home security.

[foggyblackpool]

As a few of you know im moving to manchester just after christmas to live with the missus.

 

As far as manchester goes well be living in a relatively nice student area(misnomer?) but burglaries arent uncommon and apparently next door got broken into yesterday whilst everyone was in bed.Now my rooms on the ground floor and i dont fancy waking up to a smashed window and a manc with a hammer in his hand so im looking to up the security as cheaply as possible.

 

Ive fitted all the windows with vibration sensor alarms which are good and the main areas of the house are alarmed.

 

I remember seeing at some point some cheap alarms that were basically 2 sensors you put across from each other(outside of the house) and they wirelessly set off a buzzer when something broke the beam,these would be perfect as our garden is secluded so im thinking thats where a burglar would attempt to enter.Problem is i cant see the little alarms anywhere?

 

Any links or ideas are greatly appreciated.

 

Cheers.

[stiffy]

I think you should take inspiration from the Home Alone films

 

we used to have a beeper thing linked up to the front door, it was just two magnets - one on the door and one on the door frame... every time the door opened it beeped (I guess what they have when you go into happy shopper )

cheap as chips and actually really useful.

[andy159]

a load dog

[Jim O'Hara]

Why not call the police around and ask them to do a security review? A friend of mine did and they sent around somebody to point out all the security flaws that may not be obvious to you.

[Bigbud]

Security lighting is the best bet I'd say, we had a sensor outside my folks home for a while. Every time next doors cat went past it went off

 

(or you could move to a better part of Manchester )

[Anne1599968726]

Security lighting is the best bet I'd say, we had a sensor outside my folks home for a while. Every time next doors cat went past it went off

 

 

and that's why it's useless. Only lets them see where they're going anyway. Better to have a light come on inside, linked to a PIR outside - that way they think you've woken up and gone for your gun and they'll scarper.

 

You could try booby-trapping the back yard with noisy things like old-fashioned metal bin lids.

Apparently you're not allowed to impregnate garden walls with broken glass anymore. After our old house was broken into for the 9th time, the police told us we had to break off the layer of glassy concrete from the top of the wall.

Barbed wire is allowed though.

[Capt Slog]

and that's why it's useless. Only lets them see where they're going anyway. Better to have a light come on inside, linked to a PIR outside - that way they think you've woken up and gone for your gun and they'll scarper.

 

You could try booby-trapping the back yard with noisy things like old-fashioned metal bin lids.

Apparently you're not allowed to impregnate garden walls with broken glass anymore. After our old house was broken into for the 9th time, the police told us we had to break off the layer of glassy concrete from the top of the wall.

Barbed wire is allowed though.

 

We should be allowed to electrify the place and when we find a barbequed scally attached to wires the police should gives us £25 towards the leccy and a thank-you.

 

 

 

My buggies live under cover but effectively out in the yard. They are chained to the wall AND to a very noisy step ladder and steel buckets. Makes hell of a din if they are moved.

[Anne1599968726]

Thing is, the glassy layer was there for YEARS, I don't think my dad put it there. Didn't stop our place being robbed anyway.

Maybe the glass was too old & weathered to work properly ...

 

 

Oh incidentally, we were also told that the pickaxe handle my dad used to keep by the bed (just in case) was also illegal and if used and brought up in court, it would be classed as a weapon kept for the intention of battering burglars (duh!) whereas if he just happened to grab something that was lying around and walloped a burglar, then there's no prior intent there so it's fine.

So he put the pickaxe head back on it

 

 

I have a hockey stick myself.

[The Geoff]

Couple of ice climbing axes here

 

http://www.westcoast-mountainguides.co.uk/cust_images/oldsiteimages/axe.jpg

 

It's all down to reasonable force at the end of the day. If I put one of them in an unarmed burglar I'd probably get done for it, but if I was an 8st 18 year old girl and the burglar had a knife I'd probably get away with it

[beth1974uk]

here you go Luke..

 

get your soldering iron ready!!

 

 

Edited December 15, 2009 by beth1974uk

[payneib]

we went over this at work, under the health and safety act, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF ALL PERSONS ON YOUR PROPERTY INCLUDING TRESSPASSERS.

 

so yeah, no more glass on walls, landmines, bitey dogs etc.

 

BUT

 

you can make them uncomfortable, mountain bikers go on about this for ages!

 

you've basiccaly got a "time it takes to steal" over "time able to remain in location" equation to work out:

 

if you've got a naf door lock, no security and are on holiday, it's gonna take 5 mins top to enter, ransack and leave the property.

 

but if you've got a gucci lock (talkin sheds here) on the door, that takes 5 mins to get through, a rape alarm, smoke canister and 100+ watt light rigged on the door, and your kit is locked up with another gucci lock?

 

it'll take 10-15mins to get in, and get the locks off, but how long can a chave stand 100+ watts of light, dense coloured smoke and 138db of rape alarm?

 

do the same with your house-make it take longer to break into (nothing is inpregnable) but more uncomfortable to break into.

 

almax stuff is good for sheds/motorbikes etc

[braddels]

FiveFWD - Top 5 - Home Security Gadgets video from The Gadget Show

 

that could be useful to you, they always do these sorts of things

[JohnDave]

Most common break in's I used to hear about in Manchhester when I was a student was because the students were drunk and left the door unlocked. Also make sure you don't flash your goods about, ie walking round with your iphone in your hand and your laptop obvious.

 

Only things I ever did was put heavy duty bolts on the doors. And like The Geoff says, take an interest in winter mountaineering and have a pair of Mountain Technology axes at hand.

[wenglish]

common way of entry into most homes in the part of manchester im from is to just kick the door in. most of tehm just have a single latch on them which goes into a wooden frame, easy enough to get through.

 

goto B&Q and pick up a nice big bolt to go at teh top and bottom they can kick away and it wont budge then. you can also pick up these small egg shaped devices that run an batteries. they sound off like a rape alarm when they get a jolt to them so scare off most intruders and wake up anyone in the house.

 

to be fair everywhere has its break ins, some areas are worse than others but if someone is able to see in and window shop your front room first then its going to tempt them even more so a set of nets or good blinds that stop people seaing in too easilly will help a lot.

[TheRealNeO]

simples, lock doors + windows and have a nice asortment weapons

[-Olly-]

we got broken into last october (car keys and cars stolen etc) we were advised to get gates to the front of the house and security lights. Also we were told about a tripwire thing you used to be able to get which set off a shotgun shell when triggered....now THAT would scare off anyone trying to break in