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Home security

Watermelon Samurai - August 3, 2020

The police department where I live offers a home security assessment, and I opted to have one done this week. The assessment was focused on making a residence less of a target for burglary and opportunistic crime. So on the coattails of the TP article on hardening a home (https://theprepared.com/homestead/guides/home-hardening-basics/), I thought I’d post the items that the officer inspected and her general comments about protecting a home. Hopefully this will be useful to someone, and it’s not too repetitious.

For context, I live in a suburban, single family home with nearby neighbors on all sides.

This is what the officer went over:

Exterior: Bushes taller than 2-3′ outside of the house can create ‘ambush zones’ where intruders can hide. Keep hedges next to doors below that height. Also, prickly bushes like holly are better than non-prickly. Motion activated floodlights are recommended on the sides of a house which have windows but no exterior lights, and highly recommended near entry doors on the back/side of the house. At a minimum, use a dusk-to-dawn sensor on lights near entry doors. On all exterior doors which open outward (hinge pins on the outside), make sure you have hinges with locks in them. (Like this one: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-4-in-Satin-Nickel-Half-Square-Corner-and-Half-5-8-in-Radius-Security-Door-Hinge-14449/203339943.) Otherwise the door pulls right out when the hinge pins are removed, even if deadbolted. Cameras are good, but are generally “after the fact” devices. If you install a camera, make sure it has enough resolution to make a person or car readily identifiable. (I will also add that we have three cops that live in our neighborhood. Their homes have BRIGHT front outdoor lights and cameras covering the driveway, the front door and the back of the house.) Put easy-to-read house numbers on the exterior so that emergency personnel can find the residence easily.
Interior: The primary entry points for burglars are the front and back doors. Windows are not the typical entry point unless they can be easily opened. Exterior doors with a window in them need deadbolts with keys on both sides. Don’t leave the key in the lock on the inside. Reinforce the door frame on the front door, and use long screws (at least 2.5″) on all exterior door strikeplates. Make sure deadbolts extend all the way into the door frame. Sliding glass doors can be easily lifted out of the frame. Use upward pin bolts to prevent this (e.g. https://www.amazon.com/Security-Deadbolt-Superior-Protection-Child-Safety/dp/B07VMQPSL1/ref=sr_1_14). Solid front doors should have a 180 degree peephole installed. Have a monitored security system, with signs that one is present. Install glass break sensors near any doors with glass in them. Use motion detectors in the main living area, and near any exterior door. Use them outside near doors if practical. If you have venetian blinds, adjust the louvers so that anyone outside can only see upwards into the room. If the louvers are down and allow a view of floor, you can see the telltale cords of computers and other electronics that can be grabbed. The impact film available for windows works best when it is installed when the window is manufactured. The film is designed to keep the shattered window glass from falling away after an impact. However, if the film isn’t held securely by the frame of the window, the entire pane just falls away as a unit. Given the choice between a sliding glass door and normal door with a glass panel in it, intruders will prefer the normal door. Breaking the glass in sliding glass door creates more much noise, and the amount of glass increases the risk of getting cut. However, it’s certainly not going to stop them if they really want in. Once inside, the first place a burglar goes is the main bedroom. Keep any valuables (jewelry, watches, etc.) in a safe at all times, or at least in a different room. Only keep costume jewelry in the bedroom. Safes under 100 lbs need to be anchored to the floor. The typical small document safe routinely gets carried away if it isn’t anchored. Simple but actually effective deterrents include anything that makes the home seem “more occupied” from the outside: lights, a TV that is turned on, a radio on a talk station, etc. These are good when you’re out, or home alone. Garage: Garage door openers have an emergency release rope which, when pulled, disconnects the door from the drive chain and allows the door to be raised by hand. The handle on this release rope should be removed, as well as the knot in the rope which holds the handle. There is a tool which can be slid between the door panels to grab this rope and pull on it, allowing a burglar to raise the door. Also, for this reason, the door from the garage into the house needs to have a deadbolt on it and lock hinges (if it opens outward). Install and use the garage door locks when you are away. Put a translucent film (like adhesive shelf liner) over the windows in the doors in the garage to prevent anyone from seeing in. Don’t leave a garage door opener attached to the sun visor in your car. This is something that will be stolen to be used later.

