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my thoughts on home alarms {didnt want to hijack}
1911a1-fan
Member Posts: 51,193 ✭✭
well over all here is my thoughts on it, i know many do not like them for what ever reason, sorry in advance for being so blunt
only a fool would believe he is infallible to crime in his own home, only a fool would believe he has every angle covered because he has x firearm, has x ability, has x dog, only a fool would not use every possible defense at their disposal, having a alarm system in your home is not a bad idea, city or country
one thread ADT sucks, another thread "get a dog they are great alarms", "get a motion camera" {an option w ADT also}, trip alarm that go bang, wistle, boom whatever
i just love the idea that everyone is alert, willing and able, at attention patrolling their home 24 hrs a day, never leave, never sleep, dont need no stinken alarm, they suck, company sucks, commercial sucks, response time sucks, most of all its not free
me personally
#1. i was 19, victim of a home invasion, did not turn out well for the perp, i'll leave it at that
#2. was about 20, single lived alone, my entire house was cleaned out while i was away one weekend, the feeling of violation is real, trust me
#3. 27 years old, my bar was broken into at 4am, alarm sounded, i was called police was called, steel door was broken into audible alarm scared them off {just like the commercial, i did not lose a dime but cost of the door
#4 32 years old, my wifes gift shop was broken into, after going completely through the adjoining business {no alarm}, breaking through 2 doors and a wall to get into our shop, motion detector was tripped, again i lost nothing, but damage repairs
i'm 46 years old in good shape, master level shooter, i have a large gun collection in my safe, its my duty to protect them, keep them off the streets by every means at my disposal, my safe room is wired into my alarm, i have all doors wired, motion and fire, i pay 37 bucks a month for a alarm, that in addition a single button can dispatch police/fire/ambulance, i am not paranoid, but i am not infallible to crime at my home, i get sick, i sleep, and i leave my home, sorry if you disagree
only a fool would believe he is infallible to crime in his own home, only a fool would believe he has every angle covered because he has x firearm, has x ability, has x dog, only a fool would not use every possible defense at their disposal, having a alarm system in your home is not a bad idea, city or country
one thread ADT sucks, another thread "get a dog they are great alarms", "get a motion camera" {an option w ADT also}, trip alarm that go bang, wistle, boom whatever
i just love the idea that everyone is alert, willing and able, at attention patrolling their home 24 hrs a day, never leave, never sleep, dont need no stinken alarm, they suck, company sucks, commercial sucks, response time sucks, most of all its not free
me personally
#1. i was 19, victim of a home invasion, did not turn out well for the perp, i'll leave it at that
#2. was about 20, single lived alone, my entire house was cleaned out while i was away one weekend, the feeling of violation is real, trust me
#3. 27 years old, my bar was broken into at 4am, alarm sounded, i was called police was called, steel door was broken into audible alarm scared them off {just like the commercial, i did not lose a dime but cost of the door
#4 32 years old, my wifes gift shop was broken into, after going completely through the adjoining business {no alarm}, breaking through 2 doors and a wall to get into our shop, motion detector was tripped, again i lost nothing, but damage repairs
i'm 46 years old in good shape, master level shooter, i have a large gun collection in my safe, its my duty to protect them, keep them off the streets by every means at my disposal, my safe room is wired into my alarm, i have all doors wired, motion and fire, i pay 37 bucks a month for a alarm, that in addition a single button can dispatch police/fire/ambulance, i am not paranoid, but i am not infallible to crime at my home, i get sick, i sleep, and i leave my home, sorry if you disagree
Comments
Then comes stepped response, I don't really want to shoot some dumb 14 year old, I keep a thousand lumen flashlight and baseball bat handy. Then multiple catches of more serious defense.
Lastly, escape routes.
Been my experience something bad happens on the average 3 times a decade. Varying degrees of bad stuff, something really bad about once every ten years. If it hasn't happened to you yet the law of averages will eventually catch up with you. The best defense IMO is your brain, having a plan and being watchful.
One of my daughters was having issues with some dope dealer who thought she should follow his orders. He came from a society who thought women were furniture. We had words, he made threats. My solution was to put a pile of bricks by every upstairs window, if him and his gang came towards the house they would trip the motion detectors and meet a barrage of bricks. This was to give me time to let the dogs loose, put my boots on and grab the shotgun. The wanna be gangster eventually meant my shotgun, though not at my house. He ambushed me on the road and found out in short order he had ambushed a Mongoose and not kitty cat.
