4 Easy-To-Implement Tips To Improve Your Home’s Defense

This is a guest post by Jeffery Nelsonhome defense

You knowing you need to secure your home but you aren’t sure what exactly to do first. Step one is understanding the risk is real and taking action.

This is where we come in; step two. Step two is putting down a few ground rules on exactly how to do that.

Home defense is a complicated topic. It’s one of those things that you should prepare for in a very detailed fashion yet hope you never have to use. A lack of a plan on how to defend your home or what to do in case of a situation that warrants it is fine until the event happens.

Have The “Right Stuff”

There is a whole range of things you can purchase to help in home defense. People spend anywhere from millions of dollars to zero dollars, it’s up to the person spending the money. Cheap, however, doesn’t necessarily mean ineffective. On the flip side, expensive doesn’t mean effective.

Here are a few things that are critical to have:

Weapon

Like it or not, some way to defend yourself other than your hands is necessary. Most people breaking into a house, especially the most brazen among them, are definitely not coming equipped solely with what God gave them. They are bringing weapons. Get one yourself and have it readily available and properly protected in times when it is not being used.

Flashlight

A flashlight is very important as many of these instances happen at night. A good option that is multipurpose are these new tactical flashlights. These flashlights are so bright they can actually double as a weapon in some situations.

First Aid Supplies

Something many people forget is a first aid kit of some sort. It doesn’t have to be extensive, but if you’re preparing for a home invasion and it happens there is a greater than zero chance you could be injured. Having a first aid kit on hand could be a life saver before the police or emergency services can arrive.

Improve Your Homes Infrastructure

Suggestions here vary widely depending upon how into it you want to go and how much your significant other supports you. That being said, there are a few quick and easy fixes to make your home a bit stronger.

Replace the screws in your door jam

Few people know that the screws that hold their hinges to the door jam are only about ¾” long at best. This creates a weak point in the door system. You can have the strongest door in the world, but with only ¾” screws it won’t hold up to much.

An easy fix is to replace those with higher end 2”-3” screws. This will cost less than $2 and will significantly increase the strength of the primary access point to your home.

Miscellaneous

In addition to strength adding techniques, you can rearrange the structure of your property in a few simple ways that will discourage intruders from attempting it in the first place.

  • Cut shrubs and bushes low enough so anyone breaking in would be easily seen.
  • Keep outside lights on at all times.
  • Put up a “beware of dog” sign even if you don’t have a dog.

These are just a few simple things that may encourage the would-be assailant to choose a different target.

Set Up A Warning System

A warning system is a must these days. There are so many options and different types of systems that I won’t try to cover them all here. Here are a few key things to keep in mind:

  • Make sure it’s monitored remotely – it doesn’t do any good for it to go off if nobody is coming to help.
  • Make sure it’s reputable.
  • Understand the cancellation policy.

Those few things should get you ready to go pick the system of your liking.

Plan, Prepare, Practice

This one is the easiest. You can have the best setup and plan in the world, but if you don’t practice what to do it won’t be second nature.

Most of the time a person is awoken from sleep, in the middle of the night, unsure of what’s even going on and then expected to leap into action and check off each box on their 10 point safety plan. This just isn’t probable if a person hasn’t practiced.

There are literally thousands of things that the ordinary, every day person can do to help defend their home, their family, and their possessions. Most people just simply don’t think about it or put any effort into it. Don’t be most people. Start today and get yourself on the path to having a plan you will hopefully never need to enact.

 

Jeffrey Nelson works in a fortune 100 company and is interested in technology, business, and the intersection of the two. He is also an advocate of home defense and being prepared to protect oneself. You can see more at his site www.nationalbiometric.org.

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