Hardening your home against attack

[TexPrep]

I presume you know the thing about the frog and boiling water. Waiting for a situation to become untenable makes you the frog...
That's what the unprepped do.

Of coarse.
The first time I hear shots fired we're outta here.

 

[TexPrep]

After the SHTF the HOA won't be a problem !

But until that time comes we cant do a lot or they'd call us on it.
We have a very strict HOA which I'm fine with because it keeps the property value up.

 

[TexPrep]

we are housing association too and they arent a problem now-we hardly see anyone from year to year.

Not the case here.
If you leave your trash cans out you're more than likely getting a letter.
We have garage pick up meaning they come up your driveway and take the cans out to the truck and put them back where you left them.

 

[EastenerWesterner]

My HOA is a text group. A well worded text got my neighbor at the top of the hill to shut her 24/7 lights off.
3/4 mile away for me, but annoyed my wife. My friends 2 miles south were annoyed by it. They were thrilled with the result.
You have garbage pickup? I am lucky if the guy comes up 3/4 weeks a month. I pay him the same, $20 a pick up. 2 bags and some tied cardboard. If it’s 3 weeks, 3 bags and the tied cardboard $20.
I know you are new, but others here deal with less. I have a garbage plan for SHTF.
These are the things you have to think about. How to deal with less and the services you are used to.

 

[TexPrep]

My HOA is a text group. A well worded text got my neighbor at the top of the hill to shut her 24/7 lights off.
3/4 mile away for me, but annoyed my wife. My friends 2 miles south were annoyed by it. They were thrilled with the result.
You have garbage pickup? I am lucky if the guy comes up 3/4 weeks a month. I pay him the same, $20 a pick up. 2 bags and some tied cardboard. If it’s 3 weeks, 3 bags and the tied cardboard $20.
I know you are new, but others here deal with less. I have a garbage plan for SHTF.
These are the things you have to think about. How to deal with less and the services you are used to.

They come twice a week here.
As far as things going to **** were going to produce a lot less garbage if it happens.
I'll just dig a hole in the backyard and burn it at night if things go south.

 

[EastenerWesterner]

So I guess that service will continue at your BOL.
I am trying to be honest- what you have been putting forth is a barely scratching the surface of planning.
i encourage you to search and research the site.

 

[TexPrep]

So I guess that service will continue at your BOL.
I am trying to be honest- what you have been putting forth is a barely scratching the surface of planning.
i encourage you to search and research the site.

I have 6k acres to deal with my trash if I go to the lease.
When we find our 50 acres I'll dig a hole and bury it.
We had a place in Junction Texas on the south Llano river and the house and cabins were built just after WW2.
Common practice in those days was to dig a large hole and dispose of anything that wouldnt burn in the pit.
When I went through it it was like going through a time capsule. The deeper you got the cooler things you'd find.
I used the tractor to load it up in my trailer and took it to the dump.

 

[Helen Back]

Maybe you should just hire a SHTF tour guide, for when SHTF.

 

[EastenerWesterner]

I have 6k acres to deal with my trash if I go to the lease.
When we find our 50 acres I'll dig a hole and bury it.
We had a place in Junction Texas on the south Llano river and the house and cabins were built just after WW2.
Common practice in those days was to dig a large hole and dispose of anything that wouldnt burn in the pit.
When I went through it it was like going through a time capsule. The deeper you got the cooler things you'd find.
I used the tractor to load it up in my trailer and took it to the dump.

I actually am trying to help you.
I have a tractor. I have 20 A. I have a plan.
Right now you have WHEN.
We are trying to help you, but if you think you know it all, you will get spongbob posts.

 

[TexPrep]

So I guess that service will continue at your BOL.
I am trying to be honest- what you have been putting forth is a barely scratching the surface of planning.
i encourage you to search and research the site.

I have 6k acres to deal with my trash if I go to the lease.
When we find our 50 acres I'll dig a hole and bury it.
We had a place in Junction Texas on the south Llano river and the house and cabins were built just after WW2.
Common practice in those days was to dig a large hole and dispose of anything that wouldnt burn in the pit.
When I went through it it was like going through a time capsule. The deeper you got the cooler things

 

[TexPrep]

Maybe you should just hire a SHTF tour guide, for when SHTF.

View attachment 15540

While I'm new to prepping in the sense that I haven't been actively going about it with plans doesnt mean I haven't been thinking about it for my whole life.
I've been an outdoors man since I was a kid and know how to trap, fish and hunt so I'm not exactly a novice when it comes to surviving.
Learning things like how to harvest fatwood for fire starting,how to build shelters,find water and many other things.
I'm pretty much what some would consider an East Texas Redneck who spends a lot of time in the woods.
I've used rat traps to catch squirrels that are tacked onto nut bearing trees,as well as steel jaw traps and Yo-Yo's for fishing.

