5:00 a.m. Knocking at the Door

[techres]

This morning just before 5:00 am I was awakened by knocking at my door. Given all the crap I have to sleep through with three small children, bad neighbors, and two cats (one of which is "yowling tonkanese" to the point of scaring visitors), I was amazed how fast the knocking at the door had me awake and pumped with adrenaline. It was instantaneous.

Turned out no one was there. But I was glad that nothing in my preparations failed. Safe worked, weapons and lights where they needed to be. Kids sleeping their beds safe and sound.

Only change is that I need motion lights around the house. Shining an LED light through the window lights up the window more than the yard.

Took about an hour for the adrenaline to wear off...

Oh, and I will be asking the neighbors today if they got any knocks either.

[IDCC]

Glad everything is alright. It is weird how a out of place noise can wake someone up in the midst of all the other noise. Before I got motion detector lights hardwired I bought four plug in motion detector lights from Lowes. The power cords were 15 feets off the ground and concealed to keep people from tampering with them. I also installed motion detector alarms like the ones you hear in stores, different tones for the back porch, front porch and driveway. Living in a rural area allows my family to have 6 dogs. Two are very loud yappy little terrier mixes, the rest are rather large and protective of the family. You can also buy small motion activiated cameras that record when activated.

[Fenway]

Thanks for the post. What kind of safe do you use?

[techres]

Originally Posted by Fenway

Thanks for the post. What kind of safe do you use?

I have several types. Two in the bedroom (one is a gunvault that I do not trust 100% since it can read "short" and "long" button presses and locks you out after one failure, the other is a drawer type top opening one from another vendor). The gunsafe did fine last night and my PT1911 was in hand. Had the 642 in a pocket. Had the knocking been BANGING enough to wake the wife, I would have taken the M4gery instead and left the 642 with her.

I sometimes think how bad it would have to be to grab the AR/AK/590, with something like last night I don't want to wake the wife prematurely. Any one of the big guns would scare my wife into action but carry a penalty if I am wrong on the reality of the threat.

And a 1911 feels REALLY good in the hand when the heart is pumping.

As for a trip to Lowes, I think that IS in order.

(Before I get jumped over using a EBR for home defense, I plan to use what will do the job of family protection best, even if it is ugly. Ugly might even help.)

[Annie]

I use a Mini by GunVault. A forced "dry run" when I was alone made me wise to certain features that I don't like as well. I turned off the electronic beeps that sound when you use the key pad. When you're up against a bad situation and trying to use stealth, they sound REALLY LOUD!!

[techres]

Originally Posted by Annie

I use a Mini by GunVault. A forced "dry run" when I was alone made me wise to certain features that I don't like as well. I turned off the electronic beeps that sound when you use the key pad. When you're up against a bad situation and trying to use stealth, they sound REALLY LOUD!!

All of mine are silent now. The Gunvault can be programmed quiet. The drawer one could not so I found the speaker in it and removed it from the circuit board. Easy enough and quiet now despite being told over the phone by the maker that it could not be done.

[esrice]

Good post. Thanks for sharing.

[Ri22o]

I had someone steal some tools and stuff from me over last summer. That day I put in about $300-400 worth of lights and motion sensors. Now my yard lights up like a major league ballpark. I have just about every point of entry covered, and with me being in the center of the system, I know where and how to walk so as to not turn them on in the event that I need to check something out.

FYI, motion sensors are a pain in the ass to get set. Some of mine aren't set exactly where I want them, but they work.

[W9ZEB]

Pami and I just replaced our exterior lights with 100w equiv Florescent bulbs. They draw closer to 13w iirc. are exceptionally bright, and last forever.

We leave the front porch and rear porch light on 24/7. The back yard has three large flood lights at the roof line which light up the entire back yard. I've yet to put a motion sensor on those yet. I have considered it though.

[465guy]

I think light is a great defense against criminals