I had one house cleaned out and I had half a dozen dogs. I found a dozen empty Oscar Myer hot dog wrappers in the yard. The sad part was the hot dogs likely cost more than the junk they took was worth.
I finally settled on a series of alarms, from watch dogs through motion detectors and fairly secure entry points. All you can really hope to do is slow somebody down, most any kind of alarm, hindrance or barricade is just a speed bump.
Dogs do work though, in the last thirty years most of the houses around me have been hit 1-3 times, except the houses with dogs. The oldsters seem to get it the worst.
i tried to find an article on the subject, the bookmark is dead, but did find this on the subject
quote:Some facts:
1) Those that want to harm you/steal from you don't come with a pirate flag waving over their heads.
2) Neither do they start shooting at you 200 yards away.
3) They won't come riding loud bikes or dressed with their orange, convict just escaped from prison jump suits, so that you can identify them the better. Nor do they all wear chains around their necks and leather jackets. If I had a dollar for each time a person that got robbed told me "They looked like NORMAL people, dressed better than we are", honestly, I would have enough money for a nice gun. There are exceptions, but don't expect them to dress like in the movies.
4) A man with a wife and two or three kids can't set up a watch. I don't care if you are SEAL, SWAT or John Freaking Rambo, no 6th sense is going to tell you that there is a guy pointing a gun at your back when you are trying to fix the water pump that just broke, or carrying a big heavy bag of dried beans you bought that morning.
The best alarm system anyone can have in a farm are dogs. But dogs can get killed and poisoned. A friend of mine had all four dogs poisoned on his farm one night, they all died. After all these years I learned that even though the person that lives out in the country is safer when it comes to small time robberies, that same person is more exposed to extremely violent home robberies. Criminals know that they are isolated and their feeling of invulnerability is boosted. When they assault a country home or farm, they will usually stay there for hours or days torturing the owners. I heard it all: women and children getting raped, people tied to the beds and tortured with electricity, beatings, burned with acetylene torches. Big cities aren't much safer for the survivalist that decides to stay in the city. He will have to face express kidnappings, robberies, and pretty much risking getting shot for what's in his pockets or even his clothes.
Ive looked into well over a thousand burglaries thru the years.
Rarely if ever do burglars break in when anyone is home, they do their best to make sure no one is home, home invaision is a different color horse.
Everytime I investigated a burglary where the homeowner had an active, siren blaring type intrusion system, not one item was taken...the scum bag thief ran off once the alarm went off...why hang around the noisy house when he can go a few houses up the street to a house without an alarm system, their dumb but not totally stupid.
Obviously out in the boonies, the results may not be the same, but in the city, populated area, an active alarm DOES work.
Alarms may not keep burglars from kicking in a front door (a preferred method) to gain entry, but replacing a door is better than loosing personal property.
Thieves would much rather break into a nice quite house, fact...[;)]
I'd tell y'all what they are, but then I'd have to kill you and I don't want to do that because I've grown to like a few of you. [:D] Suffice that one of the levels of security will require a[industrial equipment] to get past.
One of the levels I'm considering is a CS gas cannister that will go off in the event of attempted unathorized entry. Yes, I realize that I'm sujecting myself to suit if the burglar is injured, but that is preferrable to him gaining entry. I have in mind other more injurious measures...
Currently, I have ADT and wouldn't be without it. Secondly, I have a safe at another location away from my home, and I am the only person who knows the combination. This is because I know that if my wife or son were forced to open the safe, they'd likely be shot after it's opened.
there was an interesting article out a few years ago on violent crimes urban areas vs city vs rural, farther out the less percentage, but sometimes the most brutal, people that are victims in remote areas are more likely to be tied up tortured and murdered, once they get in and can gain the advantage, they now are in control of your once thought tactical advantage
i tried to find an article on the subject, the bookmark is dead, but did find this on the subject
quote:Some facts:
1) Those that want to harm you/steal from you don't come with a pirate flag waving over their heads.
2) Neither do they start shooting at you 200 yards away.
