Had a prowler last night

Suckin' air is a good thing and holds a special place in my heart
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Amazon.com : Razor Wire Razor Ribbon Barbed Wire 18" 1 Coil 50 Feet Per Roll : Patio, Lawn & Garden
I was a little surprised at ...
1) how available it is and
2) that it's really not that expensive

Think I've seen it for $35 a roll at other places.

Here's another one...5 50 foot rolls for $164

18" Razor Wire Galvanized Steel 1 box (5 Rolls, 250 Feet Coverage)

 

He's gotta beat the local competition before he takes on the out of towers...

 

I may be giving you a call. But perhaps a few months down the road.

 

The difference being that GOG lives a couple miles down the road...

Though I do plan to be in AZ next winter.

 

That's the plan...


Though we don't get much snow here...so "Rain Bird" might be a better description.

 

Ah ok. I would be looking for some general info that wouldn't require a physical presence, and even that's dependent on a number of "ifs".

 

Not to be rude, but …… has the thought occurred to you that you’ve been doing things all wrong? (Well, it has to me; and I’ve been teaching home security and doing residential home security analyses for more than two decades, now.)

Based on what’s been said, so far, neither am I entirely certain that what you saw in the window was not another flashlight, but a reflection from your own light, instead? Worse than this, and in my carefully considered opinion, the other night you did almost everything completely wrong. Want to know what? (OK, I’ll give you a brief rundown, anyway!)

First, you used one of Joe Biden’s idiotic shotguns. Me? I built a large part of my own home; (When we still owned a home.) and I’d be damned before I’d open up with a 12 gauge inside my own place!

Second, I have the impression you live alone. OK, then the chances of you getting into a hostage confrontation are minimal; but still, oftentimes, it’s impossible to either free a hostage, or get a clean shot at a bad guy who is hiding behind a captured family member and using your loved one as a body shield.

Third — and I know this is going to come as a real shock, but — a shotgun is NOT the, ‘heavy hitter’ of Hollywood and internet gun forum fame that far too many people think it is.

Neither Jeff Cooper, nor Jim Cirillo liked to use a shotgun for self-defense. Cooper described them as being inconsistently effective; and Cirillo (Who shot, at least, one man with his issued NYPD shotgun.) said a shotgun’s so-called knockdown power is entirely dependent upon how the pattern hits; and to Cirillo’s surprise he discovered that his opponent lived (almost) long enough after being shotgunned to nearly shoot him, too. After that event Cirillo went back to his 38 Special pistols and stayed with them until the NYPD forced him to begin carrying a Glock Model 19.

Fourth, haven’t you ever, ‘read the book’? There are NRA home study courses to teach you how to deal with both property intrusions and home break-ins. While reading through your initial post I had the impression that you were trying to commit suicide! (Sorry, but I did.)

I know you’re not going to understand; but, …… what did you use the light for? I know that tactical lights (especially tac lights that are attached to a weapon) are all the rage; and every Glockeroo on the planet wants one for his gun; but, for a lone operator who is forced to move around all by himself, using a tac light and ANY light technique (including flashing on, and flashing off) is,

(1) Like putting a big bright luminescent arrow over your head — One that is pointing straight down at YOU! (Besides to anyone who might be standing off to one side as you enter a room, the normal backsplash and reflections off that light’s beam will light you up and silhouette you just, ‘like a Christmas tree’!)

With your light either continuously on, or switching on and off you’re, nevertheless, going to be totally dependent upon its beam in order to see; and at night, and especially when you’re alone, THAT is not a strong position to find yourself in!

Compare the advantages vs. the disadvantages: If — IF — you’re able to catch your target on the first cast of the beam then, yes, you’ve got him; and the contest is decided in your favor; however, what happens if you do NOT catch the target on your first cast as you enter a room? I’ll tell you what happens: If the target is armed then he’ll exercise his one and only option and shoot you BEFORE you’re able to successfully light him up and do the exact same thing to him.

(Bye!)

