Help me develop a home defense plan?

Your situation sucks.
You are going to have to cross to the doorway to their room and defend from there.

The worst and best advice you'll ever receive:
Get low, shoot high.
Like prone low, hat off high.

Or porcelain tile the wall to their bedroom and hope for the best. Porcelain tiles are often on sale very cheap.
Good luck enforcing the underlying structure of that interior wall. It can almost certainly be kicked in by a 12 year old.

Switch bedrooms. Then you just have to interdict the threat as it passes by your position, not run out to cut it off.

Trap door escapes?

That drawing isn't bad. Look for training and a job working on technical drawings.
 
Deter, Detect, Defeat...

Deter:
I'll add on to the "get lights" pile. Simply lighting up the exterior is often enough to make criminals move on. Nobody likes being seen trying to break in!
Motion activated can be good, too.
Further, using plants/gravel strategically can make it more difficult to sneak up on the building.

Detect:
(The above serves dual purpose!)
You can get the magnetic door/window alarms for reasonably cheap. The only problem with the window ones is they usually only go off if the frame moves. Breaking the glass doesn't necessarily trip the alarm.
Tough plastic sheeting for windows makes it harder to get through them.

Defeat:
This is a tough one, since you do not have a "safe" backstop from your bedroom door. You may want to consider less-lethal options, like a tazer. In this case, your range should be relatively short, so it may work! Other options would be to harden the kid's room and use under-penetrating projectiles. Small bird-shot would likely not penetrate past two layers of wall. (You could mount some thick plywood against that wall, and add a book case inside the kid's room.) Fortunately/unfortunately, birdshot is not even close to meeting FBI standards for penetration. Two layers of sheetrock, 1/2in-1in of plywood, and a full bookshelf would likely stop birdshot.
Again, you can use angles to your advantage: Get LOW and aim high. That should send the projectiles in a safer direction.
 
Could you please elaborate on your two way comms idea? Ideally, how would you set it up, what benefit would it provide, what compromise, in what situation do you see it being needed? Communication, as I was taught years ago, is the highest casualty producing weapon on the battlefield. So, I'm always for more comms and better Intel. Just curious what you intended?
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If you were confident in the door to the children's room, and had communication available with them, it may allow you to simply take the best defensible position in your bedroom without having to move to them. It would also allow you to talk to them to reiterate the plan that "everything is ok stay put".

Of course it depends on you as well. In the event there is an intruder in my house I already know I am making the tactically unsound decision to move to my children. Reinforcing there rooms would not make this better for me because I would still move to them.
 
Most conversations about self defense naturally seem to turn to the use of firearms, especially here.
But there are places and times that's just not possible.
Your situation just about precludes their use.
There's just no reliable way to harden a thin walled trailer.
Even the advice of getting low and shooting high presupposes all rounds will hit the intended target.
What about the possible misses that will go out into the world to eventually come down on some poor unsuspecting victim.
You will own the results.
There is and always have been plenty of defensive tools other than guns.
After all, most of the time we humans have been on this planet, guns were not even invented.
Maybe take a hint from the Shawnee Chief Tecumseh.
Long after the rifle was in common use, his weapon of choice was his trusty war club.
 
here is a novel idea

an elderly lady I know used to leave a LARGE pair of dirty work boots at her door with a HUGE used dog bone:eek:
 
I think I'd stick the two weapons you already have. I personally prefer a handgun over a shotgun. About the only thing you might think about doing is obtaining some soft-lead hollowpoint ammo with some kind of poly-coating. I'd stay away from copper jacketed ball ammo.

What about that polycase ammo - I thought I read that stuff was designed where over penetration may be a problem? Never used it myself.
 
"Tactically" speaking, for using firearms, my situation does suck, you're absolutely right. Being at a loss, I reached out to y'all, and some other like minded folk, to try to get some better ideas than what I had. Unfortunately, there don't seem to be many ways around it; I can't currently utilize a firearm safely for home defense.

Thank you for the compliment on the drawing. I'm no artist, and that particular sketch was done in bed with one of the kids magic markers. I humbly add it was hastily done; note the lack of bathrooms. I actually do a bit of technical drawings/layouts for machine work. I am a gunsmith; you darned kids and your RMR mounted slides take a bit of planning to cut properly. I do what I love and love what I do.

I love the idea about the dog bone and work boots. I think I'll tell my mother about that one; she lives alone without a firearm. She uses an early warning device her grandmother taught her: metal clothes hangers on the doorknob and a laundry basket just behind the door to trip them up a bit. She does have the advantage of a trusty, and loud, beagle.

