Measurements proposes that a robber’s favored purpose of passageway is directly through the front entryway. (34%). When you’re assembling you’re home, it’s essential to establish your frameworks on account of interlopers’ breaking-and-entering practices. When you’re purchasing or contemplating strengthening it, precaution should measures you take as much as possible. That is what we’re going to examine today.
A safe room is a fortified room of your home, designed to protect you and your family from burglars, looters, rapists and critical events. In times of danger, you can barricade yourself inside and call for help. Safe rooms are not bunkers. They’re intended as temporary havens for weaker, unarmed person to retreat to until help arrives.
It’s best to stay away from and flee from meeting on the off chance that you can. On the off chance that, in the far-fetched occasion that an interloper succeeds in rupturing your protected room’s strongholds, it will be clear that any meeting was in self-preservation, so you’ll stay erring on the side of caution of the law.
A sheltered room ought to be utilized if all else fails; on the off chance that you would, you be able to ought to attempt and make a keep running for it. In case you’re not anticipating building a home starting from the earliest stage, you may need to adjust a current space into a sheltered room, for example, your visitor lavatory. Standard storage spaces make suitable safe rooms, as are stroll in storerooms and the cellar family room.
You can even convert a wine cellar into a safe room, where you can take cover along with your prized vintages. A windowless den or annexe to a double garage are also suitable options. Your safe room need not be a permanent emergency shelter; in fact,you can still use it as a storage room or as a second bathroom if you can.
A commonplace safe room does not have windows all things considered, however ventilation shafts may be available. The dividers are thick and strengthened to withstand even the most merciless strike. There will be a prepared water supply and a lavatory. The room ought to be effortlessly available to all individuals from your family unit from a few areas in the house. It will likewise be intended to house the whole family, including pets.
The Door
Your first line of safeguard when withdrawing to a protected room is the entryway. This will pummel close behind you, promptly isolating you from the peril outside. I propose you put resources into a substantial obligation, sustained entryway most importantly else. Regardless of how great your lock component is, it is just as compelling as the entryway it is appended to.
- If enough pressure is applied to a feeble door frame, the lock itself won’t stand a chance and will eventually be compromised. Not only should your door be fortified and tested, but the frame should be reinforced, too.
- Replace your standard wooden door frame with reinforced steel. Plug the doorframe air gaps to stop the intruder from tampering with the lock mechanism.
- For bash-proof doors, Fox Police Locks offer solid protection. These steel bars allow you to barricade the door. The bar runs perpendicularly from the floor to the door, serving as a brace. It’s a reliable contraption that is neither obtrusive nor high-maintenance.
The Windows
Windows are a frail point in any house, so a protected room without them is your most solid option. Be that as it may, there’s a bigger level headed discussion here, as a few people believe it’s great to have way to get out from it, for example, windows, the length of nobody can get in through them. On the off chance that, for occurrence, your sheltered room is at the first floor, it will be intense for anybody to climb as far as possible up there however it will be simple for you to move down utilizing a stepping stool and after that keep running like hellfire, accepting your aggressors are all inside the home.
- In the event that your sheltered room serves as a lair or main room, don’t stress. Like entryways, windows can likewise be strengthened.
- Window glass is easily shattered, making windows an ideal entry point for intruders. You can replace ordinary glass with a bulletproof security window. These are virtually impenetrable and will likely withstand any kind of ballistic attack your intruder may unleash.
- Another weakness of windows is their transparency: intruders will be able to see right into your safe room. If his attempt to break down the door is unsuccessful, he’ll go for the windows and won’t hesitate to shoot if he can see you.
- Heavy curtains or blinds can reduce this risk. If you cut off your view of the intruder, you’ll be able to gather your thoughts and remain calmer. If he can’t see you, his blind shots are likely to miss you, especially if you crouch down in the corner of the wall where the window is located. This seems illogical, but because bullets typically travel in a widening, or divergent path as they move away from the shooter, it’s safer to locate yourself closer to him than at the opposite wall, as it’s less likely that the bullet will hit you.
- Window bars installed on ground-floor windows are not only a burglar deterrent, but also prevent accidents involving children. However, they may decrease your property’s value or block emergency exits in the event of a fire.
The Walls
A standard divider is no match for a 9mm. Dry dividers are inadequate against even the weakest bore guns, so consider this: if the dividers the encompass you are not sufficiently strong to withstand rehashed slugs, you should round up your family in a cardboard box and transform them into sitting ducks.
