I know that security is a bit of a show and its really more of a deterant, but I was wondering realistically how I could prevent someone breaking and entering a small-ish American home? What is actually effective?
You must log in or # to comment.
3" door screws and a good lock.
Also AR15, if you legally/mentally can. Last line of defense, but without it the last line is the door/windows.
Build a moat.
It’s not impenetrable, but let’s be honest, who’s crazy enough to break into the house with a moat?
I mean, building a moat does tell that you probably are rich enough to either pay someone to come over and do all that, or buy/rent a machine to dig & fill it, or are well-off that you have enough free time & energy to dig it without a machine… (might also need something to line the moat with so that the water isn’t just sucked up by the soil)
On the other hand, if someone dug up a moat around a whole house with a shovel all by themselves, it’d probably be wiser not to mess with them…
Pirates. You’ve just escalated things a degree.
No. They normally operated on open waters. You have to go back to medieval armies.
Vikings. Cold pirates.
All right I’ll give you a Vikings for that.
Own a musket for home defense, since that’s what the founding fathers intended. Four ruffians break into my house. “What the devil?” As I grab my powdered wig and Kentucky rifle. Blow a golf ball sized hole through the first man, he’s dead on the spot. Draw my pistol on the second man, miss him entirely because it’s smoothbore and nails the neighbors dog. I have to resort to the cannon mounted at the top of the stairs loaded with grape shot, “Tally ho lads” the grape shot shreds two men in the blast, the sound and extra shrapnel set off car alarms. Fix bayonet and charge the last terrified rapscallion. He Bleeds out waiting on the police to arrive since triangular bayonet wounds are impossible to stitch up. Just as the founding fathers intended.
Don’t forget about your French neighbors who have been looking to get one over on those ruffians.
Adopt a pair of Doberman Pinscher’s that were trained Elite Spec Ops.
The only thing police types love more than shooting dogs is beating their wives…
Not really much, tbh.
Decent quality door locks
Clear line of sight from the street to likely entry points
Loud alarms so if they do break in they’re not likely to stay longIf someone wants to get into a house, there isn’t much you can do to stop them unless you’re rich and can afford exotic shit like bullet proof glass windows and thick metal reinforced doors.
All to can really do is discourage crimes of opportunity by making them seem like bad opportunities.The critical question is “who?”.
Most break-ins are targets of opportunity. Given that you can’t change to a less risky neighborhood, you could have no outward signs of profitability, no easy/quiet entrance, signs of people around, lights, cameras. And remember, they’re not coming in the front door: they’re looking for an Inconspicuous, weak point. You just need to be less of a target of opportunity than your neighbors.
Someone specifically targetting you will be much harder. Someone with skills will be much harder. At the extreme, no consumer lock is safe against lock picking and no consumer door is safe against police battering ram.
I have a side door with a broken jamb, and speculate that someone kicked it in at some point (before I moved here). One of the first things I did upon moving in, was add long screws to the latch and hinges so it’s anchored in the nearest joist rather than simply the jamb. Supposedly that makes it much more difficult to kick in - someone might give up when it is taking too much time and they are creating noise that could attract attention. I also have a light and a doorbell cam, so they would be visible and on camera doing it. And a dog
At one point I came across an article recommending steel supports behind the jamb, and would really like to do that when I replace the door. It looks like a normal door but the jam is no longer a weak point. Unfortunately no one seems to know what I’m talking about though
Gravel around your house. Bad guys don’t want to be heard.
Exterior lighting everywhere, bad guys don’t want to be seen.
You can always tell a Milford man
Turrets?
Layers.
Plant something with thorns or pointy leaves to block easy access to windows. Even better as a hedge around the whole property. Anti break film on windows. Heavy duty exterior doors. Motion sensing lights. Cameras, +1 for cameras with built in lights that can recognize people and automatically turn on.
Every layer should either strengthen, increase risk of being caught, or make access painful. They will go towards easier targets.
