Old style home security

[Texas Patriot]

When I was a kid ,my family was stationed in the Western Pacific. Over there the houses were surrounded by very high concrete or cinder block walls. I'm talking 8 to 10 feet high. As a student of history,I was looking at Roman architecture, and especially architecture of post Roman/ pre Norman Saxon Britain. Even if you didn't live in a motte and bailey "castle", your house was "fortified" against brigands. Sometimes an earthen wall,no windows facing the outside. I am considering building a house on our country property and am looking into these architectural styles. What do you all think? Even if a total collapse weren't to happen,clearly we are headed for a time of unprecedented lawlessness. Could we see a return to more fortified dwellings in the future? They could be done in such a way to have more curb appeal than concertina wire like one finds in the inner city! Your thoughts,please. TP

[DakotaS]

I think ancient security measures are still some of the best ever invented.
Now, you probably wouldn't want a 12ft deep moat with a drawbridge (I might consider it LOL), but nevertheless, such a thing is worth researching.

[hafcafdcaf]

A nice spiny hedge, one that grows thick, and uses your fence as a platform for height. A well tended hedge can be difficult to climb through, would hide your fence, and might not feel so claustrophobic. Of course this would all depend on how much time you hand and what your water supply looked like. A lot of the country simply wouldn't support this type of security.

Thanks,
Rob

[PuddleJumper]

In Latin American countries, many houses in towns are built so that the yards are actually an inner court yard.

The walls of the house are right on the sidewalk, windows have bars on them, and the doors are very heavy wood.

If the house is L shaped the other two sides around the property are plain walls with broken glass embedded in concrete at the top.

If the house is just one side of this square then the other three sides are just walls.

If your family grows and you need more space, you just use one of the walls as the back of a new addition.

Most of these houses have small gardens and even a few fruit trees in their court yards.
It make for a nice little piece of nature in them middle of a town.

PJ

[vicdotcom]

Problem with a large wall is that you can not see danger coming to you either. It gives people a place to hide where you can not see them. Unless you had a large tower built or something. Personally, I would rather see a problem comming first then deisgn the house itself in a defensbile floorplan. Long and narrow entry hallway, saferooms with clear lines of defense and cover etc. But it also depends on how much land you have, the contour of the land, and how far away your neighbors will be.

Either way, even if you had a wall, put some thorny hedges out front like someone suggested.

Some people dont mind, but living in a cave with no windows was not fun for me. It seemed more like a jail than a home.

[Texas Pete]

Originally Posted by Texas Patriot

When I was a kid ,my family was stationed in the Western Pacific. Over there the houses were surrounded by very high concrete or cinder block walls. I'm talking 8 to 10 feet high. As a student of history,I was looking at Roman architecture, and especially architecture of post Roman/ pre Norman Saxon Britain. Even if you didn't live in a motte and bailey "castle", your house was "fortified" against brigands. Sometimes an earthen wall,no windows facing the outside. I am considering building a house on our country property and am looking into these architectural styles. What do you all think? Even if a total collapse weren't to happen,clearly we are headed for a time of unprecedented lawlessness. Could we see a return to more fortified dwellings in the future? They could be done in such a way to have more curb appeal than concertina wire like one finds in the inner city! Your thoughts,please. TP

I have a long 10 acre plot of land that includes a hilltop, I was considering a hedge row with Bois D' Arc trees surrounded by other native shrubs just insde my property line built up on earthen berms. It would probably take 10 years to fully develop (one problem you can't just go to a nursery and buy a Boid D' Arc tree) Then I would build a log home on the high ground. It would be a kind of mot & bailey setup and I could even add a rustic palasaide made from pine trees onthe property.

[killzen]

...glass bottles were embedded into the concrete at the top of the wall, and when the concrete set, their tops were broken off...rather a cheap deterrent, but effective

[MikeK]

There are several things that you can do to increase security that aren't too obvious. For example, security chain link doesn't look a whole lot different than residential chain link at first glance, but it's a lot tougher. They even use it around high security installations.

There's a guy up the street from me who built an attractive low fence around his property. He set steel pipes into the ground, welded an attractive fence made of wrought iron to them, added a few planters and such. The pipes are filled with concrete and would stop a vehicle from bashing through the fence. The overall effect is very decorative.

Combining several types of defense, along with natural deterrants could look like well thought out landscaping rather than high security measures. Then there's the simple thing of planting thorn bushes or thorny cactus underneath your windows.

[uga1983]

+1 on Defensive Hedgerow. Previous thread: http://www.survivalistboards.com/sho...light=hedgerow

Layered defenses to slow/disable attackers before they reach your inner perimeter.

