Have signs outside that say you have a security system.
4. Trim bushes under windows and illuminate the exterior. LED lights use very little electricity and/or use motion detectors.
5. Fence your yard and have a locking gate across the driveway.
6. If your neighborhood is bad enough, put bars on the windows and security doors on the entries. Or move.
7. Have your cell phone in the charger on your night stand right next to your defense weapon.
8. If you have kids, have a plan for what you will do to ensure their safety. Discuss and practice it with them.
I'm sure there's more.
Hodgin
US Veteran
I close but don't lock our bedroom door.
Springfeildkid585
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I live in a second floor apartment. If someone is in my house they either came in through the front door (thick, heavy wood and always dead-bolted) or they had a ladder and better balance than most as I have trouble opening my windows from the inside with both feet firmly planted on the floor. If they got in the front door, they can get in my interior door.
sac-gunslinger
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Smithsrevenge
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Nope. My bedroom is on the second floor, I just have one of those cheapo radio shack motion detectors with a screaming alarm at the bottom of the stairs.
Someone breaks in, they can have my wallet, my TV and the useless junk downstairs. No reason for me to go after them, Let them take it, then get arrested for it later. However, my Fiancee, I and our valuables are upstairs.
They go up the stairs, I'll know it :-D then they are endangering the lives of us, and they will lose theirs in turn for it. We are both armed and dont miss :-D
But no need to lock the bedroom door
Someone breaks in, they can have my wallet, my TV and the useless junk downstairs. No reason for me to go after them, Let them take it, then get arrested for it later. However, my Fiancee, I and our valuables are upstairs.
They go up the stairs, I'll know it :-D then they are endangering the lives of us, and they will lose theirs in turn for it. We are both armed and dont miss :-D
But no need to lock the bedroom door
hangnoose
Member
DOOR CLOSED
Mainly in case of a fire, even a cheap hollow door can buy you enough time to get out alive hopefully. An open door that allows all that toxic smoke in, the fire alarm wakes you, what's the first thing you do? Take a deep breath. That could be all she wrote. I filled all my hollow doors with blow in foam insulation, yes it sound proofs which can be good/bad at times, but will buy even more time in a fire. Statistically I believe you are more likely to die from a fire than a burglary.
Mainly in case of a fire, even a cheap hollow door can buy you enough time to get out alive hopefully. An open door that allows all that toxic smoke in, the fire alarm wakes you, what's the first thing you do? Take a deep breath. That could be all she wrote. I filled all my hollow doors with blow in foam insulation, yes it sound proofs which can be good/bad at times, but will buy even more time in a fire. Statistically I believe you are more likely to die from a fire than a burglary.
Smithsrevenge
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I never even thought of that and I'm on the volunteer department. Maybe I'll close it tonight :/ haha
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We NEVER close our bedroom door unless we have quests staying here. First off, the b/r gets too hot with the door closed as the thermostat is located in the hallway outside my b/r.
Secondly, with the door opened we can better hear anybody trying to break in to our home.
The 3rd reason is Cody (our Golden Retriever) is better able to hear and alert us if anything out of the ordinary is going on. He's an excellent watch dog!
Last but not least, there are times I wake up and go downstairs or into my office or Shop and I don't want to disturb my wife with opening and closing a door.
Secondly, with the door opened we can better hear anybody trying to break in to our home.
The 3rd reason is Cody (our Golden Retriever) is better able to hear and alert us if anything out of the ordinary is going on. He's an excellent watch dog!
Last but not least, there are times I wake up and go downstairs or into my office or Shop and I don't want to disturb my wife with opening and closing a door.
TexasArmed
Member
Same in Texas. I do not intent do have a gunfight inside my small apartment with 3 or 4 intruders with AK-47's . I have a stout dead bolted exterior door, and I sleep in front of the door, one way in. If they want in they should knock, and I will answer only if I know them. I will shoot thru the door if the
intruder is taking the door down. If I lived somewhere else I would check the law and if I did not agree I would move
But I would never shoot anyone just for knocking and going on down the road, nor would I go outside to see what they were doing. I could always move to so called safer areas but looks to me like crime travels everywhere.
kozmic
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Doug M.
