There are a lot of things you can make do without or jury-rig. Then there’s some where nothing works like the real thing except the real thing. As I was digging some holes today, I was contemplating some tools that you just wouldn’t want to substitute for related to home security.
For fence building: The Post Hole Hand Auger
You can make a security fence out of a lot of things, from wire to wood to metal siding. Unless you’re a stone mason though, your fence is going to need good, sturdy posts. The wood or metal of the posts might be scavenged in a pinch, but they’re going to have to be solid. And that means a deep, narrow hole for seating.
This is actually the tool that got me thinking on this topic. A post hole hand auger is the perfect tool for digging post holes by hand. It also does a nice job for tree planting.
The arrangement of blades makes these hand augers work like drills.
Why? A regular shovel can’t dig both narrow and deep. Those clam shell style post hole diggers? …..uuurrrggg, they’re ten times more work. It takes a drill type action to make a straight, deep hole. And while using one does closely resemble work, it’s so efficient that a 120 lb woman can dig a 3 ft deep hole into virgin clay in under 15 minutes.
Rotate handles to drill down. Pull up and dump the dirt out periodically. It easily makes a hole as deep as the handle and not much wider than the end of the tool. I widened this hole to plant a tree.
For holding a door shut: strike plate locks
This one’s a tweener. A good steel door with a slide bar or massive bolt would provide more security. A strike plate lock, though, is Far more secure than a standard doorknob lock or chain lock, and a small enough install that you can probably do it in a rented place.
We have one of these on the cabin at The Place. (We have no financial interest involved. It’s just what we bought, and I like it.) If somebody tried to kick down my door and barge in on me, the first kick wouldn’t do it. I’d have plenty of time to wake up and form a welcoming committee with Mr. Glock.
Seat the strike plate into solid wood with really long screws, and the hoop can be easily slipped around the door handle when inside.
The key security features of the strike plate lock are that it bolts very solidly into the framing in or around the door, and the chain is Much beefier than the average chain lock. It’s also very easy to put on and take off from the inside, and impossible to do from the outside.
Security from the elements: Wood strips
All right, this one’s cheap and easy. But have you ever tried to do a quick window patch with plastic sheeting or screening without having these stupid little wood strips on hand? I have. I think I ended up scavenging some from the bottom of window shades and replacing those later, because I neeeeeeded the stupid wood strips.
When you need to patch a window, it’s often the middle of the night in a storm. You don’t want the hassle of Not having these stupid little wood strips.
In case you’ve never tried this job … If you just try and tack the sheets or screens in place with nails, the material rips off the nails in the first wind. And no, duct tape won’t stick well to windowsills. So you put a wood strip over the edge of the sheet and drive your finishing nails through wood strip and sheet to the window frame beyond.
That’s a world of hassle saved for a prep that costs very little and doesn’t take up much space. And hey, if the emergency is a vampire attack, you can use them as stakes!
The auger can be extended for deeper holes by screwing off the auger, add another piece of threaded pipe with a screw coupler on the top end (for the original handled pipe to screw into) and you are on your way. We used to go down 10 feet or more for soil borings. Good times. Pipe wrenches will be needed to remove the extensions when done.
For installing plastic sheeting you can also use nails that have a big flat washer (usually plastic or thin metal, we called them flashers). Probably not as good as wood strips, but they will work.
The 8 inch, rotary hand auger is also an excellent tool for making a field latrine. We have been using it at ‘Deer Camp’ for nearly 30 years. It makes a neat, clean hole 4 1/2 down. Auger the latrine hole near a single tree. Add one staked out rope and an 8 x 10 tarp. Then you are good to ‘Go’.
Spice I am glad you addressed the problem of broken windows. Those wooden strips PLUS some rubber washer roofing nails and a tarp can fix that tree damaged roof too. Insurance companies often have “Reasonable Man” clauses in their insurance and leaving your home’s roof wide open after the storm damaged it may cause you insurance grief. Has happened to more than a few folks I personally know.
For quick home hardening improvement if the Ferguson Riots come to your neighborhood is Pre-measured and cut welded wire fencing covers for your windows. With a little thought and some 2 X 4 pre-cut supports even a sliding glass door can be hardened. Please don’t use chicken wire too weak to be useful. Those plus a pre-charged battery drill and some fasteners can give you Redneck Security Screens ASAP.
In my studies of Rodney King Riots, Baltimore Riots and Ferguson Riots rioters tend to select easy targets with sliding glass doors and big windows a prime access point. Harder targets tended to be bypassed unless your doing something to attract the Mob.
The Redneck Security screens will help prevent my greatest fear of a flaming Molotov Cocktail slamming inside my home, as well as giving you valuable time to respond to forced entry situations.
Afterwards if things return to “Normal” you can remove those Redneck screens (and put them away for next time) and with a bit of putty and paint restore your home to normal.
Michael, we did the same thing with chain link fence panels precut to fit all the downstairs windows and any upstairs windows over a roof or garage where someone has easy access. Watched Craigslist and found plenty of “free to anyone who will pick up” used fencing. Even got a large number of the galvanized metal square steel bars used to tighten the ends of the fence. We precut and drilled those as well. So it is easy and quick to put them in place if needed.
For fire escape, we picked one window in each room and split the steel bars in two pieces. The lower piece has two wing nuts holding it in place that has a bent steel cover to protect it from someone who could break the windo and reach inside but the can be removed fairly quickly and a corner of the fence panel folded up to allow egress
I’m running through the scenarios these panels are not only good for hardening. It also good when the A/C no longer works and you need the ventilation but don’t wany intruders to have open windows to hop thru.
Nice! I particularly admire that you thought out the fire escape problem.
Freeheel a very nice idea! That response is why I post here. I was concerned about fire escape and have a top hinged bottom fastened system for my pre cut Redneck security screens.
Thanks for the response and an excellent idea searching for old chain-link fencing!