How to Prepare for a Home Invasion - Home Defense Tips

Outstanding video, thanks for sharing, subscribed!

I live in a very peaceful, semi-rural area in Northern Ireland, and a couple of years ago, two men broke in at 4am, armed with a machete and a crowbar. I was very, very lucky; I got knocked around a bit, but they left after I gave them cash and car keys. The police basically told me to get a dog and a ring door bell. There are very few legal options for weapons here. Mace and pepper spray are illegal. If I even tried to import a stun gun, I'd be looking at 10 years in jail. We have some of the strictest gun laws in the world here, gun ownership is less than 5% of the population and that's mainly farmers who own a shotgun or two. Handguns are totally illegal unless you can demonstrate a 'verifiable and specific' threat to your life. Even with those laws, there were over 60,000 shooting incidents in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. So, yeah, bad guy wants a gun, he'll get one. Me? I now have a Doberman. I love him, but I don't fancy his chances against a gun, or a machete for that matter. Guard your freedoms fiercely, folks.

My grandpa was Chief of Police and always said, "If someone wants in, they're getting in. It's what you do when that happens that counts."

Two tips, to add onto yours. 1) Being able to traverse through your house in complete darkness while maintaining little to no noise! I feel like noise discipline gets overlooked a lot. Hunters know how to stay quiet when hunting their prey, so as to not scare them off. In your home, you ARE the hunter. The intruder is your prey. I know my layout like the back of my hand, but in darkness, it can feel completely different. I can walk through every room on both my floors and the steps without a single light on. If someone is in your house, you might not want to give away your position, especially if there is only 1 way to get into a certain area or a choke point, like stairs. My wife and I have lived in the same house for the same amount of time and she can’t for the life of her, walk through our house in the dark. 2) The guy who didn’t have one in the chamber. If that’s how you roll, due to personal reasons or the wife is giving you a hard time, fine. But now you NEED to train as such. When you’re in a situation where you need to pick up your gun, you need to train that muscle memory where your unconsciously racking/loading a round. The sound of loading a round can also do a few things. Some good, some bad. It can scare off a subject. Or, it can make that subject prepared by allowing them to have their (possible) weapon ready and also give a general location as to where you’re at in your home. If you want to try to “silently” load a round, cool. But some guns might not like it and malfunction with a feeding issue. Some guns like to be abused a little. So, whatever your situation is, you need to learn how to work around it/with it to give you the edge on an intruder. Train. Prepare. Place yourself in the most uncomfortable situation. Think out scenarios. Think what you’re going to do in such scenarios. Act out those scenarios with dry runs. Once you got your training down, good. DO IT AGAIN!

The auditory exclusion is such a real thing. It’s hard to explain unless you have experienced it. I have unfortunately been involved in two critical incidents, once in the military with IEDs and once as a law enforcement officer involved in an OIS. Both times my training took over and I was able to avoid the “amygdala hijack” But that auditory exclusion is so real.

My ex neighbor was a single, frail , elderly woman who was a real homebody. The full extent of her home security system was: 1: a HUGE 14" stainless steel dog bowl, and 2: a size 14 pair of beat up sneakers; both of which sat just outside her front door... ;)

Good content. I had a home invasion by four masked and melee armed criminals when I was seventeen. My mom had witnessed a crime and they probably wanted to silence her. She saw them running up to our front apartment door, panicked and i really had to man up. I had an axe, picked it up, told my GF to close all curtains and hide, told my mom to call 911, then ran to the door and saw how they looked through the peep-hole, then chose our hallway chokepoint as my last stand and visualized how i would strike, retrieve the axe and retreat slightly to regain momentum. Crazy enough, they didn't get it even with a crowbar. It tought me a great deal about my character.

