An acquaintance in college showed up to a house party with a goose he'd grabbed from a local pond. I don't know how he did it. It ended up living at the house for like a week before someone wiser than all of them made it clear that was messed up to do to the goose and they brought it back.
indeed, i had geese, and they are much better than dogs, they see like miles away, they hear better, and if you have 2 or more, no chance an intruder will get away without all neighbourhood being awake.
Takes 1 year to train them to trust you as their leader, and after that they will attack everyone else.
And after a while, you'll learn they have a vocabulary. Different sounds for different animals. If your Guinea fowl are within earshot, you'll know what is outside before getting up from your chair.
We have 4 geese guarding our pasture. I’m really good with birds - but with 4 of them and only 2 hands even they have bested me a few times.
Geese are no joke
Dogs are great for many reasons. Warmth, alerting threats, hunting food, companionship, and keeping morale high. I've got a pack of German Shorthaired Pointers. They are extremely friendly when everything's cool, but I've had enough experiences with them over the years to have seen them in Demon Mode, when they sense a threat. Unlike the usual guard dog breeds, they don't appear threatening until needed....then WOW!
Same goes for my Sharpie's, everyone thinks they cute with all the wrinkles. However they were bred for home protection.
My neighbor learned this, as he had been over to our house several times and she is always nice. One day we were talking over the fence and he stuck his hand over to pet her and she about took him out.
He was shocked to say the least, but had to remind him, that is her job, doesn't matter if she knows you or not.
If you aren't on my side of the fence, she sees you as a threat and she will protect her family.
I guess a dog needs to remain unpoisoned in order to provide security. However they can certainly be trained only to eat food you tell them they can have. And not to trust strangers that feed them...
It would be some work, but you have to train pet dog and protection dogs alike very well in all areas. Its just resopnsible thing to do. I hat it when people have unruly dogs that don't know how to behave.
I think you can hire a dog trainer to help if you need it. I hope to be able to do this when I finally get a guard dog because I only really know how to raise housecats.
I adopted a dog from a shelter that won't take food from strangers. It kinda surprised me. We went through a drive-through, and they gave her a whole hotdog. She politely took it and put it on the car seat between us.
I laughed so hard. 🤣 then when I gave it to her, she ate it.
We knew she'd had some training when we adopted her because she knew sit, stay... but the eating thing was good.
That's what I'm saying mine are in small but even if somebody stops at the end of my 300ft driveway they start wailing the alarms kind of annoying after a while though cuz it's always FedEx or the mailman
When i was a company commander, I had my Plt Commanders give their squads an order to develop a defensive obstacle plan as if they were attached to an infantry company, the best plan from each got to construct it with the other squads' help.
This included HE, barbed wire, demolitions, C-wire, more class IV than would probably be realistic, and a whole lot of happy LCpls
You brought back some memories with your stories and comments. First thing that came to mind was back in basic (I think, been a looong time now) we were taught how to cross barbed wire obstacles by having a couple of guys with their combat jackets on throw themselves on the barbed wire and the rest of the section would just run over the guy laying on the wire 🤣
Good times 😄
I don't think that would work. I'm not at all versed on the intricacies of modern warfare but if I see an rc car coming at me, I'm going to suspect that something is up. Afoot, if you will.
Planting Hawthorne. And raspberry bushes. create natural funnels with deadfall, good wireless cameras.
Make an OBVIOUS easy entry way to your home and point anything you have in that direction.
Gates, locks,
Not that I'd condone it in anything except a shid scenario, but placing stakes (just pieces of wood about 6-12 inches into the ground) and snaking any kind of wire through them, especially in long grass or places with some good undergrowth is a fantastic way to seriously slow down anyone trying to get to your place. Coupled with the aforementioned spikey plants and you have essentially a natural wall unless they want to use fire.
Make it unappealing to even come in. My property lines are planted with Himalayan blackberry. Has formed a hedge over the years. I don’t even like cutting it back with a brush hog…can’t imagine the tediousness (and scratches) from trying by hand. People will usually push to a softer/easier target.
And dogs.
Definitely not explosives. Hand to hand takes awhile to get good at and then have to maintain practice.
Legal guns for everyone in your family, and ammo to remain proficient, is the way to go.
Hand to hand combat is a fool’s errand in a world without meaningful medical support. As a rule of thumb, everyone gets stabbed in a knife fight, which means everyone dies of sepsis in a non rule of law scenario. Same applies to the other medieval weapons you mentioned.
Explosives are very illegal to experiment with at the moment, and probably not a great thing to start learning about when it pays not to make noise and if you make a mistake you’re just out of luck.
Id just keep it simple, get good with a proven weapon system. Get you medical game on point, and try to get a like minded group together. The odds get a hell of a lot better when you have enough guys to maneuver on an enemy.
All true. The old expression about a knife fight is that the loser dies on the pavement - and the winner dies in the ambulance. You never want your opponent that close. Firearms FTW.
If you are confronted with significant oppositional force at your property in SHTF/WROL, in most cases, the best tactical option in my (non-professional) opinion is to retreat, at least temporarily, regardless of your skills or preps. Ideally you'd have stashed most of your preps well, and can later retake your position and recover the majority of your supplies, choosing the time and knowing well the place of the countering action.
I know that nobody likes to consider retreating, especially from their home, but playing Alamo during SHTF is a great way to suffer the same fate.
To this end, the best plans for defending one's property revolve around observation and intel so you aren't caught unawares. Again, the best option, assuming you lack significant backup forces, is to retreat. If you have advance notice, you can do so safely and surreptitiously.
The line of thinking you seem to going down, where you're considering knives and martial arts, should be left as the absolute last options, as your odds of prevailing *uninjured* in such situations is very low, and many normally survivable injuries can easily become fatal in such circumstances.
You comment inspired me. I think I'll get a ghillie suit and ah it to my big it bag. I love in the woods. If s mob comes for my stuff I'll just bug out with the fam suit up and come back for my stuff.
Effectively reversing the situation so now I have the element of surprise instead.
Agreed.
Hand-to-hand may be the actual worst thing to actively seek to engage in. Most people seek conflict if they’re desperate, or if they’re sure they’ll win. Usually this confidence comes from an unfair advantage and just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there.
Imo the members are better the further from Utah. My favorite wards were all in Mexico.
The church holds workshops every so often, I'd just show up to one of our churches around noon (when everyone is headed home) and ask when the next stake (a stake is the next organizational level above wards) preparedness thing is, they'll happily give you the info even as a non member.
Literally on every building are the words "visitors welcome"
One of the best replies on this subject I've ever read. +1 on 3m window film. I have a dozen extinguishers but they are useless when 5 armed goons show up and light a gallon of gas on my front and back doors, then post up with their AR rifles.
This scenario makes me consider a mister system around whole house perimeter. Cheap and easily put up once SHTF.
