Home Security Tips are a huge concern when looking at SHTF scenarios and the kind of home security you need.
One of the biggest threats during any type of disaster is people who are unprepared.
At first, they’ll stay in their homes and wait for the government to send help. But after several days, when they start running out of food and realize no one is going to save them, you’ll have to be very careful.
Even if it’s not a disaster that empties the grocery stores, you’ll still need to watch out for opportunistic criminals. Just look at Venezuela. As the economy has deteriorated, the kidnapping and murder rates have skyrocketed.
In my opinion, the best home security measure is one that stops unwanted visitors from entering your home in the first place. Home security and alarm systems you can monitor yourself by going through every step of the process is ideal.
Hope for the best and prepare for the worst while you still can with these 12 home security tips that could save your life after the SHTF.
DIY Home Security Tips
Home Security Tips #1
Get an Alarm
A very loud one.
And as with your motion detector lights, make sure it will work without power.
There are other options such as battery-powered door stop alarms, window alarms, and motion sensors. They won’t automatically call the police or anything, but they’ll at least let you know that someone has broken into your home.
Home Security Tips #2
Get Motion Detector Lights
This should be a no-brainer.
Criminals don’t like to be seen, and if a bright light hits them they’ll usually flee like cockroaches. Since power outages are likely during any disaster, make sure you install the kind that runs on batteries or, better yet, solar power.
Home Security Tips #3
Reinforce Your Doors
You’d be surprised how often criminals go straight to the front door when breaking into a home.
Installing a metal doorframe is the best, most secure measure you can take for reinforcing your doors. A bad guy can easily kick in a door that is set into a wooden frame, no matter how strong and intricate its lock system.
The best reinforcements in the world won’t stop a lock from being picked, but a Dead Bolt Secure ensures the knob on a deadbolt can’t be turned from the outside, even if someone has a copy of your key.
If metal frames, and secure deadbolts are a little beyond your means, you can still reinforce your doors with doorstops, extra deadbolts, or even boards mounted to the walls (if your door opens inward).
Home Security Tips #4
Secure Sliding Glass Doors
Before bed each night, block the track of sliding doors with a metal bar or a piece of wood. Those locks are very easy to force.
Home Security Tips #5
Landscape With Inhospitable Plants
Inhospitable doesn’t mean the plants aren’t beautiful.
Thorny plants like rugosa rosebushes, bougainvillea, or blackberry vines make it far more difficult to sneak around outside of windows or to climb fences. You can find a full list of inhospitable plants here.
Related post: How to Choose The Perfect Bug Out Location
Home Security Tips #6
Have Stash Points
There are containers that you can bury to hide all types of things. They are made for stashing ammo mostly and you certainly don’t want to forget where you buried something.
Home Security Tips #7
Upgrade Your Fence
It needs to go all the way around your property and be at least seven feet high. Criminals might still find a way past it, but the point of most of these security measures is deterrence, and a fence is a fantastic deterrent.
If you can keep dangerous people off your property altogether, you won’t even have to put your other home security measures to the test.
Home Security Tips #8
Strengthen Your Windows
A bad guy’s other main point of entry into your home is typically through a window.
The first and most obvious way to secure your windows is to fit bars over them, either on the inside or the outside.
While you can secure your windows with deadbolts and the like, a cheap, efficient additional security measure can be found in the form of a dowel rod.
Simply place one in the gap where your window slides to ensure it can’t be opened enough for someone to get in. This is also a great solution for sliding glass doors.
Home Security Tips #9
Build a Safe Room
A safe room is a secure room in your home that you can retreat to in case of a home invasion. The idea is to stay there until the intruders leave.
In an SHTF scenario, most people looking to unlawfully enter your property want your stuff, not you. If you can’t keep them out of your home, at least escape the encounter with your life by getting yourself and your family into the safe room.
Home Security Tips #10
Get a Decoy Safe
Filled it with fake jewelry, a small amount of cash, and some important-looking documents. Make it very easy to spot.
The idea is that if an intruder is searching my place for valuables, they’ll spot the safe, think they hit the jackpot, then take it and leave.
And make your real safe much heavier and much more difficult to find.
Home Security Tips #11
Have Defensive Dogs
With great hearing and scent detection, defensive dogs such as:
- German Shepherds,
- Rottweilers,
- and several other breeds will alert you if someone is trying to break in.
And odds are, once the would-be burglar hears the large, barking dog inside, he’ll move on to a different house.
Home Security Tips #12
Get a Gun
And finally, in case an intruder manages to get past all of your defenses, your final defense is a good firearm such as a Mossberg Shotgun or even an AR-15.
There are some alternatives to guns worth considering, but honestly, if you really want to survive a home invasion, you need to get a good gun and learn how to use it.
A baseball bat isn’t going to stop a violent intruder, much less a gang of intruders.
Related post: 5 DIY Homemade Weapons For When SHTF
Now you know how to prepare for the worst while you still can with these 12 home security tips that could save your life after the SHTF.
What other home security tips would you give fellow preppers? We would love to know your opinion! Share it below in the comment section.
