Non-Firearm Home Invasion Protection

Non-Firearm Home Invasion Protection

If you all are like us (Salty & Spice), anybody breaking into your house at night are likely to be met by at least one (or in our case two) loaded gun muzzles.

We find this both normal and natural. Having said that, there are also times even two hard core gun-loving Glock toting hillbillies like us don’t have the option of carrying firearms with us.

For example, when we fly out to an event, taking along a firearm is flat impossible (we don’t travel with anything but carry-on luggage) so the whole time we are out there in New Mexico, Georgia, Ontario or wherever, we are gunless.

Additionally, we have friends who either don’t want to (for various reasons) own firearms, or can’t legally (criminal record from before they got clean and turned their lives around).

What can they do?

Some non-firearms home invasion options

Some of the things I’m going to list here may sound really silly, especially the first one… but they are actually really effective in some situations.

So, presented in no particular order:

Car Keys

Car keys, Salty? Like you mean to scratch them with? Well, yes, I suppose you could wrap your hand around the keys and use them to scratch an assailant, but no, that’s not what I mean.

One of the most effective things that you can do, especially at night, is to make a ton of noise. Let’s say you are at a motel or house and you notice that somebody’s trying to break in. Grab your car keys and punch the “ALERT” button.

Your vehicle will start going spastic and beeping it’s fool head off… chances of them finishing their home invasion while the neighbors start investigating? Very small. 

Light

Bright light scares burglars away. At our house, pretty much all approaches to get into our house has a bright motion detection sensor. Try to walk up next to one of these lights and see how that works out for you, Hamburgler. We have BRIGHT motion detector spotlights around our house, which not only light up the area, they destroy anybody out there’s night vision. They also set the neighborhood dogs to barking, which is another plus.

Pepper Spray

My favorite carry spray (both Spice and I use this as our every day carry (EDC) ) is the Kimber Pepper Blaster. I’ve written about it before, here.

For home defense, I’m more apt to use a bigger (three ounce) Fox Labs produce Mean Green in the stream formula. I like that it’s easy to spray (flip up top) and indoors I much prefer stream over fog (less chance that my people get caught in friendly fire). Mean Green also has a green dye marker to help identify people who have been hit by it. (NOTE: As always, we are not in any way affiliated with Fox Labs or anybody else, this is 100 percent just my opinion).

Pepper spray can really ruin a person’s home invasion attempt.

Stun Gun

On the one hand, I think stun guns are a bit “dicey” for my taste… they get you far too close to the actual assailant than I want to be.

On the other hand, if somebody is walking towards you and you fire one of those things off, it definitely gets their attention and it may make them think twice about becoming up close and personal.

My personal choice of Stun Gun to deter home invasion (although you really have to leave the thing charged) is the Bulldog Combo stun gun and flashlight. Why? Because it’s a nice, big heavy flashlight that you can use for a club, as well as a stun gun that you can extend away from your own body. You can read about it here: 

Review: Bulldog Combo Stun Gun – Flashlight

Little League Baseball Bat

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard “get you a big ole baseball bat” for home defense. 

This is bad advice.

Get yourself a little, light baseball bat that’s easy and fast to swing. Worried that a light bat won’t get the job done? Let me tell you a story.

I get along with my sister Mammy very, very well. She and I have always found it easy to mesh. My other sister, who I don’t talk about here because… well… she’s as far from being a prepper as you can get and still be on the same planet as the rest of us… fought like cats and dogs all throughout our youth.

One day when I was about 12, I had saved up a bit of money and I bought myself a Whiffle Ball Bat and ball. On the odd chance you don’t know, Whiffle Ball Bats are very long, and extremely light… made out of hollow plastic. I was out in the back yard playing ball with a couple of friends, and I sat the bat down so we could switch batter/pitcher. My sister thought it would be funny to pick up the bat and whack me with it… it was hollow plastic, so it would only sting a bit, right?

She hauled back, took a full swing and cracked me on the back of my noggin. Apparently I went down like a sack of potatoes.

When I woke up, I had an enormous lump on the back of my head. She was sitting nearby, wondering if she had killed me. When my eyes finally were able to focus, I looked at her, and all she said was “if you tell dad, I will make your life miserable, I swear”. 

I Didn’t Tell

I did, however, get more than even… and you good people don’t get to hear that story 🙂

My somewhat belated point is that even a hollow plastic bat can be a weapon… a small aluminum little league bat is a deadly weapon to deal with a home invasion. Additionally, if you are on an extended trip, a bat is something you can drop by your local Salvation Army thrift store and pick up dirt cheap. Carry it until you are ready to fly home then donate it back.

Dogs

Last, we come to dogs. 

Honestly, I’m just going to leave it at dogs being an option because they are an entirely different post all to themselves… watch dogs vs. attack dogs… training, confinement, etc. 

What’s not on my home invasion checklist?

Knives. Don’t plan on getting into a knife fight, plan on keeping them at range.

Tasers. Tasers are hard to aim on a stationary target, one moving around in your house trying to attack you? No thanks.

Wrapping it up

These are a few of my thoughts. I know most of you reading this are going to be like me, “why not just have firearms for the task?” For us, it’s an option, but for some people it just isn’t… 

Do you have any suggestions for home invasion protection that doesn’t involve firearms? Let us know in the comments!