A gentle reminder to lock your doors....

[Kaleigh]

I''m all for the safe!!! The guns are not what I''m used to. Now the base ball bat, I''d use that in a heart beat, really.

They wouldn''t know what hit them. I may be small, but I''m strong and when I get mad watch out!!!

 

[monarch64]

Wow, what a wakeup call. We had ADT installed last spring after a string of robberies in our area (outside Chicago) and one day I came home for lunch only to discover our phone line had been cut--this was pre-ADT installation. My hubby travels frequently and insisted we have it installed. Neither of us are familiar enough with guns to go out and buy them and keep them around, although we don''t disagree with the right to bear arms. Instead we keep baseball bats (authentic, game-used, courtesy of my dad!) around the house in inconspicuous places, and we have a remote key chain alarm velcroed to one of our nightstands, just in case someone does break in while we are upstairs in bed. I have a lot of heirloom jewelry hidden in the house that still isn''t insured, due to laziness, the only pieces that are insured are my e-ring and wedding band, but they will have to pry that from my cold, dead hand after I beat them senseless with a ball bat. I do agree with an above post that stated that stickers do a great deal of good. However, once you have an alarm system installed, chances are when you move you will not bring it with you (a big hassle). It also adds value to your home, and you may receive discounts on your home insurance. Just my $.02.

 

[Mara]

haha kaleigh, that is so true, adrenaline rush and all that!!

nosy neighbors are the best, alot of our neighbors are always out and about and there are older couples across the street who have lived there for years who just sit for hours out on their porch and watch the neighborhood.

 

[MrsFrk]

My friend's house in Seattle was broken into...they took some jewelry lying on his roommate's dresser, a 6 pack of Corona, and an entire cheesecake (his roomie is a pastry chef).

Thieves are easily deterred, they are looking for an easy score. An alarm sticker, a dog and some large men's boots on the doorstep are as effective as anything.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 12/13/2005 7:56:24 PM
Author: kaleigh
When I''m home I lock the front door from the inside. I shouldn''t do that?? How else do I lock it when I''m home. It''s a deadbolt. Yikes I am scared to death. Ughhh. I need me a Storm worthy baseball bat.

Mara''s bat is more deadly than storms M 16.

 

[icekid]

ahhh so scary Lisa! I cannot stand being home alone... especially living in the middle of Philly. FI went home by himself for almost a week a couple months ago, and one of my friends came to visit so I was only alone for a new night but I still HATED it. At least I knew the dog would bark if she heard anything though! Of course, ours is probably the safest neighborhood in the city but it''s still the city.

 

[blodthecat]

Well as many of you know, I live in England, UK.

Over here you are not permitted to carry a gun or keep one in the house. If someone breaks into your home, you are not allowed to hit them anything. There have been cases where burgulars have actually taken the house owner to court for assault. (no this isn''t a joke)

However, you are allowed to use some force in the act of defending yourself. So you would need to ask the robber if he was armed and whether he intended assaulting you, before you could touch him. (yeah....that really works)

dyanne

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 12/14/2005 8:04:23 AM
Author: blodthecat
Well as many of you know, I live in England, UK.

Over here you are not permitted to carry a gun or keep one in the house. If someone breaks into your home, you are not allowed to hit them anything. There have been cases where burgulars have actually taken the house owner to court for assault. (no this isn't a joke)

However, you are allowed to use some force in the act of defending yourself. So you would need to ask the robber if he was armed and whether he intended assaulting you, before you could touch him. (yeah....that really works)

dyanne

I know Dyanne, the law is an a--s. Imagine " pardon me Mr Burglar, do you intend to assault me or just take my hard earned valuables ( while surreptitiously twisting my rings around the other way)???? If you do mean to assault me would you mind standing still for a teeny minute while I clobber you with my handbag???"

Absolutely ridiculous, remember poor Tony Martin Dyanne? That was a miscarriage of justice if ever there was one.

 

[perry]

With appolgies to strmrdr....

I would not store valuble jewelry in a gun safe. Gun safes look a lot more impressive than they are secure. With rare exceptions - guns are not that valuable and thiefs will not waste their time breaking into a gun safe to get them. I do approve of the use of a gun safe for guns.