 

[Helen Back]

While I'm new to prepping in the sense that I haven't been actively going about it with plans doesnt mean I haven't been thinking about it for my whole life.
I've been an outdoors man since I was a kid and know how to trap, fish and hunt so I'm not exactly a novice when it comes to surviving.
Learning things like how to harvest fatwood for fire starting,how to build shelters,find water and many other things.
I'm pretty much what some would consider an East Texas Redneck who spends a lot of time in the woods.
I've used rat traps to catch squirrels that are tacked onto nut bearing trees,as well as steel jaw traps and Yo-Yo's for fishing.

THAT'S a great start.

 

[Helen Back]

I actually am trying to help you.
I have a tractor. I have 20 A. I have a plan.
Right now you have WHEN.
We are trying to help you, but if you think you know it all, you will get spongbob posts.

JC! I laughed so loud my wife came to see what was so funny. She almost never comes to see why I am laughing. How do I make that a sig?

 

[EastenerWesterner]

JC! I laughed so loud my wife came to see what was so funny. She almost never comes to see why I am laughing. How do I make that a sig?

Make spongebob your profile pic. . Or better yet Squidward!

 

[TexPrep]

THAT'S a great start.

At this point we just need to learn the finer points.
I like most preppers are avid readers on the subject we just need to separate the wheat from the chaff and taylor our situation to meet our needs.

 

[Helen Back]

At this point we just need to learn the finer points.
I like most preppers are avid readers on the subject we just need to separate the wheat from the chaff and taylor our situation to meet our needs.

Knowing is half the battle. I'm glad you have a sense of humor.

“A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs, jolted by every pebble in the road.”

― Henry Ward Beecher

 

[Schattentarn]

OP, if you have this land, why not concentrate on its development for SHTF and forget the city house?

 

[Helen Back]

Make spongebob your profile pic. . Or better yet Squidward!

You cut me. You cut me deep.

 

[TexPrep]

OP, if you have this land, why not concentrate on its development for SHTF and forget the city house?

You must have missed some posts.
We have a lease on 6k acres that the owner said we'd be welcome to hole up on.
But I want my own piece of property so there's no issues. We're looking for a fifty acre plot right now but it would be hard to beat the lease as far as water,fish and game.
If the lease goes south we'll have another location to fall back on when we get that 50 acres.

 

[rainingcatzanddogs]

Our house is somewhat large at around 5k square foot.
The problem is the number of windows. They're everywhere on the bottom as well as the second story and we dont have a room that would give you views front and back.
On the plus side it's all brick construction. Our first thoughts are protecting our resources which would be the main goal.
Other than boarding up all the lower windows we're kind of at a loss on how to go about it.
There's the nail boards just inside the windows but other than that what else can be done?

Roll-up hurricane shutters. The HOA probably won't complain, since they can't see them, your insurance company will be happy since you will be protected in a hurricane. They won't withstand a bullet, but a baseball bat, rocks, crow bar. Also DIY hurricane film. Some of them claim to be able to stop a small caliber bullet.

 

[TexPrep]

Roll-up hurricane shutters. The HOA probably won't complain, since they can't see them, your insurance company will be happy since you will be protected in a hurricane. They won't withstand a bullet, but a baseball bat, rocks, crow bar. Also DIY hurricane film. Some of them claim to be able to stop a small caliber bullet.

While that may be true we have over 30 windows that would need shutters on the ground floor not to mention another 20 on the top floor.
We're talking well over 100k to install them.
If we planned to hole up here for the long run that might make sense but we're going to end up on a 50 acre plot in the boonies in the near future.
And thats assuming we cant move to the 6k acre lease.
We know our current home is going to be extremely difficult to fortify.
Our plan is to protect the area that has all our preps. We can back my truck up to the front door and toss everything into the bed of my truck if things go south since they'll be staged right by the front door.

 

[Digout]

We have a very strict HOA which I'm fine with because it keeps the property value up.

Only relevant if your planning on selling, which I see you are going to do.
I think there will be a better design for the next "Abode", and you have had plenty of suggestions from the people here.

 

[Illini Warrior]

unless you have almost a daily need for rolling shutters - the expense kills that option - and if you do have a daily need I'd question .... Why? .... and whether you should be living there at all ....

only security I can see a rolling shutter or a mall store pullout security gate >> is for a patio door type situation - not eazy to even barricade for a natural disaster much less a riot or serious SHTF .....

 

[rainingcatzanddogs]

While that may be true we have over 30 windows that would need shutters on the ground floor not to mention another 20 on the top floor.
We're talking well over 100k to install them.
If we planned to hole up here for the long run that might make sense but we're going to end up on a 50 acre plot in the boonies in the near future.
And thats assuming we cant move to the 6k acre lease.
We know our current home is going to be extremely difficult to fortify.
Our plan is to protect the area that has all our preps. We can back my truck up to the front door and toss everything into the bed of my truck if things go south since they'll be staged right by the front door.

Here is one thing that people often forget about having land, the larger the piece of land the MORE coordinated in your defenses you will have to be.

There is no magic bubble of protection being in the Country. Yes, fewer people but, as any redneck knows, you have good ones and bad ones. I say this respectfully, as a redneck woman myself.