The living Fence: It's Role On A Small Farm http://www.echotech.org/mambo/images...n/LivingFe.PDF
This has great list/table of plants for planting a living fence.

[Doginit]

Funny, I just had this same discussion with my cousin today.
I already have deer fencing to keep the deer in on 46 acres.
Deer fencing is normally 8' high all the way around your property.

He suggested a second high fence about 12'-15' in from the outside
fence. Basically you would have a fence within a fence forming
an alley way all the way around the property.

Don't laugh, I've actually seen this done here in Texas.
Some folks here are serious about their trophy deer.

Only with his version you would place mountain lions or other
big cats rescued and needing homes inside the 2 fences.
Talking about old school security!

Its fun to dream anyway.

Doginit

[aramchek]

Another kind of security is to maintain a low-profile (but have hidden alarms, sensors, etc.). Don't do anything to make the place look interesting, don't draw a big target.

[|eric|]

i was thinking of building a small house but with cinderblocks and burry a small shiping container underneat

id put a compressed dirt / stone wall around my place but you also have to look at regulations (mostly those are for fireprotection/ prevention ) my way around that is that i would put some piping in the exterior wall around my proprety /house with firehoses taps (nice way of providing water in case of fire )

you could also get togeter with ppl and build a fort :P

there was an interesting comment on youtube . when the power is out and your the only light around .... that kind of makes you stand out . with a full wall covering windows and such much less temptation to be had

[haha49]

I like line of site.. plus motin senstive lights plus alarms then you just sit back and pick them off 1 by 1...

I rather see them comeing then knowing they are on the other side of the wall.. but a wall can do lots simply puting int a 12ft privacy fence can take care of people then just string a wire across the top add eletricty and razer wire and sit back and relax...

if you put your home in the middle of a open area you can then see all around so haveing a window on the top floor can help because you just walk to the window open and fire on people attacking.. ect.. solid metal frame door would do well you cant keep people out if your not in the home but you can easly defend it if people were say besegining your house.. but you kill some they might just burn you out..

[Urbanstriker]

sounds cool

[Roadagent1]

In a typically suburban setting, it's very difficult to maintain anything more than a visual perimeter around the homestead. The harding of the residence then becomes the priory, but even the best security plans can be defeated with a few gallons of gasoline.

[vicdotcom]

Originally Posted by Roadagent1

even the best security plans can be defeated with a few gallons of gasoline.

That is one think not enough people think about and prepare for when it comes to home security. I am pretty sure there will be a "burn it all down" phase. Shoot people do it after winning a wolrd series, world cup, nba finals, or stanley cup. They will surely do it during SHTF also. And No FD to help you then.

[ynot]

The thing some are missing is being monitored by bad guys. A hedge/wall gives you an area you can work in without being monitored. A courtyard is a nice place to live/do laundry/fix things/have generator/solar etc without others knowing you are a nice target. Not the whole place. A tower would be nice, but perimeter sensors would be better.

[ratsg]

Originally Posted by killzen

...glass bottles were embedded into the concrete at the top of the wall, and when the concrete set, their tops were broken off...rather a cheap deterrent, but effective

I have seen the glass bottle fences done in Mexico, Ecuador, and a couple of additional places in South America. I recently had friends up and visiting who live near to the Mexican border, and oddly enough, we were discussing these fences.

My friends commented that these type of fences were mostly for show, and anyone who wanted to climb over the fence would simply lay a wool blanket over the top to get across.

[East Coast Woods]

Seems if you are the only guy on the block with a harden fence surrounding your property it would serve to tell others you are hiding something inside. Like the idea of the natural hedges much more.

[lanahi]

Originally Posted by Doginit

Funny, I just had this same discussion with my cousin today.
I already have deer fencing to keep the deer in on 46 acres.
Deer fencing is normally 8' high all the way around your property.

He suggested a second high fence about 12'-15' in from the outside
fence. Basically you would have a fence within a fence forming
an alley way all the way around the property.

Don't laugh, I've actually seen this done here in Texas.
Some folks here are serious about their trophy deer.

Only with his version you would place mountain lions or other
big cats rescued and needing homes inside the 2 fences.
Talking about old school security!

Its fun to dream anyway.

Doginit

I have heard of two fences like you suggest to keep deer out. A second fence placed the right distance from the first would foil deer jumping them because they can't jump both fences at once and don't have the space to jump the second one after the first, so they either don't try to jump the fences or they get caught between the two.