Safe''s are rated for both fire and security protection by several organizations. I would want a UL theft rated safe.

Typical Theft resistance rating would be

TL-15 Tool resistant 15 Min, front door only
TL-30 Tool resistant 30 Min, front side only
TL-15x6 Tool resistant 15 Min, all sides (note the x6 means 6 sides)
TL-30x6 Tool resistant 30 Min, all sides
TRTL-30x6 Tool and torch resistant 30 Min, all sides

Here is a web site that explains the ins and outs of jewelry and other safes fairly well. All major safe companies (not gun safe companies) will have similar descriptions on fire resistance and security resistance

www.securitysafeusa.com/jewelry.htm


Personally, I would want at least a 2 hour fire rating as well, and their is nothing wrong with getting a 3 - 4 hour rating either (I''m not sure how many people would need more than a 2 hour fire rating in a residence.

Here is another company dealing in safes that I had at my fingertip...

www.deansafe.com/jewelry_safes_index.html


If you go to the Browning or Fort Knox gun safe web page you will not see these ratings at all. Sad to think that not even the front door is rated for 15 minutes theft resistance. But they are cheap and you can get them at a local gun shop.


Want to build a vault in your new house...

www.internationalvault.com/


Bottom line; for a good safe - go talk to a company that sells safes to businesses (usually affiliated with a locksmith). Do not go to your local gun store unless all you want to do is store guns.

Perry

 

[strmrdr]

Actualy both companies you mentioned are ul rated.
The spec sheet that comes with them has the details.
I find most home safes can be defeated with a screwdriver because they dont have proper locking lugs and relockers.

 

[strmrdr]

btw time fire rating is useless without the temp rating.
4 hours at 1000 degrees can drop down to 20 min at 1400 degrees.

btw yes I worked part time at a gunshop and we got samples and tested them with everything from plasma cutters to sledgehammers to shooting them.
Not one safe will stand up to a plasma cutter for long.

They forgot one type of fire resistant material that has the longest and hotest rating and that is rock wool bricks.
These are used in heat treat furnaces and it will be 2100 degrees inside 24/7 and you can touch the outside without getting burned with 3" of rock wool.

 

[diamondlil]

I''m so glad this topic came up. We have been looking into buying a fire/security safe recently. I want it big enough to keep not only my jewelry, misc. paperwork, but also several boxes of very, very old family photographs that I have. All the safes that I find adequate in size weigh about 500 pounds!!! My plan was to bolt it to the concrete floor inside a closet in the basement. Unfortunately, that would mean this 500 lb. safe will need to be taken down a flight of stairs. Obviously, this is not something we can do safely.

So far, the few companies I have contacted either only offer curb-side delivery (even that is several hundred dollars in addition to the cost of the safe) or no delivery option at all (we''re on our own).

A local safe company I contacted had prices that were outrageous IMO. They do offer delivery service, which is where I seem to be having my problem, but the safes seem a bit overkill for us (and beyond what we think we want to spend). We have a relatively safe home and neighborhood. We have deadbolt locks, a security system, and wonderful nosey neighbors who know our routines. We keep a close eye on each other''s houses for ANYTHING suspicious. But if someone wants to get in, I''m sure they will.

I don''t want to spend a small fortune on a safe, just one that will deter the common thief and protect my old family photos from fire. Who can I hire to bring a 500 lb. safe into my house? I''ve asked this of each retailer I have contacted, and they offer no help.

 

[mingagreen]

This is all so scary to me!! I am one off those paranoid people, I scare myself!! If I have been out for a while I will make my dog "go first" , not that she would do too much but she is intimidating looking (a boxer), she is as paranoid as I am though, she will bark at the reflection of the tv in the window and totally freak me out. I am one of those people that think someone is under my bed. It doesn''t help that we live WAY back in the woods!!!
This kind of hit close to home for me too, Kaleigh you may have heard about this since we are kind of in the same area, My husbands family along with us all share about 260 acres, which belonged to Harry Bertoia who was a famous Artist, LONG story but by DH"s father was married to Harrys Daughter, Lesta Bertoia a local artist, when they split she gave my FIL land, when DH and I married she gave us land and her brother Val Bertoia lives in Harrys house. Any how Val has a bunch of amazing pieces of art/schulptures on his property some are his and some were made by his late father. There was one that was made of copper which his father never had a chance to use, it was a nine piece "snake" with each piece weighing over 100 lbs, well it was stolen right out of his yard. We all think it was stolen as turned into scrap, that much copper is worth about $2000, nothing compared to the $90,000 that the sculpture was worth as a pice of art. It was most likely an targeted theft but is is so sad and scary that this can happen right in your backyard, no one notices and you beloved things are GONE. We all feel so safe here but there are bad people out there that are just so selfish.