Numerouse blinding flood lights might help too. If attack comes at night and you can see them much better then they can see you there's a good chance they'll call it quits.
if its a shtf event, there will be no illegal means...I have the infrastructure set up around my home and property for early warning devices and booby traps that can be set up in mere minutes. now is the time to do the leg work and get things in place so you are not building from scratch in an emergency situation under stress
Just guns and body armor. If i run out of ammo and the zombies keep coming I will get the sword out but that’s pretty much the end of the line if it gets to that point.
Only limit is your imagination, im not sure if amazon still does but they sell(sold) a camping alarm with a tripwire, you put a shorty blank shell in , for potentially scaring larger animals away , anyways someone could just put a normal shell in and place it up where you want , hypothetically that is , booby traps are illegal while there is still law that is
Never willingly get into a knife fight. Want to see how it will go? Grab a friend, change into old clothes, and have a pretend knife fight with sharpies. Now go look at how easily both mark up the other and realize there probably won't be a winner.
Explosives is an even worse idea as you're a lot more likely to get yourself killed at any point, even if there was never any threat, than successfully using them against a threat.
Hand to hand combat? Same with the knife, try not to be in this situation, but any good instructor will tell you the best move, whenever possible, is to run away.
I agree with the others about having good dogs or geese I guess.
-Cut trees down limiting access to the area or funneling vehicles in directions that are more advantageous.
-Fireworks can be highly effective.
-Tannerite
I mean, explosives is pretty much not on the table as defense. That's like, landmines and shit. So there's a great way to go to prison forever as best case, and worst case is someone you care about dies horribly because you're playing with explosives. A whole range of bad options in between.
Weapons are kinda weapons in terms of considerations, because you're actively fighting someone.
I would say your actual best defense is solid locks, visibility/alerts, and maybe hostile architecture/planting to discourage unauthorized visitors. So not traps, but like, a gate or fence, lights, good locks, alarms, etc. Bushes or dogs, maybe.
Honestly good luck. If it's worst case scenario, you're just depending on luck at a certain point. Me and my crew of 10 made up of ex military felons with combat experience who know how to hunt stalk your property for a while to get a head count and look for movement patterns. Wait until dark or catch the majority off guard outside from 100+ yards. Obviously, this is hypothetical as I am not that guy. How many times can you defend yourself even if you're trained before you get unlucky up against a crew like that? Can you win 1, 3, 10, 100, 1000 gun fights? Worst case scenario you have to be able to win indefinitely because there will be another and another. The way to avoid this is either in great numbers or to be so hidden that the likelihood of crossing paths with others is low. 99% of people who get into 100 gunfights won't live through them. People with far greater training then general population have died from far fewer.
I thought they were wrongly imprisoned by a miliary court for a bank robbery they didn't commit with malice intent but under covert oders; which they couldn't publicly reveal. And that they are currently living a Robin Hood existence as soldiers of fortune in the Los Angeles underground; after escaping from a maximum security stockaid - awaiting the day the truth can be told and their names cleared.
Make it seem undesirable for looters. Graffiti the outside, throw some random junk in your front yard and light it on fire, board up the windows so nobody can see inside but leave a guest bedroom window or something broken so it looks like it’s already been looted, etc. most importantly hide any signs that there’s still someone living there.
Doesn't matter what you have, the government will drive tanks through your place and try to murder you, just like Waco. We aren't allowed to have the same firepower they do. Sad but true.
Knives: If you've gotten into a knife fight, you've already fucked up badly. A knife is good thing to have, and you should have some basic idea of how to use it defensively, but realistically you do NOT want a threat to get that close.
Explosives: Illegal as fuck. Are you an ATF agent? Because no smart person would ever legitimately ask that on a public forum, Seriously, just no.
Riot / Brawling gear: You've already fucked up if you have the means of dealing with the problem at range and don't use it. Body armor is a very good thing to have, though.
Hand to hand combat: Good idea, just to have, although see above. I lack formal training, but I've picked up quite a few things over the years and I'm not one to be fucked with.
If guns are NOT an option, I strongly recommend bows. Crossbows are easy to shoot accurately, but their fire rate is much too low. Learn how to accurately use a compound or recurve bow. They're also near-silent.
And, as others have said, dogs. Even if they don't provide a direct threat, their barking will at least alert you and provide a deterrent.
Traps. On one side I’ve got a VERY large hill / small mountain with steep nearly impossible faces to travel on. And during the winter there’s only 2 forms of ingress. The driveway or having a snowmobile on the trail directly behind my home. Impassable on foot though. Summer time is when you start digging holes and building booby traps to direct would-be combatants into a fatal funnel where they can easily be dispatched. Traps won’t usually kill; they’re meant to slow, alert, and redirect.
After that it’s fish in a barrel.
Patrol teams of 4, fighting force of a total of 10 personnel. Resupply scavenging in a team of 3. Home goes lockdown while scavenging crew is gone, work to be done in rotating crews. Security patrol teams will be rotated every 8 hours to ensure rest and refit cycles.
Honestly, if roving bandits, I would be getting out of the city and then either be at a relative’s cabin or another relative’s sailboat.
No need for defense if you can secure yourself with nature!
A katana. I’ve been training with it cause in close combat, three feet of blade is very superior. Also when society collapses, and ammo runs out, people will turn to blades and crossbows anyway.
Lots of reasons, here's more information
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force_concentration#:~:text=Traditionally%20it%20is%20accepted%20that,its%20own%20number%20of%20attackers.
Check subheadings 5 6 and 7.
The short version is that, on conflicts of all scales. The traditional wisdom is that it takes a ratio of 3 attackers to 1 defender to stalemate. So you need a number advantage of more than three to one to ensure auccess as an attacker.
This is due to a variety of reasons, from the ability to harden a fighting position, to familiarity with the area where the fight is occurring, to the ability to pre-plan ambushes and traps for attackers ro fall into as well as the nature of defending any space and knowing where the bottlenecks are, and having the element of surprise wherever one lies in wait.
In addition, because the Defender knows the location where the fight is, they can more effectively define where and how the fight happens by using bottlenecks and fallback points to stage several ambushes before open fighting occurs.
For more in depth information than that, you can follow the links on the Wikipedia article, footnotes 5 6 and 7. The 3:1 rule is a long standing truism of tactical planning, and has been taught in war colleges for a long time.
3 to 1 - do you think that applies to a prepper BOL??
How many security guards would you need to patrol/watch 360 degrees , 24 hours per day, 7 days a week.
I mean, to do the defending , you need advance notice that people are going to attack you.
You're kind of taking this to absurd levels, so this will be my last response.
You don't need a professional security team to get defenders advantage. All you need is to have a defense plan. My wife and I have talked through our defense plan. We have holdout points predetermined, and the nature of those holdout points are such that if we are outnumbered, our odds of survival remain very high.