- Your walls should span from floor to ceiling for optimum strength. If your intruder uses a sledgehammer, bricks can be easily dislodged, so consider steer stud walls instead. Kevlar is a go-to reinforcement material and may be disguised with decorative panels, tiles or sheetrock.
- Kevlar panels help to reduce the number of weak points, or ‘joints’, in your walls.
- Don’t forget to consider other weak areas such as those where light fittings, plumbing pipes and plug points may be situated.
- Examine the ductwork that runs through protected walls to make sure intruders don’t exploit these to pump toxic gases into your safe room.
- If you convert your basement in a safe room, the high costs of building a sturdy wall are reduced. Construct your safe room in a corner of the basement where at least two virtually impenetrable walls of solid earth will reinforce the exterior border. Then, reinforce the remaining interior walls.
- Basement safe rooms should also have overhead reinforcement. Many houses only have a board subfloor at street level, leaving the basement ceiling weak and prone to collapse if enough force is applied. There’s nothing stopping an intruder gaining entry at ground level and firing rounds down through the floor, directly into where you may be hiding.
- In most apartment buildings, the common wall separating two units is fireproof, as the law dictates. This means they’re made of cement, providing built-in reinforcement.
- For extra protection, set down steel sheeting or chicken wire beneath the wall and ceiling drywall.
- If you have the cash, you can install armored steel plates to your walls, converting your room into a blast-proof.
- Line your walls with heavy furniture, such as filing cabinets, freezers, cupboards or stocked bookcases.
- If your safe room is breached, prepare for a shoot-out. A portable cover for inside the room as well as bulletproof vests for your household will provide extra protection if you need to fight to hold the fort.
Gadgets and Supplies
No sheltered room is finished without a full supply of crisis things. Some of these will as of now be well known to you, as they most likely make up your Sway or EDC. The accompanying things are prescribed for stocking your protected room:
- You’ll need a cell phone, first aid kit, food, bottled water, ammunition, prescription medication, weapons, personal hygiene items and a flashlight. Make sure the space is wired up with an electrical plug point for charging cell phones and other devices, and can accommodate an alarm panel and direct-dial phone.
- The US Department of Justice’s Emergency Preparedness Handbook also recommends duct tape, credit cards, cash, important documents, blankets and potassium-iodine tablets to prevent radiation sickness as safe room essentials.
- Your intruder may use tear gas or other chemicals to try to get you to come out. Keep some gas masks on hand in case this happens. A filtered or positive pressure ventilation system, such as those found in hospitals, can also be used.
- Furnish your safe room with air mattress and a few chairs.
- Equip yourself with double hearing protection in case you need to shoot from within your safe room – it’s a confined space and the sound of the gun firing will damage your ears.
- Keep your weapons in a safe at all times.
- Set up a surveillance system that is connected to a television located inside the safe room. This way, you can monitor the intruder’s movements and report these to the police when you call for help.
- It is also very helpful to provide the police with as much information about an incident as possible. Cameras and recording systems will help authorities to identify the intruder and determine whether or not he is armed.
Communication is Everything
Your telephone is the most vital bit of hardware in your sheltered room. The room is a spot to withdraw to, yet you have to have an arrangement to summon help, or danger being stuck inside for an indeterminate stretch of time.
- Once you’re safely locked in the room, dial 911 immediately. Stay on the line and remain calm. Tell the operator that you’re in the safe room and are armed. Explain the location of the intruder, if you know it. It’s better to give as much information as possible; the police are often reluctant to enter a property where there is currently a stand-off between an armed intruder and an armed owner, as this may result in the owner getting shot and the intruder escaping unscathed. Constant communication will reduce the risk of dangerous misunderstandings and fatal error.
- Keep a ham radio or cell phone in your safe room at all times. However, if the room does not pick up a reliable cell phone signal, you can install a buried landline instead, or set up an alarm system that is directly linked to the police or security personnel. Intruders are less likely to disconnect a separate landline.
- If you have a reliable neighbour close by, consider a two-way radio to call for help. You can purchase one with a range of up to 30 miles, depending on the conditions.
Safe rooms ought to just be utilized when all else comes up short. The bug in versus bug out level headed discussion is a warmed one yet in the event that you’re encountering a home intrusion, running dependably from your house is constantly superior to anything stowing away inside you’re protected room..
All things considered, safe rooms give substantial security against a full scale strike, which is something you’ll be totally unable to discover when out in the wild. You don’t need to be an extremely rich person to maintain a strategic distance from one, either. Safe rooms are versatile and can be implicit any home, the length of you have the right materials. Would you think about building as a protected room in you’re home?
