Real estate agents quip that the three most important things in real estate are location, location, location.  In a lot of ways, this is more true for security than for real estate in general. Weather and Geology There are many ways in which Mother Nature can ruin your day: Earthquakes Floods Hurricanes Typhoons Tornadoes Volcanos The presence of each of these items can be, and should be, researched before you choose a location as your home base. Earthquake information can be found at the U.S. Geological Service Earthquake Center.  Most of the other events can be researched by searching through [...]

Most doors are selected by general contractors who have more interest in cost containment than security.  If you are a home owner and you have the funds, you can choose to replace your doors.  However, you can also enhance the security of most doors with the simple and cheap addition of a cane bolt. Cane bolts function very similar to door chains.  The weakness of door chains is that most of them are mounted on weak material, such as soft wood door jams or even drywall.  Very few are mounted with sufficiently long screws into solid 2×4′s or masonry. Cane [...]

Home storm shelters are becoming more common, due to numerous examples where they have saved peoples lives. These stories have come from across the United States, including Alabama, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. Threats Storm shelters are designed to protect against high winds from natural causes — hurricanes and tornadoes. Shelters for protection against NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) and home invasions have different requirements. Terminology FEMA uses the term “safe room” to refer to constructions which meet FEMA 320 and 361 criteria; they use the term “shelters” to refer to constructions designed to meet the ICC 500 criteria. Section 442 of Florida Building [...]

Barbed wire is both inexpensive and durable, but it’s security value is often overrated. Traditional barbed wire may be cut with small wire cutters, or breached by throwing a carpet or board over the wire. More determined attackers may place a ladder or truck next to the fence and jump over — or may simply drive a truck through the fence. Nevertheless, barbed wire and related products can play a useful role in a complete security strategy. Improving Barbed Wire Barbed Tape is a steel tape punched into a barbed shape.  It is more difficult to cut through than regular [...]

Floor safes have several advantages over other home safe designs.  In combination, these advantages often make floor safes the best option for protection of your valuables. However, there are also some disadvantages to consider. Advantages Concealment Flood safes are very easy to conceal, mostly because few people look for floor safes.  A large stand-alone safe is obvious.  A small safe hidden under a bed or in a closet will show up in any routine search.  Even wall safes will be revealed after most searches — because people are accustomed to looking for wall safes. A floor safe can be hidden [...]

A home alarm system can be part of a complete home protection system, but it is important to view an alarm as just one component of a larger strategy. An alarm system won’t protect your home from a flash flood, a drive-by shooting, or a no-knock BATF raid executed at the wrong address. Alarm Types Home alarm systems typically report using one or more of these methods: A loud bell or siren Bright and/or flashing lights A landline or cell phone call to you A landline or cell phone call to an alarm service company A landline or cell phone [...]

Perimeter security defines protection layers against both physical ingress and information egress of your property. Defining Your Perimeters If you have a single family home in a fenced yard, you might define your fence as the outer perimeter and the walls of your home as the inside perimeter.  In an highly urbanized environment, you might not have a yard and a fence.  The walls of your home might be your only perimeter.  On the other hand, if your home is a farm house far from civilization, you might define an outer perimeter far from your house which is not protected [...]

Common door locks fall into one of three categories: cylinder locks, rim locks, and mortise locks. Cylinder locks are the most common type of door lock.  They are designed to fit into pre-cut holes in standard doors. Rim locks are an older type of lock that is seldom seen anymore.  They can sometimes be useful to add an additional layer of security to an existing door lock. Instead of going through a hole in the door like a cylinder lock, rim locks are screwed onto the interior surface of the door. Mortise locks are similar to cylinder locks in that [...]