Preppers expect the worst before SHTF. This ensures that they're prepared if anything bad happens and they can relax if disaster doesn't strike.
Home invasions are one such situation. Here it's better to plan ahead instead of panicking if someone attempts to forcibly enter your home. (h/t to Survivopedia.com)
Follow the tips below if you want to protect yourself and your family during a home invasion.
Take the necessary safety precautions to prevent a home invasion
Most home invaders are looking for an easy target. With this in mind try to make your home appear threatening to keep it safe. This might be enough to discourage most potential burglars.
Here are some ways to secure your property and prevent a home invasion:
- Set up a quality security alarm system and keep it armed, especially if you are going on vacation.
- Upgrade your fence and make sure it goes all the way around your property. Your fence must be at least seven feet high. While a fence isn't 100 percent effective, a criminal might change his mind and look for an easier target once he sees your fence.
- Get motion detector lights to deter criminals who don't like being seen. If you're worried about power outages, get lights that run on batteries or solar power.
- Reinforce your doors to make them harder to break in through.
- Get a gun and learn how to use it for self-defense.
Ideally, these precautions should be enough to deter criminals. But there are hardened home invaders that won't be stopped by motion detector lights or even a security alarm system.
Devise an escape plan
If your home is targeted by criminals, it may be better to escape than confront them to avoid a confrontation that could lead to injury or worse.
Once you finalize your escape plan, make sure everyone in the family knows what to do and where to go. Have a code word to make it easier to coordinate without alerting the home invaders.
When invasion is imminent, try to get as far away from the home invader as possible before violence breaks out. Escape from your home or go to your safe room.
If your home is bigger than the average house, you might need different plans to cover different areas. Your escape plan should also include a safe room.
Build a safe room
Before SHTF, make sure to prepare a safe room for your family.
If things escalate and you need to escape, head for your safe room. (Related: Home defense plays important role in survival after SHTF.)
Your safe room needs a sturdy door with a deadbolt and a heavy piece of furniture to blockade the door with. If you have a gun and know how to use it effectively, keep one in your safe room.
A safe room should also have a window that's large enough so you can escape from it. If your house has a second story, set up your safe room on the second story so the window is inaccessible to intruders.
Keep a rope or a ladder in your safe room so your family can safely get to the ground. If your home is a single-story, the safe room’s window should be secure so a home invader can't use it to break in.
If you need to escape, wait for the coast to clear so you're not vulnerable. After your whole family escapes, head to a prearranged location such as a trusted neighbor’s house for safety.
Your safe room should also have a backup phone that's always fully charged so you can call for help once you've escaped.
Call or text the police
Once you’re safe at a neighbor's house, call or text the police. The sooner you contact them, the better chance you have of catching the home invader.
Use your common sense
In a real-life situation, you have to be careful. Don't try to be a hero.
You can replace whatever gets stolen from your home but once you're dead, there's no coming back. Avoid confrontation at all costs, but if you are forced into confronting the home invader, try to de-escalate the situation and do whatever they tell you to.
In most cases, a home invader doesn’t want to hurt you. But if they seem aggressive and violent, you may need to fight back.
Don't leave with an intruder to another location because you might not make it out alive.
If you're calm enough, use intimidation factors to avoid confrontation like a pump shotgun. You can also use a bullhorn or megaphone to tell them that you are armed and have already called the police.
You need to practice using your firearm regularly because when SHTF, you might need it to protect yourself and your family from a home invader.
Fortify your home, have an escape plan and prepare a safe room so your family can survive a home invasion.
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