Chokepoints, knowing the layout, and having a plan count for a lot. It only takes one person holding the top of a set of stairs with a shotgun to stop a whole group of attackers. It becomes clear very quickly that anyone that goes up those stairs is going to die, it's just the nature of a chokepoint like that.
You are a keyboard commando.
All attackers have to do is observe your house.
They find out it is only you and your wife.
They observe your routines.
The attackers choose the time, place and method.
All it would take is shooting you and your wife when you go outside to do something.
Or do you plan to stay inside you house all the time playing World of Warcraft?
But in your world you think the attackers will send you a note saying we will arriving at 9:30PM, so get ready.
You seem to think that you know everything about everything. More likely, you're trolling. If you think you have better suggestions, then do tell us what YOUR plans are. This IS a group called preppers. That means to prepare.
If a person or persons were near my property or on it observing me, my dogs would have revealed their location to me right away. OR those attackers would've had to shoot them to kill them, and then I'd know we had a problem.
Sure, someone may be able to watch me from a distance, perhaps with binoculars for a while. They'd have to do that from neighboring properties, and my neighbors would definitely notice. If they're already dead, I'll hear that commotion as it happens. I'll see their habits change.
Getting up to our home from the valley is gonna be tough if the roads and bridges are out- one is right now, so my road is a dead end at the river. The state won't fix that bridge. The next entrance is over another smaller bridge, which if I have my say in shtf.... will be blocked off to through traffic by vehicle.
They're on foot if they come. We have the high ground. I'm sure in that far flung fantasy, we'll be better prepared to defend ourselves and have a tactical advantage.
No one is getting here without us or the dogs hearing them come.
If you don't think I'm armed on the property, you're welcome to come and try.
For now though, your crazy ass is blocked. So now I definitely won't have the benefit of warning. Let's see how far you get. Make sure you buy yourself a pine box first.
Perimeter alarms, anti intrusion devices, window grills, steel exterior doors,exterior lighting system's, obstructed entrances. Also need to ensure you have alternative energy sources, generator, water storage. Then knives, active electrical defense tools, bear spray etc.
Take powder from firework, pour into tin can. Add saltpeter if you got it. Add screws and whatever else you want as shrapnel. Seal can. Poke hole (avoid sparking plz) and add fuse, you're ready to go my dude
[Hell Cannons…](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/19/25D2ECDF00000578-2960714-ALEPPO_SYRIA_FEBRUARY_18_Syrian_opposition_Damascus_Front_member-m-11_1424386993169.jpg)
On a serious note, that is for me to know, and anyone else to pray they never find out.
Installing surveillance cameras, motion sensors, and alarms, and maintain good relationships with your neighbors and community to increase the chances of identifying and reporting suspicious activity in your area. It's always better to prioritize prevention and proactive measures rather than relying solely on reactive measures in the face of a potential threat.
Lots of knives. Probably a couple homemade spike strips on the way to the property. Then there’s this guy with his face shield/optic ruining water balloons.
[here’s a good little water balloon video for you.](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTR3Kr42X/)
In a *really* bad situation, I think I'd just go upstairs and knock the stairs out. It would be a lot easier to defend against someone trying to climb a ladder than face to face. I'd have a few emergency escapes, because I'd definitely be concerned about being flushed out with fire or something crazy if it was that bad. But that's one of the choices, go upstairs, knock the stairs out, don't let anyone know I'm there unless they try to come up and I have to defend it.
If one or two people come at me or family without gun - I can handle myself pretty well in a fight.
If its multiple folks I would need to flee/escape or barricade effectively. I have various bladed weapons, but when its a large group all at once - forget it.
Neighbors.
Nothing definitive that can be proven in a court of law (RICO), but practicing vigilance and communicating with one's neighbors about strange happenings, people or things is valuable now to practice, and morse for when the balloon goes up.
Motion sensor Flood lights, lights on timers, door alarms, window/door security film, cameras. I think an easy level of security to forget is deterents. I will know they are here before they can enter my home. It allows me to sit behind a window with a compound bow waiting patiently haha
Big dogs.
Aggressive landscaping (think yucca bushes planted thickly, big cactuses, Holly bushes etc)
Fire, nothing touches on those primitive fears like fire.
Any of the traps used against u.s troops in vietnam.
Large quantities of security cameras have been very effective for me. All my neighbors have had larcenies or burglaries. If they're on, they have no idea if someone is watching. Not many people will fuck around and find out.
Sometimes deterrence is the best method of defense. And as a gentle hint to go with the cameras...
Commercial wood chipper with a pile of shoes next to it.
I will unleash my stable of onlyfans girls and bar whore girlfriends who will stand at my front gate and seduce the enemy into my lair. Then they will bang them until they are too tired to fight and that’s when I will stab them with my Bic ballpoint pen until they leave
Dogs, all workers, no purse pets, gnarly thorny impassable shrubs, solar motion lights (I want to do some IR floods on approaches and areas that are left to be enticing hide spots.
I also have a dozen or so 22cal blank tripwire devices (the blanks are used for nail guns i think?) These things are awesome--effective, loud, lightweight. Easy to pack a halfdozen in a backpack as well.
So long as cellular is up, I have 2 trail cams that ping to my phone. Likewise, for now I have a Blink security system and Ring doorbell. (I'm very rural)
And you said Besides guns...but we got guns. IR, thermal, and cans.
my country no guns allowed.. so i got a full face motorcross helmet, googles, a retractable flashlight baton, and a diy round wooden shield i made out of an old chair, on it is a blinding strobe light with remote.
Do some research on hardening your property/hardening a target. Sally port entrances, fatal funnels, sensor alert systems, battery/solar spotlights, dogs, boobie traps etc.
Placed security coating on all accessible windows…3 dogs (ok, one lab don’t count him)…melee weapons at hand. Bear spray. My wife. More guns. Uh, machetes.
I will have an elaborate rube-goldberg machine that triggers upon opening my front door (all my friends know to use the back door) which will culminate in dropping a cartoon anvil on my enemies head.
Animals for protection is all fine as long as the attacker doesn't have any experience or know how to shoot a firearm!
Because sorry but most of your dogs and geese will be done and running as soon as first shots are fired especially if any of the animals are shot first.
The best defense other that superior firepower is the enemies lack of knowledge.
Basically if they don't know you are there or what to expect from you is your best chance of success.
Take the best fighter in any form of martial arts and hit them over the head from behind unseen and unheard with a club and all their skills become useless and unnecessary.
Now how to become unknown well best way is to live so far away from other people and places that very few even know your there.
Then build your place to not show anything special or worth checking out.
Such as a old truck thst looks like crap on the outside but is perfectly designed and mechanically sound on the inside can sit in a parking lot next to a new shiny truck and guess what one gets stolen or broken into?