3) They won't come riding loud bikes or dressed with their orange, convict just escaped from prison jump suits, so that you can identify them the better. Nor do they all wear chains around their necks and leather jackets. If I had a dollar for each time a person that got robbed told me "They looked like NORMAL people, dressed better than we are", honestly, I would have enough money for a nice gun. There are exceptions, but don't expect them to dress like in the movies.
4) A man with a wife and two or three kids can't set up a watch. I don't care if you are SEAL, SWAT or John Freaking Rambo, no 6th sense is going to tell you that there is a guy pointing a gun at your back when you are trying to fix the water pump that just broke, or carrying a big heavy bag of dried beans you bought that morning.
The best alarm system anyone can have in a farm are dogs. But dogs can get killed and poisoned. A friend of mine had all four dogs poisoned on his farm one night, they all died. After all these years I learned that even though the person that lives out in the country is safer when it comes to small time robberies, that same person is more exposed to extremely violent home robberies. Criminals know that they are isolated and their feeling of invulnerability is boosted. When they assault a country home or farm, they will usually stay there for hours or days torturing the owners. I heard it all: women and children getting raped, people tied to the beds and tortured with electricity, beatings, burned with acetylene torches. Big cities aren't much safer for the survivalist that decides to stay in the city. He will have to face express kidnappings, robberies, and pretty much risking getting shot for what's in his pockets or even his clothes.
I think you are thinking you are refering to the writings of the guy from Argintina whp lived through their crash. . . Frugalsquirel. . .
I call it defense in depth. Clear line of sight out the windows, motion detectors/alarm, dogs, strong doors and windows.
Then comes stepped response, I don't really want to shoot some dumb 14 year old, I keep a thousand lumen flashlight and baseball bat handy. Then multiple catches of more serious defense.
Lastly, escape routes.
Been my experience something bad happens on the average 3 times a decade. Varying degrees of bad stuff, something really bad about once every ten years. If it hasn't happened to you yet the law of averages will eventually catch up with you. The best defense IMO is your brain, having a plan and being watchful.
One of my daughters was having issues with some dope dealer who thought she should follow his orders. He came from a society who thought women were furniture. We had words, he made threats. My solution was to put a pile of bricks by every upstairs window, if him and his gang came towards the house they would trip the motion detectors and meet a barrage of bricks. This was to give me time to let the dogs loose, put my boots on and grab the shotgun. The wanna be gangster eventually meant my shotgun, though not at my house. He ambushed me on the road and found out in short order he had ambushed a Mongoose and not kitty cat.
I had one house cleaned out and I had half a dozen dogs. I found a dozen empty Oscar Myer hot dog wrappers in the yard. The sad part was the hot dogs likely cost more than the junk they took was worth.
I finally settled on a series of alarms, from watch dogs through motion detectors and fairly secure entry points. All you can really hope to do is slow somebody down, most any kind of alarm, hindrance or barricade is just a speed bump.
Dogs do work though, in the last thirty years most of the houses around me have been hit 1-3 times, except the houses with dogs. The oldsters seem to get it the worst.
My cousion in Kansas came home to find his 2 German Sheppards shot dead in his backyard, in order for the burglars to gain entry.
quote:Originally posted by MudderChuck
I call it defense in depth. Clear line of sight out the windows, motion detectors/alarm, dogs, strong doors and windows.
Then comes stepped response, I don't really want to shoot some dumb 14 year old, I keep a thousand lumen flashlight and baseball bat handy. Then multiple catches of more serious defense.
Lastly, escape routes.
Been my experience something bad happens on the average 3 times a decade. Varying degrees of bad stuff, something really bad about once every ten years. If it hasn't happened to you yet the law of averages will eventually catch up with you. The best defense IMO is your brain, having a plan and being watchful.
One of my daughters was having issues with some dope dealer who thought she should follow his orders. He came from a society who thought women were furniture. We had words, he made threats. My solution was to put a pile of bricks by every upstairs window, if him and his gang came towards the house they would trip the motion detectors and meet a barrage of bricks. This was to give me time to let the dogs loose, put my boots on and grab the shotgun. The wanna be gangster eventually meant my shotgun, though not at my house. He ambushed me on the road and found out in short order he had ambushed a Mongoose and not kitty cat.