I took a gun licensing class & the retired cop who did the training said rely on the police for nothing, their job is follow-up after a crime has happened. Most entries happen through doors. If possible get the metal security doors, and one of the outter storm doors they make, has unbreakable glass looking, polycarbonate, or another high-tech shatter proof material. My car was broken into, & the cop who came to do the report had a home break-in & she gave this advice: always leave lights on, inside and out, always lock up, even when working in the back yard, the authentic looking dummy cameras are better than no cameras, leave talk radio on loud if u are out, don’t have doors or windows where a person can easily see right into your home. I had a security system, but it was only for door, and windows need alarms as well. And I think that being agreeable and forking over money and /or property is the best survival tactic if a person gets in. You can’t shoot a person in my state unless u can prove that they had deadly intent.

Great information. The only thing that I do in addition is to keep spare sets of all car keys in the bedside table. My wife’s role is to activate all car alarms in the event of an intrusion. We live in a neighborhood with zero lot lines and that additional sound will wake all neighbors .

Great advice! Being prior military, I follow many of these rules and then some. My wife used to think I was a crazy doomsday prepper. After seeing how this country has changed in recent years, she doesn't think it's so crazy anymore.

4 layers for home defense: 1. Exterior that causes bad folks to choose another house….. cameras, lighting, dogs etc 2. Fortified or secure structure to slow entry…. Locks, etc 3. Alert/alarm to warn you of invasion…. Alarms, dogs etc 4. Tools to confront an intruder if they get in…… pistol, rifle, shotgun…. Etc

Camras outside, hooked up to the tv, and alarm system, a gun handy in every room, and building, and a shovel !

My family has had two home invasions--one of which resulted in a death. Your tips, in my view, would have prevented the trauma experienced in each case. This video is solid work from you, as usual!! One more to your list--get your lights on if you have to go out your doors at night, backyard or front door, even if it is just to let the dog out. It can give you crucial seconds to respond.

I m completely agree with you. Great tip. I m living in Canada.... very bad country for all about self-defense, but I do what I need to do .... better be judged by 12 than carried by 6.

wow people who are not aware of these kind of situations and only professionals of your calibre could motivate the vulnerable communities. Knowledge and information are key 🔑 factors for self defence. We feel that all those who watched this and other briefings should make aware their groups so that they could maintain situational awareness and protect themselves and the following generations. You are doing great service to all those communities who need this in this era of anti social elements.

Fantastic vid with so many informative n practice advice. Some I've already implemented like security cameras. Kudos for upload. Anticipating ur next one. Peace

Good info. My glock .45 stays with me every minute of my life now all the time. Wife has her 38. But without question the three best things you can do are # 3. Sticker or thorn plants around back or side windows make it difficult to get in. #2 motion sensor light in front and rear walkways work fantastic. #1 the absolute best thing for home protection. That gives the best advanced warning....is a Doberman, a Rottweiler, a German shepherd, Or a pit bull. Having a big dog will prevent most home invasions. Those 4 breeds are the best and are naturally protective. But any barking dog gives advanced warning someone is coming.

As far as home invasion goes, it always amazes me when I hear someone yell (for example) "Bob is that you?" I always ask them, "what if the answer to that question is 'no?'" If the person in your home is not who you hope it is, then you just let them know exactly where you are. Jason announces that he has a gun, and hopes that the intruder leaves. I myself would wait quietly in hiding and wait until I ascertain the location of the intruder, get my gun pointed at him, and then announce that I have a gun. I never want to let an intruder know my location when I don't know his. Personal preference. I also expect that I'm between the intruder and my family. I also never put my finger on the trigger until I'm ready to fire. I never want to get startled by a cat, a falling box, etc., and accidentally pull the trigger. In all dozen or so times I ever got my gun and searched my home in the dark at night, I so far never put my finger on the trigger. One more thing - when walking around with your gun, looking for an intruder, if you do it like in the movies, with your arm sticking straight out, with the gun held about as far from you as it can be, then you are just asking for a broken arm, when the intruder hits your arm woith a pipe in order to knock the gun out of your hand. I hold that gun flat against my body. You would have to hit me with a car in order to get me to drop it, and I don't expect that there are any cars moving around in my home at night.

Great video Jason, thank you for sharing it. All the best to you and your Family.

I really enjoy your videos. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experiences. Awesome!