-WS

Preps with a newborn

hbic - August 2, 2020

I’m 8 1/2 months pregnant just as hurricane season starts. Skipping past the birth part (c’mon, Saharan dust, hold strong), what are good things to keep handy for disaster scenarios with a newborn? I’m thinking lots of formula + diapers, and then … 🤷🏻‍♀️

Advice

Non-respirator masks

COVID_Actuary - July 30, 2020

Is there any consensus around the best masks options if you can’t get access to respirators? Ideally in stock within about 6 weeks (when school would begin…)

I see lots of rankings based on comfort/style, but not as much analysis around “this is actually going to do a good job filtering out particles”

EDIT: oh hey, looks like the GoRuck masks are back in stock. Maskit also looks promising.

AdviceGear

Talking to young adult daughter about being prepared

inteliprep - July 30, 2020

So my brothers and I have embraced being prepared, as this year has convinced us of the plausibilty of events or chains of events occuring that could lead to scenarios that would require hunkering down and/or bugging out. We have enjoyed talking about how we will respond to different things, what we’ve purchased, stuff we already have that we’ll share at our vacation home, I mean, bug out location….

My question is have any of you men or women talked with your young adult daughters about being prepared and what were some tips you would provide? I’m pretty ok with talking about the basics of being prepared with her as I’ve already talked about financial preparedness and currently addressing having her vehicle “prepared” since she just bought her first used car, ie, the fix a flat, first aid kit, etc, etc. So I’m wanting to go the next level. How will we meet up, where, why are we even talking about that (she lives 40-50min from me and closer to urban)… “Here daughter, here’s your go bag…. ummm, why do I need this…”

Now she isn’t stupid or completely helpless, and I think she’d be open to the next level, but she is a thinker and may or may not see the need. I’m just looking for thoughts from people (guys and women) who have had this converstation with their young adult daughters.

Advice

Water storage tanks

proco84 - July 28, 2020

Hi All

Thinking about getting some potable drinking water storage tanks installed in my home – any suggestions on how I should go about this and where I should look (UK based).

Opinions on rifles?

Frank N. Ernest - July 28, 2020

I’m not a “gun guy” although I did grow up in North Texas, learning to hunt and shoot safely throughout my teens in the 70s. In the intervening decades, I have paid no attention to guns, and have never felt the need to have one around the house.(Except for 110-year old bolt action .22 that my grandfather used for rabbits on the farm) But now that I have prepped reasonably in most other areas, I’ve been thinking of getting a modern rifle with some decent stopping power.

Any suggestions on selecting one? I am not a gun noob, but I’m 40 years out of practice. Thoughts on safe-yet-rapidly-acessible storage would be welcome as well. Just to make things more complicated, I now live in New Jersey. I’m applying for the rifle-purchase permit now, and have heard some stories about the state making it difficult to get. We’ll see.

Learning to fish

Watermelon Samurai - July 28, 2020

At the risk of embarrassment & shame, I’m going to admit this in front of all of you who have awesome outdoor skills: I don’t know how to fish.

But I want to learn.

Now that I have my confession in the open, let me ask my questions. 🙂

– There are a zillion “how to fish” videos on YouTube. Can anybody help me pair it down & recommend some of the better videos, as well as any other sources? (Unfortunately, I don’t have any local friends who can teach me.)
– What is a good, basic set of fishing equipment (rod, reel, tackle, etc.) for inland, freshwater fishing? It seems like half of the local sporting goods store is dedicated to fishing equipment, and I’m sure most of it is stuff I don’t need.

Thanks in advance.

-WS

Skills

Increasing your readiness when driving near protests

Paul Martin - July 28, 2020

I wrote this on Sunday, relying in part on the work of others who have researched this. I thought I would share this in case someone was looking for some guidance on dealing with these events.

https://paultmartin.com/blog/f/project-increasing-your-readiness-when-driving-near-protests

Advice

Any eyewitnesses on scene in Portland, Louisville, and other hot zones?

Josh CentersContributor - July 27, 2020

I’m just curious if any of our readers have been near the civil unrest in Portland, OR or any of the other hot spots. I’d love to hear first-person accounts of what’s happening in these places because I get the sense that we don’t get the full picture in the mainstream media.

NewsScenarios

“Sane Prepping” Car/vehicle selection criteria

Rich DCContributor - July 27, 2020

I realize there is A LOT of room for debate and preferences on this topic and everyone might be optimizing for slightly different scenarios, but I was curious if there were any top well balanced contenders, or even semi-universal criteria for selection of automotive transportation with an eye towards prepping? Going with the theme of this site (“sane prepping”) I’m lobbying for criteria biased towards a combination of every day use but also some specialized use, also something that doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb (I am NOT interested in hummers, tactical/mad-max ready vehicles, or even cloth-covered Jeeps with snorkels). I don’t want/need more than one car so a multitasker is ideal, though I’m open to upgrades like non-stock tires, non-obvious skid-plates, and removable roof cages, etc.

