Cheap Burglar Alarm

[sparx]

A co-worker forwarded me a tip for home safety that I (and the one sending it to me) hadn't ever considered before, and thought I would mention it here in case anyone else thought it a good idea, too.

Here's a good tip from a "neighborhood watch coordinator." I think it's an excellent idea. Never thought of it before now, but will make it a nightly habit.

Keep your car keys next to your bed on the night stand. When someone is trying to get into your house, or if you hear a noise outside your house, just press the panic alarm on your key to set off the car alarm. It will go off from most anywhere inside your house and keep honking until your battery runs down or until you reset it with the button on the key chain.

A lot of burglars will cut your telephone line before breaking in, so this is a real good idea for those without a cell phone.

I leave my car keys on a table in the living room. After reading this I think they've found a new spot for them to stay now.

[propellerhead]

Neat! I'll have to pass that along. Thanks!

[JLaw]

That's a really great idea! I can see how that can work wonders, especially if the neighbors know about the panic alarm actually meaning something.

Guess that's another reason I need to put an alarm system on the truck.

JLaw

[txinvestigator]

A co-worker forwarded me a tip for home safety that I (and the one sending it to me) hadn't ever considered before, and thought I would mention it here in case anyone else thought it a good idea, too.

Here's a good tip from a "neighborhood watch coordinator." I think it's an excellent idea. Never thought of it before now, but will make it a nightly habit.

Keep your car keys next to your bed on the night stand. When someone is trying to get into your house, or if you hear a noise outside your house, just press the panic alarm on your key to set off the car alarm. It will go off from most anywhere inside your house and keep honking until your battery runs down or until you reset it with the button on the key chain.

A lot of burglars will cut your telephone line before breaking in, so this is a real good idea for those without a cell phone.

I leave my car keys on a table in the living room. After reading this I think they've found a new spot for them to stay now.

Not a bad idea. My home alarm has a phone line cut feaure, meaning that if the phone line is cut, the alarm activates. I also have a keychain remote for the home alarm that has a panic button on it.

[jimlongley]

It has been my experience that car alarms are either ignored (in Plano the police call them 'Plano Crickets") or seen as merely irritants.

[DaveT]

Jim,

That may be true in the middle of the day in some big parking lot, but a car alarm going off in the dead, still of night at 3:00 in the morning in a quiet residential area will attract attention. Test it for yourself..... set yours off at 3:00 a.m. and wait to see the lights start coming on in the neighborhood !

A while back, I heard noises late at night, loud enough to wake me up. This is a small, fairly quiet town at night, easy to hear things. I got up, looked out one of the front windows and by the light of the corner street lamp one house down, I could make out several figures around my pickup. I set off the car horn..... never saw people run any faster in my life ! That horn honking and the lights flashing when they thought they were being sneaky was good for a laugh, and.... my pickup was not burglarized.

[cjlandry]

When I sent my first wife packing, I worked offshore (7/7). I didn't trust her, or her new friends, so I had to do something about home security. All I had was a new TV in my home (with a basket of potpourri on top), as I'd given her everything else just so she'd leave (that was the happiest day of my life). I kept my gun in the trunk of my car when I was offshore, and I just didn't have any other valuables.

So I went to Radio Shack and got a tabletop motion detector alarm with battery backup. I wired a 110 dB external siren and a flashing blue light to the aux. outputs. The whole setup cost me about $110 at that time (1994).

When I came home from offshore the following week, I found that my door had been pried open. The basket of potpourri was now on the floor in front of the TV. The TV was still there.

They must have been wearing heavy pants, because there was no urine or fecal matter on my carpet. But I'm sure they soiled themselves when that thing went off!

[bluelineman]

Not a bad idea. My home alarm has a phone line cut feaure, meaning that if the phone line is cut, the alarm activates. I also have a keychain remote for the home alarm that has a panic button on it.

Our alarm has a sky link thing (I'm not really technical) that's not hooked up through the phone line.

[Venus Pax]

I hear that Home Depot and Lowes stores have some alarms you can hook up to windows and doors. I told dh I would like to get them.

[KBCraig]

I guess I'm going to have to install a security camera. I have a refrigerator on our patio, right beside the door from the living room. We use it for soft drinks, beer, and non-critical stuff that won't fit in the kitchen fridge.

Yesterday I put a brand new, unopened 30 pack of beer in it at 3pm, then went to work. When I got home at midnight, it was gone. The apparent juveniles who heisted it also thought it would be great fun to make a mess, so they grabbed some sodas and threw them against trees to make them explode.

This had to have happened during the daylight, when my wife took our toddler and went to the store for a couple of hours. When we're home, the dogs definitely let us know if someone or something is in the back yard.

Yeah, I could lock it up. I'd rather catch whoever's stealing 3 feet from my back door.

Kevin

[jbirds1210]

.......or just add a serious dosage of laxative to their next round of beverages

That should buy you at least a couple of days.
Jason

[Blue06236]

.......or just add a serious dosage of laxative to their next round of beverages

That should buy you at least a couple of days.
Jason

YOu know I heard a couple drops of eye drops will take care of that and it won't make it taste any different.

[longtooth]

Welcome aboard Blue. Glad to have you on the forum. Give us an intro under the General Gun section. Introduce Yourself. You will get a lot of welcomes & we will get acquainted faster.
Sure like your signature. Wise man said, If you need it & dont have it you won't ever need it again.

[seamusTX]

Yeah, I could lock it up. I'd rather catch whoever's stealing 3 feet from my back door.

Camera or not, you'd better lock it up. When these kids tell their buddies, you're going to have uninvited visitors beating a path to your door. :^(

You might want to hang one of your better targets on the refrigerator door.

- Jim

[KBCraig]

Yeah, I could lock it up. I'd rather catch whoever's stealing 3 feet from my back door.

Camera or not, you'd better lock it up. When these kids tell their buddies, you're going to have uninvited visitors beating a path to your door. :^(

This had happened twice before, months ago, when the obvious suspects were the white trash kids across the street. They moved a few months ago, so I figured the problem was solved.

But as you point out, word gets around.

You might want to hang one of your better targets on the refrigerator door.

I've got several ideas in mind. I thought about one of those pepper spray boobytraps, but those are about $75 a pop (and wouldn't create the kind of area fog I'd want to lay down, not on an open patio).

All three times it's happened, it's been a new, unopened case (built-in handle, easy to carry). Today I replaced the case, but put the cans individually in drawers (and six in the house, just in case; always have a backup. )

So, I think I'll buy some cheap sodas, fill an empty beer case and glue it back up, along with a note expressing my disappointment with their life of crime. And possibly a more "personal" note, like the one you recommend.

I'd use a game camera, but the flash would be an obvious giveway. They'd probably smash the camera.

Obviously, finishing my privacy fence is on the priority list, too. The yard is fenced on three sides, and most of that is 6' wooden privacy fence (a short section is 4' chainlink, barbs up, covered in blackberry brambles).

I've got to add about 120' of fence on one side of the yard to have it completely enclosed, and that stuff's not cheap. Plus, my post hole digger is on active duty.

Kevin