Being a bit broken from my army days, I do walk with a cane. Im no martial artist, or even all that coordinated, but, I've done a bit of reading and practicing with my Cold Steel Irish Blackthorn Shileleigh. I'm confident I could take the piss and vinegar out of someone with a whack from that thing. It also helps to keep me from falling over, which is useful. I would still rather have the ability to use a firearm, of course. God created man, Sam colt made them equal. I wouldn't want my girls lives depending on my ability to dance with my cane. But, you're absolutely right, in anyone's circumstance, lethal force, especially that with firearms should be, and is, the last resort of a long list of layers to a responsible personal defense plan.

Ill have to do some figuring on how to get a two way comms situation setup for the girls, and how to get them not to use it to tell me knock knock jokes at 3am, but I like the idea. Thanks for the clarification! I, too, would not be able to stop myself from putting my body between the girls and whatever harm may come, however "tactically" unsound it may be.

Heres the million dollar gut check question: Your backstop is a neighbors house, but your target is a BG with a knife to your daughters throat. Do you take the shot? If your neighbor took the same shot and the round passed through the bad guy and hit you, what would you do? What if it hit your daughter? We are all firearms enthusiasts, and are pro gun, and sometimes its a hard pill to swallow to admit firearms have their limitations. This being a public forum, I will only answer one of the above questions.

If youre my neighbor, you take the shot and it hits me, but saves your daughter. You will need to buy me a beer.... And possibly mow my lawn for the foreseeable future.

Be safe, friends. Use your head for more than a hat rack.
 
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Maybe there's another idea for your situation.
How about an airgun?
Statistics suggest that most confrontations end with the presentation of a gun.
In a low light situation, a realistic looking airgun might be quite a dissuader.
Better, yet, it might actually do the real job of running the guy off in a hail of pellets.
All without the risks of an actual firearm.
Firearms safety concerns still apply of course.
Just a thought.
 
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Maybe there's another idea for your situation.
How about an airgun?
Statistics suggest that most confrontations end with the presentation of a gun.
In a low light situation, a realistic looking airgun might be quite a dissuader.
Better, yet, it might actually do the real job of running the guy off in a hail of pellets.
All without the risks of an actual firearm.
Firearms safety concerns still apply of course.
Just a thought.
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No. You escalate the situation without actually escalating the level of force you can bring to it. If you are going to present a firearm and hope not to use it at least understand it is a hope and do not bind your ability by presenting one that is unloaded or not real.
 
We're talking dire straights here, without being able to use the ideal weapon, under the circumstances.
It's been established that a firearm is out of the question.
And if there's an intruder in your house, the situation has already been escalated.

Sometimes you gotta' go with the odds, and the odds say the presence of a deadly weapon, or what appears to be, causes a cease of activities most of the time.
But whatever saves the day, conventional or not.
I know an older lady who would never carry a gun, but instead has a small air horn in her purse.
At close range that thing is nasty and definitely disrupting.

People aren't deprived of defensive tools just because they can't use a firearm.
There's lots of choices that wouldn't put innocents at risk.
Clubs, swords, all kinds of old fashioned stuff that have worked for centuries.

I still like the airgun in this particular situation.
It looks the part and to some degree can be effective.
You really do not want to get hit with a herd of lead pellets at 450 f/s.
(By gawd they can put your eye out - and some holes in other uncomfortable places, too.)
And they're not likely to get loose out into the world, either.
But like I said, it's just a thought.
You won't hurt my feelings by rejecting it.

Personally, if all I had to defend us was my trusty and very accurate pellet gun, I wouldn't feel defenseless.
After all, there's truth to the old adage, "The weapon is the least of it."
Ranks right up there with "I am the weapon, the gun is the tool."
 
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I'm going to toss out from a momma bear's way of thinking in this scenario. You've been given good suggestions to implement already, but how about thinking outside the box with a dry chemical fire extinguisher.
5-10lbs would be sufficient enough. It will shoot a high stream of thick powder that can cover a larger area, even if more than one BG, and also the powder can slow them down enough for you and your family to get out or even potentially stop them altogether.
You get wider spray coverage than with pepper spray and you don't have to worry about your aim or what is beyond your target as with a firearm.
Just a thought for another layer of defense.
 
Another good tool when a gun isn't appropriate.
I've used it on those all night barking frogs around here.
Shut them right up for nearly a week.
 
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grated ( security) storm doors
Door Devil Door Plate ( front and back door)
Bulldog bar (back door)

Add bookcases to the wall along the childs room to help shield them in the event a weapon is fired inside.

