yess... i've gone this route too- my shop is on MLK blvd in miami... kinda close to a decent neighborhood, but a lot closer to a shitty one... locks, bars and more locks, and hanging a couple used practice targets out front doesn't hurt... any crackheads or people doing the slow walk past, i make sure to tell 'em whatever theyre lookin' for, it aint here... if someone is going to rob you, they will almost always scope the place out first (or have somebody else do it).. if they think they can take advantage of you, they will... if they think there's a possibility of things going horribly wrong, they'll try somewhere else.
German Sheppard. Light that stays on all night. Plus I don't have a bunch of people over to see what I got. I personally wouldn't take someones life for trying to steal some tools or car parts, if they are in the shop then thats what they are after, not to hurt my family. I'll call the cops and guard my house, get a discription and let the dog eat! Believe me, if MY dog is onto you your pretty much hamburger! -John
To date I dont have a problem and I have 2 buddys that's on guard 24/7 to help me out. Bo my 100 lb Doby and his side kick Yeager 110 lb Pit Bull see to it that my cars and tools are kept safe and sound. Usualy strangers with evil thoughts get the hell off the property without me ever asking them to leave and then word gets around to local thief's. I dont have an alarm system and never found the need for one.
I bought a pinhole "nanny cam" camera on ebay for $20. It hooks up through AV cable to your tv and you can record using an old VCR. And of coarse guns!!! If you cant shoot the bastards at least catch em on camera.
I live in the boonies, armed to the freggin teeth, I know you're there before you do. Still sucks though, had 300 gallons of gas stolen one day while everyone was at work, wish the basterd would have gotten the wrong tank, liquid fertilizer would have messed them up!
switch the sickers..that'll fix em! i had a friend that put the diesel sticker on the Gasoline tank and the Gasoline sitcker on the Diesel...had a few theifs cars out on the road after that..problem solved its self
Alarm first, I also have a radio up near all the way and every single light on the lightswitch and the garage is pitch black. And of course the usual, weapons, dogs, neighbor who is a night owl, etc.
Here is a tip for securing garage windows. Buddy up to a concrete guy and score free sections of concrete reinforcement wire mesh. Cut it into sections the size of garage windows and secure in place for instant security. The mesh changes size from the ends to the middle so you can choose how big the square "holes" will be to suit your own taste and nobody will come thru that window. Electric garage door opener? I heard a guy that used to work on a grounds crew for rich residential owners that while driving from site to site would use his personal garage door opener to see how many homeowners doors would open just using that particular signal. He said a lot more opened than he could believe. I used to live by an airport and signal from the radios would open neighbors doors. My point is that they are not safe and I would not use one for a shop.
My garage will have this picture and a sign, "At least one of these will be in this garage at all times!"
14" thick solid brick walls, windows are 12" X 12" holes with obscuring glass bricks in the opening and over that are steel bars on 4" centers. Garage door secured with vise-grips on the rails. Living in a 115 year old brick building has advantages.
well, true....But everyone I know.... knows not to mess with the garage when Im not there, and if it happens between the hours of 12-5 AM then someones up to no good
Dead bolts, 2 dogs outside & a monitored security system on doors, roll-ups & motion detectors inside. If it goes off, police are here in less than 5 minutes.
here's something to think about... all the locks and bars and other stuff won't matter if you are in one of those screw together metal buildings. a business around the corner from me had a couple of brand new generators stolen from his shop. the theives actually unscrewed one of the metal panels that make up the walls and removed them that way. another guy keeps his boats and campers and motorcycles in his shop. after hearing about that he put in a nice wall in front of his place with 3/4" plywood. several years back my buddy had a new Harley in his detatched garage and a big rotweiller. thought he was safe until he heard of another guy whos dog was poisoned in order to steal his bike. fuckers. about 25 years ago another buddy had a highly trained $$ dobey who was trained in German rather than English. he would only eat when the food came from the owner. he said he ruined him by having him around other people all the time. guess he was supposed to think that all strangers were a threat and act accordingly.
Take a good hard look at your building and pretend that you are the thief. What is the easiest way to get in? Fix that and go to the next one on the list. Pay for a monitored central security service. Thieves are basically lazy, they want the quick and easy. Do something to slow them down and then shoot them. Yes, this is serious business. I have worked very hard for what I have and nobody gets it for free. "...I was really scared, he had a tire iron in his hand and was coming toward me. I feared for my life." .
And don't advertise those guns. They are BAIT, not deterrant, exceptional goodies for the robber with much higher payoff than your wrenches or tires. You leave your house to work and get groceries...even the dimmest crackhead might be sufficiently interested in your weaponry to sit back and study your movements for a couple of days to get GUNS to sell.
I keep my garage door closed when at all possible. For what it's worth, shop security is no different than car security; there is no security system advanced enough, no sign big enough, no gun powerful enough or no dog mean or loud enough that will keep a professional or ambitious thief or tweaker at bay. If some asshole wants something bad enough, they'll find a way to get it, and they won't give a shit who or what they have to harm to do so.
1905 Winchester Model 94 and a window i can shoot outa have to get an alarm when i get up my new shop nothing serious, mabey one that lights up a light in the house so i can investigate w/o them running off
"I understand that now the robber bastards are just easing a pickup tailgate into the door to collapse it and then loading up the pickup truck!!" Had this happen to a neighbor a year or so ago. Stole all four ATV's. While they were asleep with their 3 boxers in the house. Their garages face their next door neighbors who also heard nothing. This was on a dead end steet with only one entrance/exit. Brave pricks. They destroyed two garage doors doing the deed, and no one heard a thing. If I did not know these folks and the facts, I would think it was BS, but it isn't.
I had my garage broke into quite a few times before perfecting my overhead door security. It started off where the bottom of the door would get knocked out of the side roller track and get kicked in at one side to gain access into it. Once i was able to stop that they (they? who's they? i don't know.) would use some sort of stick to unlock the overhead door from the track it get pulled open with. Now i've finally solved that. SO FAR SO GOOD!!!
Yea, after they pick the bullets out of their ass....I live on a dead end street, one way in, two ways out, Dead or Alive....
Here's what I call my NON PASSIVE SECURITY SYSTEM!His name is Rockin' Daddy (A.K.A. Spike) and he's really right wing.
"Yea, after they pick the bullets out of their ass....I live on a dead end street, one way in, two ways out, Dead or Alive.... " Yeah. You are there 24-7-365, never go to work or the store, and just sit at your window loaded and locked... Once you advertise your gun, it is BAIT anytime you are out of the house. Active defense is great, but you have to have other forms and layers of defense when you are away or asleep. Warning a thief that you have a gun is like warning him that you have a really great coin collection...except that your gun will be easier for him to sell.
The Jalopy Journal