I had one house cleaned out and I had half a dozen dogs. I found a dozen empty Oscar Myer hot dog wrappers in the yard. The sad part was the hot dogs likely cost more than the junk they took was worth.
I finally settled on a series of alarms, from watch dogs through motion detectors and fairly secure entry points. All you can really hope to do is slow somebody down, most any kind of alarm, hindrance or barricade is just a speed bump.
Dogs do work though, in the last thirty years most of the houses around me have been hit 1-3 times, except the houses with dogs. The oldsters seem to get it the worst.
My cousion in Kansas came home to find his 2 German Sheppards shot dead in his backyard, in order for the burglars to gain entry.
Sorry EDIT, they died doing their job. Like I said, speed bumps. I'd be a dog owner on a mission myself. I'd probably spend myself poor paying for info trying to track those suckers down.
Funny story. One of my dogs got out, I got her from an old GrandMa who couldn't look out for her anymore. She got out one day, she was new to me and got lost, couldn't find her way back to us. She headed up to road (around ten miles) going back to GrandMa. A mile from her old home she was caught by a Pimp and locked up. She was actually a valuable dog and pure breed. I checked the pound, the Cops, put notices in the newspapers, nothing for weeks. GrandMas grandson was walking down the street and sees the dog behind a fence, recognizes her, lets her out and takes her home. Pimp shows up, breaks in the front door, waves a small automatic pistol around, threatens the kid and takes the dog.
I go to get my dog back. An old SS trooper for translator, my shotgun, my vest and ammo belt. My wife got antsy and called the Cops (I told her not to), they were there when I got there. They took one look at Rambo (me) slid down in their seats and covered their eyes with there hats (they knew this guy). I got my dog back, guy had more balls than brains and stuck his hand in his pocket. He never noticed I had the shotgun in my left hand, when I stabbed him an inch deep in the ribs with my right hand. He sure yelped nicely and got his hand out of his pocket quick. Alls well that ends well.
Life will throw some crazy (EDIT) at you. Sorry about the rambling, I'm old, I'm authorized.[:D]
Cut the creative spelling in an attempt to by-pass the auto censor.
I think alarms are a great investment for adding a line of defense of your property.
Nothing is fail safe, and the more alarm you can afford the better, IMO.
Our back yard butts up to an alley behind some of the businesses which would make our yard and home an easy target since we have a 6' privacy fence. Samson guards the yard along with his trusted sidekicks.
I received a call last week from ADT wanting to know if we needed a LEO response to an alarm going off at the backdoor. I said "yes". Although Samson may have been guarding the yard there is always the possibility that an intruder poisoned him or disabled him in some way.
Hubbie and I left our respective places of employment to see what had happened. All was well. #2 had not secured the door before leaving and it had slipped open enough to sound the alarm. Local LEO's responded quickly and made sure all was secure before leaving. Asked the hubbie if he needed any assistance or if everything was ok when he came out of the house. (He works about two miles from the house) If you read the Heidi Klum thread you know this might have alarmed the responders if you are a profiler...[:o)] but no biggie on their part.
Hubbie had already left by the time I got to the house and was back at work.
Got a call one time while we were in Fayetteville, 220 miles from the house. Daughter's boyfriend was dropping some of her stuff off and didn't leave the house until after the alarm was set and active. By the time he called us to let us know he had set off the alarm he was in the driveway with his hands in the air as requested by the LEO's who had responded.
Works well for us. Not concerned about what should happen when we are home, because we are home...[;)]
When I lived in S. Florida I had a burglary that made me feel just like you did. Could have been killed, as back in those days I didn't carry, but had guns in the house. Had a Browning BDA stolen, and one of the perps had it on him as they tried frantically to get out when I came home.
When I built this house up here, I went all out for 1992.
Contacts on EVERY door and window,.....motion detectors,.....glass break sensors, smoke alarms, and 3 siren horns.
Mine is all hard wired, and I can't remember what it cost to be honest, but it wasn't that much,......probably around 1500 bucks with 3 keypads.
Monitoring runs me $21.67 a month.
I even set the alarm when I go to bed at night.
Some may call that being a pansy, but I look at it as an early warning system that should give me precious seconds to be prepared if my door is kicked in at 2AM.
Also glad I had it last year, when I had to spend the equivalent of about 2 months over with my mother at night due to her illnesses and surgeries. I live kind of in the boons for here, and nothing has ever happened, but I still consider it a good investment.
