Triangle Tactical Podcast and Blog on Guns, Gear, and Competition Shooting
Yesterday, in Part 1, we discussed 5 ways to keep yourself off of the radar of criminals using social media. Today I have 5 more tips for keeping your home safe through the holiday travel season that focus on the physical security of your home.
6. Deadbolts
I recently became aware of just how easy it is to shimmy open a locked door with a credit card. Doors that do not have a deadbolt can be opened in seconds with a credit card or other device. Make sure the exterior doors of your home have deadbolt locks, and make certain to use them! Just like a pistol left at home does you no good, neither does a deadbolt that isn’t locked.
7. Secure Your Latch Plates!
Most exterior doors have pretty brass latch plates that are secured to the doors trim with teeny tiny little screws that only go into the trim of the door jamb. A swift kick from just about any person is enough to split the trim, and let the door fly open. You can remove the small screws from the latch plate, and take them to the hardware store, and buy some new ones that are 2″-3″ long. These screws will reach through the trim, and into the stud surrounding the door frame, making the door much more secure.
As you can see, the dainty little screws that are generally installed in the door frame are really small, and just barely reach through the trim.
Wood screws are probably the best way to go, but I replaced all of mine with just some 3″ deck screws that I had around the house. If you look closely at the picture below, you can see that the trim was already split, so the small screw was doing nothing more than just holding the latch plate to the trim.
8. Secure Your Garage Door
When heading out of town, most of us just run our garage door down, and call it good. Unfortunately, garage doors are rather easy to break into by the experienced thief. There are a couple different ways that criminals may go after the garage door, and all of them are pretty easily remedied.
The first way that a criminal may attack a garage door is to go after the safety latch with a coat hanger or other tool by wedging open the top of the door. Some people recommend removing the cord from the safety latch, or securing it with a zip-tie, however I would like to keep all of the safety features active on my garage door, just in case.
This is an old trick that my Dad used on our garage door when I was a kid, and I’ve not seen it used anywhere else. Basically what I do is take a small piece of 1″ x 2″ wood, and cut it until it just fits inside the track of the door. I then clamp it to the track with a pair of vice-grips. Don’t clamp so hard that you distort or bend the track, just enough to hold it in place.
This is a very inexpensive way to secure the door, that leaves all of the safety devices in place. I’d also recommend un-plugging the garage door opener before securing the door like this, and not plugging it back in until you have removed the block, as you don’t want to damage the door.
9. Trash Barrels, Newspapers, etc.
Time and again here in my neighborhood, I see my neighbors leave for several days and just leave their trash barrel sitting out by the road for the entire time they are gone. For me, this is a dead giveaway that they are not home, and I’m not a criminal! If you have a trusted neighbor or a friend that lives close by, it is never a bad idea to have them drive by and pick up the newspaper, wheel in the trash barrel, and collect any packages that may be delivered.
Recently the Charlotte Observer ran an article about some newspaper delivery people who were finding out which houses had suspended their delivery, and used that information to break into the homes, and steal goodies from inside. In light of this, I would recommend having a close friend or neighbor collect your stuff for you, instead of letting a stranger (newspaper delivery person) know that you are out of town.
If you don’t have a close friend nearby, consider leaving the trash barrel in its normal home while you are gone, so it doesn’t act as a huge beacon out by the road letting everyone who drives by know that you are gone.
10. Don’t Hide a Key!
We’ve all seen the ingenious fake rocks, magnetic key holders, and even fake dog poop that are made to hold and hide a key. Resist the urge to hide a key to your home! Criminals, especially experienced ones are pretty good at finding your ingenious hiding space, and letting themselves into your home. Criminals are very much aware of these things, and they have a good idea where the usual hiding spots are.
If you are prone to locking yourself out of your house, consider leaving a key with a TRUSTED friend, or relative that lives nearby. For a long time, I kept a spare key slid into my wallet, and while it’s not a perfect place for a key, it did save by butt a time or two.
I hope you found these tips helpful. Keep in mind that a determined criminal will get into your home, given enough time. The idea is to make it take more time to get in than the criminal is willing to devote. If you liked this article, and would like to read more like it, please consider signing up for the Triangle Tactical email list, or joining us on Facebook!