(2) Not only will that tac light completely destroy your night vision; but, at any given moment, it will also show anyone who’s watching where you are, or where you will (probably) be next. The right time — the only right time — for a LONE OPERATOR (Understand?) to use his tac light is AFTER the target has been located, and immediately BEFORE preparing to fire his gun.

When you’re working by yourself: If you can’t already see the target, if you don’t already know where the target is, and if you absolutely positively must move towards some sort of, ‘confrontation point’ then keep your light off, and wait until you’re sure that you’ve got a target in front of you BEFORE switching it on.

What do we do at my house? Well, there's two of us. I'm the best gunman in the family so I get to use the gun while my wife has been trained to operate the tac light. We'll stand at about 90º to each other with me in the primary, 'ambush position' and her with the light off and held forward of her body (So that she doesn't pickup any reflected light.) in an extended FBI flashlight hold. Should someone ever walk into our, 'safe room' he'll get lit up from the side, and before being able to turn and fire, he'll get to meet me and my, 'little friend'. (A Colt LE6920 with a 30 round clip!)

(Someone once severely criticized me for exposing my wife to hostile fire by setting her up this way; but, as I replied, 'Genuinely exposing my wife to danger would, actually, be getting MYSELF summarily taken out of the fight BEFORE I had the opportunity to act.' I'm the primary shooter in the family; and when that light goes on my best opportunity to, 'keep my wife safe' is to start shooting at the bad guy BEFORE he starts shooting at me!)

Fifth, unless you have absolutely no other choice NEVER go to the source of the disturbance; instead, always force the disturbance TO COME TO YOU. Got prowler problems? Then you should have already done a complete house and property home security survey. In your situation it appears that you don’t have to worry about establishing CLEAR AND OPEN LINES AND ANGLES OF FIRE; but a great many home defenders do!

Still, the fact is that you should have already identified each and every: most likely confrontation spot, ambush site, and ‘choke point’ both inside and outside of your property. What am I talking about? I’m talking about places like: hallways, stairways, landings, and various doorways throughout the house. I’m also talking about any location inside or outside your home where it is only possible to approach you from one direction — OK. (Like lying down in a hallway, somewhere, at the top of the stairs where your very first target will be the other guy's upcoming and tactically indefensible face!)

Sixth, in addition to being a home security analyst (Who's done work for some prominent clients.) I’m also a retired search and guard dog trainer/breeder. As far as I’m concerned: That canine you relied on the other night is next to almost frigg ‘in worthless — Worthless!

The best advice I’ve, so far, encountered on the worldwide web came from someone who calls himself, ‘FerFAL’. He lives in Argentina where he and his family are hardened veterans of the complete and prolonged economic collapse that occurred there during the late 1990’s and early 2,000’s.

‘FerFAL’ tells how many of the (once upon a time) affluent families in his particular community enclave used: One large dog (the, ‘grabber’), and one small dog (the, ‘alarm’) in order to help protect their homes. (Which, by the way, in more than 40 years of working with canines, I have never found a better alternative to using!)

The small dog (because he is a small dog) acts as an early warning alarm; and the large dog (because he is a big overconfident animal) is, more often than not, the second dog to become aware of a security problem as well as the first dog to actually attack!

In any case, it is unrealistic to expect an untrained, undisciplined dog to either: track, grab, or hold. One piece of beef, and/or a little Cayenne pepper-powder on the ground; and Fido is going to be done for the night! None of my well-trained canines would take a single bite of food unless I gave it to them; and they all understood to stay away from food on the trail.

(One time I had to rush home from far out-of-state because I took a phone call from my elderly mother who told me that my Doberman Pinscher was starving himself to death; AND, if I hadn’t arrived home when I did, I’m sure that he would have done exactly that!)

Do you know what, ‘Caltrops’ are? Are you aware that these things can be fabricated from either: 10, 12, or 16d common nails fastened together with a little, 'J-B Weld’? As few as a dozen scattered caltrops could make your road impassable every night. (A simple board with a few nails in it could do the same thing, too; and if you don’t need them during the daytime then just pick ‘um up every morning.)

These things all being said: I’ve done a lot of this; and, as far as I’m concerned, the other night your own ill-advised curiosity might have very easily gotten you seriously injured or, perhaps, even worse.

