The Gun Counter

I came home the other evening to a memo stuck in the door about a person of interest working their way through the complex. Given that I've been TDY for about 3 months at this point (come home on the weekends) I felt it was time to invest in a safe and some stuff.

The good news- My apartment is located a bit weirdly from the main street. A visiting thief would have to park, go down a flight of 15 or so steps, turn, walk to the proper building, then go up another flight of 20 steps, then make entry. This long, circuituous route with lots of ascending and descending of stairs is the only practical way in and out. Just taking out the garbage is a pain in the ass. Other apartments are located at street level and further in the back, making for much, much easier targets.

I've purchased a few items this week. We'll be seeing how well they work.

First is a home alarm system that gives you about 30 seconds to code in before letting loose with a 120db siren. The alarm system is unmonitored and attaches to the door or wall next to the door and uses simple sensors to determine if its time to wail. It really does nothing more than wait to be opened and start screaming, hopefully making an intruder believe the entire law enforcement community is about to be there. It is also loud enough that neighbors will be able to hear it. I'm willing to experiment for $20.

Second, is a webcam that has built in motion detection and will send an email alert/notification if something trips it. Its basically a game camera that has voice functions through a computer that is powered on. The hosting appears to be included in the price and having the ability to log in, and do a pan and scan while on the road is comforting. Should something occur, I will hopefully be watching it happen and guiding the police to my place to be shortly followed by emails of suspects happy mugs. Again, for $50, I'm willing to give it a go.

Third, I have finally purchased a safe. It isn't a terribly large safe, but most of my stuff was lost in a tragic boating accident in another state. It should be large enough to store what is left and a few odds and ends it would be difficult to replace otherwise. I was pleasantly surprised to find it at the listed price. Amazon had some Stack On 8 gun fire resistant for a good bit more and they weren't American made. With shipping to the local Lowes, no delivery guys get to come to my place and scout it out, the ground pressure should be able to be accommodated by 2nd story construction (I can lay it down on its side if I really need to cheat) and it has a 20 minute fire resistance, I don't think I could go wrong. If you've followed my two previous fire posts, I really wasn't willing to budge here.

The bottom line is I care about 2 things. I would like my cat to be ok, and I don't want my stuff being used to knock over a 7 11. I could give two shits about much else in the apartment and this is why I have a renter's policy. Its just stuff and I can get new stuff.

Thoughts or suggestions?

Arm the cat.

The usual one about replacing the rinky-dink short crappy screws holding your lock, strike plate, and hinges with 3" or longer ones to go well past the door frame and into the wall framing.

Nobody should be able to see clearly into your home space when you're gone, whether you use drapes, reflective or diffused glass privacy backing, or both.

If there's any glass windows or sliding doors readily accessible from the ground, patios, and what not, 3M or equivalent thick-mil poly glass sheathing turns window glass into baseball-bat proof glass for a relative pittance. You could DIY, but you're probably better off letting a glass company install it to OEM specs. It bonds and hardens over time, and after 30 days, it's a pretty tough nut to crack without a good 10-15 minutes work with a sledge hammer. And it is pricey(er), but unless you're in a ground level unit, you likely wouldn't need to do all the windows. But a patio door, or anything that'd be easy access should get armored.

Horror Freight sells electronic multi-on/off timers for <$10@ that'll randomize lights and such. Back when the damned things weren't engineering marvels I'd hook a TV to one; now a clock radio would accomplish everything but the screen flicker. You can also find pretty good fake surveillance cams there and at places like Frey's. Putting one of the ones that runs on a 9V or AA to make a red LED glow outside and high, facing your front door will deter a certain amount of would-be burglars.

I've also had two screw-in track locks on windows here, and once I drilled a hole in the track to let the screw sink through the track rather than just pressure pinching it, it takes a crowbar to get through, or trying to break through the polywrapped glass (heh - good luck w/that).

I'd also do a walk around, thinking like a burglar, and see how you'd break into your own place, and then see what would thwart that, including some hedge and bush trimming as necessary, or even helping the landlord out by dropping a nice rose bush in at a strategic spot or three.

Re: the Stack-On safes, if you're any kind of handy, see if you can't build a cover for it that looks like a frame with a bookshelf or somesuch that swings out of the way, but only if you know what it is. I've also seen them laid flat inside a convertible sofa with the bed guts removed and covered with a sheet of 3/4" plywood. Few burglars are going to toss your sofa cushions. A friend built a rack to hold his three clothes hampers, with the safe flat underneath. His theory was that nobody was liable to go through his dirty underwear or move the baskets to find out what sat underneath, which from outside just looked like a custom wood
hamper rack.

There's also nothing wrong with collecting a fistful of those credit-card looking gift cards (in stores everywhere, and free unless you activate them), stuffing them into an old wallet along with a few bucks in cash, getting a disabled cell phone, and leaving both in plain sight. They're bait for stupid people, waste their time, and they'll likely be miles away before they find out they've got nothing. Also, their presence or absence is a quick "tell" when you return weekly to make sure everything is intact, or not. Bonus points if you lay them in the center of frame of the webcam, to help any visitors pose properly for their mugshots.

As a home repairer-slash-interior redesign man told Mrs. Termite: "You don't have to be impossible to break into, just more difficult than the surrounding dwellings."

I have two of these "fake TVs" in my house: http://www.amazon.com/FakeTV-FTV-10-Bur ... ds=fake+tv

Yogimus wrote:Arm the cat.

Years ago there was a couple around here that had a female African lion in their house, as a pet.

They never got burgled...........

rightisright wrote:I have two of these "fake TVs" in my house: http://www.amazon.com/FakeTV-FTV-10-Bur ... ds=fake+tv

That, right there, is hilarious aside from probably doing its job.

Weetabix wrote:

rightisright wrote:I have two of these "fake TVs" in my house: http://www.amazon.com/FakeTV-FTV-10-Bur ... ds=fake+tv

That, right there, is hilarious aside from probably doing its job.

They have a larger one now, too: http://www.amazon.com/FakeTV-FTV-11-Bri ... ds=fake+tv

I have mine in rooms with wooden louvered blinds. The kind that let a little light in/out but prevent direct viewing either way. From outside, these little units look identical to a TV and use a fraction of the electricity.