Last night at 6 pm ish two masked men walked into a home not two minutes away and held the occupants at knife point while they ransacked the house!!
Time for a fresh security appraisal, lights, locks, tools, defences, coms yadda yadda
People never think it will happen to them NR, complacency and inadequate security measures are a disaster waiting to happen. I have triple lines of security, a seven foot fence and gate double padlocked, then an outer door with locks top and bottom and then another door with the same. By the time anyone has got through or over the fence they still have two doors to get through before they can reach my family. God forbid----but by that that time I will be waiting with 34 inches of razor sharp steel in the form of a "Bastard Sword", plus any intruders can only come through one at a time; and bringing a knife to a sword fight is not a good idea.
Hopefully the Man of this house will realise the Police are not going to be there in your time of need, and he needs to take responsibility for the protection of his family. These scumbags could have raped and abused his Wife in front of him and he would have been powerless to respond, I will not let that happen to mine, and would rather be judged by twelve than watch my loved ones be carried by six.
Keep safe everyone.
Bastard sword should do the job mate ,I'm getting CCTV glad you and yours are ok mate
Things like this certainly open your eyes & hit home how easily it could've been your home or mine. Not that it offers much protection, we always keep our doors locked & with the chain on now. Hopefully that'd buy me enough time to get to the kitchen for a knife, or alternatively the knife in my room if I'm upstairs.
As you've said, defend your family 1st & worry later rather than worry 1st & grieve later (if you get to have a later).
Within the confines of narrow hallways, mobility with a sword is a bit limited, although it provides good stand-off distance.
A meat cleaver and large butcher knife from the kitchen might be viable options, or 5-cell Maglite flashlight used as a baton... in one hand and an aerosol spray of EasyOff oven cleaner in the other!
Cricket bat? Walking stick? Umbrella?
But sturdy doors, good locks and using them is also needed.
And if you have a weapon, always carry it with you, even in the house.
I'm lucky that I live somewhere that I can have a cocked and locked .45 on my hip while working in the yard, and the postman and neighbors pay no attention...
Seriously folks, if you have any "defensive" measure it is of the utmost importance you practise regularly with whatever you have to hand. It is no good buying a weapon of any type and thinking the mere act of ownership conveys a skill in using it, that is a very dangerous attitude. You must practise until you can use it without thinking about it----hesitation will get you injured at best and killed at worst.
Charles H, I understand what you mean about limited space and the use of a Sword, but may I respectfully point out that with training there is no such thing as "limited space" with which to use this weapon. I have trained extensively in both Japanese and European techniques and there is no scenario in which I could not use a sword for protection in my house or grounds. The length of sword does not matter, only how you use it, and this comes with years of training and practise. In a confined space like a hallway for instance thrusting techniques would be needed and a long blade will give you an advantage----if used with a cool head and training.
Habit forming, IE ensure that before it gets dark your doors, gates and windows are locked, your pistols, bats, bows, knives, clubs, queues, flails, sprays or what ever are where they are supposed to be, and as mentioned above ensure you are competent at using them, if you have a mutt encourage it to sit up or growl as soon as it hears anything, external PIRs connected to a simple chime are a good way of finding out someone is outside.
1 kg dry powder fire extinguishers are superb deterrents when blasted at someone coming through a door, even nastier is RAID WASP AND HORNET NEST DESTROYER, ( not ordinary raid wasp killer) NEST DESTROYER has a range of over 22 feet and the stuff in the spray is bloody awful. even a pump or trigger spray bottle filled with vinegar is damn useful.
My dog is to old to attacked any intruder its got no teeth left, but I suppose it could give them a nasty suck or gum them to death
TH I fully understand the well-trained swordsman can and should use the length and thrusting techniques to his advantage.
But as you say it takes a warrior's mindset and years of practice. The skill, fitness and practice to maintain skill becomes more difficult as you are closer to 70 years than to 60. For someone of my age, my advice is to not mess with an old soldier.
He'll just shoot you.