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 12/14/2005 9:34:53 AM
Author: diamondlil
I'm so glad this topic came up. We have been looking into buying a fire/security safe recently. I want it big enough to keep not only my jewelry, misc. paperwork, but also several boxes of very, very old family photographs that I have. All the safes that I find adequate in size weigh about 500 pounds!!! My plan was to bolt it to the concrete floor inside a closet in the basement. Unfortunately, that would mean this 500 lb. safe will need to be taken down a flight of stairs. Obviously, this is not something we can do safely.


So far, the few companies I have contacted either only offer curb-side delivery (even that is several hundred dollars in addition to the cost of the safe) or no delivery option at all (we're on our own).


A local safe company I contacted had prices that were outrageous IMO. They do offer delivery service, which is where I seem to be having my problem, but the safes seem a bit overkill for us (and beyond what we think we want to spend). We have a relatively safe home and neighborhood. We have deadbolt locks, a security system, and wonderful nosey neighbors who know our routines. We keep a close eye on each other's houses for ANYTHING suspicious. But if someone wants to get in, I'm sure they will.


I don't want to spend a small fortune on a safe, just one that will deter the common thief and protect my old family photos from fire. Who can I hire to bring a 500 lb. safe into my house? I've asked this of each retailer I have contacted, and they offer no help.

find a local gun shop and ask who they have do it.
They deal with it all the time.
2 people with a good cart should have no problem with a 500 pounder.
The key is a good cart.
appliance dealers are another good place to check with.

 

[diamondlil]

I''ll have to try another gun shop, Strm, because one gun shop I called said they did not offer delivery. He did say he could give me the phone number of "a guy" that they know that could deliver it, but they would not be responsible if anything went wrong. He said they used to deliver but had so many problems (don''t know specifically what the problems were), they don''t offer delivery anymore.

My husband can get an applicance truck at work, but 500 pounds down a flight of steps sounds dangerous. I''m sure a few of my husbands friends would help him with it, but I have this horrible vision of the entire safe tumbling down the stairs and crushing someone. Okay, so maybe I''m worrying too much?

 

[Angel7]

I am so glad to see I''m not the only was who is paranoid at night home alone in a big house! I try to fall asleep and I''m always thinking I hear someone trying to "break in" It''s so scary!! I have a big knife stashed in my room, "just in case". Don''t own a gun and knives are readily available in the kitchen!

God forbid it ever happens, I do NOT want to be at home. Don''t know if I could recover from that.

Does anyone rememember that "railroad" killer a couple of years back, when he started killing in Illinois I MADE my family get a Brinks Home Security System but we no longer use it because my dad could not learn to use it and was always setting it off!!

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 12/14/2005 10:17:07 AM
Author: diamondlil
I''ll have to try another gun shop, Strm, because one gun shop I called said they did not offer delivery. He did say he could give me the phone number of ''a guy'' that they know that could deliver it, but they would not be responsible if anything went wrong. He said they used to deliver but had so many problems (don''t know specifically what the problems were), they don''t offer delivery anymore.


My husband can get an applicance truck at work, but 500 pounds down a flight of steps sounds dangerous. I''m sure a few of my husbands friends would help him with it, but I have this horrible vision of the entire safe tumbling down the stairs and crushing someone. Okay, so maybe I''m worrying too much?

