I move in to my own place soon- what are some ideal things to keep around the house in case of burglary?

Question

I don't want to keep a gun or a knife illegally (as I'm in the UK), but I would like a few things dotted around my room in the shared house I'm moving in to. As I only have one room, what would you recommend I have lying around?

I was thinking a two-piece snooker cue or a golf club under the bed and a can of spray paint (both to blind and mark an attacker) above the door jamb.

Would this do the trick do you think?

Answer 1

Now I want to make it very clear to any government officials reading this that I do NOT advocate violence in any form.........

BUT, my mate woke up to the sound of intruders in his home and HE (no, not me, he.) found that a co2 fire extinguisher makes a very effective form of mace/pepper spray.

He discovered that when a burglar has his eyes frozen by pressurized carbon di-oxide he cant fight for toffee!

And I'm NOT suggesting that you can buy them really reasonably at your local motor factors (Halfords etc.) or Lidls.

Or that a fire extinguisher is considered a perfectly reasonable thing to have in your home, some insurance companys offer a reduction in home insurance if you have one.

No, I would NEVER suggest such a thing.

Answer 2

Yeah the big end of one of those composite snooker cues is just the ticket to knock a home invader all the way back to Palookaville.

Answer 3

would hate to be you

btw: i keep a vamcum pole in the back of my car, when police pull me over i be like mayne i just hovered my car an fogot: so sorrry

Answer 4

how about a bow & arrow,

Answer 5

I keep a mag-lite (2lb) flashlight under my bed.  Packs a wallop.

Answer 6

Probably, but i keep a baseball bat under my bed, really close to the edge.

And i've only had to use it once.

Answer 7

nothing, because if you HAVE a bat.. then it will be deemed as pre-meditated

you could I suppose, have a Fairy Liquid bottle with a little amount of Fairy liquid inside it, and fill it with water.. then it is direct and to the point, with the added bonuse of not being a dangerous weapon!

It stings like a wh...

Answer 8

--- OK first off I think you are afraid of a home invasion rather than a burglary. Burglars are simply interested in stealing your property and escaping, un-noticed if at all possible. Burglars rarely ever seek contact with home occupants and usually try to ply their trade when no one is there. These criminals you will usually have nothing to really fear except the loss of property.

--- The ones I think you are referring to are the "Home Invaders." Home invasions are usually committed by people on power trips and they get off terrifying their victims if not actually torturing them before leaving. These are the people you need to be afraid of.

--- In any case what can you do to mitigate the danger of both groups in a country that does not recognize the right to defend one's home with firearms or Pepper Spray? That's an interesting question.

--- OK first off you need to look your new place over and make defense you first line protection. These are a few things you can do to make entry into your place more difficult:

(1)  If you don't have them install Dead Bolt locks on all your exterior leading doors.

(2) If you have glass in your doors change it to either high strength security glass or a composite polymer material that can't be easily broken.

(3) If you have a large area of glass in your door, larger than a shoe box, you should make sure to install security bars .

(4) If you have a cheap, flimsy door replace it with a solid core security door.

(5) Buy a cheap door brace that wedges under your door handle and props against the floor at an angle providing very strong protection similar to that of a chair proped against the door.

------ (5a) Also consider adding a cross bar to your door that you drop into place or pull  a handle to move the cross bars home on both sides of the door.

(6) Install a heavy duty door sucurity device that keeps the door secure while you have it opened a few inches. Don't get a chain type if you can aford to. If you get a chain type get a heavy duty one and use wood and metal screws that go at least 2 inches into solid wood.

(7) Put a grate or bars over all your windows that can be opened from the inside allowing for emergency escape.

(8) have all windows equipped with positive pressure locking mechinisms that hold the window shut tight and can't be opened by dropping a wire through cracks and lifting.

(9) Make sure you don't have any hidden openings like coal chutes or animal doors.

(10) make a panic room in your home. A room with a soild door and a phone. Install at least a keyless deadbolt and either a crossbar lock and/or a door handle prop.

(11) They make cheap alarms for your doors and windows. There is a wedge that you kick into the crack under the door that sounds if someone fiddles with your door. There is also a portable alarm the goes off if someone moves the air in a room, like opens a door or walks inot the room. The air pressure is disturbed and the alarm sounds. These are good for scaring away burglars and letting you know they are around too. ( see [b] in the source box.)

--- OK those were physical security things that can help secure your place. Some of them are dependant on you owning your place. If you rent you should still do those things you are able to and you should demand that your doors be solid and have dead bolts, or allow you to put them in.

--- All of those things are to keep the bad guy from getting in to be a danger. If the bad guys do get in there are other things you should know and do.

--- First off, know who to call in a police emergency and have a phone within reach in your bedroom, kitchen and front room, as well as your panic room. You may want a phone in the bathroom as well. make sure the phone in your panic room is NOT a wireless phone, but rather a plug-in tone dial phone. These phones work even when the power is cut because they draw power from the phone lines via the plug. OR have a cell phone, though be aware that there are cell phone jammers that sell in the UK.

