Goal: make your home a harder, less interesting target than average, and win encounters by never having them.
- Layer 0 — invisibility (OPSEC): don't advertise preps on social media or to casual acquaintances; deliveries broken down, boxes hidden in bins; blackout curtains so yours isn't the one lit house; run quiet cooking/power (rocket stove, solar) not a roaring generator. The phrase that protects you in hard times: "we're struggling too." Share deliberately through charity/barter — not by being discovered.
- Layer 1 — deter: lights on timers/motion sensors, dog (or "beware of dog" sign + big bowl), gravel paths, thorny shrubs under windows, visible-but-modest security camera or even a dummy, no ladder/tools left outside, side gates locked.
- Layer 2 — delay (the best £100 in security): 3-inch screws in every door hinge and strike plate (standard ½" screws rip out with one kick), a door reinforcement bar or floor barricade brace (£20-40), window locks, anti-lift screws on sliding doors, laminate security film on glass beside door locks. Solid-core doors if replacing. Pre-cut, labelled plywood for windows (storm AND unrest).
- Layer 3 — detect & respond: wedge alarms on doors (£10), a family code word for "danger, comply/hide/run," a safe room concept (usually main bedroom): solid door, phone/radio, light, and the family drilled to gather there while you call for help loudly. Most intruders want property, not confrontation — loud awareness ("I've called the police, leave now") ends the majority.
- Force & law: know YOUR jurisdiction's self-defence law cold — proportionality and duty-to-retreat rules vary hugely, and the legal aftermath can wreck a family as surely as the event. Whatever tools you lawfully choose, the rule is the same: training + secure storage + family rules matter more than the item. Anything unsecured is a bigger risk to your own children than to any intruder. De-escalation, distance, and a locked door beat any fight you didn't have.
- Away-from-home: park in light, keys ready, head up leaving shops; walk confidently, mid-pavement; trust the gut-feeling and cross the street/change plans without embarrassment (fear of rudeness gets people hurt); wallet you can throw one way while moving the other — property is never worth your life; family rally point + check-in habit at crowded events, plus "if separated: stay put / go to X" rules for kids.