It is not the safest thing but iv done more than a few safes.
It helps to get someone that knows what they are doing and has done it a few times to help.
The proper cart can be rented from a rental place make sure its a heavy duty cart with stair climbers and rated for atleast 600lbs.
Check the stairs first and make sure they are in good condition and fix any loose boards or anthing that can trip someone.
Iv done 400 pounders just by having the top person lay it down and guide it down from the bottom with the cart sliding on the stairs.
A 500 pounder would take 2 people on the bottom and 2 on top to set it up at the bottom.

 

[ammayernyc]

It''s amazing how safe I feel living in New York City. I think that I would be freaked out beyond belief to live in one of those ''safe'' suburbs...

 

[fire&ice]

Date: 12/13/2005 8:47:30 PM
Author: kaleigh
I wish I felt better, but now you guys have me scared stiff. My front door isn''t locked from the inside with a key. It''s a thingy you turn, does that make sense???

Those become problematic (for your safety) when you have a window that they can break quickly & reach to turn the knob.

If someone wants to break into your house, they will do so. But, locking your doors while you are home is very prudent to ward off a possible home invasion. Also, keep your garage doors down & locked. That''s the easiest way (and a big "come rob me please" sign) for criminals to gain access. Even if you are home, some people are none the wiser until they realize something is missing.

It''s that time of the year. Our break-in was a few weeks before Christmas. Luckily, that year I was a big procrasitinator. But, think about it - many people buy small electronics for gifts, you usually have more cash & your jewelry tends to be out of the vault for holiday parties.

 

[fire&ice]

Date: 12/13/2005 9:26:42 PM
Author: perry
Kaleigh:

I do not recommend the inside key at all. nor do I belive it is even legal in all states due to the problems with emergency escape (except in certain institutinal settings).

You want a door where you turn a knob or a lever to get out. That is normal. That by itself does not make your place less secure.

Well, knowing the code - it is indeed not code to have those types of deadbolts. It is not, however, illegal.

I would not recommend a lever or knob exit if you have side windows or glass pane door - as does most doors. They are too easy to get into.

When we built our house, the inspector raised the question - blah blah blah. My husband simply replied that we moved here because we wanted to move away from a neighborhood where we had a serial killer (true). Since one entry was from a door w/ side windows and a knobby turned to get in, my husband said he will not remove them. It was a safety issue. The inspector was one from egress. We compromised and said we would leave the key handy. We have. Sadly, the other women couldn''t review her safety issue as she was dead. However, this did not stop the robbers from kicking down the door with force and an axe. But, this bold of a move when someone is home is less likely to happen and you have warning.

Another thing to consider - hate to scare anyone - but this is reality - when you go out to walk the dog, etc (short errands), lock your door. The killer entered one house this way. For the most part, criminals (rapists, killers or your run of the mill crook) select the easier target.

 

[fire&ice]

Hah, I keep a baseball bat "handy". Hubby has one of those large "Maglite" flashlite. They could kill.

Mingagreen, how cool! I certainly know who Bertoia is. In fact, we have several chairs that he designed for Knoll (or Herman Miller - can''t remember). That is sad about the stealing of the sculpture. I''m not so sure about the melting down thought though. Someone may have known it was there & targeted it. Sold it to someone privately - never to be seen again. It does happen in the art & antique world.

 

[VegasAngel]

Perry, You are definately right about people being able to open doors with a credit card or knife. I used to only lock the bottom lock of my door until one day I accidentally locked myself outside. I went to all my neighbors house looking for a phone to call my husband at work. Well I found out real quick I didnt need a key. One of my neighbors (male) asks me if the top and bottom were locked or just the bottom. I tell him the bottom. his exact words "Well, then you don''t need a key." He walks to my door whips out his cc and within a second opened my door (With a big smile on his face.) I nearly peed my pants. After I left I tried it myself with the same 1 second success.

 

[Mara]

Date: 12/14/2005 11:40:04 AM
Author: fire&ice

Another thing to consider - hate to scare anyone - but this is reality - when you go out to walk the dog, etc (short errands), lock your door. The killer entered one house this way. For the most part, criminals (rapists, killers or your run of the mill crook) select the easier target.

This is excellent advice...and seriously sometimes you don't think about it.

