Dogs and Optics - Force Multipliers for Residential Security
The next time you hear a bump in the night, don't go back to sleep wondering what it was.
Force Multiplier : A capability that, when added to and employed by a combat force, significantly increases the combat potential of that force and thus enhances the probability of successful mission accomplishment.
A friend of mine told me about an incident he had at a rental house a few years back. He was out late walking his dogs for the last time before bed, and they were barking at some unseen threat in the distance. The friend could of course not see what it was, but he happened to have a very high powered flash light on him.
The light was powered up and deployed in the direction that the dogs had alerted towards. To my friend's surprise, he saw a man standing under the deck of a neighbor's house. It was not the neighbor either. As soon as the man was illuminated, he ran off into the woods. My friend did not hesitate to report the incident and went over to his neighbor's house to wake them up.
They were very appreciative but probably didn't sleep well that night or many nights into the future. No one had any idea why the man was there or who he was. If it were not for the dogs too, his presence would have gone unnoticed. Having at least one dog is a simple, cheap, and quality residential security force multiplier.
Many other options exist, but they are not cheap. I'd recommend people get them as their budget allows.
These days night vision and thermal devices are getting relatively inexpensive. The choices available are too plentiful for me to provide you with exact recommendations. I do not know your budget either. However, there are some basics to share that will help you decide.
Most of you are not going to put your device on a helmet, so consider a hand held or weapon mounted one instead. Private investigators prefer hand held units. They are cheaper than scopes, but they cannot be mounted on a weapon. I recommend getting a scope that can be hand held or mounted on a weapon.
Night vision devices use electronics to absorb low light and intensify it while thermal devices highlight differences in heat signatures. There's also a new device that combines the two into what is being called "Fusion." If you do not want to be detected easily by other people, make sure your device does not use any type of infrared lamp or beam.
A good write up on the differences between the devices can be found here.
There are countless other options to consider as force multipliers, and I welcome discussing them below. Please add the ones you recommend!
Congratulations @finnian! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Click on any badge to view your own Board of Honor on SteemitBoard.
For more information about SteemitBoard, click here
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPWill I be shamed if i said i often ignore odd noises? :D I always just assume its one of the cats and turn over. I could use an excuse card and say the crime rate here is super low...almost nonexistent (if i take the gypsys out of the equation )... then again if i went and checked the odd noise im not so sure what id do...scream him to death? :>
It sounds like you probably live in an apartment? Both dogs and optics work best in rural areas. There are still benefits to both in an urban area, but they are not as valuable. Do you live in a city or in the country? Single family detached home or not? Are people not allowed to have guns for self defense in Slovenia?
U have to imagine Slovenia as one big rural area. Basiclly what you have is lots and lots of small villages and on occasion a "larger city" which by your standards would still be just a bigger village lol.
So yes...i live in a village (round 50 ppl) in a house, single family. The nearest town has about 20k people. Our capital doesn't even have 300k people.
Well I guess if there is no need to self defend there is no need to have a gun (but ofc you are allowed to have one - its just rare). I only know one person who actually has a gun...my father...but again...he has no neighbours and lives near the gypsys and their blood runs hot. I don't even know anyone who knows self-defence. If you feel like runing at 2 am...you can go. Its not all sun and flowers .... dont get me wrong - we had a gun "incident" just last year. But just saying...It is a pretty safe place to be.
It sounds like a nice place to live. Just secure the house well, and then you can sleep at ease. When my house is locked up for the night, I have very little concerns. A person would have to make a lot of noise to get inside, and it would take them a while. ;-)
If you get a dog, get a disposable one since if cops have to come to your neighborhood they'll probably shoot it out of fear for their lives.
I like my Catahoula Leopard Dog breed for this reason. She'll bark to warn me, but then she'll run away. That makes sure she's out of the way when the gun fight begins. I don't want a guard dog that is going to attack and directly engage someone.
Congratulations @finnian! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Click on any badge to view your own Board of Honor on SteemitBoard.
For more information about SteemitBoard, click here
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPHmmm, I'll definitely have a look at some options!!! Our country is riddled with crime so any form of force multiplication makes sense. Never quite saw it that way. Thank you!!! Upvoted and resteemed.
Thanks! Yes, no matter where a person lives or how safe the area is, there are simple and cheap ways to improve their security. The optics are an expensive option, but I have shared and will share cheaper ones in other posts.
Cool, thanks!!! I'll be looking forward to the rest too. Cheers!!!
Thank you! What country are you in please? If you need help securing your home, I'd be happy to assist you.
Yeah, I'm based in South Africa. We're pretty serious about security here. UNFORTUNATELY, voilent crime is a reality for everyone and the fact that our local economy isn't performing very well... due to white collar looting... isn't helpng the situation. Anyway, I'm not going to complain to you about this and that. It's our reality and most every country has their own "reality" they need to deal with. That being said, I can do more to protect me and my family and something simple like nightvision (force multipliers) can assist :) I can do plenty, create a little fortress of sorts however all of that comes at a cost. Sooo... out here security is a BIG priority and that is why I liked the night vision option since it creates another, that awesome word, FORCE MULTIPLIER :):)
How much perimeter space do you have? Do you have a long drive way? If you give me more details, I can assist you further. Shoot me a private IM on steemit.chat if you want to take it offline so to speak. :)
Sure thing, I'll send you an IM :) Cheers!!!