My eufy cameras have an alarm built into them too along with the home base. So at night if they detect motion they will alarm, record and send a notification to my phone.
Any windows you want to restrict access to, plant these things:
They are no joke. Just remember, if you need that window for emergency egress it will not be a pleasant experience. Probably better than dying, but not by much.
Nice. I’ve always looked at holly bushes or cacti.
Bougainvillea are fucking savage, and they grow really fast
Top 3 tools that will get you most of the way there.
-
Steel door frame reinforcement + steel or solid core wood door. The door jamb is the weakest link here. Cheap steel reinforcement with long screws are an easy win. A quality lock is a good idea.
-
Security window film. Best done when the windows are manufactured, but they will deter most people who were counting on a quick smash and grab.
-
Dog. No one wants to mess with a dog. Lots of dual purpose family friendly breeds who instinctively guard the home from intruders and can smell the adrenaline of people who don’t belong.
These three things will get you 80% of the way there for 20% of the cost. Cameras just give you memorabilia of that time you got robbed and rarely help prosecution and even less in recovery of stolen goods.
Interesting point about cameras. Why doesn’t the footage usually help?
Think about what the camera even can show.
- you’re not going to see a readable license plate, even assuming they took their own car and parked in front of your house
- so what if you capture a face? There is no universal facial recognition too, and database, nor any way to trace back to where they may be now. If the police capture them by normal means, it’s solid additional evidence, but not useful in itself
- doesn’t matter for insurance. If you make a police report of a breakin, they accept that, and it won’t show what’s been stolen or destroyed
Cameras are good for “the appearance of” security and may deter some. They can trigger lights and attention, which may drive some away. They can also be part of an alarm system which will deter more
Thank you! Interesting and helpful.
Masks, poor lighting, angles, quality and police that don’t give a shit etc…
-
In response to law enforcement, make sure you know your rights. If they are truly just conducting door to door operations, they would have no legal basis to enter your house. That might not stop them from fabricating some exigent circumstances (legally defined term that would come into play). But unless you open the door and/or invite them in, they can’t legally come in.
In America, in most cases, they can’t cross the door frame and can’t touch you unless you cross outside. ’
And if asked men kick the door down? I got that covered best I know how.
And a lawyer. Find a lawyer ahead of time. You’re not going to have much luck defending yourself against overwhelming force and numbers, but most people who survive long enough have the opportunity to defend themselves in court. At least we used to.
Landmines. When they crowd around the guy with a leg blown off you ambush them.
Also a fun game to play when leaving the house: navigate a minefield!
Surveillance both overt and covert backed up off site and with battery backup. Guard dogs.
Those two will make people pause. But let’s say someone says fuckit they’re coming in anyway. And you want more than your typical 2A stuff?
There’s a lot you can do now with facial recognition and stepper motors. Chemical deterrence. Visual/thermal deterrence. Pretend you’re Kevin Mccallister.
Above all that, be tight with your neighbors. Community, community, community.
Blow it up
It depends on whether your adversary is motivated and equipped, your resources, and what visibility you would like to permit.
Let’s suppose you have a poorly equipped adversary, a couple thousand to spend, and you want it to be invisible.
When a door is bashed, the wooden jamb breaks at the lock. So you could go bash resistant device, I believe there are inserts that make bashing significantly harder. Or you can go with a steel door and steel jamb.
For windows, a sheet of polycarbonate glued to the outside should make them resistant to rocks and small arms fire. You should be able to break the glass and kick out the polycarbonate in the event of a house fire.
Check your slider door that it can’t be levereged upward and removed while shut.
Having two locks including a proper deadbolt with a decent type of key. You want a deadbolt that goes deep into the door frame, not a cheap one that barely hits the strike plate. That and locking windows with window film will keep most people out.
Nothing will keep someone out who really wants to get in. You just need to make the hassle greater than their desire to get in.
And make sure the strike plate is set into a hardwood frame with 3" screws.
Steel door jam maybe instead of flimsy wood?