We go out in the back park to take P out and we leave our garage door open, and we used to leave the door to the house open too. Well when I was going through my paranoid stages it struck me that HELLO that would be so easy for someone who watches our routines to sneak in from the side of the house and into the house and hide in a closet or something. So we got a key and we keep it in the house on a chain and take it out with us when we go out and lock the door etc. The garage door stays open but I can see it from the park and it also goes 'dark' after no movement is over there, so if I ever see it 'on' while I am out walking the dog and it shouldn't be, then I would be more alert etc. But when we come back into the garage, I close the garage door and then open the house door so I'm not surprised. We do have a fairly large crawl space under the house but it is totally filled with stuff so we'd notice if something was disturbed or someone was hiding.

The really good thing about feeling safer is that with a dog in the house, they will know when a new scent is around and they will alert you with their behavior. Portia may be all of 16 lbs but she comes with that super-scenty dog nose and a very curious nature, and she knows when ANYONE has been here and she wasn't here or similar...so I know she'd come into the garage and head over to the storage area if something was amiss, and same with the house. So at least we have that kind of 'double' alarm system, both the actual alarm and the dog.

As mentioned, we do watch alot of CSI and even just regular news stories are enough to make you really paranoid. There IS only so much you can do as someone else mentioned, but as long as you DO those things and just stay alert and aware of what is 'normal' vs not...aka be observant, then I think most of us would be fine. I find that by having a good 'plan' or similar puts my mind at ease a bit. I really would pity anyone who came into the house and find me with my baseball bat, having worked myself up with fear and adrenaline...as Greg points out, I am better armed than most just because I have my kickboxing skills, and those would probably come in handy too if I was pissed at an intruder.

I had my car broken into a few years ago and the feeling you get from even that intrusion, I felt totally exposed...it was such an odd feeling. Like people had been looking at MY things, touching my stuff in the car, had used force to gain entry to MY belonging. I could only think that having that happen to your house would be beyond upsetting and frightening and would really take some getting over, it would maybe take years. Your home is your sanctuary, your safe haven from the world that belongs to you, and I can't believe that people feel it's okay to breach and defile that, but then again many things in today's world are not okay and yet they happen anyway.

 

[widget]

Wow...
This thread is giving me the heeby-jeebies!

When I'm in town my jewels live in a safe that's bolted to the floor and semi-hidden. I guess I need to double check to see what it's fire resistance rating is...when I'm out of town, they go to the bank.

I like the idea of a large pair of men's work boots by the door and having baseball bats strategically placed around the house.

I've got two harmless but noisy dogs, but my kids want me to get another scary looking one...like my beloved Spencer who's been gone for a couple of years now. In a way he's still protective...I never took down this "welcome sign" by my driveway:

 

[aphisiglovessae]

So sorry for your neighbors... I hope they get justice...

I ALWAYS lock my door. Even when I'm home. It's annoying to my fiance because he has to use his key everytime he comes over. The reason why I do that is because I'm a single female in my twenties living alone, next to some low-income housing complexes that look like an episode of "cops" visits once a week. My apartment complex is the nicest one on the block, it just has a really crappy location, which makes the rent really low.

I had more reason to lock my door about a year ago when someone came to my door asking to use a phone. I didn't even know someone was there. All I know is my dog was barking like crazy. I looked out of the peephole, but it was nighttime and my porch light had blown that day, so I didn't see anyone. I opened the door thinking that the dog just wanted to go out to potty, and there he was... I am a nice person though, so I closed the door behind me as a I got him a cell phone (that I was about to have shut off in a couple of days anyway). Hindsight is 20/20 and I realize I should've locked my door as I got the phone, because when I came out of my bedroom back to the front door, he was standing in my kitchen!! I have a very expensive plasma t.v. and surround sound system as well as a nice computer system in my apartment and he was eyeballing all my electronics. I immediately handed him the cell phone and went back into my room to grab my pepper spray/mace/u.v.-dye spray. When he was done he started asking me questions. I tried not to look scared at all because I thought that would be a sign of weakness and he could take that as a signal to attack. He was asking questions like "is this a one-bedroom apartment?" "How old are you?" "Do you have a boyfriend?" "Do you live alone?" I was terrified, but I told him that I don't live alone and that I live with my boyfriend. He looked at a picture of me and a big friend of mine and asked if that was him. I said yes (even though I lived alone and my fiance is just a little guy) and asked him "are we done here?" as I kinda showed him the spray in my hand. Once he saw it he said "yeah, I'd better go" and I said "yeah, I think you should" as he left. I immediately got on the phone with the sheriff's dept and was freaking out (but I was calm enough to remember a complete description of him down to the tattoos on his arm). They drove through my complex every night for the next week per my request. I didn't file a complaint because I didn't know what his intentions really were. I didn't know if he just didn't know any better than what he did or what. If I filed a complaint and he didn't have bad intentions, it would create animosity. If I didn't and he had bad intentions, I would be screwed. But the sheriff's dept was worried about his questions and so was I. For the next month, my neighbors kept and eye on me and they said he would walk around my apartment, smoking cigarettes and hanging out, until they would stare him down and then he would leave. Finally he never came around again (according to my neighbors) and I feel better, but I still lock my door 24/7.

