another Lake Oswego home invasion: Friday 11/23

[hermannr]

One simple thing that will make any external door kick proof; have it open outward. When I was 19 and lived in a ghetto apartment, my door had been kicked so many times that it could no longer hold a shape. I got the landlord to replace it with a solid core and install it to open outward. Good luck kicking that one! Sure, the hinge pins are exposed but that is easy to remedy with jamb pins similar to your gun safe.

Installing a vault door and roll shudders may be secure but it is like hanging out a sign that says "I have something worth stealing". When it comes to your stuff, anonymity is a virtue.

You have to be careful with the open outward part...most doors/jambs are designed to shed water only one direction. If you install a door, that is in the weather, that is designed to open inward, so it opens outward, when it rains hard you WILL have water running inside...experience speaking here.. Been there, done that...had to replace the subfloor afterwards and also obtain another door that was designed to open outwards..

 

[Flyingswords]

Should post a sign saying something like this.



Home Invaders, If you can not run faster than 980ft/sec, then your head better be bulletproof.

 

[2Wheels4Ever]

When criminals realize that they will be shot even if they are trying to run away after a crime that these home invasions will end

Criminals will always be stupid. Being able to shoot these idiots wont stop them, it will just reduce their numbers. :winkkiss:

 

[accessbob]

Home invaders are playing Russian rullette. There are enough stories in the news where they get a welcome in a form of a blast from a gun. It is what they can expect from me if they break down my door. I will not gamble with my life against someone who has already proven that he is willing to gamble with his.

Yep, my wife and I carry at home. A couple of seconds after someone were to kick in my door, they would get a lead supplement in either 9mm or .40 cal. I am not going to wait around to see if they are armed or not. The act of kicking in my door while home has me fearing for my life and the lives of my family.

 

[longcolt]

I gotta side with tkdguy, some people just look like future victims. By no means do i think that they deserve it and there is no way in hell do i think a woman is asking to be raped. Having said that i do believe that people who are inclined to commit crimes are going to look for the weakest among us. Anyone that has no problem kicking in a door and robing the place through force/violence is not going after me, a 40 year old male, in good shape, that is scared head to toe when most of my closest neighbors are elderly and do not look like much of a threat. And my younger neighbors don't look like they are willing to fight back.

These scumbags are looking for the path of least resistance and people that think they can just hope it will never happen to them need to pull their head out and learn how to defend themselves and their family.

Just a thought.

Lefty.

Yep, but us older folks have less to lose, in many ways and will not want to get into any physical confrontation with a much stronger younger male. Soooooooo.................guess what? Bang, halt!!

 

[Burt Gummer]

Funny that some people believe that when the live in a 'nice neighborhood' that they are safer.

Wrong. As things get worse, or in the case of SHTF, where do you think Meth Heads will go? They aren't headed for the hood! Police? No, they'll be home taking care of their own.

I have a wealthly friend who lives with his wife in a 7-bathroom home. No guns, not even a baseball bat or pepper spray. Completely convinced that all will be well for them forever and ever amen.

They are screwed because they will be immediately targeted. Mr Meth Head will be sitting in his Ferrari playing with the radio right after he hacks my friend to bits and rapes/kills his wife.

Oh well, people make their choices and deal with the consequences. I will be too busy taking care of myself to play Batman and try to go help those who wouldn't make any effort NOW. It will be sad to watch though.

 

[Misterbill]

Funny that some people believe that when the live in a 'nice neighborhood' that they are safer.

Wrong. As things get worse, or in the case of SHTF, where do you think Meth Heads will go? They aren't headed for the hood! Police? No, they'll be home taking care of their own.

I have a wealthly friend who lives with his wife in a 7-bathroom home. No guns, not even a baseball bat or pepper spray. Completely convinced that all will be well for them forever and ever amen.

They are screwed because they will be immediately targeted. Mr Meth Head will be sitting in his Ferrari playing with the radio right after he hacks my friend to bits and rapes/kills his wife.

Oh well, people make their choices and deal with the consequences. I will be too busy taking care of myself to play Batman and try to go help those who wouldn't make any effort NOW. It will be sad to watch though.