The criteria I’m thinking of so far include a lot of “normal” considerations:

Reliability/durability Fuel economy (conceptually open to electric but feel like its still too specialized?) Serviceability Inconspicuousness/affordability Safety/survivability Cargo capacity (probably more than a sub-compact sedan, but nothing crazy big before it eats into fuel economy?)

The “Prepper” related extra considerations:

All wheel drive? Higher () than average) ground clearance? upgradability/the availability of upgrades (I imagine some car markets have more options than others?)? at least light off-road capabilities (should be able to go over a curb/through light mud with confidence, maybe over small logs, but not planning on fording a river or scaling a boulder).

Anything obvious I miss? Anything non-obvious that might be worth thinking about? Also interested in “upgrade” suggestions that I haven’t covered that might be generally applicable to any/most choices.

So far my limited research is making me wonder if a Subaru Outback might be worth looking into seriously? I imagine the Jeep brand is popular, but I’m less sure about that for myself (but open to hearing more if you’re a fan).

AdviceGear

Visual guide to bug bites

Jay ValenciaContributor - July 27, 2020

This is oversimplified but I thought it was a useful graphic if you’re spending time outside right now.

Does it seem right to you?

Portable solar and power banks best practices?

Jonnie PekelnyContributor - July 24, 2020

I admit, I’m starting this thread to highlight a comment I made here (hoping to get it noticed and get answers.)

https://theprepared.com/gear/reviews/portable-solar-chargers/

I wound up getting the Big Blue but for my home, to charge small devices. I have a few questions on this topic.

1) If we’re not supposed to fry our phone battery by putting it in direct sunlight, why is it okay to fry the battery pack?

2) Is it a viable strategy to try to shield the gadget or battery pack from the sun by putting it, for example, under the solar panel or otherwise in the shade?

3) What happens if you plug more than one device into the solar panel? for example, what if you plug in two battery packs. Do they each get charged at half the rate? I’m sure it’s not that neatly broken out, but I’m trying to get the general idea.

4) I am a little bit confused about how to figure out what “perpendicular to the sun” means because the sun is a ball not a plane, to be simplistic about it. Could you explain? Also, what are best practices for propping portable panels up so that they are at the correct angle? .

AdviceGear

Handheld ultraviolet light sanitizers

Fen Hedrick - July 24, 2020

I recently read a review on these sanitizers and I was curious if anyone knows if these are any good for cleaning bacteria and Protozoa from water?

Advice

Requests for research?

Jack - July 23, 2020

Hi, I’ve lurked the site for a while after discovering it on a subreddit some time ago, and I’ve since found it to be the most unbiased, fact-based resource on preparation, like, anywhere. In fact some of the advice here helped me and several friends and their families to ride out the rough early days of the Covid-19 pandemic in relative ease, so thanks for that as well.

On to my question: Is there a way to request research/articles about certain topics that might not have been covered yet but could be useful for the community?

This question is prompted by a pretty recent experience, going to my first protest. I intend to remain apolitical in this forum as per rules, so thats all I’m gonna say about that, but I realized I was woefully underprepared for what could happen at a protest, and ended up scrambling to find clear, accurate, fact-based information on how to neutralize and remove pepper spray from skin as i sat there feeling like my hands, arms, and anything else that hadn’t been covered at the protest were on fire for almost two hours after i got home. I did find a decent solution – letting dawn dish detergent break down the OC oils and then washing it off with cold water, several times i might add, between 5-10, i lost count somewhere along the line.

Anyhow, all that to say, could we get a preparation guide/checklist for protests and rallies, like what to expect, what clothing to wear, how to protect eyes/ears/mouth/nose, what to do in case you come in to contact with pepper spray or tear gas, etc?

If you have checklists, do you have triggers for using them?

Paul Martin - July 23, 2020

I’m a huge proponent of checklists. As the Texas coast may experience some tropical weather later this week, I pulled out mine and made sure I was comfortable with my pre-set trigger for the Level A checks in the list.

