House Location for a Defensive Situation

[Crash]

In a home/self defense situation like New Orleans, would it be better to live in a neighborhood where the houses are close together, or to live where there is lots of open space around your house? I lean toward having lots of open space around my house, so I can see the bad guys approaching from a long way off. On the other hand, having lots of other houses around you might give you some protection, especially if you can depend on your neighbors.

Comments?

Crash

[jim]

Don't depend on anyone but yourself, and get outa town before things get rough. We can't always do that because ao a myriad of reasons, so we just do the best we can.

if you stay there, harden the perimeter of your house, and do the same to the most defenseable room or area.
jim

[RangerRick]

A nice defendable perimeter with interlocking fields of fire and natural avenues of approach that are choke points and indenfensable, deadly to approach that provide false security is a thing to be sought above all else, and don't forget to make your defense in-depth with fallbacks to a couple of variable egress points.

Rick

[lostinthewoods]

Poison ivy in the flower beds? ;) I would prefer to have my safe haven in an elevated position. I don't care who you are it is VERY DIFFICULT to take a hill. Not to say that it can't be done, but your average roaming band of bad guys will loose too many kin to make it much worth their while. IMHO


lost

[High_Desert]

Jeff Cooper wrote some about this and also built a defendable house. Book title is "To Ride, Shoot Straight and to speak the Truth." It's worth having as are all his books.

HD

[wy0mn]

Fire has been used in the past to affect the termination of a siege. Close up housing... its hard to fight fire & foes at one & the same time, especially in a New Orleans (utility shut off) type situation.

[edward_4576]

The Idea of a defensable house (i.e. hardened) is well and good but part of my philosophy is to hide in plain sight. If everyone sees you putting in bullet proof windows or shutters and bars on your window you just might find that you have upped your value as a target.

I've been looking at urban camoflauge, if you want people to believe no one is their spray paint a search emblem on the walls. To make it look deserted spray paint your windows and walls to make it look as if a fire had burnt the inside. Judicios use of chalk, police tape and some animal blood makes a nice deterent to squaters lookin for a lace to light. Be imaginative.

[Swede]

I've always wanted a clock tower... ;)

[vr6ness]

I've always wanted a clock tower... ;)


Ah, the possibilities............... ;)

[remington]

Stone house, top of hill, lots of ammo.

[idealist]

Ideally I would want to have a hilltop castle, with a moat, and underground bail-out tunnels leading to an oxygen fed bomb shelter.

[ms-woman]

So I'm not the only one thinking about this :) We live out in the boonies, which I think is great. We have a large lake to the east with really high hills to get to our place, to the south beyond our pasture is private land for miles all forest. Our road is family only, one way in and out. To the north and west is more family owned land all forest. It would be easy to use the neighbors dozer and tear out the road and let the kudzu take over! Its hard to spot our road anyway. Except maybe from the air. We all have extensive gardens, wells, livestock, stocked ponds,horses for riding, atvs, 4-wheel drives, and boats. We are close knit family and we look out for each other! Plus we're all keen on being well stocked! For whatever may come!

[TheUnboundOne]

Dear Crash and Wy0mn,

You are both right to veer away from closely-placed houses. Recall, Chicago nearly burned completely down because of the proximity of the dwellings and businesses...not to mention Mrs. O'Leary's cow (just kidding on the latter clause. ;) )

I would say lots of space in between, combined with good similar-minded, cooperative neighbors, is the best of all possible worlds.

[walls0stone]

I think Google earth has made this topic a little diffrant now. when you can pull up a map of the objective...
they use them to keep an up to date eye on what people re doing with their property

[TheUnboundOne]

Dear Edward_4576,

You wrote:

The Idea of a defensable house (i.e. hardened) is well and good but part of my philosophy is to hide in plain sight. If everyone sees you putting in bullet proof windows or shutters and bars on your window you just might find that you have upped your value as a target.

I agree with you here. Bars would be both an attraction to would-be looters, as well as possibly insulting to honest neighbors.

The bullet-resistant windows or shutters would be all right as long as they look like conventional windows or shutters. (Note: Truth-in-advertising requires that they call it bullet-resistant glass, not bullet-proof glass; nothing is truly bullet-proof if the bullet is big enough or fast enough.)

Instead of bars, I've always thought that interior steel window-boxes that can both lock in place and slide to the side when you want open windows would be even better. Maybe even have herbs or flowers growing in the window boxes for some friendly-looking multi-functionality.

For a windowed storefront, you could have a steel wall disquised as a backdrop for the manniquins and displays in the window. That way, if rioters manage to smash the windows, you still have a measure of protection while you arm to defend yourself and/or make an escape in the rear.

I've been looking at urban camoflauge, if you want people to believe no one is their spray paint a search emblem on the walls. To make it look deserted spray paint your windows and walls to make it look as if a fire had burnt the inside. Judicios use of chalk, police tape and some animal blood makes a nice deterent to squaters lookin for a lace to light. Be imaginative.

If you wanted to create a scary appearance, you could have all of your finest bull's eye shooting silhouette targets posted all over your property. You could also use automatic timers to turn on lights and stereos at full-blast playing Hallowe'en sounds, shoot-'em-up movies, Gangsta Rap, Death-Metal, or the sounds of a rowdy party. You could use projectors to send moving silhouettes to the shaded windows, to appear as if people are there.

And, if you have a pool, you could drop Baby Ruths into the water like on Caddyshack. That would save your water supply.

Doodie!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XZOUTXKDgk

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[walls0stone]

Just let your grass grow up like a hay field,
Tie a dog to the portch and leave a motar swing'n in a tree..and that makes a statement

"this is a house were a gun lives"

[idealist]

I was just thinking about this topic again. You mentioned about New Orleans. Let's not forget that when Katrina hit, during the week afterward there were LEO's who were knocking on doors and confiscating guns, the military closed off the interstates and prevented people from leaving. People were essentially herded.


So how to handle the situation when a uniform shows up at your door "for your safety" and refuses to let you stay in the house? Recall reports from Iowa about people being removed from their homes and not being allowed to return.

[walls0stone]

make plans in advance so you don't loose your arms

[TheUnboundOne]

Dear Idealist,

You wrote:

I was just thinking about this topic again. You mentioned about New Orleans. Let's not forget that when Katrina hit, during the week afterward there were LEO's who were knocking on doors and confiscating guns, the military closed off the interstates and prevented people from leaving. People were essentially herded.


So how to handle the situation when a uniform shows up at your door "for your safety" and refuses to let you stay in the house? Recall reports from Iowa about people being removed from their homes and not being allowed to return.

If you plan on sticking in one place, I would say stay quiet, don't go to the door, and assume anyone who would break in, no matter how they are dressed, is a burglar.