Pistol Crossbow

[Midnitemo]

I don't know what kind of house you live in so an ordered rearguard action/withdrawl may be possible but certainly my two bug in location's upper floor emergency exits would be roping down the outside or jumping 16-20ft .... making you very vulnerable to attack from the ground floor.

[bigpaul]

most modern houses, in fact most houses in general( I've only ever lived in one house that had 2 staircases and that was a very old ex dentists surgery) only have one staircase, so if your getting attacked, once you've driven them off...hopefully with all the casualties on THEIR side, its way past time to BUG OUT before they come back with reinforcements and petrol bombs!!!

[Midnitemo]

unless your victory is complete and theres nobody to comeback...if I have to fight this kind of battle then you're done with hunkering down so it's time to either go overt and dominate your surroundings or bug out to hunker down somewhere else.

[bigpaul]

(16 November 2013, 15:37)Midnitemo Wrote: unless your victory is complete and theres nobody to comeback...if I have to fight this kind of battle then you're done with hunkering down so it's time to either go overt and dominate your surroundings or bug out to hunker down somewhere else.

exactly, that's what I was saying.

[Steve]

I'm wondering what you have in the house that the intruders will think is worth dying for. Nobody wants to die, they'll wander off and find an easier target.

[Midnitemo]

depends what stage the event is at....maybe all easier options have been exhausted...the very fact you're still in there suggests you have stores...maybe after women...or just plain sadistic evil and twisted, some people just like to fight.

[bigpaul]

if its got to that stage we have bugged out long before!

[Skean Dhude]

(16 November 2013, 10:29)Scythe13 Wrote: Personally, if defending the stairs. I'd poor petrol down them and set fire to the whole place, making sure I had an escape route though. If they've made it to the stairs, and you don't have a gun, they'll get to you eventually. Whether they decide to stake you out and attack when you're asleep, or just stand at the bottom of the stairs, or outside, and just throw bricks at you all day long, or make a shield from a door and line it with metal from road signs, or something like that. If they're in your house, you have already lost this battle.

Strike 1 point for a gun licence, 2 points for a shotgun licence with special load ammo!

Setting fire to your own stronghold! That is a unique way to defend it.

Most people only have one set of stairs. The only time I would use fire is to put petrol on an attacker and then set light to him while he is outside.

Special Ammo? Almost all shotgun ammo in close quarters is going to do damage. You don't need special ammo just not bird shot.

[Timelord]

All weapons have range, some are just less ranged than others. lol. The point of the tea cup thing was that they would be a pretty rubbish weapon choice and therefore it would be folly to select them and even more ridiculous that a person would think I would consider it. It was a skewed simile with a pistol crossbow, which on the surface appears an easy to aquire and use deadly weapon. In reality it is somewhat chancy and alternative choices would be a safer bet.
Flammables in ones own smallish building is a no no. A brick is more reliable than a weedy aluminium target crossbow bolt fired from a flimsily constructed essentially one shot weapon.
Don't forget the tactical use of bright lights in low light conditions and a dwelling interior that has been darkened even during the day by using items like blackout sheets or similar - can give an advantage to an acclimatised defender. Stairways with the treads removed are an awkward obstacle or with items of furniture thrown down will impede easy progress. Strive to engage the intruders on unfavourable ground of your choosing! Do not get flanked and beware of windows and modern flimsy wall construction in this respect.
While it is better to prevent any intruders gaining access to your house, the layout may dictate you can not easily hold the fort with limited manpower. The fact that intruders may have gained access to your house does not mean it is game over at all. Urban fighting is the most costly type of warfare to attacking forces. Well prepared defensive positions can repell attackers of far greater numbers. (without any further complications like luck, big firepower, etc, etc, etc)
I recommend a hammer and plenty of 4 inch nails for creating a whole host of passive nastiness. Regards. TL

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Also plenty of robust wire for creating your own shin snagging matrix of intruder realignment. Call it the dispatch office :-)

[NorthernRaider]

A pistol bow has good INTIMIDATION factor and is ok for close quarters single shot applications, its prime weakness is the weight of the 6 1/4 bolts especially the cheaper type that are half plastic half alloy, if people adopt Wet & Colds modifications with the all alloy type and fill the inner part of the bolt with sand of expoxy to increase its weight it has a much better penetration rate as W & C demostrated on his much missed videos. The pistol bow has use as a preppers PDW against one intruder, but if you have multiple intruders you will find the large aerosols of RAID WASPS NEST DESTROYER far more effective ( note not fly and wasp killer,) the NEST killer its has a range over 10 feet and a strong powerful blast of chemical which is very debilitating.

Equally the 500 g, 750 g and 1kg dry powder and foam disposable fire extinguishers also work well