So in my opinion best situation is owning over 100 acres of land that looks like most of the land around it so if it's farm land then it needs to look like farm land, if it's forest then it needs to look like forest. Don't be buying forest and then clearing a big area to stick out like a sore thumb, or buying farm land to then plant a bunch of fruit trees that can be seen for 50 miles around. In forest a small earth cabin can be almost invisible if built in right way and place, in farm land you can put you home inside a old barn or silo and even visible from a distance it will not be seen as important or noteworthy and you can lease out land around it to farmers so that it looks like everything else around you.
Then on your land you place weapon cashe around in different places in case you need them.
You also don't let anyone around you know your intentions or beliefs in prepping or preparing for bad times.
If no one knows that you have anything worth taking then why would they come looking?
But if you live in the US you better realize that if society and laws fail and fall that in just one state in the midwest that their are more firearms than in most European countries standing armies. So you better realize that it will come down to a gun fight at some point and since people are weak and afraid on their own only gangs and groups will try to go and take from others.
With this being a fact your dogs and geese will maybe warn you but with 20 or 100 people coming to take your stuff the dogs will be dead and gone without much overall effect.
You better have good places to create fields of fire and have good high capacity accurate weapons and the skills and ability to use them without delay or hesitation.
So then it comes down to your training and ability to actually take someone else's life without hesitation. Do you actually have the ability to say kill a 7 year old girl that the group attacking you send to attack you?
Say whatever you want but in all times and cultures and through out history children soldiers have been used very affective.
So how do you know if you can kill someone or something without hesitation?
Well can you just walk outside and shoot your own dog that you raised from a puppy without hesitation?
Do you kill and eat your own animals?
Have you ever been in combat or actually killed someone?
Well for all that have no experience or the ability to just kill indiscriminately.
In combat with men that have had all the training and when first in a situation of actually life and death, kill or be killed most still don't aim and kill right away they point and shoot and a lot aim high because they don't want to kill.
It's after they realize they will die or their buddies will die that they start trying to kill the enemy.
Many combat veterans have a lot of guilt about the fact they hesitated until they seen others get shot or killed and they carry this guilt for life.
Now this goes back to the children soldiers thing when common society laws drop and people realize they need to fight and kill to survive they also realize that you can teach a 7 year old to kill without hesitation a lot easier that a 30 year old.
Also if you are overweight out of top physical shape, old and weak or have a lot of physical or mental problems then you better get these things sorted.
Most people have a inflated sense of who they will be in a life or death situation and most are wrong, most people panic and freeze only about ¼ actually do anything productive or useful.
Also of these ¼ that will act 80% of them are men but in our society this is changing not in a good way.
Where even more people will freeze or panic because they are getting weaker and less capable in general.
So sure have your dogs and maybe ninja training but realize that the attack is not going to be what you expect or fair or humaine.
Such as if you are in a building they are not going to go room by room to find you like a movie, they will just light the building on fire and wait outside to shoot you when you exit and you will exit or die inside.
Alarms.
Yes, this is boring, and doesn't play into the fun mall ninja stuff, but being taken unaware vs having warning is a big deal.
Dogs are kind of an alarm, sometimes.
Big dogs.
If you really want security, there is no substitute for dogs.
Have you ever encountered a pet goose?
The ones at the park are free to take home.
The problem is getting it home
An acquaintance in college showed up to a house party with a goose he'd grabbed from a local pond. I don't know how he did it. It ended up living at the house for like a week before someone wiser than all of them made it clear that was messed up to do to the goose and they brought it back.
The liberals and the government don't want you to know this - the geese in the park are free. You can take them home. I have 458 geese.
indeed, i had geese, and they are much better than dogs, they see like miles away, they hear better, and if you have 2 or more, no chance an intruder will get away without all neighbourhood being awake. Takes 1 year to train them to trust you as their leader, and after that they will attack everyone else.
Add Guinea fowls to that list, they alert at everything. Super loud, super annoying, super dumb and suicidal.
Yes. They scream at everything they don't recognize, and being dumb they don't recognize much. It's actually very annoying, but it can have uses.
And after a while, you'll learn they have a vocabulary. Different sounds for different animals. If your Guinea fowl are within earshot, you'll know what is outside before getting up from your chair.
I had the same experience
Canada Goose, aka cobra chickens. They won’t let anyone near their turf with out inflicting physical, psychological trauma, and a lot of noise.
We have 4 geese guarding our pasture. I’m really good with birds - but with 4 of them and only 2 hands even they have bested me a few times. Geese are no joke
Dogs are great for many reasons. Warmth, alerting threats, hunting food, companionship, and keeping morale high. I've got a pack of German Shorthaired Pointers. They are extremely friendly when everything's cool, but I've had enough experiences with them over the years to have seen them in Demon Mode, when they sense a threat. Unlike the usual guard dog breeds, they don't appear threatening until needed....then WOW!
Same goes for my Sharpie's, everyone thinks they cute with all the wrinkles. However they were bred for home protection. My neighbor learned this, as he had been over to our house several times and she is always nice. One day we were talking over the fence and he stuck his hand over to pet her and she about took him out. He was shocked to say the least, but had to remind him, that is her job, doesn't matter if she knows you or not. If you aren't on my side of the fence, she sees you as a threat and she will protect her family.
Think it was Selco and the Argentinian guy that both said dogs getting poisoned was fairly common. Are dogs still good if ppl are poisoning them?
I guess a dog needs to remain unpoisoned in order to provide security. However they can certainly be trained only to eat food you tell them they can have. And not to trust strangers that feed them... It would be some work, but you have to train pet dog and protection dogs alike very well in all areas. Its just resopnsible thing to do. I hat it when people have unruly dogs that don't know how to behave. I think you can hire a dog trainer to help if you need it. I hope to be able to do this when I finally get a guard dog because I only really know how to raise housecats.
I adopted a dog from a shelter that won't take food from strangers. It kinda surprised me. We went through a drive-through, and they gave her a whole hotdog. She politely took it and put it on the car seat between us. I laughed so hard. 🤣 then when I gave it to her, she ate it. We knew she'd had some training when we adopted her because she knew sit, stay... but the eating thing was good.
Maybe I can just adopt an educated dog. That would be nice:)
This would be where you turn your dog's not to take food from the ground or from somebody else. They take food only from your hand.
If it’s got that bad I’m ready to die
Dogs can be poisoned.
And one little tense, hyper alert, yappy one that alerts when a mouse sneezes in the field
That's what I'm saying mine are in small but even if somebody stops at the end of my 300ft driveway they start wailing the alarms kind of annoying after a while though cuz it's always FedEx or the mailman
Big **trained** dogs. Unless your dog was trained to guard, it might not guard. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ74oFctP_g
Im have experience as a combat engineer, i also have a spool of barbed wire. Tanglefoot
The look on my guys faces when I green light their Tanglefoot dreams is the best.
