Self Defense Defense Outside Your Home...

Door chains, garden gnomes, security fly-wire doors, your fuse box, and your garden shed. Why they can be dangerous things to have around your home and how to make them safer. First, let’s look at why you should not open your door to strangers.

The first habit you will probably need to break is, opening your front door before you know who is on the other side of it. 99.8% of the times that you open your door to a stranger, you will not be harmed. So, why worry about the other point two-percent? That .2% could cause you to die before your time! Don’t open your door to strangers.

If you don’t know who is at your front door, don’t open it. Why? Most of the time it will be someone trying to sell you something that you don’t want or need. So, if you don’t answer the door, they will just assume that there is on-one home, and move on. If it is not a sales person it could be an attacker.

When you do not know the person knocking at your front door, rather than opening the door to find out who they are, just assume that it is a rapist, an attacker, or a home invader. When you do this, be pleased with yourself for having such high awareness skills and for being able to avoid an attack.

Door chains

You may have a door chain installed, so you can open your front door five-inched (125mm) to see who is there. Most men can kick open a front door that has a standard door lock AND a standard door chain. Door chains are a waste of time, so don’t think that by having one, you are safe, because you are not.

Garden gnomes

Ornaments, and things like garden gnomes can be used as weapons against you. If you were to open your door and be hit on the head by your garden gnome, for example, you would get hurt and your attacker would gain complete control over you and your home. So either bolt your gnome to the ground or get rid of it.

Security fly-wire doors

Most security fly-wire doors are not worth having. They will keep flies out, but that’s about it. Why? Most of these fly-doors lock only from the middle of the door (like most doors). If someone wants to get into your home, all they need to do is grab hold of the bottom of the door on the lock-side and bend it out and up. When it is bent up, there will be an opening big enough to get through.

So, what will happen is, a home invader/attacker will quietly bend the door up, then knock and wait for you to open the solid door. You will think that it is safe to open the solid door, because you have the security of a security door to protect you. But when you open the door, the invader will force his way in through the opening in the security fly-wire door. You pay for what you get in a security door.

If you want a security door, get one that has three locking points. These doors lock near the top, in the middle, and near the bottom. A door that will lock near the bottom can not be bent up. A real security fly-wire door will cost you a lot more money, but it will do what it is supposed to do… keep intruders out.

Another way you can keep home invaders out, is to make sure that your doors are locked when you go out into the back or the front yard. A thief will watch you and go in when you go out… they are quick, and this does happen a lot.

Your fuse box

Somewhere outside your home and attached to the wall, is a small box. It has some gauges, switches, and fuses in it. If you are cooking dinner and the power goes off, the first thing you may think is that a fuse has blown, or a circuit breaker has done its job and switched the power off. You may have overloaded something and caused the power to switch off.

It’s dark outside, so you go out with a torch to take a look at the fuse box. You need to be aware that home invaders often switch off the power to the house to get people to open the door for them. When you go out to the fuse box, be aware of your surroundings. There is something you may be able to do to protect your fuse box and yourself…

Give your power company a call and ask them if they will supply and fit to your fuse box, a special padlock . You may be able to fit it yourself, if you are a handy kind of person. The Power Company bills you for the power you use by having a worker open the box and write down how much electricity you have used. It is for this reason that you need to get one of their locks. They have one key that fits all of their locks.

Your garden shed

If you have a garden shed in your backyard, you have also got an easy way for thieves to get the tools they need to break into your home. I know it’s a pain in the neck, but put a lock on it. Lock your garden shed to make breaking into your home more difficult. A garden shed also makes a good hiding place for someone preparing to break into your home. Keys can be as big of a pain as locks…

Do you hide a key to your home outside under a rock or under a pot-plant? Thieves know all of the standard hiding places. So, it is a good idea not to hide a key to your home outside. Instead, although it can be a pain, leave a spare key with a good friend, or a neighbor who can be trusted with it.

Conclusion

I hope this article has increased your awareness of the dangerous items around your home. There are some simple things we can all do to make our homes and ourselves safer. Remember: when you do not know the person knocking at your front door, rather than opening the door to find out who they are, just assume that it is a rapist, an attacker, or a home invader.

A special thanks to Self-Defense Now for allowing us to use the above article! The Self-Defense Now website has all kinds of practical tips and techniques on self-defense. The Self-Defense Now website can be found by following this link: http://www.selfdefensenow.com