I've been listening to this kind of fear-mongering horse-malarkey since the 70's. First it was the horrible Heroin addicts, then the Crackheads, now it's the Meth-idiots. The forecasts of doom and gloom coming to suburbia have NEVER EVER even come CLOSE to transpiring.

I've examined home-invasion robberies in depth. I've even gone over police reports, in the raw, in three different jurisdictions, as well as going by national statistics.

Your chances of getting a home-invasion robbery go from close to ZERO in a nice neighborhood with no other factors, to higher as you get into crappier neighborhoods, and more indicators that you HAVE SOMETHING TO STEAL.

95%+ of all home invasion robberies are robberies where the goal was to steal drugs or drug money. That's a FACT. Borne out by numerous statistics.

The second big target are people with lots of guns, preferably, illegal/stolen guns.

The goal in all of these cases is the acquisition of wealth. Anything else that happens is indicative of ho9w bad things can get once invaders are in house and have control. Because in this case, the worst instincts of already predatory characters come into play.

You're chances, if you live in a decent neighborhood, don't deal drugs or deal in illegal weapons, of getting a home invasion are pretty close to ZERO.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't be prepared. I teach in my classes that being armed at home should be the NORM, because that 2% or so might be YOU. -Costs nothing to be armed, being unarmed in the wrong situation could be VERY bad for you.

But don't for a moment think that this advice means I think that the average person is going to get home-invaded. Because they are NOT. It's an incredibly unlikely circumstance. And I say this is true even for me, who has had my home address leaked to the internet with firearms sales, firearms repair, etc. linked, thanks to Charter Cable.

I'm at far higher risk than average. I still consider that risk to be negligible.

Reasonable precautions are great. We should all take them.

Living in anticipation or fear of an even that is INCREDIBLY UNLIKELY is simply letting irrationality take control of your life. You will be less happy, less free and less joyous if you take the advice of the fear-mongers.

 

[Navman]

8" Steel Channel for a door jam set in reinforced concrete. The front door was very heavy 1/2 steel facings with a foam core and 8" or so thick with a door nob that did not turn...it was closed with an electronic bolt. When you shut the door it sounded like a vault closing. Patio door had a "Roladen" roll down external shutter that weighed about 750 lbs, and there were Roladen on all the windows. The walls were 1 meter thick and reinforced concrete,,try get in that place if the owner did not want you too.

Wow, was that built to survive WWII? (or maybe even WWIII)

Interesting!!

 

[hermannr]

Wow, was that built to survive WWII? (or maybe even WWIII)

Interesting!!

Actually, it was new, built in 1970, we were the first occupants. Aslo, yes, it was built that way because of WWII, and the time of anarchy before the Nazi's, and the SS durning the time the Nazi party was in power...Most of the 1960's and 70's vintage houses in that area were built in the same manner, for the same reason. I had the good fortune of seeing a couple built, from start to finish (takes two to 3 years) Remember a house that was built maybe 100m away from our house. The crew came in, dug the basement, set the rebar poured the concrete for the basement floor, walls, and the 1st level floor, then did not touch it for a year...and even after a year the local people were complaining that the concrete had not had time to set properly and would surely crack.

 

[Navman]

Thanks for more information hermannr,

I've always had an interest in underground bunkers/silos/shelters in case things go bad.

It's a freakin' crazy world we live in with dirty bombs, suit case nukes and bio attacks.

For me it would be great to Shelter in Place underground undetected until the smokes clears.

 

[Liberty97045]

You have to be careful with the open outward part...most doors/jambs are designed to shed water only one direction. If you install a door, that is in the weather, that is designed to open inward, so it opens outward, when it rains hard you WILL have water running inside...experience speaking here.. Been there, done that...had to replace the subfloor afterwards and also obtain another door that was designed to open outwards..

Good point, my apartment door was an interior. I presently manage an industrial building with an outward opening door. We have a drip cap above and a squeegee weatherstrip below. The only time we get water is when the weather is horizontal.

Most door frames are a joke and so are most jamb reinforcements and reframing the door would be a pain. Perhaps a security type screen door makes more sense for the outside.

The outward opening door still makes the most sense for a panic room, gun room etc. I know a guy with a residential gun room with this setup and 3/4" plywood under the sheet rock.