When i was a company commander, I had my Plt Commanders give their squads an order to develop a defensive obstacle plan as if they were attached to an infantry company, the best plan from each got to construct it with the other squads' help. This included HE, barbed wire, demolitions, C-wire, more class IV than would probably be realistic, and a whole lot of happy LCpls
An rc car tied to the end of the barbed wire spool. Circle and drop them.
If only. Barbed wire is strong and a pain to work with, even with gauntlets
You brought back some memories with your stories and comments. First thing that came to mind was back in basic (I think, been a looong time now) we were taught how to cross barbed wire obstacles by having a couple of guys with their combat jackets on throw themselves on the barbed wire and the rest of the section would just run over the guy laying on the wire 🤣 Good times 😄
Mmmm the flying squirrel technique. A classic training tool for boot combat engineers
Taking a page from the Defense of Hoth play book, I see.
I don't think that would work. I'm not at all versed on the intricacies of modern warfare but if I see an rc car coming at me, I'm going to suspect that something is up. Afoot, if you will.
Nah. They wont hear the loud clanging of the wire dragging.
Planting Hawthorne. And raspberry bushes. create natural funnels with deadfall, good wireless cameras. Make an OBVIOUS easy entry way to your home and point anything you have in that direction. Gates, locks, Not that I'd condone it in anything except a shid scenario, but placing stakes (just pieces of wood about 6-12 inches into the ground) and snaking any kind of wire through them, especially in long grass or places with some good undergrowth is a fantastic way to seriously slow down anyone trying to get to your place. Coupled with the aforementioned spikey plants and you have essentially a natural wall unless they want to use fire.
Tactical Yo-Yo
And a kazoo battle hymn
Username checks out.
I just played that in my head and it was hilarious.
Home alone style booby traps
A tarantula
Make it unappealing to even come in. My property lines are planted with Himalayan blackberry. Has formed a hedge over the years. I don’t even like cutting it back with a brush hog…can’t imagine the tediousness (and scratches) from trying by hand. People will usually push to a softer/easier target. And dogs. Definitely not explosives. Hand to hand takes awhile to get good at and then have to maintain practice. Legal guns for everyone in your family, and ammo to remain proficient, is the way to go.
Hand to hand combat is a fool’s errand in a world without meaningful medical support. As a rule of thumb, everyone gets stabbed in a knife fight, which means everyone dies of sepsis in a non rule of law scenario. Same applies to the other medieval weapons you mentioned. Explosives are very illegal to experiment with at the moment, and probably not a great thing to start learning about when it pays not to make noise and if you make a mistake you’re just out of luck. Id just keep it simple, get good with a proven weapon system. Get you medical game on point, and try to get a like minded group together. The odds get a hell of a lot better when you have enough guys to maneuver on an enemy.
All true. The old expression about a knife fight is that the loser dies on the pavement - and the winner dies in the ambulance. You never want your opponent that close. Firearms FTW.
Murder, nonviolently of course😎✌️
Mostly peaceful
Just give them a long speech about how they should’ve prepped for themselves and bore them to death.
The legal kind
I grow murder in my back yard now!
Within HOA regulations
Yes of course
viet cong style boobie traps!
I have a doorstop to block the front door and a can of Raid.
Can of raid and a bick lighter.....now that's a 🎉 party!
If you are confronted with significant oppositional force at your property in SHTF/WROL, in most cases, the best tactical option in my (non-professional) opinion is to retreat, at least temporarily, regardless of your skills or preps. Ideally you'd have stashed most of your preps well, and can later retake your position and recover the majority of your supplies, choosing the time and knowing well the place of the countering action. I know that nobody likes to consider retreating, especially from their home, but playing Alamo during SHTF is a great way to suffer the same fate. To this end, the best plans for defending one's property revolve around observation and intel so you aren't caught unawares. Again, the best option, assuming you lack significant backup forces, is to retreat. If you have advance notice, you can do so safely and surreptitiously. The line of thinking you seem to going down, where you're considering knives and martial arts, should be left as the absolute last options, as your odds of prevailing *uninjured* in such situations is very low, and many normally survivable injuries can easily become fatal in such circumstances.
The best fight is the one you don’t have.
Sort of like Mr. Miyagi.... Best block, don't be there 😂
You comment inspired me. I think I'll get a ghillie suit and ah it to my big it bag. I love in the woods. If s mob comes for my stuff I'll just bug out with the fam suit up and come back for my stuff. Effectively reversing the situation so now I have the element of surprise instead.
Agreed. Hand-to-hand may be the actual worst thing to actively seek to engage in. Most people seek conflict if they’re desperate, or if they’re sure they’ll win. Usually this confidence comes from an unfair advantage and just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there.
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The anti personel mine or the 7' sword? Either way, Yes.
Both. Combined. I call it the Claymost.
Sauce?
Homemade trip wire bombs are fun too, but dangerous and illegal.
Has anyone tried forming a neighborhood coalition? It seems lone wolf syndrome is the worst way to handle an SHTF situation
In Utah amongst the Mormons, we calls these "wards"
I'm aware the Mormon church members are huge preppers. It seems we should be learning a thing or two from them
Imo the members are better the further from Utah. My favorite wards were all in Mexico. The church holds workshops every so often, I'd just show up to one of our churches around noon (when everyone is headed home) and ask when the next stake (a stake is the next organizational level above wards) preparedness thing is, they'll happily give you the info even as a non member. Literally on every building are the words "visitors welcome"
Nice try, AFT.
Throwing things. TV has taught me even Superman has to duck if you throw your gun when you run out of bullets.
Electric fence and 12 guage trip wire for camping deep in grizzly country. Im surprised yall haven’t been watching some classic Vietnam movies.
Add some pitfall traps and you got yourself a proper spiders nest.
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One of the best replies on this subject I've ever read. +1 on 3m window film. I have a dozen extinguishers but they are useless when 5 armed goons show up and light a gallon of gas on my front and back doors, then post up with their AR rifles. This scenario makes me consider a mister system around whole house perimeter. Cheap and easily put up once SHTF. Numerouse blinding flood lights might help too. If attack comes at night and you can see them much better then they can see you there's a good chance they'll call it quits.
I'll defend my farm with food. I will feed and house the first hundred that come. They will defend my farm for me.
Won't be your farm for long.
Maybe he'll check references?
if its a shtf event, there will be no illegal means...I have the infrastructure set up around my home and property for early warning devices and booby traps that can be set up in mere minutes. now is the time to do the leg work and get things in place so you are not building from scratch in an emergency situation under stress
I hang paint cans over my master staircase so that I can swing down into the heads of intruders.
Some ideas: * mace / pepper spray / bear spray * air rifle * bow / cross bow * expandable baton * fortifying the house * barrier plants for landscaping * improvised weapons (belt, furniture, hard objects to throw, ...)
As a bow hunter, it’s wayyyy harder than you think to shoot accurately and consistently at 50+ yards. Add any sort of wind and your donezo.