Make sure front and back doors can be easily observed by neighbors and passerbys. Use timed lights to give the appearance of someone always being home.

Put 3 pair of very large work boots on the porch to give the appearance of several very large men occupying the home.

Get a large dog. If you don't want a dog, get a large dog house and dog bowl anyway and place it out back where it can been seen.

Storm windows ( the more glass the better)

Extra vehicle in the drive way.. running or not ( movie it around)
 
In case you're still considering a firearm and bullets, have you considered frangible bullets? A few months ago I loaded up some frangible .223 rem (Barnes Varmint Grenade) for a prairie dog hunt and those p-dogs I center-hit showed a ragged entrance wound but no exit wounds at all. The skin near the entrance wound looked a bit like the animal had been attacked by a weed whacker, and the wound itself appeared pretty shallow.

Now, I'm not suggesting that you use an AR for your HD situation, but I do know that I've seen frangible bullets at Sportsman's Warehouse recently in 9mm and 40 S&W. I believe they're supposed to be target ammo, but for your situation, IF they prove at least as accurate as standard SD ammo, they might be your only real option.

Of course, I'd put a box through some extensive testing before trusting them for HD duty . . .
 
Maybe there's another idea for your situation.
How about an airgun?
Statistics suggest that most confrontations end with the presentation of a gun.
In a low light situation, a realistic looking airgun might be quite a dissuader.
Better, yet, it might actually do the real job of running the guy off in a hail of pellets.
All without the risks of an actual firearm.
Firearms safety concerns still apply of course.
Just a thought.
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This is a worse idea than bringing a knife to a gunfight.
 
Dogs are great, but you need to spend your money on a different place to live. Your location and structure are untenable as far as being desirable places to raise a family. A dog large enough to keep someone at bay is expensive, to the tune of $100 a month for food and vet bills. Put your initial expense money towards motion sensors, and take them with you when you leave. Once you have those, bank your money until you can afford to move to a better location.

Don't bother with ARs, shotguns, flashlights on rails, or any other gun stuff beyond the pistol you already have. Put your money into another home, not this one. That is the best home defense plan you can get.
 
I love the idea of a living in Mayberry! A small town (without the meth fueled crazies) is a great way to grow up. I would not agree that you are facing an uphill battle. You are thinking about what you can do, and making preparations to defend your loved ones SHOULD the need arise.

Many weapons will end a fight. I like the idea of using the cane to bring a person down to the ground, then beat them senseless.

The air gun idea got me thinking of a previous idea I had regarding less than lethal force. Paintball markers are relatively inexpensive and can put out a barrage of paint balls at a fairly high velocity. Getting hit with 10 of 15 paint balls in the face will make a person flinch and seek cover; then you can beat the snot out of them with your cane until they stop being a threat. Much better than the "knife to gunfight" scenario. Though the sword idea is also a great repellent to violent action.
Caution: Civil action may follow a paint ball defense if the person is permanently disabled, even in a SYG state.
 
Effective guard dogs, especially in a relatively densely populated area can be more trouble than they're worth. It takes a special dog to know who to bite, and who is just delivering the mail or showing up to play with one of your kids. And a dog that doesn't know when it really needs to bark will bark endlessly, that can actually lower your situational awareness. And also alienate neighbors. You can't just drive up to the local pound and expect to drive away with a dog that won't get you sued or make life more difficult. Especially if you don't really want a dog.


Check out battery powered LED motion detector lights. Cheap and easy to install. The battery life is pretty good, and checking it requires frequent evening walks around the perimeter. Taking those walks regularly is a great way to stay aware and continually make evaluations and changes.
 
Your location and structure are untenable as far as being desirable places to raise a family.
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I appreciate your input. Its all relative. My location and structure is very desirable, to me. It sure beats being homeless, still. I've had a series of unfortunate events regarding my immediate family's physical and mental health that had set me back, financially, trying to care for them. In spite of my strife, I am proud to have the ability to provide what I do for my fiance and her girls. The environment her and I have created for those girls is loving, nurturing, and fruitful; albeit financially modest. Raising a family, in my very amateur opinion, consists of a lot more than the monetary value of ones dwelling.

My current net income is $1,200/month. My financial priorities are strictly managed. However, with nothing but time, it can be fun to fantasize about the possibilities, once expendable income does become available. The two firearms I do own were inherited when my father passed. I budget my Ramen consumption. It will take me a month to gain the expendable $30 for two floodlights. But, yes, when I am able to save for a desirable ability to raise a family, I will take the lights with me.

Have a blessed day.
 
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