The Basics of Home Defense
Defending one’s home can be a difficult topic to understand. Once you start thinking about it, you’ll run into some questions, such as:
- What does home security actually involve?
- What should I be doing to protect myself and my family?
- How should I be training for this?
The easiest way to take the broad topic of home security and distill it down into an actionable framework is to divide the topic into what’s know as rings of security:
Ring One
The environment where you live
Ring Two
The physical/technology based fortifications contained within your home
Ring Three
The homeowners household pets
Ring Four
Most importantly your training and action plan.
Understanding the current security situation in your country, state, city, and neighborhood can have a huge impact on how you prepare.
General questions that you should consider in generating some awareness of this would be:
- Are crime statistics in the country on the rise?
- What time do most break in occur in your city?
- Are neighbors reporting suspicious activity in the neighborhood on a regular basis?
- How long is the police response time and can they even be relied upon to help?
All of this information can be used to formulate a comprehensive home defense strategy, particularly with the various means and methods that can be employed.
Based on the responses to the examples above, this will provide improved data aiding one in making better decisions as to the fortification that can be made in and around your home.
For example, crime can be so bad in some Latin American countries that people living in gated neighborhoods will have barbed wire electrified fences above an eight foot wall. Walls, doors, door locks, dead bolts, bars on the windows, can all be simple fortifications that can make your home a much safer place to live. Discouraging would be home invaders from even attempting an entry.
Various technological innovations in recent years have made it a lot easier to protect yourself. Simply doorbell cameras, motion detectors, and alarm systems can make your home defense strategy a lot easier. You can see the threat before it ever enters your home.
Is that the delivery man or a potential home invader?
Is the person trying to knock down the door armed or unarmed?
Is that car outside my driveway my neighbors or someone that is trying to comb the neighborhood?
This can even be useful inside your home or when you are away; being able to directly speak to someone at the door when you are on vacation on the other side of the word. You heard a loud noise in the living room in the middle of the night – look at your camera feed and see what it is before ever opening your bedroom door.
A loyal dog can sometimes be even more effective than an alarm system. Dogs can alert a threat, physically defend their human, or simply be intimidating enough to scare away potential threats. Dogs come in many different breeds. Considerations regarding what breed to get for home defense need to be made based on both the security goals that need to be achieved and most importantly the owners ability to take care of such a dog.
Do you have space for the dog? (If you live in a tiny apartment a Tibetan mastiff may not be the dog for you.)
Are they going to live indoors or outdoors?
Are they good with children?
Are they good with other dogs?
Most importantly, are you willing to spend the time and money to train that dog in the home defense skills that they need?
With all the best dogs, technological tools, and tallest walls, home defense strategies are not worth much without the proper training and preparation from the people inside the home.
An action plan must be made and rehearsed on a fairly regular basis in order to be able to react in a real life situation.
Do the children know where they need to go if something happens?
Is there medical gear ready to go if someone is injured?
Is the firearm accessible and in which direction can it be shot if need be?
All of these are serious considerations for training on the inhabitants of the home.
Home defense can be a daunting endeavor for some. But with the proper understanding of rings of security, the task of protecting one’s home can be subdivided into digestible sections; understanding of the current security situation, use of various fortifications, technology, pets, and most importantly training.
Now that these various rings are understood, it’s time for implementation!
Ron Grobman
Tactical Fitness – founder