Sorry for the long story.......... I felt I had to explain my paranoia.

 

[widget]

aphisiglovessae!!!!!!

widget

 

[aphisiglovessae]

Date: 12/14/2005 2:37:20 PM
Author: widget
aphisiglovessae!!!!!!

widget

Yeah, pretty scary huh? I''d never had this happen before and I had never been so scared in my life. My parents were terrified and were trying to get me to leave my apartment and move elsewhere, but housing is kinda scarce here since Hurricane Ivan and the prices are through the roof for apartments. They even raised my rent at my current apartment recently. I have taken self-defense classes (shotokan karate mostly. I''m not a high ranked belt because I was injured and couldn''t test, but I know enough to be pretty far up there) and I carry protection though, just in case. It''s pretty much all I can do right now.

 

[Kaleigh]

I just got back from the luncheon and this was a big topic. One of my friends asked me if I had met the new neighbor and I said no not yet. She tells me what a nice person she is etc.. I then tell Maggie that the neighbor she was asking me about was robbed of all her jewelry. She had seen her yesterday and of course didn''t know anything yet. They all said a base ball bat is a good idea. I have all the doors locked and my dogs will be a help too. They bark if anyone comes close to the house. There is lots of good advice on this thread. Thanks for all you wise advice.

 

[icekid]

Date: 12/14/2005 2:42:33 PM
Author: aphisiglovessae

Date: 12/14/2005 2:37:20 PM
Author: widget
aphisiglovessae!!!!!!

widget

Yeah, pretty scary huh? I''d never had this happen before and I had never been so scared in my life. My parents were terrified and were trying to get me to leave my apartment and move elsewhere, but housing is kinda scarce here since Hurricane Ivan and the prices are through the roof for apartments. They even raised my rent at my current apartment recently. I have taken self-defense classes (shotokan karate mostly. I''m not a high ranked belt because I was injured and couldn''t test, but I know enough to be pretty far up there) and I carry protection though, just in case. It''s pretty much all I can do right now.

UMM, yeah scary! I would be terrified... and staying at a friend''s place!

There was this weird older guy (50ish?) at my library in college who used to follow me around the library. I can''t imagine what someone that age is doing hanging out on a college campus. But I would go to the bathroom and come back, and he would be sitting at my table! Or sometimes I would be studying and then he would sit across from me and I could see that he was not really reading. SO CREEPY!!

THAT was scary enough. I can''t imagine something like that outside of your home. I was always a little worried that he would follow me home but I always made sure no one was behind me. People are bizarre!

 

[mingagreen]

I always wonder what I would do if my DH wasn''t home and someone broke in.
I remeber we thought someone was in our old house and Dh started yelling things like "don''t make me get my gun out!!!! After words I had to laugh at him, he did sound scary and I feel REALLY safe when he is home, he would kick some behind. You can''t compete with a gun though.


Very cool Fire&ice, Bertoia has some amazing pieces. Most of the chairs were made for Knoll, which is about 4 miles from my house!! My FIL just found a lounge chair made by Bertoia but he never sold the design to Knoll, there were 2 made and one recently sold at Sotheby''s for around $100,000. FIL Traded his for some sculptures!!! We all wanted him to hang on to the chair but he just couldn''t do it!!