Keeping your home safe in normal times really isn’t all that hard. Install a deadbolt or two, call your local alarm company and make sure your windows are all locked. That will take care of you for most situations. Of course, that’s in the city, where police can get to you rapidly, and it’s working under the assumption that the criminals you want protection from don’t want to attract attention.
But move out into the country and go off-grid, and the equation changes drastically. An alarm system isn’t going to bring police running, and neighbors probably won’t see what’s going on. Criminals won’t be worried about being caught, because they know that there’s no way the police can get there in time. Add in a disaster situation and you can forget about the police altogether.
People in these situations need to take care of their own home security. Actually, I have to say that we all do, considering that it takes an average of 11 minutes for police to respond to a 911 call, and the average home break-in is over in about 90 seconds. So, in a sense, we’re all off-grid when it comes to security.Start with the Right Alarm
Start with the Right Alarm
The typical alarm company will install a silent alarm, which will call the police if your perimeter is breached. Sensors on doors and windows activate if they are opened (and the alarm is not turned off). Some systems have motion detectors for the interior, as well, in case an intruder manages to bypass the perimeter sensors.
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The big fallacy with this sort of system is that it doesn’t activate until the intruder is already entering the home. You don’t want to wait that long. That’s why natural alarms are much better. Dogs, donkeys and guinea hens will all start making a racket the moment that an intruder steps foot on your property.
These aren’t silent alarms that call the police; they are noisy alarms to let you know what is going on. Hearing your natural alarm go off gives you an opportunity to take action, before the intruder enters your home.
You might also want to consider some sort of perimeter alarm, such as trip wires. The problem is that you need to build the trip wire in such a way that you’ll be able to hear it from within the house or anywhere on your property; otherwise, the trip wire doesn’t accomplish a thing.
Harden Your Home
The second step in this process is making it hard for any intruder to get into your home. There’s an old saying that “locks keep honest people honest.” The way that works is that if it is hard enough to break into your home, most people will give up. So, don’t just depend on a deadbolt to keep your home safe; make your doors and windows harder to break through.
The weakness for most entry doors is that the deadbolt goes into the door frame, with the striker plate held in place by ¾-inch screws. The average man can kick through that door, breaking the deadbolt out through the door frame, without much effort. But by changing out the normal striker plate out for a security striker plate, installed with 3 ½-inch long screws, you make it much stronger. Use the same screws for the hinges, and the door becomes very hard to kick open.
Of course, there are other things you can do to strengthen your door, like using a prop against the door. This old-fashioned method of securing a door is as effective today as it ever was. Simply cut a 2×4 or 2×6 to the correct length, to go from below the door knob to the base of the opposite wall. I don’t care how strong someone is — they aren’t going to get that to move.
Windows are usually the weakest access point on any home, simply because they are made of glass. It doesn’t take much to break through a piece of glass, and any rock sitting around will do. But you can make windows much stronger by adding burglar bars or by installing security window film on the inside of the windows. While the film can’t totally stop them from breaking out the window, it will take them long enough that you’ll have time to stick a gun up their nose.
Finally, Be Ready to Repel Boarders
Ultimately, you yourself are the best security for your home. Unless you spend the money to build an indestructible bank vault for a home, there’s always a way to get in for someone who really wants to. Alarms and hardening your home are merely means of giving you time to react. Yes, those things might scare off some intruders, but the really serious ones will come on anyway. That’s when you need to be ready.
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Firearms have been called the great equalizer. With them, a small woman becomes able to defeat a large man. When you have firearms and are trained in their use, you become the best security system around. Even if they do manage to get through your hardened door or window, if you meet them with a gun in your hand, you’ve probably already won.
Most criminals aren’t proficient in the use of firearms, but you can’t count on that. Even though they mostly use firearms to intimidate, there are a few that enjoy target shooting, just for the fun of it. So, you can’t count on them being poor shots. What you can count on is your own training. Take the time to learn how to shoot well so that you can beat any criminal at their own game.
Keep in mind that a criminal isn’t going to stand there; they’re going to move and there’s a chance they’re going to shoot back. So, your training must include shooting at moving targets, shooting quickly, shooting while moving, shooting in low light and shooting from cover. Then, and only then, are you truly ready to defend your home from an intruder.
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What advice would you add to this story? How would you protect a rural home? Share your home-defense tips in the section below:
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