Home Defense/Self Defense: The Precautions you Take

[BigFatCoward]

16 minutes ago, Chataya de Fleury said:

Also, how in the hell can crack use be “recreational”? I understand that per the strict usage of the term “recreational drugs” as having “no accepted medical use” this is actually on-point. However, it sounds like she was trying to say that she wasn’t addicted and only did it “once in a while”.

Yikes. 

 

Yeah. It doesnt feel like a dip in and out drug. But she was fabulous looking, really healthy skin etc so she seemed to be managing it ok. However, crack is is a definite red flag. 

[Pebble thats Stubby]

Well I'm 4'10" fat unfit and a really slow runner.  Running from danger is not an option.  I try not to walk down dark alleys with no or few people.  I try to be aware of where I am and who is arround me.

I used to live in a high crime area, I have a husband that will sleep through everything, and I have myself that will react and be chasing (but with no chance of actually catching) any intruder down the street before my brain has woken up and been able to access the situation.  

After a few incidents I upgraded my personal security by wearing pyjamas. Once when not fully asleep I did remember to grab something before reacting and locking myself out. I can confirm that plastic lightsaber do not really help with modesty issues.

 

I was once attacked by a barbaian stranger while out.  This was in the middle of the day in Helsinki ( just after worldcon) on a bus.  I won that fight, by turning into a tiny ball addrelin filled rage he really should not use a sword on a bus.

[Corvinus85]

2 hours ago, Chataya de Fleury said:

I figured with your screen name, you’d go a bit more Roman than medieval...

Not at all. Corvinus was a nickname given to both King Matthias of Hungary and his father, Jon Hunyadi, in the 15th century.

[polishgenius]

2 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

I got a couple of swords just because I like medieval stuff, not that well made, but they could still do damage if it came to it.

This is gonna sound proper grandpa scoldy but if you're serious about that, you wanna be careful with that thought. I say that partly because of the 'you're liable to hurt yourself cliche' (unless you do know what you're doing in which case my bad) but mostly because the cornershop on the end of my road was targeted by a robber once when I was young, he walked in with a shit but theoretically functional katana and left with nothing, not even the katana, when the little lady who co-ran it simply grabbed the blade and wouldn't let go and he had to scarper before help showed up. 

[Corvinus85]

13 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

This is gonna sound proper grandpa scoldy but if you're serious about that, you wanna be careful with that thought. I say that partly because of the 'you're liable to hurt yourself cliche' (unless you do know what you're doing in which case my bad) but mostly because the cornershop on the end of my road was targeted by a robber once when I was young, he walked in with a shit but theoretically functional katana and left with nothing, not even the katana, when the little lady who co-ran it simply grabbed the blade and wouldn't let go and he had to scarper before help showed up. 

One of my fears is that because one sword is a katana and the other is a longsword-type, I will be indecisive on which to grab in the moment. With the longsword I can stick'em with the pointy end, but it's longer and heavier, thus less room to swing. Decisions, decisions.

Ultimately, a sharp kitchen knife could be more effective, but the sword could be a bigger deterrent against an unarmed intruder. 

[Prince of the North]

2 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

Yeah. It doesnt feel like a dip in and out drug. But she was fabulous looking, really healthy skin etc so she seemed to be managing it ok. However, crack is is a definite red flag. 

Yeah, but...was it a "deal breaker"?

We always lock our doors at night but that's about it.  We live in a pretty rural area with good neighbors and we're the last house at the end of the road.  We don't have any handguns but we do have some rifles and shotguns that are safely stored (so, yeah, those probably wouldn't be much help in an emergency).  Neighbors have dogs but we just have a house cat that would simply watch any goings on from, hopefully, a safe vantage point.  We also don't have any cameras or motion sensor lights.  I might have to think about installing some eventually, though?    

[lessthanluke]

Zero and zero. Not something I've ever really worried about. Male privilege. 

Unless you count my 3 Chiuhuauas. 

[Fury Resurrected]

1 hour ago, lessthanluke said:

Zero and zero. Not something I've ever really worried about. Male privilege. 

Unless you count my 3 Chiuhuauas. 

You and your lady are so hulk smash I’m sure nobody except a supervillain could do anything

[lessthanluke]

29 minutes ago, Fury Resurrected said:

You and your lady are so hulk smash I’m sure nobody except a supervillain could do anything

My thoughts exactly! 

No need for weapons. 

[Larry of the Lawn]

6 hours ago, Chataya de Fleury said:

Also, how in the hell can crack use be “recreational”? I understand that per the strict usage of the term “recreational drugs” as having “no accepted medical use” this is actually on-point. However, it sounds like she was trying to say that she wasn’t addicted and only did it “once in a while”.

Yikes. 

 

Same way cocaine use can be.  I think that the stigma against crack--as portrayed in pop culture-- as a low, dirty, super addictive drug, (while accurate in a certain light) is mostly rooted in racism when you consider that cocaine is often associated with an affluent lifestyle.