Member
The odds of any home invasion if you are not a drug dealer or other serious criminal are really low. Putting that aside, one needs a multi-layered defense; even approaching the outside door should be ... awkward and discouraging.
I would not close the bedroom door for a lot of reasons that apply to my life, one of which being I want the landshark to be able to hear and respond. Most inside doors are so flimsy that the incremental improvement in security is virtually none.
Shooting through a door: The odds of it being a good idea with regard to an outside door are slight. If someone is in your home and does not belong there, and then they are trying to get through the bedroom or other inside door, that is a very different legal and tactical scenario, which may have a different logical outcome.
I would not close the bedroom door for a lot of reasons that apply to my life, one of which being I want the landshark to be able to hear and respond. Most inside doors are so flimsy that the incremental improvement in security is virtually none.
Shooting through a door: The odds of it being a good idea with regard to an outside door are slight. If someone is in your home and does not belong there, and then they are trying to get through the bedroom or other inside door, that is a very different legal and tactical scenario, which may have a different logical outcome.
Steve in Vermont
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We've discussed this before but you can install a wireless alarm system for around $ 300. Includes motion sensor, door and glass alarms, and activates a light(s). We have one with the console in the bedroom. When activated it sounds an alarm. It is also connected to the phone and within seconds dials a number and sends whatever message you recorded. We have it set to our cell phone for when we're away and it sends a message "home alarm system has been activated". Never have needed it but it's cheap insurance. Other options include fire and a low temperature alert. There is also a fob you can carry that will activate the system. I can't understand why people won't spend a few hundred dollars on something so easy to install.
OP
Bartman3562
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Ok, time for some clarification. No where in here, or per my CCH instructor, did I mean that I would ever shoot through an exterior door. Actually, I find the idea so absurd, I didn't think anyone would think that was what I meant. This whole thread revolves around the BEDROOM door. And where I live, if he is illegally in my house, they are considered a threat, and if trying to break down my bedroom door, I would shoot through it in a heartbeat. With the door open, without a dog, or alarm, there is nothing to keep the intruder from being beside your bed without you knowing it until to late, thus the locked door is at least a small barrier. I never thought about a home security system installed myself. I didn't want someone like ADT, but that sounds like a viable option. Being an electrician, I could get real inventive. Just a motion switch and a loud horn would scare most people off. Thanks for all the replies and ideas.
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Rule #1 - identify your target and the threat (if any).
...
Rule #n - The best ambush is laid on the easiest path.
Corollary 1 - if you know there's a threat and go to investigate, you're on the easiest path.
Corollary 2 - There's only one way INTO your bedroom, or place of defensive retreat. That's the easiest path.
...
Rule #n - The best ambush is laid on the easiest path.
Corollary 1 - if you know there's a threat and go to investigate, you're on the easiest path.
Corollary 2 - There's only one way INTO your bedroom, or place of defensive retreat. That's the easiest path.
Smithsrevenge
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Rule #3 Never investigate unless you absolutely have to. That's the best way to be ambushed. Let the attacker come to you and be the ambusher yourself
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Sorry to hear about you loosing your Lab to Cancer. I still miss our Lab. We have 4 dogs here at the house. 2 Papillions (known for having good hearing), a min-pin and a very large mutt.
As to the security system. We got one after we were robbed. (the dogs where in their crates and no body was home at the time). We use Simpli Safe. A lot cheaper than ADT. Plus I like the fact that I get text messages when the alarm is turned on or off so I know which child is home. I can also set up different sensors as delay or immediate alarm. For example, for the sensors near where the children come in, they have a 1 min delay to turn off the alarm before it goes off. They have key fobs that they can use to turn the alarm on an off, but they don't use them) and I have the sensors near other entrances set to immediately trip the alarm if they are triggered. If my alarm goes off, they first call the house (with in a minute), and if we are not home they call our cell phones.
amazingflapjack
US Veteran
Some tin cans and fishing line can provide some advanced notice, and those bells that hang on doors as well. I have an alarm system that I use, and most of all, I put he whole property in the Lord's care.
AZretired
Member
My inside doors are not locked and are usually open. I like my dogs to have the roam of the house. Downstairs windows and doors are shut & locked.
locolobo
US Veteran
My interior doors are open, if someone comes in my house I will hear them.
MOONDAWG
US Veteran
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