Do you use pre-determined triggers for your checklists?

https://paultmartin.com/blog/f/project-setting-triggers-for-your-checklist-tasks

Advice

Skills >> Gucci Gear

Caliber Carpenter - July 21, 2020

Wanted to make this post mostly pertaining to firearms as I’ve seen a lot of people on here asking questions about purchasing their first gun, but this advice can also be applied to just about anything prepping related. Keep in mind when going to purchase a firearm, or any piece of gear for that matter, that no matter how nice the gear may be, no matter how many cool features it may have, it is nearly useless in the hands of an unskilled operator. This mainly relates to firearms in the fact that far too many people get swept up in the game of trying to find “the best” weapon or optic or accessory out there and lose sight of what actually matters; Shooting the weapon. Sure that $2,000 LMT rifle looks super cool, runs like a racehorse, and has a ton of features, but if you can’t hit a 12″ silhouette at 50yds then it may as well be a pawn shop trade in special. What I’m saying is don’t assume that you can just buy skill with a weapon. Yes I love my Gucci ARs as much as the next gun nut, but if I blow my entire budget on a super expensive rifle setup and have no money for ammo to train with then it means nothing. Now I know right now circumstances are a little rough if you didn’t stockpile ammo before all this began, but the good news is there is still a way to hone your skills without ever firing a round. It’s called dry fire. Thomas and I touched on this in a previous thread, but dry fire is a wonderful way to build skills and muscle memory that are critical to fluid gun handling, particularly for handguns. The internet is full of videos of dry fire drills you can run at home without a single bullet fired that will greatly improve your speed, skill, and overall familiarity with the weapon. I’d be glad to post some of my personal routines if anyone is interested as well. Just running simple dry fire drills will help you begin to master the basics of sight acquisition, trigger press, grip/shouldering techniques, and weapon manipulation. It may feel silly at first, pretending to fire and reload your weapon with no ammo, but I can promise you the more dry fire reps you do the work for, the more it will pay off on the range and in real situations. Dry fire is no substitute for live ammo practice, as there are still fundamentals that can only be learned with live rounds, but it is a fantastic skill building supplement, especially for new shooters. No matter what caliber of shooter you are though, dry fire drills can and will help keep you at your top proficiency levels.

So let’s wrap things up:

1. Don’t buy a weapon so expensive you can’t afford ammo to train with it. I’m not saying don’t buy gucci guns if you have the disposable income, just don’t put yourself in a position where you have a high class weapon but you’re a low class shooter because you couldn’t afford to train with it.

2. Dry fire. A lot. Especially in times like these where ammo is scarce and priced like precious metal

3. Don’t get caught up in the hype about a certain weapon or optic or upgrade etc thinking that it will magically make you a better shooter. Higher quality gear allows good shooters to push their performance, but the increase is skill-driven, not gear-driven. Save up, buy ammo, train, and then once you have acquired a level of skill and confidence in your shooting begin looking for ways to enhance your performance.

I hope this was helpful to a lot of you good folk just getting in to the world of firearms, don’t be afraid to ask if you have any questions or would like any advice. I’m no master marksman but there are a lot of people on here with a lot of great knowledge who are glad to share it. The US has had a massive amount of new gun owners arise here in the past few months and it’s our job as experienced shooters to help educate and inspire them the best we can. If anyone would like links to videos of how to get started training or good dry fire drills to run just let me know, I would be happy to post them in the comments section.

And as always,

This is the way

GearSkills

Thinking ahead: second order impacts?

Rich DCContributor - July 20, 2020

With the realization that there is still a lot of uncertainty (both with the trajectory of the virus and people’s behaviors towards it) I’m curious what types of second order impacts (or third/fourth order impacts, at this point) might be in store for us.

For example: if stay at home orders persist, or people’s choices leave them at home (voluntary telework, etc.) more this summer – presumably everyone will be running their A/C on hot days, rather than leaving it off while at work. Would that increase the strain on the electrical grid as compared to “normal” conditions and thereby increase the odds of rolling brownouts, etc?

At this point its all speculative (maybe people will spend more time outside instead?) just thinking out loud. Any other medium-term impacts on the horizon? Doesn’t have to be doom and gloom (I’m eating better/healthier, saving money, and fairly happy with my at-home haircuts, would be glad to maintain some of these new habits!).

Scenarios

About that IFAK tourniquet

Cheri - July 20, 2020

Does your kit have one? I’m a bit mystified by the emphasis on this piece of equipment, perhaps because neither firearms nor big hikes are part of my life. My Red Cross and NOLS courses haven’t emphasized a tourniquet — even kind of discouraged it. But the perfectionist in me is conflicted. Why should a suburbanite like me consider investing in a tourniquet?