--- Also, though I do not advise fighting with bad guys there are times you have no choice. The UK is weird in that they don't even allow pepper spray or CN spray. So you have to be creative

--- Pepper spray is simply oleoresinous capsicum. OR distilled chili pepper oil at about 5 to 10% strength for humans. A big handful of hot chili pepper powder thorwn into someones face will have a very similar effect if you can get it in their eyes and nose.

--- In the UK there is a legal defense spray called "Farb" that simply sprays a nasty gel into the bad guys face and eyes. It clogs their vision for a few moments giving a bit of time to act or flee. But it also dyes the bad guy's skin & clothes for a week or more. Its basically a distraction effect coupled with an identifier. I placed a link/url to their site in the source box, see [a], where you can see how it works and read all the details.

--- As a last resort if the bad guy is in and coming at you what can you do. I suggest a medium sized crescent wrench that can be left on the bed stand after doing home repairs and quickly grabbed. Its easy to conceal in your hand until you can safely use it. A golf club is a bad idea, they are too long and will only hinder you in the tight confines of a home.

--- A baseball bat (USA) would be OK as you can use it as a punching weapon as well as a swinging weapon. A pool cue (snooker?) could work but they are a bit thin and a bit lite weight. Lets face it, if you have to resort to hand weapons you want one that will finish the job with one hit.

--- A combination of spraying them in the face & eyes with FARB and then hitting them with a wrench or bat will likely do the job. Of course this is only if they are intent on attacking you and they don't run when they find out someone is home.

--- I might even try the pepper powder too if you have it around, keep a  plastic container of it in a bedstand drawer?

======================================...

--- I really pity you people in the UK. You have essentially been castrated as far as defending one self on an equal basis. In the USA we are, so far, allowed to use equalizers so that size is not the only factor in a fight with a criminal.

--- However, even here we have these ultra liberal fools like Obama and the Clintons who think only the police and the criminals should be able to have weapons. Obama even voted to make it illegal to shoot a armed burglar who is attacking your child in your home at night.

--- In the USA we have a strong background of belief in the right to defend yourself and not depend on others to do it for you as well as the right and even obligation to overthrow any government that becomes tyrannical. And no, for all you anti-second amendment liberals, thats not in the Constitution, its in the Declaration of Independance:

---  "...governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it..." and:

---  "...when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."  - US declaration of independance -

( see [c] in the source box )

======================================...

--- Maybe the UK needs another, more comprehensive bill of rights document of 1689 to regain the rights they have lost to the ultra liberal left.

Answer 9

All of the things you have in mind if used by you (the victim) are illegal and in violation of the human rights of the criminal (said Burglar).

You are legally allowed to use reasonable force to defend your property. A reasonable person would think that you are the one whom is best suited to judge the appropriate level of force required as you are faced with a Burglar armed with anything from a jimmy to a gun but this is not so.

If you defend yourself in any way then you will either be suited by the criminal or prosecuted by the DPP having been arrested by and processed as a criminal by the police.

So, keep a phone handy to ring your lawyer with, you are going to need his/her services.

Answer 10

Don't put pricey things in front of a window. Stuff like a stereo or a TV or anything like that. I got robbed once because I did just that, It was like an invitation to see what I got, now come and take it. I like the spray can under the bed idea. I use to keep a big old piece of cable under mine. Thank God I never had to use it.

Answer 11

Do not conceal any weapons you may have to use.

leave them propped against a wall by your door.

That way, you always have the alibi that you picked it up while groping around in the dark.

The first thing that came to hand.

If you have to crawl under your bed or open a cupboard door to go looking for it, that is premeditated and you may find yourself in a whole load of trouble.

Personaly, I have a baseball bat, but I also have a baseball and a baseball glove.

Saves a lot of time trying to justify why I would want only the bat..lol

Answer 12

the use of timers on your lamps, changed them periodly for when they come on and off.

secure all doors with proper locks

make sure any shrubs are not too high one cannot see out of a window

Answer 13

Anything you can hold onto and use from a distance of several feet.  Nothing like a hammer that you might throw and then the intruder would have it to use against you.  You need to be able t stay several feet away.

Answer 14

a feather under the bed so when you hit one it does,t hurt there dainty bodies , a direct phone line to your lawyer , for when the police arrest you from infringing there civil right to rob you blind . some thermal underwear (its cold in them cells )

you could fit steel doors but i think that also infringes there civil right and makes it harder for them to make a living . And as the judges have now demanded  that burglary should no longer be a criminal offence . Perhaps becoming one would be a better idea.

Answer 15

what good are weapons inside your house, if the intruder is in your home you have lost.

any weapons you have about your home can be used by an intruder just the same as you so think on the best plan is to secure your home and keep intruders out the best you can.

fit a good Alarms to both your doors and windows, putting a simple bolt on the back of front door can make it very hard to open from the out side.

always look at your home and think if i lost my keys how would i get back in