My suggestion would be for you NOT to go looking for the source of the disturbance again. Most (but, admittedly, not all of the time) it’s much wiser to ‘hunker on down’, remain hidden, and wait — WAIT! If, and only if, you must move forward to investigate then do it very very slowly, and stop frequently in order to WATCH, WAIT, and LISTEN — LISTEN! (In the dark, being a good listener can help to keep you alive!)

If you must turn a corner then try to do it in exactly the same way that’s taught in advanced army (MOUT) training: ‘Split-the-pie’ — 'split-the-pie'! Stand just off the wall and step quickly around the corner with your gun held up, just beneath your chin, and in the, ‘ready-to-fire’ position. (This way it's more difficult for someone to either jump, or disarm you; and you'll be instantly ready to attack if you have to, OK!)

Resist your own curiosity, and save turning on that light until the last possible moment — OK! (NOT, ‘internet gun forum cool’, I will admit; but your life expectancy will go way up!) I’m also going to presume that you know better than to ever answer your own front door — Especially in the remote sort of location in which you presently live! At our house we always answer THE FRONT WINDOW, instead!

Never forget that you are A LONE OPERATOR; and, in order to be as safe as possible, you MUST learn how to react and move by A DIFFERENT SET OF RULES than any of the more common, pseudointellectual, self-defense techno-crap that most people are all too regularly exposed to on the, 'idiot net'*.


* Sincerely, I am NOT talking about SurvivalMonkey.com — OK. This is, largely, a very excellent site; but there are many many other websites where I've often thought to myself, 'Damn, but, if they aren't sending all the little Glockeroos to their deaths!' What really surprises me, though, is how very many people, in their almost perfect naïveté, are all too willing to go! (Ignorance isn't bliss; it's confusion and impending calamity, instead!)

* Edited, 01/22/17: Because you guys like this one so much, I added more information for ya all to consider!

 

It's been about fifty years since my time in the USAF and I never had any type of combat training. So other than some defensive pistol classes a few years back I've been relying on what I could glean from various sources.
In some conversations and what's been posted here, I'll just keep the shotgun in the closet and go with a handgun. I generally have a .357 LCR loaded with FBI loads on me. Depending on circumstances, I carry a High Power instead.

So I already knew I needed training but other life stuff got in the way. @Lone Gunman thanks for the analysis and ideas. It's much appreciated.

 

Tight post, Lone Gunman. It was good to see that.

When dealing with a home intruder it's always better to ambush than to confront. That doesn't mean you have to pull the trigger, necessarily--it means you should pop up on his six, out of nowhere, and he should be under the gun before you politely introduce yourself.

That also lets you pick the time & place to engage.

Your dog has to be predictable, both in what it will and will not do, and when. Otherwise he becomes a major liability. He can break your cover, distract you at the wrong moment, create a lot of grief.

Just a few thoughts.

 

After you are done setting up security for @GOG and @Altoidfishfins, swing up to CO. I need security advising and a chainsaw fixed.

 

I'll handle that on the Spring trip...we both know winter is not the time for me to tackle Colorado

 

Show the prowler how it's done in the Great State of Jefferson.

 

Lone Gunman has it down! A great post for sure! Reasonable folks like most of us here do not have the training to take the fight out side as it were, so using your home to your advantage is not only prudent, it will likely save your life! Years ago, when a bunch of writers discovered the AR was actually a great home defensive platform, a lot of us looked at this and went Duhhh, the Military loves these for just that reason! Best thing you can do is take cover where you can see the entry point and now you have all the advantages! Now, moving forward, you see there are many things you can do to secure your home and your self, and there is no reason to feel like a victim, instead you were done a favor, you got scared into taking steps to prevent any thing like this ever happening to you again, and further more, when SHTF, you will be in a lot better place with your site security!
This has been a great thread, and as good as I thought my site sec.it, I realize I still have work to do to make it better! Great news, We are all still taking nourishment, and on the correct side of the dirt, so we can learn and grow!

 

@Meat, I like your style.