Currently, I reside in a suburb about 40 miles outside of Chicago. It’s just far enough in my opinion to escape the madness should the SHTF. Nobody is going to walk 40 miles out of the city to my town. What would they achieve by doing this anyway? In any case, my personal bugout plan is to bug-in should a SHTF scenario develop. I live in a typical small suburban home with neighbors all around me. It is a typical suburban American block. I have thought through many scenarios that may present themselves during times of trouble, whether it’s that our grid is down or we’re dealing with war, disease, nuclear plant meltdown, economic collapse, or you name it. I am sure you have thought through all of the potential threats that you have to be prepared for, so I won’t beleaguer this point.
The purpose of my article is to introduce what is the best, most efficient, and least costly way to defend your family against any potential looters from breaking into your home/apartment to get to your food, supplies, guns, et cetera. Remember this is based on the assumption that you plan on bugging in rather than bugging out, although this solution would work for an RV as well. Desperate people will do desperate things; we all know that. If you have something they need, they will not stop by any means to get to your goods, and if you’re in their way it may very well be lights out for you!
I would like to share with you a few of my solutions using the element of surprise, which if executed well can deter a large group and also give you the upper hand at the same time. Let’s assume for a moment it’s cold out and you have your wood burning stove providing heat to your home. This obviously creates smoke that’s visible, and the wood burning odor can also be detected a mile away in the direction the wind is blowing. Or, let’s assume you have a dog as part of your protection team and he/she starts to bark, hearing a group of looters that are coming down your street. Food smells, dogs barking, indoor lights, candles flickering, and wood burning odors all can provide evidence that your dwelling has some creature comforts in it worth fighting for.
Know Your Dwelling
Who knows your residence best, be it an apartment, condo, townhouse, rural farm house, suburban home, city bungalow or RV? You, of course. You know every nook and cranny, every window, every exit, every staircase, the basement, the closets, and also externally how things are built, including your landscape, terrain, porches, decks, garages, and all as well as where they are located. If you’re a prepper, you know your perimeter and your dwelling well. If you don’t, you best get to know every inch of your living area now. Make it a priority, because all of the supplies and food and ammo you have won’t matter if someone can break into your dwelling and take it from you. There are several good articles on the Internet on how to make your property safer from break-ins.
Limit Entrances to One
Everyone’s living situation is different, but we all have one thing in common: whether it’s an apartment or a farmhouse, it’s a building code that you must have at least two entrance ways in and out of any residence. This brings me to my next point. What if you laid down a deterrent in front of any of the main floor doors or windows that are vulnerable to being broken into and select only one entranceway to enter and exit your home? You and your family cannot possibly be at every window or door that is vulnerable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That would be a poor home defense plan and rob you of valuable time that could be spent doing the hundred other things during a SHTF scenario.
Setup A Serious, Deadly, Deterrent Of Entry Inside Main Floor Doors and Windows
So how do you stop a gang of looters from busting through your windows and doors in force and in numbers? I have a solution that I have thought through, and it is very efficient at stopping large groups, deadly in nature, and cost efficient. Additionally, it allows you ample time to get into your defensive position until the right moment when you unleash “hell”. (This is assuming you have firearms to defend your family and residence as part two of this defense deterrent.) This solution will not only stop large groups of people in their tracks, it will create utter chaos and panic and take them all completely by surprise. Remember to keep in mind the mob mentality and the desperation of people who are starving or freezing to death or who are thirsty or sick. They want what you have, and they will stop at nothing to get it. We’re talking serious stuff, and it needs to be dealt with a serious and deadly deterrent. A desperate mob or one desperate person at some point can get through your doors or windows by some means of force. It’s what lies on the other side of your doors and windows that will stop them cold. I am not talking about hand grenades here.
Concertina wire, razor wire, or whatever you want to call it is a stop dead in your tracks weapon. You do not place it outside of your home on the perimeter but inside your home, just beyond where your smashed in door breaks down or swings open. Also place it on the floor just below the base of your main floor windows.
Think about this scenario for a moment. Three desperate men that are prowling the streets for food come upon your place because they hear your dog barking. They will consider eating your dog as food, because it has been a week since the crisis and they are ravenous. They find an old pipe, maybe a large rock or two or anything they can grab and start smashing away at your doors or main floor windows. They are desperate. Their adrenalin is high, and yet they know there may be an armed resident inside and certainly a barking dog, which may turn into a biting dog once they break in. That won’t stop them, however, when driven by starvation. Do you think with that mind set and that scenario that they are going to try and quietly and stealthily enter your residence? No! They will bull rush that door or window, and once broken through they will charge into the house only to run straight into hundreds of shards of slicing, dicing, and flesh ripping razor wire. The first man falls into the wire getting entangled and screams in pain just as the second man right on his tail falls on top of him also slicing him to ribbons. You get the idea. All the while you wait with your (insert your favorite defense firearm here) and blast away as the intruders who are now panicked, bleeding, entangled, and in severe pain try and escape the razor wire spider web they just rushed into.
There are several places on the Internet to order razor wire or plenty of farm supply stores that sell it. I purchased three rolls of 18” diameter Galvanized Steel Concertina Razor Wire with each roll covering 15 feet in length. The total cost including shipping was $210. That’s not a bad price considering what you get. Caution: You must purchase steel mesh gloves to handle the razor wire. It is nasty stuff, and there’s no sense hurting yourself during a SHTF situation. Roll the wire out in such a manner that it is doubled up and at least three feet high and six feet in length. No one will get through that. Again, placement of the wire is critical. It must be placed just far enough away to allow a door to swing open forcefully or to allow the door to come crashing down without it landing on top of the wire; otherwise, the perpetrator can simply walk right on top of the door with the wire beneath it and not become entangled. You decide the most likely scenario on which way your door will open when forcefully broken. Will it fall straight down, hinges and all, or will it swing open as the lock is broken? If they break through a window and step or crawl inside the opening, there is the razor wire waiting silently below ready to slice them up and stop the threat immediately.
Safety Concerns
The obvious safety concerns for using this deterrent solution is not to have your family or pets get near this indoor booby trap. Again, make sure it is strategically placed but also out of the way from the normal traffic patterns in your residence. If you’re using this on the most vulnerable entrances on the main floor, keep one door wire free so you can access the outside. Think about this as well. Would you rather be trying to defend several windows and doors or just one? With all else that you must be engaged in, wouldn’t it be easier to pick out your one strongest door or window and defend it instead of having to be in several places at once? The razor wire is a 100% dead stop for anyone trying to enter your home with ill intent.
I hope you will consider my home defense solution. The element of surprise can make the difference when outnumbered. I will be using it as described above, should a real crisis come upon us. Also, let it be known, I do not work for nor endorse any particular firm that manufactures concertina or razor wire. I just feel strongly that this is a failsafe solution if a real SHTF situation develops and you are planning on bugging in. Be Prepared.