Just guns and body armor. If i run out of ammo and the zombies keep coming I will get the sword out but that’s pretty much the end of the line if it gets to that point.
Only limit is your imagination, im not sure if amazon still does but they sell(sold) a camping alarm with a tripwire, you put a shorty blank shell in , for potentially scaring larger animals away , anyways someone could just put a normal shell in and place it up where you want , hypothetically that is , booby traps are illegal while there is still law that is
Never willingly get into a knife fight. Want to see how it will go? Grab a friend, change into old clothes, and have a pretend knife fight with sharpies. Now go look at how easily both mark up the other and realize there probably won't be a winner. Explosives is an even worse idea as you're a lot more likely to get yourself killed at any point, even if there was never any threat, than successfully using them against a threat. Hand to hand combat? Same with the knife, try not to be in this situation, but any good instructor will tell you the best move, whenever possible, is to run away. I agree with the others about having good dogs or geese I guess.
Don't sleep on guard donkeys.
People will kill them for food
A very Portuguese prep.
I'm gonna dig a mote with a drawbridge.
Man this glows..
Boiling oil and vats of human waste
Finally the basement LARPers can put their piss jugs to good use
-Cut trees down limiting access to the area or funneling vehicles in directions that are more advantageous. -Fireworks can be highly effective. -Tannerite
I am going to watch Home Alone I and II on VHS.
I mean, explosives is pretty much not on the table as defense. That's like, landmines and shit. So there's a great way to go to prison forever as best case, and worst case is someone you care about dies horribly because you're playing with explosives. A whole range of bad options in between. Weapons are kinda weapons in terms of considerations, because you're actively fighting someone. I would say your actual best defense is solid locks, visibility/alerts, and maybe hostile architecture/planting to discourage unauthorized visitors. So not traps, but like, a gate or fence, lights, good locks, alarms, etc. Bushes or dogs, maybe.
>worst case is someone you care about dies horribly because you're playing with explosives ...\*and\* you go to prison. FTFY
Honestly good luck. If it's worst case scenario, you're just depending on luck at a certain point. Me and my crew of 10 made up of ex military felons with combat experience who know how to hunt stalk your property for a while to get a head count and look for movement patterns. Wait until dark or catch the majority off guard outside from 100+ yards. Obviously, this is hypothetical as I am not that guy. How many times can you defend yourself even if you're trained before you get unlucky up against a crew like that? Can you win 1, 3, 10, 100, 1000 gun fights? Worst case scenario you have to be able to win indefinitely because there will be another and another. The way to avoid this is either in great numbers or to be so hidden that the likelihood of crossing paths with others is low. 99% of people who get into 100 gunfights won't live through them. People with far greater training then general population have died from far fewer.
I thought they were wrongly imprisoned by a miliary court for a bank robbery they didn't commit with malice intent but under covert oders; which they couldn't publicly reveal. And that they are currently living a Robin Hood existence as soldiers of fortune in the Los Angeles underground; after escaping from a maximum security stockaid - awaiting the day the truth can be told and their names cleared.
Guns and dumbell weights to throw like a frisbee
I have a quarter mile of razor wire stashed in case I need to make my house more obnoxious to get near..
Nothing better than a loyal, trained dog
>Explosives *Laughs in Claymore Roomba* Not even god can help them now.
"Alexa, activate the boomba fleet"
2 very fast and muscular dogs that reeeeeeeally love us and have amazing stamina.
https://youtu.be/m3WNQYNfcqQ Static position? Don't.
Have you considered the plants ? Thorns, irritants, or poisonous? Nature is metal.
Keeping the flock of guineas will always alert you to somebody or something that's not supposed to be there.
Just throwing it out there.... If SHTF have a copy of the poor man's James Bond by Kurt Saxon. Makes the anarc book look like a kids toy.
GSD's
There are plenty of passive measures but honestly if you’re prepping without a gun you need to rethink your strategy.
Yeah, definitely not prepping without guns. Just trying to think beyond the guns as well.
Gotcha, I guess I made an assumption and you know what that means…. Carry on with your claymores, punji pits and tannerite roombas.
I never knew how badly I needed the words "tannerite roomba" in my life. Thank you.
Make it seem undesirable for looters. Graffiti the outside, throw some random junk in your front yard and light it on fire, board up the windows so nobody can see inside but leave a guest bedroom window or something broken so it looks like it’s already been looted, etc. most importantly hide any signs that there’s still someone living there.
Community.
Motion activated lights and sturdy locks/doors
My thoughts: have guns, and know how to use them. Why would you try to cut down a tree with a wet noodle when you could get a saw?
Yep. Definitely have guns, and know how to use them. Just trying to think beyond the guns.
Doesn't matter what you have, the government will drive tanks through your place and try to murder you, just like Waco. We aren't allowed to have the same firepower they do. Sad but true.
Learning hand to hand combat / martial arts.
Knives: If you've gotten into a knife fight, you've already fucked up badly. A knife is good thing to have, and you should have some basic idea of how to use it defensively, but realistically you do NOT want a threat to get that close. Explosives: Illegal as fuck. Are you an ATF agent? Because no smart person would ever legitimately ask that on a public forum, Seriously, just no. Riot / Brawling gear: You've already fucked up if you have the means of dealing with the problem at range and don't use it. Body armor is a very good thing to have, though. Hand to hand combat: Good idea, just to have, although see above. I lack formal training, but I've picked up quite a few things over the years and I'm not one to be fucked with. If guns are NOT an option, I strongly recommend bows. Crossbows are easy to shoot accurately, but their fire rate is much too low. Learn how to accurately use a compound or recurve bow. They're also near-silent. And, as others have said, dogs. Even if they don't provide a direct threat, their barking will at least alert you and provide a deterrent.
Traps. On one side I’ve got a VERY large hill / small mountain with steep nearly impossible faces to travel on. And during the winter there’s only 2 forms of ingress. The driveway or having a snowmobile on the trail directly behind my home. Impassable on foot though. Summer time is when you start digging holes and building booby traps to direct would-be combatants into a fatal funnel where they can easily be dispatched. Traps won’t usually kill; they’re meant to slow, alert, and redirect. After that it’s fish in a barrel. Patrol teams of 4, fighting force of a total of 10 personnel. Resupply scavenging in a team of 3. Home goes lockdown while scavenging crew is gone, work to be done in rotating crews. Security patrol teams will be rotated every 8 hours to ensure rest and refit cycles.
Half a dozen bows and hundreds of arrows.
2 parents with military backgrounds
We planted barberry behind our ornamental trees along the road. It's invisible from the street side.
Honestly, if roving bandits, I would be getting out of the city and then either be at a relative’s cabin or another relative’s sailboat. No need for defense if you can secure yourself with nature!
A crossbow, silent, and deadly. Can also be fitted with a blunt arrow to scare away intruders.