While the labels 'cokehead' or 'crackhead' both have a negative connotation that implies addiction, most people wouldn't bat an eye at the idea of recreational cocaine use.  

I've known a greater number of crack users than I ever would have expected, and I'd say most of them fall more in the 'recreational' vs addict category, strange as it may seem.  This may well be anecdotal, but I think the racial stigma with crack can be seen reflected in other places to, criminal sentencing guidelines being the most obvious example.

[Larry of the Lawn]

re: dogs, A police chief I built some stone steps for like 15 years ago told me that almost as good as a dog is a sign that says "beware of dog" and an oversized dogfood bowl on the front porch.  "owner not liable" sign optional.

edit: clearly not much help in a complex that doesn't allow pets 

[Fury Resurrected]

15 minutes ago, larrytheimp said:

Same way cocaine use can be.  I think that the stigma against crack--as portrayed in pop culture-- as a low, dirty, super addictive drug, (while accurate in a certain light) is mostly rooted in racism when you consider that cocaine is often associated with an affluent lifestyle.

While the labels 'cokehead' or 'crackhead' both have a negative connotation that implies addiction, most people wouldn't bat an eye at the idea of recreational cocaine use.  

I've known a greater number of crack users than I ever would have expected, and I'd say most of them fall more in the 'recreational' vs addict category, strange as it may seem.  This may well be anecdotal, but I think the racial stigma with crack can be seen reflected in other places to, criminal sentencing guidelines being the most obvious example.

Adding- this is true of every drug. Normal, functional people are occasional users of every drug. The stigma against drug use is why we have so much more focus on punishment than treatment. It makes us write off drug users as hopeless when they rarely are.

[Starkess]

15 hours ago, lady narcissa said:

As for self defense, well I have always lived in a city and have always been overly cautious when out and about.  I just try to be careful and aware, I don't carry any mace or anything.  I can scream very loudly!  (Which did deter one person one time.)  However, crime in Chicago has really really skyrocketed in the past year.  It used to be in my neighborhood there would be occasional armed robberies - mostly very late at night and in the early hours of the morning.  But now they will occur anytime, anyplace.  They can happen at 11 AM on Michigan Avenue with a handful of cop cars a block away.  So I have found myself rethinking some things and changing what used to be my usual habits.  These armed robberies typically involve at least 2 or 3 people so I think it would be stupid to try to retain my possessions.  So for now, I've stopped carrying my phone unless I really need it.  I don't carry a credit card if I don't need one.  If I need it, I stick it in my socks so it hopefully isn't noticed.  I carry a purse with $60 in it so there is something for them to see and take that I would be fine to lose.  In most instances they just take and leave.

I'm more concerned about the armed carjackings which have really increased.  This is mainly because I don't drive and am only in a car with my 80 year old father who I am absolutely convinced would not get out of the car and would try to run the carjackers over and would either end up dead or charged with manslaughter.  There isn't much you can do except make sure the doors on the cars are locked and be aware.  We did switch our grocery store as a result and now drive to one with a parking garage with paid (but rendered free with shopping) entry/exit instead of the one with the open to the street lot.  No guarantee I realize.

I've noticed this too. A few really brazen daylight ones recently have been alarming, and just yesterday there was a shooting spree through my neighborhood that left several people dead. Only a couple blocks from me so I'm feeling quite unsettled today.

[Larry of the Lawn]

18 minutes ago, Fury Resurrected said:

Adding- this is true of every drug. Normal, functional people are occasional users of every drug. The stigma against drug use is why we have so much more focus on punishment than treatment. It makes us write off drug users as hopeless when they rarely are.

Thank you for adding that, I have lost many friends to addiction and have struggled with it myself in the past and this is a very kind, and I think truthful, way to look at things.  Thanks for saying it so well, it strangely means a lot.

[DMC]

1 hour ago, larrytheimp said:

I think that the stigma against crack--as portrayed in pop culture-- as a low, dirty, super addictive drug, (while accurate in a certain light) is mostly rooted in racism when you consider that cocaine is often associated with an affluent lifestyle.

While the labels 'cokehead' or 'crackhead' both have a negative connotation that implies addiction, most people wouldn't bat an eye at the idea of recreational cocaine use.  

This is of course all correct and still unfortunately needs to be emphasized, but there is a substantive difference between bumping coke and smoking crack.  The latter means the high is more concentrated but lasts for a much shorter period of time.  I only smoked crack three times (once by accident), whereas I bumped..a lot of coke, but that's why the former definitely wasn't for me.

[lady narcissa]

1 hour ago, Starkess said:

I've noticed this too. A few really brazen daylight ones recently have been alarming, and just yesterday there was a shooting spree through my neighborhood that left several people dead. Only a couple blocks from me so I'm feeling quite unsettled today.

This one?

https://cwbchicago.com/2021/01/days-of-disturbing-facebook-posts-end-with-cross-city-shooting-spree-that-leaves-3-murdered-3-wounded-gunman-dead.html

Yeah, that was pretty scary. (That website and their twitter feed is incidentally my go-to for tracking crime in Chicago right now. Way more informative than any other news source.)  Be careful out there.