I was at my BOL last weekend doing some work. I had a talk with my only neighbor on my road. He was saying he has had problems with some of the locals bringing their dogs out an hunting on his property, despite having the trespass signs up. He got his land from his grandpa and said since this area had been left alone for so long, the locals without 10+ acres to hunt on, just kind of started using uninhabited areas as their own since no one was around to say anything. They may know the lay of your land better than you do!

He also told me a story about how a couple of years back, a guy with a thermal scope at night, shot a calf that was laying down, thinking it was a hog. He ended up paying a fine for criminal trespass, as well as restitution to the rancher for the dead calf.

The same principles apply to a small property as a large one. Layers. Lots and lots of layers. And those layers get expensive which is why prepping on a budget takes years not months.

Moving from a small lot in the city to a much larger one in the country, does not eliminate dangers it simply trades one issue for another.

 

[Disturbed1970]

We have decorative bars over all downstairs windows, and all glass has the 3M protective sheeting on it. The sheeting is just to keep the glass from breaking is someone starts throwing stuff at the windows.

 

[Schattentarn]

You must have missed some posts.
We have a lease on 6k acres that the owner said we'd be welcome to hole up on.
But I want my own piece of property so there's no issues. We're looking for a fifty acre plot right now but it would be hard to beat the lease as far as water,fish and game.
If the lease goes south we'll have another location to fall back on when we get that 50 acres.

Let's review: You have a house which is impossible to defend. Everything that is suggested you find a reason not to do. You have plans in the future to buy some more rural property.

Why not wait until you have this property and then restart this thread?

 

[TexPrep]

Only relevant if your planning on selling, which I see you are going to do.
I think there will be a better design for the next "Abode", and you have had plenty of suggestions from the people here.

Were planning on building a Barndominium so everything is under one roof.
It'll be way easier to defend than our current house.
And we wont have an HOA to worry about. The only thing I dont like is the sheet metal construction as opposed to brick.
A .22 will go through the sheet metal pretty easily. I suppose you could build a safe room out of concrete to keep most of your preps and firearms in.
The plus side of sheet metal is they wont be able to burn you out but the same can be said about all brick construction other than the roof.

Here is one thing that people often forget about having land, the larger the piece of land the MORE coordinated in your defenses you will have to be.

There is no magic bubble of protection being in the Country. Yes, fewer people but, as any redneck knows, you have good ones and bad ones. I say this respectfully, as a redneck woman myself.

I was at my BOL last weekend doing some work. I had a talk with my only neighbor on my road. He was saying he has had problems with some of the locals bringing their dogs out an hunting on his property, despite having the trespass signs up. He got his land from his grandpa and said since this area had been left alone for so long, the locals without 10+ acres to hunt on, just kind of started using uninhabited areas as their own since no one was around to say anything. They may know the lay of your land better than you do!

He also told me a story about how a couple of years back, a guy with a thermal scope at night, shot a calf that was laying down, thinking it was a hog. He ended up paying a fine for criminal trespass, as well as restitution to the rancher for the dead calf.

The same principles apply to a small property as a large one. Layers. Lots and lots of layers. And those layers get expensive which is why prepping on a budget takes years not months.

Moving from a small lot in the city to a much larger one in the country, does not eliminate dangers it simply trades one issue for another.

The good thing about being in the country is no HOA telling you what you can and cannot do.
And yeah the locals can be a problem,there was a break in at the lease and several places got hit.
They stole generators,4Wheelers and anything else of value.
Our spot is on a peninsula and is surrounded by water on three sides and if you dont know where to look the entrance is easily missed.

 

[rainingcatzanddogs]

The good thing about being in the country is no HOA telling you what you can and cannot do.

LOL. That was the first requirement I told my realtor 20 years ago when we bought BIL #1!

 

[TexPrep]

Let's review: You have a house which is impossible to defend. Everything that is suggested you find a reason not to do. You have plans in the future to buy some more rural property.

Why not wait until you have this property and then restart this thread?

Because in the meantime we will be vulnerable and with the way things are going the SHTF moment could come at any time. I'm looking for something to slow down attackers without forking up my homes value and at the same time not spending a 100k to do it.
Once we have the country place protecting our home will become much easier because you can do what you want without a HOA harassing you.
Like getting some Guinea fowl which make great watch dogs they go nuts when someone comes on your property.
Add the fact that it'll be at least a couple years before the Wife retires and we can get a new place built.

 

[Schattentarn]

Because in the meantime we will be vulnerable and with the way things are going the SHTF moment could come at any time. I'm looking for something to slow down attackers without forking up my homes value and at the same time not spending a 100k to do it.
Once we have the country place protecting our home will become much easier because you can do what you want without a HOA harassing you.
Like getting some Guinea fowl which make great watch dogs they go nuts when someone comes on your property.
Add the fact that it'll be at least a couple years before the Wife retires and we can get a new place built.

So then rather than us go on with suggestions, what can you do now?