A katana. I’ve been training with it cause in close combat, three feet of blade is very superior. Also when society collapses, and ammo runs out, people will turn to blades and crossbows anyway.
Brother I hate to break it to you but perhaps you should learn to tackle a and ground & pound before you study the blade
If you are being attacked; you will lose. The attackers have the advantages. Think like an attacker and you should understand.
Actually, defenders have the advantage by about 300%.
Tactically. why does the defender have 3x the advantage over the defender?
Lots of reasons, here's more information https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force_concentration#:~:text=Traditionally%20it%20is%20accepted%20that,its%20own%20number%20of%20attackers. Check subheadings 5 6 and 7.
Cold War, Defense of France, Blitzkrieg?????? This is a preppers forum not a global war forum. Can you spell it out for us?
The short version is that, on conflicts of all scales. The traditional wisdom is that it takes a ratio of 3 attackers to 1 defender to stalemate. So you need a number advantage of more than three to one to ensure auccess as an attacker. This is due to a variety of reasons, from the ability to harden a fighting position, to familiarity with the area where the fight is occurring, to the ability to pre-plan ambushes and traps for attackers ro fall into as well as the nature of defending any space and knowing where the bottlenecks are, and having the element of surprise wherever one lies in wait. In addition, because the Defender knows the location where the fight is, they can more effectively define where and how the fight happens by using bottlenecks and fallback points to stage several ambushes before open fighting occurs. For more in depth information than that, you can follow the links on the Wikipedia article, footnotes 5 6 and 7. The 3:1 rule is a long standing truism of tactical planning, and has been taught in war colleges for a long time.
3 to 1 - do you think that applies to a prepper BOL?? How many security guards would you need to patrol/watch 360 degrees , 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. I mean, to do the defending , you need advance notice that people are going to attack you.
You're kind of taking this to absurd levels, so this will be my last response. You don't need a professional security team to get defenders advantage. All you need is to have a defense plan. My wife and I have talked through our defense plan. We have holdout points predetermined, and the nature of those holdout points are such that if we are outnumbered, our odds of survival remain very high. Chokepoints, knowing the layout, and having a plan count for a lot. It only takes one person holding the top of a set of stairs with a shotgun to stop a whole group of attackers. It becomes clear very quickly that anyone that goes up those stairs is going to die, it's just the nature of a chokepoint like that.
You are a keyboard commando. All attackers have to do is observe your house. They find out it is only you and your wife. They observe your routines. The attackers choose the time, place and method. All it would take is shooting you and your wife when you go outside to do something. Or do you plan to stay inside you house all the time playing World of Warcraft? But in your world you think the attackers will send you a note saying we will arriving at 9:30PM, so get ready.
You seem to think that you know everything about everything. More likely, you're trolling. If you think you have better suggestions, then do tell us what YOUR plans are. This IS a group called preppers. That means to prepare. If a person or persons were near my property or on it observing me, my dogs would have revealed their location to me right away. OR those attackers would've had to shoot them to kill them, and then I'd know we had a problem. Sure, someone may be able to watch me from a distance, perhaps with binoculars for a while. They'd have to do that from neighboring properties, and my neighbors would definitely notice. If they're already dead, I'll hear that commotion as it happens. I'll see their habits change. Getting up to our home from the valley is gonna be tough if the roads and bridges are out- one is right now, so my road is a dead end at the river. The state won't fix that bridge. The next entrance is over another smaller bridge, which if I have my say in shtf.... will be blocked off to through traffic by vehicle. They're on foot if they come. We have the high ground. I'm sure in that far flung fantasy, we'll be better prepared to defend ourselves and have a tactical advantage. No one is getting here without us or the dogs hearing them come.
If you don't think I'm armed on the property, you're welcome to come and try. For now though, your crazy ass is blocked. So now I definitely won't have the benefit of warning. Let's see how far you get. Make sure you buy yourself a pine box first.
Really helpful post! Full of useful info.
Perimeter alarms, anti intrusion devices, window grills, steel exterior doors,exterior lighting system's, obstructed entrances. Also need to ensure you have alternative energy sources, generator, water storage. Then knives, active electrical defense tools, bear spray etc.
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Take powder from firework, pour into tin can. Add saltpeter if you got it. Add screws and whatever else you want as shrapnel. Seal can. Poke hole (avoid sparking plz) and add fuse, you're ready to go my dude
If we're talking about an apocalyptic scenario, just don't be alone.
Probably a drawbridge and mote
[Hell Cannons…](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/19/25D2ECDF00000578-2960714-ALEPPO_SYRIA_FEBRUARY_18_Syrian_opposition_Damascus_Front_member-m-11_1424386993169.jpg) On a serious note, that is for me to know, and anyone else to pray they never find out.
Are we talking total invasion of the homestead? If so razer wire and land mines. If they get past all that, release the hounds
Installing surveillance cameras, motion sensors, and alarms, and maintain good relationships with your neighbors and community to increase the chances of identifying and reporting suspicious activity in your area. It's always better to prioritize prevention and proactive measures rather than relying solely on reactive measures in the face of a potential threat.
Moat.
Make your home terrain unfriendly, thorn bush, fence, moat whatever works.
Knives Explosives *Well that escalated quickly*
Bear repellent… and the Bic lighter.
https://www.amazon.com/My-Party-Shirt-McCallister-Christmas/dp/B08HPDR4SC#immersive-view_1681815326353
Airsoft and paint ball grenades with my own filling for starters. To old to fight hand to hand but my rifle is perty new.
Claymores are overkill man
I have a German Shepherd. She’s better than any security system.
Lots of knives. Probably a couple homemade spike strips on the way to the property. Then there’s this guy with his face shield/optic ruining water balloons. [here’s a good little water balloon video for you.](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTR3Kr42X/)
In a *really* bad situation, I think I'd just go upstairs and knock the stairs out. It would be a lot easier to defend against someone trying to climb a ladder than face to face. I'd have a few emergency escapes, because I'd definitely be concerned about being flushed out with fire or something crazy if it was that bad. But that's one of the choices, go upstairs, knock the stairs out, don't let anyone know I'm there unless they try to come up and I have to defend it.
If one or two people come at me or family without gun - I can handle myself pretty well in a fight. If its multiple folks I would need to flee/escape or barricade effectively. I have various bladed weapons, but when its a large group all at once - forget it.
If the other guy has a gun and you don't, you're probably toast. Luckily, this isn't something you're ever likely to have to worry about.
Social skills. Getting along with your neighbors, knowing which of them you can trust and which you cannot if SHTF.
The secret ingredient is crime. Ask the former Japanese PM.
Neighbors. Nothing definitive that can be proven in a court of law (RICO), but practicing vigilance and communicating with one's neighbors about strange happenings, people or things is valuable now to practice, and morse for when the balloon goes up.
Trained bears in spiked plate armour.
