Sign of the times
A company that sells jambs to secure your doors from unwanted entry.
7 Responses to “Sign of the times”
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February 21st, 2012 at 11:35 am
One of the common ways to initiate a robbery in the victim’s home is by simply knocking on the door. When the door is opened, access is forced, and the homeowner is right there and easy to subdue. The still-undamaged door can be closed and locked, and the whole process is quick and fairly quiet.
The traditional defense against this attack is a door chain. Almost all of them are very easy to break, and people tend not to use anyway, especially if the guy knocking on the door is holding a cardboard box that says ‘Amazon’ on it.
Years ago I saw a device that was intended to be mounted on the bottom of a door. It was basically a wedge, connected to a lever, that would nicely swing up out of the way, but which could be quickly put into place by pressing it with the foot. It allowed the door to open to any position, and would hold it very securely once it was placed.
Sadly, I have been unable to locate this product now that I am ready to make use of it. It, or something like it, ought to be standard equipment on every front door in America.
With or without such a wedge, the answering-a-knock problem is one of those few situations where a handgun, rather than a shotgun, is the preferred home-defense weapon.
February 21st, 2012 at 12:16 pm
That *might* stop someone kicking in the door but it isn’t going to do much to stop a battery operated drill and battery operated reciprocating saw. I figure a door could be opened in quite a bit less than 1 minute — and with a lot less effort than kicking.
February 21st, 2012 at 12:52 pm
Is Mike thinking of the Power Wedge?
http://www.powerwedge.net/
February 21st, 2012 at 3:02 pm
The idea behind this is to give the homeowner enough time to arm themselves. Homes are commonly broken into by kicking in the front or rear door. And as the video demonstrates it only takes a second or two before they gain entrance. If it can slow them down, it will give a person time to arm themselves and prepare. And for those using power tools, I would suspect it will give me time enough to arm myself as well. However, in my case I am generally carrying a P3AT at all times when dressed. This should provide some cover in which to retrieve my shotgun.
I like these kick resistant plates and have them installed on all exterior doors as well as the door to the inside of my garage.
February 21st, 2012 at 3:30 pm
People will answer a door unarmed?
February 21st, 2012 at 5:41 pm
Something very simple that is often overlooked is the use of 3 1/2″ #12 screws in the latch plate and in at least one hole of every hinge. A standard exterior door has two 2x4s on either vertical side. The 3 1/2″ screws are long enough bite into both those studs.
Will it be as strong as that metal reinforcement? No. But it will be a helluva lot stronger the 3/4″ – 1″ screws supplied w. a lot of doors (which is what I suspect was how the original door in the video was attached). And it will only cost a few bucks and 15 minutes to do your whole house.
February 21st, 2012 at 5:59 pm
I have the knob and deadbolt run into a 1/4 steel plate bolted all the way into the timbers, the hinges as well. It’s a steel door, and someone has to have some time or a lot of noise into getting in. I’m always armed at home, that being where home invasions occur, and all. IF I answer the door to other than UPS/FedEx, I have my foot at the bottom, and the .45 ready to fire.