Home Security On my mind again

[dmccarty]

There are also camera system that see in infrared. The system can be set off and the "lights" are turned on but they can't be seen unless you have a device that sees the spectrum. You can watch the bad guys without them knowingi they are being watched.

One day we will put some of these in if for no other reason to watch the four legged and winged animals around the house.

Course most people just want to scare the thugs away which is a good thing.

I'm real curious about the murder mentioned earlier. Its very unusual for strangers to break in and just kill at random. It happens but its not frequent.

Later,
Dan

 

[RonMar]

It does sound like something else is up in this case. I would guess one occupant in the house was the target and the others were killed to remove witnesses. Very sad.

As for security, the linked lighting is a good idea. People trying to not be seen don't like surprises. Loud noises(barking dogs, explosions ect), bright and or flashing lights suddenly put into action will all serve to change their plans. A loud noise not normally heard at night in your area such as a blank round/gunshot/squib going off outside the house will be a very unwelcome surprise for a prowler and will also get your neighbors wondering what is happening.

I like the autodialing alarm systems. Monitored security is Ok I guess but as mentioned, they are just going to dial 911 after they try and confirm that it is indeed a genuine alarm.

Buckshot and shotguns are great, unless you have other family in the house or neighbors in close proximity. A .32 roundball can kill at a considerable distance. If this is truely a defense firearm for a defense scenario then it will be fired at close range. They will be close enough to hear you pump it, you will be close enough to see clearly who you are unloading on. At close range(less than 25') a lighter shot load, say #4-#6, will be just as effective as the shot patern will not have spread out. The mass of shot will be impacting the target as a close group and will deliver devistating energy, just as a 00 buck load would do at these short ranges. But if you should miss, which is not at all uncommon in a stress-fire situation, that mass of shot will spread and loose it's effectiveness quickly, particularly if it contacts anything along the way(window, wall, screen door ect). The larger balls in buckshot can pass thru lightweight obstacles and still retain quite a bit of energy. The smaller shot is a safer option in close quarters.

From a legal standpoint, if you should have to defend your actions in a courtroom afterward, you do not appear to have deliberatly used a particularly human lethal round(with the specific intent to kill) on your attacker.

The only person guaranteed to be there when you are in trouble is YOU. Plan accordingly.

 

[texasjohn]

If going with a lighter shot... stay as large as you can... I'd go no smaller than #2. I've used #4 and #6 on large animals... penetrates, but does NOT provide immediate stopping power... and you want immediate stopping power. Remember, the VP shot a fellow in the face (albeit with dove shot) and he not only survived, but didn't look too bad...and he was elderly and more frail than your usual home burgler.

 

[MossRoad]

Well, I'd install motion detectors connected to your lighting.... that way there is a surprise element, also, hook to an alarm so you are alerted whevever the lights turn on.

That alarm triggered by the motion sensor get's old, fast. Racoons, dogs, a slight breeze the pushes the heat from under the car hood, etc... can trigger motion sensors.

I probably mentioned this a few times on TBN, but I'll mention it again. I installed motion sensors to trigger a VCR and camera. If triggered, it would record for 5 minutes after the motion stopped. I went to work and came home and the tape was full and ejected. Hmmm... investigation reveals a Robin flying up on my gate, pooping, and flying away. Then 5 minutes of nothing. Then he'd come back, poop, and fly away, etc.... 8 hours of that!

 

[Soundguy]

Distance is the key... You can stand 40' from me and i can shoot you with #8 skeet loads and you will just be mad and bloody from a few spec shots.. Stand 10' from me and it will most likely blow you down with a considerable life threatning... or at least disabling wound... Also is safer for neighbors and people 2-3 rooms away..

Take some sillouhette targets out to the range.. practice with light loads.. see where your pattern opens up at. I've tried it.

Even with a short barrelled shotgun, at 6' the pattern of a #8 target load is all upper 'chest'.

Most self defense shootings happen at very close range... 10' and less..

besides.. if at 10' the first one only wounds them.. rack the slide again.. by then they will either be retreating fast.. or they will have moved into 'optimum' 'dispatching' range.. If it's a slam fire gun.. all the better..

Soundguy

 

[George2615]

I haven't heard about this yet. It'll probably be on our news tonight.

First, I have 3 sets of 500W motion detecting floodlights that will come on if a small cat walks by. 2 cover the front and side of the house and 1 for the back.

Second, I have a good dog that hears much better than I and will alert me to anyone he hears in the yard.

Third, The house has an alarm system.

Fourth, I am armed.

 

[texasjohn]

I can only relay my actual experience. I had a 40 lb dog once that was shot in the head with number 6 shot at about 25 feet. No, it wasn't me, but it WAS an inexperienced hunter. All pellets stopped under the skin and above the skull. I saw the X rays myself. Put one eye out but he was able to navigate immediately afterward. I know all about targets, patterns, spread and distance.

My net is that if you want an attacker to STOP the attack, then you want true and certain stopping power, not just something that is going to upset him. And that's the objective, I believe, if one is concerned that a mass murderer is in the immediate neighborhood and possibly will enter the house, which is the consern pennwalk has.

 

[DieselPower]

Here's a little gizmo I installed in my staircase going to my upstairs in my house many years ago. It's just a regular exterior motion detector with 1 flood light bulb. The kicker is the little noise box mounted under it that is wired to the light. It's a Edwards Adapta Horn out of a industrial plant. This thing could wake the dead up from 1/4 mile away it makes so much noise. I have it wired to a light switch in my bedroom and when I'm ready to knock off for the night I flip the switch and turn it on. If my outside motion detector lights don't scare them off, the normal house burglar alarm fails, I have this little baby hooked up to a backup power source and is the last resort warning device. You can buy the Edwards Adapta Horns from most any industrial supply store. Click the thumbnail pic for a larger picture.

 

[RonMar]

Here's a little gizmo I installed in my staircase going to my upstairs in my house many years ago. It's just a regular exterior motion detector with 1 flood light bulb. The kicker is the little noise box mounted under it that is wired to the light. It's a Edwards Adapta Horn out of a industrial plant. This thing could wake the dead up from 1/4 mile away it makes so much noise. I have it wired to a light switch in my bedroom and when I'm ready to knock off for the night I flip the switch and turn it on. If my outside motion detector lights don't scare them off, the normal house burglar alarm fails, I have this little baby hooked up to a backup power source and is the last resort warning device. You can buy the Edwards Adapta Horns from most any industrial supply store. Click the thumbnail pic for a larger picture.

Oh god I hate those things! They are even worse when pulsed. As a watchstander at a LORAN station, we had those in the duty technicians bunk room, about 6' from the bunk. Any alarm in the control room would set this thing off. Ours were controlled by a relay/timer to pulse once per second(sounded like the reactor was about to go critical) My heart wouldn't start beating again untill I was half way to the control room. It was so bad I found I couldn't go to sleep in that room on my duty nights just thinking that it might go off. I would bring a sleeping bag and sleep in the next room(tv lounge) on the couch and it still scared the **** out of me when it woke me up.

 

[DieselPower]

Yep, they don't get much louder or more annoying do they. That's a good thing in this case though. If I'm way off in lala land I want it to wake me up.