Also have the stickers on the windows, and a couple of the yard signs in my rock beds.
Not 'skeered' in the least, but it just seems like common sense to me to make yourself less of a target. Another novel![:D]
the commercials showing the intruder run away, has caught allot of static here, count the testimonials in this thread alone, and it obviously is not as fictitious as some believe it to be {again twice it worked in a similar manner for me}
i myself have never advertised that i have one, no signs no stickers, i dont want someone to attempt to circumvent the alarm, even though there are advancements in that as well, phone line gets cut, sets off alarm, they even have transponders that work on cellular networks too, so i fail to see why the negativity i have seen time and time again here on the board, cost effective? , you can often get a base system installed for free just catch the promotion, monthly can be justified because you can make up 10% discount on your insurance
I went with the signs and stickers for a reason.
Out here, chances are that someone would be cruising the area looking for an easy target. I don't live in an area where you would expect most people to have elaborate alarm systems.
I figured that short of drug induced crazies that do home invasions per se, it should put me at the bottom of the target list.
Nothing huge or in your face, but you will notice them when you walk up to my door.
As before,......nothing bad has ever happened in the almost 20 years I have lived here.
But it makes her feel better, money well spent! [;)]
I even set the alarm when I go to bed at night.
Some may call that being a pansy, but I look at it as an early warning system that should give me precious seconds to be prepared if my door is kicked in at 2AM.
Same here and I always say that is for the benefit of the perp trying to break in! [:D]
Everybody in this neihborhood thinks I'm loony toons & pretty much leaves me alone.
Whenever we go on vacation we have someone stay while we're gone.
I cannot live with paranoia.
Oh, and my Blue Healer has a real nasty disposition toward anyone he doesn't know (or recognize). JMO
[^]barto[^]
The wireless systems sold today are a lot better, since quality remotes use lithium batteries that are good for 10 years. Rechargeable batteries should be replaced every 5 years, even if the system indicates they are still good. Smoke detectors should be replaced every 10 years, whether hard wired or battery.
The guys that worry me the most are those who ask the forum, "What kind of gun should I get for home defense?" My thought is, if you live a neighborhood so bad that you need a house gun, why do you think you don't need a gun safe, you don't need an alarm system, & you don't need good door locks? Most guns in the hands of bad guys come from home burglaries, committed when folks aren't home.
Neal
i have several cameras, 7 total , mainly because i am in the basement and cannot even hear the doorbell down here, i have a flat screen monitor that hangs on the wall, all cameras in a split screen, with motion detector that bring up each camera in a single screen when anything moves in its view, this year i am going to upgrade my dvr this year to a wifi system, then i can bring up my cameras on any computer or my iphone where ever i am , about 200 bucks for a 1 terabyte dvr
Any alarm system can be defeated, no matter how complex, by a determined thief. Underground power/phone line cables are helpful, but not tremendously so. Even the most inexpensive system will include a battery backup, so power is not an issue. Buried phone lines are limited.
Phone companies require a line surge protection unit that is accessible at any time by service techs, so that they may check line faults and more easily determine whether a problem is inside a building or originates elsewhere. That means that a portion of the line runs up the side of your house to the protector. Cellular backup is a must, because a thief will cut the hard line.
I tried running a phony line up to the protector and routed the actual line under a customer's siding a few times, but a smart thief will simply open the protector and cut everything; the phone company objected anyway and when one of their techs discovered the setup, they would remove it.
Most of the time (IMO) the window stickers and yard signs are just as effective as the system, because a crook will simply pick another place without them, and avoid the hassle. Unless you have something they know about and really want, that is!
That being said. Most criminals are stupid and/or on drugs and won't take the time unless you are a high risk target.
"If you make your house less attrative to a thief, the vast majority of the time he will go elsewhere. Alarms, burglar bars, lights, cameras and dogs are all good to have; but even if you have all of these there is no guarantee you'll be 100% protected. But, if your house appears to be a harder target than your neighbors on either side of you, the crook will most likely hit one of your neighbors houses instead. Yeah, it's a dog-eat-dog way of thinking, but if you put forth some effort to make your house less attractive to a crook, shame on your neighbors for not taking the time to do it, too."