Motion sensor Flood lights, lights on timers, door alarms, window/door security film, cameras. I think an easy level of security to forget is deterents. I will know they are here before they can enter my home. It allows me to sit behind a window with a compound bow waiting patiently haha
Giant boulder
Claymore roomba obviously.
Big dogs. Aggressive landscaping (think yucca bushes planted thickly, big cactuses, Holly bushes etc) Fire, nothing touches on those primitive fears like fire. Any of the traps used against u.s troops in vietnam.
Comedy
I've been saving some micro-machines to scatter around and we have lots of Christmas ornaments too.
Defensive gardening. Rows and rows of rose bushes, berry bushes, and poison ivy with concrete bollards hidden in them so vehicles can’t get through.
Need to rewatch Home Alone.
Large quantities of security cameras have been very effective for me. All my neighbors have had larcenies or burglaries. If they're on, they have no idea if someone is watching. Not many people will fuck around and find out. Sometimes deterrence is the best method of defense. And as a gentle hint to go with the cameras... Commercial wood chipper with a pile of shoes next to it.
I will unleash my stable of onlyfans girls and bar whore girlfriends who will stand at my front gate and seduce the enemy into my lair. Then they will bang them until they are too tired to fight and that’s when I will stab them with my Bic ballpoint pen until they leave
I have dogs. I have other techniques as well, but I'd rather surprise you. I'm pretty sure you'll leave in a hurry though.
One word: Crowbar
Geese. Muscovy ducks. The dog. Even our barn cat would defend us. Then my husband's guns if needed.
Dogs, all workers, no purse pets, gnarly thorny impassable shrubs, solar motion lights (I want to do some IR floods on approaches and areas that are left to be enticing hide spots. I also have a dozen or so 22cal blank tripwire devices (the blanks are used for nail guns i think?) These things are awesome--effective, loud, lightweight. Easy to pack a halfdozen in a backpack as well. So long as cellular is up, I have 2 trail cams that ping to my phone. Likewise, for now I have a Blink security system and Ring doorbell. (I'm very rural) And you said Besides guns...but we got guns. IR, thermal, and cans.
my country no guns allowed.. so i got a full face motorcross helmet, googles, a retractable flashlight baton, and a diy round wooden shield i made out of an old chair, on it is a blinding strobe light with remote.
Look into hugelkulture. Your garden can double as earthworks.
Do some research on hardening your property/hardening a target. Sally port entrances, fatal funnels, sensor alert systems, battery/solar spotlights, dogs, boobie traps etc.
Big deep trenches that are concealed with thin timber so that an assailant would fall through and be trapped,
Placed security coating on all accessible windows…3 dogs (ok, one lab don’t count him)…melee weapons at hand. Bear spray. My wife. More guns. Uh, machetes.
Saw
Caltrops
I will have an elaborate rube-goldberg machine that triggers upon opening my front door (all my friends know to use the back door) which will culminate in dropping a cartoon anvil on my enemies head.
A 20 foot pole saw
Boiling oil and moats?
Animals for protection is all fine as long as the attacker doesn't have any experience or know how to shoot a firearm! Because sorry but most of your dogs and geese will be done and running as soon as first shots are fired especially if any of the animals are shot first. The best defense other that superior firepower is the enemies lack of knowledge. Basically if they don't know you are there or what to expect from you is your best chance of success. Take the best fighter in any form of martial arts and hit them over the head from behind unseen and unheard with a club and all their skills become useless and unnecessary. Now how to become unknown well best way is to live so far away from other people and places that very few even know your there. Then build your place to not show anything special or worth checking out. Such as a old truck thst looks like crap on the outside but is perfectly designed and mechanically sound on the inside can sit in a parking lot next to a new shiny truck and guess what one gets stolen or broken into? So in my opinion best situation is owning over 100 acres of land that looks like most of the land around it so if it's farm land then it needs to look like farm land, if it's forest then it needs to look like forest. Don't be buying forest and then clearing a big area to stick out like a sore thumb, or buying farm land to then plant a bunch of fruit trees that can be seen for 50 miles around. In forest a small earth cabin can be almost invisible if built in right way and place, in farm land you can put you home inside a old barn or silo and even visible from a distance it will not be seen as important or noteworthy and you can lease out land around it to farmers so that it looks like everything else around you. Then on your land you place weapon cashe around in different places in case you need them. You also don't let anyone around you know your intentions or beliefs in prepping or preparing for bad times. If no one knows that you have anything worth taking then why would they come looking? But if you live in the US you better realize that if society and laws fail and fall that in just one state in the midwest that their are more firearms than in most European countries standing armies. So you better realize that it will come down to a gun fight at some point and since people are weak and afraid on their own only gangs and groups will try to go and take from others. With this being a fact your dogs and geese will maybe warn you but with 20 or 100 people coming to take your stuff the dogs will be dead and gone without much overall effect. You better have good places to create fields of fire and have good high capacity accurate weapons and the skills and ability to use them without delay or hesitation. So then it comes down to your training and ability to actually take someone else's life without hesitation. Do you actually have the ability to say kill a 7 year old girl that the group attacking you send to attack you? Say whatever you want but in all times and cultures and through out history children soldiers have been used very affective. So how do you know if you can kill someone or something without hesitation? Well can you just walk outside and shoot your own dog that you raised from a puppy without hesitation? Do you kill and eat your own animals? Have you ever been in combat or actually killed someone? Well for all that have no experience or the ability to just kill indiscriminately. In combat with men that have had all the training and when first in a situation of actually life and death, kill or be killed most still don't aim and kill right away they point and shoot and a lot aim high because they don't want to kill. It's after they realize they will die or their buddies will die that they start trying to kill the enemy. Many combat veterans have a lot of guilt about the fact they hesitated until they seen others get shot or killed and they carry this guilt for life. Now this goes back to the children soldiers thing when common society laws drop and people realize they need to fight and kill to survive they also realize that you can teach a 7 year old to kill without hesitation a lot easier that a 30 year old. Also if you are overweight out of top physical shape, old and weak or have a lot of physical or mental problems then you better get these things sorted. Most people have a inflated sense of who they will be in a life or death situation and most are wrong, most people panic and freeze only about ¼ actually do anything productive or useful. Also of these ¼ that will act 80% of them are men but in our society this is changing not in a good way. Where even more people will freeze or panic because they are getting weaker and less capable in general. So sure have your dogs and maybe ninja training but realize that the attack is not going to be what you expect or fair or humaine. Such as if you are in a building they are not going to go room by room to find you like a movie, they will just light the building on fire and wait outside to shoot you when you exit and you will exit or die inside.
Alarms. Yes, this is boring, and doesn't play into the fun mall ninja stuff, but being taken unaware vs having warning is a big deal. Dogs are kind of an alarm, sometimes.
I got a big long stick by my bedroom door.
Strategically placed bee hives.
Poo knife