Family planning or avoiding pregnancy in a pandemic

Catnip - July 20, 2020

Howdy, I’m Catnip and I teach couples how to chart their fertility naturally to avoid or assist in achieve in getting pregnant. As pretty much all of us know if the power goes out or the stores are empty getting to an app or a pharmacy becomes an issue very fast. Even getting into the doctor’s office as we have seen the last 5 months can be an issue.

So what do you do when you can’t access condoms, hormonal birth control or you want to get an IUD or copper coil? You learn to chart. Some folks use an app, but that’s not reliable for reasons including the above power issue, but more importantly 90% of apps are calender based methods – counting or rhythm method.

What I teach is called the Creighton FertilityCare Model and it is done with making observations of natural biological signs and interpreting those signs to understand if a woman (or a couple) is fertile or infertile on that day.

I’d love to answer questions you have and am happy to direct you to resources for different methods.

The big ones are Cervical Mucus charting, Temperature Charting and Hormone Charting.

I love discussing fertility, woman’s gynecologic health, and all around topics of intimacy. No question is too gross, too weird, or too complicated. If I don’t have an answer, I’ll find out or I’ll direct you to someone who has an answer.

-Catnip

What do you think about “news” roundups on the TP blog?

Jon StokesStaff - July 18, 2020

I’m Jon, editor of the TP blog. We try to keep general news off of The Prepared. But there were times, like with COVID (where we were one of the first in the West to ring the alarm bells about it), where it seems worthy to talk about news in a prepping context.

We’re trying to figure out where the balance is. How much “news” do you want?

We’re planning to reduce the COVID “Key Developments” posts to about twice a week, but I wanted to take the forum’s temperature on this. We don’t (yet) have polling support in here, but if we did I’d post a poll with the following options:

Reduce COVID key developments posts to twice a week Eliminate these link-dump posts altogether Turn Key Developments into a generic prepping link-dump post that includes non-COVID news, interesting gear finds, etc.

Thoughts or feedback? Other alternatives?

Do you think the media should be showing more visual imagery of the medical consequences of COVID?

John AdamaStaff - July 18, 2020

I’d love to hear if you disagree, but it seems like the mainstream media has been holding back on showing sensitive medical images/videos of what it’s like with COVID and how nuts things are in certain hospitals.

(This is not a political/tribal discussion, eg. Fox News vs. Mother Jones.)

It’s understandable in normal times that this would be distasteful, but these aint normal times and a major problem in society is a culture of people who seem to not comprehend all of the facets.

Sometimes those visuals and sounds are the best way to make things click for a person. It’s similar to how the public campaigns against underage smoking stopped focusing on pitches like “if you smoke, you’re going to die!”or “these yummy-looking scrambled eggs are your brain on drugs!”, and instead started saying narratives like “if you smoke, you’re going to smell bad and get ugly!” and “your sperm die and your friends dump you!”

… the latter being far more effective at ‘moving the needle’ in the real world.

I have no way of editorially-vouching for this image, but I saw it in a Facebook group and it struck me that it was effective imagery. What do you think? Should this happen more?

Air Purifier for Small Office/Home

D'angelo Barksdale - July 14, 2020

Any recommendations for air purifiers/filters that are effective in ‘vacuuming’ the coronavirus? Aware that it may only be a small percent if any at all in filtering out a room. But friends and family are returning to work, and anything would be considered if it helps. Any experience with these?

What the media didn’t understand about toilet paper hoarding

Jay ValenciaContributor - July 12, 2020

Not only was it aggravating that some media referred to the people panic buying as “preppers”… but they all seem baffled by why people were stocking up on toilet paper.

Here’s my theory. I poop in my home less often than I poop at my work or other places. So does my wife and our kids mostly do their business at school. I did not yet have a stock of toilet paper in my preps. So when this all started going down, I knew I wanted to go stock up… but I honestly had no idea just how much my family would use when we are all at home 24/7 for weeks.

Are there any good rules of thumb in prepping about how much TP a person uses? Or some other formula to use?

Advice

Contact-free grocery shopping and prepping

PrepPrepPrep - July 12, 2020

I know that many items have limits, say 2 of this, or one of that. I was going to the store physically less than once a month and getting as much of any item that I could get or needed, except toilet paper, which I have alternatives for, mostly. I try to not take things that other people might need more. That being said, for anyone who does InstaCart, do you notice differences in limits on how much you can purchase at once, or are your purchases being tracked so that if you do it once a week, it becomes obvious that you are trying to stockpile for shtf? Does it even matter? New-to-Instacart question. My question is not “how to do InstaCart” but “how to do InstaCart when one is prepping for more than a week’s worth of stuff”?

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