[Spockydog]

10 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

crack is is a definite red flag. 

Freshly arrested hobo's ass crack, however.... 

[ljkeane]

At home I lock the door of a night.

On the personal safety front I'm seriously considering not rebooking my covid affected trip to Chicago like I'd planned to after reading this thread. Bloody hell.

[SerHaHa]

On 1/9/2021 at 11:13 PM, Iskaral Pust said:

When we were in our condo in downtown Chicago, the building had 24/7 security doormen who were monitoring cameras, plus electronic fobs were needed to access the building.  So we didn’t have any security precautions inside our unit beyond locking our door.  I did buy my wife pepper spray to carry on her handbag — she was harassed by street people a few times, and one guy smashed a glass bottle at her feet that caused some minor cuts, but she never actually used the pepper spray.

Even though we lived in a fancy condo building in the very nicest part of the city, street crime was still very real.  Two people were shot in separate incidents late at night outside our building as gun crime became a city wide game of opportunity with rival gang members shooting at each other whenever and wherever they saw each other, plus armed car-jackings were endemic.  I never got bothered on the street though; I’m probably not the profile anyone is looking to mess with.

Now in the suburbs, our house has its own security system and external cameras.  But that’s all.

What good are guns for home defense?  If they’re stored properly in a gun safe, then they are zero use in a home invasion.  And, realistically, what are the odds of a home invasion in one the most genteel towns in Connecticut?

There are many, many options available that allow you to store your firearms securely, while still giving rapid access when required.  Small spring door safes the size of a very large book, that have either biometric or a keycode (in the shape of the fingers of your hand), which will keep a handgun secure while still being nearly as fast to access as though it were sitting in a drawer or on a nightside table.  There are standing safes/vaults with the same sort of electronic/bio access systems available for shoulder supported weapons like rifles and shotguns as well.

I can't speak to Connecticut, but here in Central Canada in a small town at an air force base where my father has retired, (35,000 people), there were 3 home invasions within a 1km radius of his home in the last month.  So, odds wise, probably higher than you think.

The very best defensive system you can have for your home, or even while out and about, is a fur missile.  A well trained dog, in particular a breed used as a military working dog (ie German Shep, Belgian Mal, etc etc), will serve very well in this role.  You get early warning benefits from the dog's senses, plus there are legal benefits as well (ie instead of dealing with a potential shooting, even if justified, you're dealing with a dog bite(s)).  A dog buys you time as well, and just an FYI the equation that rules all CQB combat is Time=Distance=Cover.  Time to get your family to safety, time to actually access any defensive systems you may have at the ready, and time to consider options properly, even if it's just a few seconds, as being the victim, you do NOT have time or surprise (critically important) on your side.

Fragile Bird also posted about having a relative that lives nearby keeping an eye out.  This is also a great option if available, far more benefit than a firearm or other weapon in the grand scheme of things, and better than a camera/security system, as those, like the police, only really are useful after the attack/invasion/whatever has already happened.  A friendly nosy neighbor is proactive, not reactive.  

Also - a weapon is only as effective as its wielder, and without proper training, and a plan of action in place prior to any incident, that weapon becomes more of a problem than a solution.  

At our homes, fur missile comes with us everywhere, so he's always present as both a deterrent and a defense.  Yes, we have firearms, and yes, they are secured properly, as well as  having long worked in the field of private military contracting, the military, and LE, frequently as a training officer, we have sufficient training.  Things that are often overlooked on this subject are armor, first aid, and communications.  Body armor is cheap, and having a set for every family member if you're in a high threat area or occupation, is IMO necessary, more so than weapons.  Old cell phones without being activated on a plan can still access the 911 network, so keeping one charged where the armor/weapons are stored is a cheap/free way to ensure a communication device is available. First aid is also something non-professionals rarely bring up, but having a couple tourniquets and other basic first aid supplies can mean the difference between surviving or not, for both you/family, or even your attacker, as medics usually arrive after police in terms of first responders, and you may be responsible for saving your own life/lives.  You should know how to do that, as well as have the supplies on hand to do so. 

 

[Starkess]

17 hours ago, lady narcissa said:

This one?

https://cwbchicago.com/2021/01/days-of-disturbing-facebook-posts-end-with-cross-city-shooting-spree-that-leaves-3-murdered-3-wounded-gunman-dead.html

Yeah, that was pretty scary. (That website and their twitter feed is incidentally my go-to for tracking crime in Chicago right now. Way more informative than any other news source.)  Be careful out there.

Yep. One of the victims was a grad student at UChicago too. Just shot sitting in his car in the parking lot of his apartment complex. 

3 hours ago, ljkeane said:

At home I lock the door of a night.

On the personal safety front I'm seriously considering not rebooking my covid affected trip to Chicago like I'd planned to after reading this thread. Bloody hell.

Oh, I hope we don't scare you away! Chicago is a lovely city. Crime happens everywhere, and visiting Chicago is less dangerous than the flight or car trip to get here!