got broken into - padlocks?

[RVDan]

Just curious about how you detained them?

I've had some trouble in the past hanging onto the little bastards, a common thief fearing for his life is one of the most slippery violent things I've ever experienced.

Caught a young teen going into my camper one time, I was stronger mad than he was scared, but with arms and legs flailing as hard ad he could trying to get away I ended up with a lot of bruises. Luckily the neighbor called the cops, there's no way I could have kept the kid on the ground and dialed at the same time.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I really like outlawmws solution. How about a link to the source ?

A close second is what they use on van doors

With an appropriate lock

I like this one also

but it requires a special padlock

 

[jamesemery728]

Best thing is a simple alarm that makes enough noise to scare off the punks and wake you up. Unfortunately cordless tools have become the bane of most of the locks that have been posted. A simple cordless dremel tool with a cutoff disc will cut locks, chains, etc like butter.

 

[twangnut]

Alarm, motion lights, good locks, 120lb leg muncher and a reputation for having a slight nervous tick/

If they want your stuff they'll get it.Goal is to make your house the most DIFFICULT to hit. 9 outta 10 they'll go to the easier pickings. Sorry to hear your having to deal with it and good luck.

 

[mrpowderkeg]

Dad has a shrouded lock on his construction equipment, as do I on my race trailer. They are not 100% impenetrable, but they make bolt cutters tough to get on. We have one that a person tried some bolt cutters on, but did nothing but scratched the chrome on the shank. With an abrasive disc, you can cut anything, but that makes a heck of a lot of noise.

 

[Outlawmws]

I really like outlawmws solution. How about a link to the source ?

The source was my shop. I designed and made the entire lock hasp assembly with the exception of the heavy door hinge on the inside of the hasp.

 

[OctoMan]

How about a dog ??

 

[Falcon67]

the chain is larger then the mouth of most bolt cutters...I checked before I installed at the shop...so no you can not cut it with a normal pair of bold cutters...you would need to bring the 4 foot tall HK pair..and most thiefs will not spend the money for a good tool...lol

42" bolt cutters are $35 at Harbor Freight. And they work well enough - have a pair of the 24" and they cut everything on this place. We bought a re-po and there were padlocks and a bit of chain on everything.

 

[RobSmith]

If it's a timber framed garage buy a cheap electric fence power supply and hook up the doors and windows (add a little metal trim). Stick a couple of signs saying "Building Electrified" (with lightning bolt symbols) and those that don't / can't read will find out any way. The shock isn't enough to kill but it feels like it could.

 

[Pate]

I sell these.

 

[kbs2244]

As the SWAT team video proved,
the locks are often the strongest thing on the door.
But what is important is what they are attached to.
There was something behind the door.

It is common around here for thieves to cut through the mild steel chain right next to the super-duper lock.

For a door. Go metal with a metal frame screwed to the studs with 6 inch “deck” screws.
(They will bend but not break like the black “drywall” screws.)

Then at least two 2 inch black pipe cross bars at the 1/3 and 2/3 points of the door height.
Same screwing pattern.

Of course you now have no way for yourself to get in from the outside unless you come up with some way to remotely retract the pipes.

As much as I dislike them, a dog, even just a little ankle bitting yapper, is the best a dollar can buy.

 

[theoldwizard1]

... For a door, go metal with a metal frame ...

A metal without a metal frame is almost worthless.

 

[D rock]

If you have a break in, get a game camera that you use for hunting. It's not super fancy, but it takes a pretty damn good picture and nobody notices. Mine take movies and pics. I keep an sd card in it. When it gets a good pic, I take it to the police.

 

[Mickey O]

Forget all the fancy padlocks, they're only as strong as the hardware that holds in place what they're locking to, I haven't seen a padlock a 4 foot pipe wrench and pry bar couldn't get past. A flush mount deadbolt lock is good but if you really want a door that can't be broken into you need to use rods through the steel reinforced framing into the sides of the door controlled by continuous operation or latching solenoids, it's expensive.

Best option is probably what has already been recommended, a loud siren, just make sure the town you live in doesn't have large fines if they go off and you're not there.

 

[mrpowderkeg]

Well last night I think It was my turn, but no one got anything. I'm building a shop, last night it sounded like someone tripped over my lumber, two medium loud thumps like someone knocked a few boards off the pile. I killed all the lights in the home, and grabbed a firearm. In the country it's hard to see at night, but by killing the light I was thinking that it would give my eyes a bit more time to adjust. I went out the front door, and made my way to the back, keeping quiet and observing from a distance. I saw no one, nothing, I stood and listened... nothing, waited for like 20 minutes, nothing. Hmm... I know something was going on, the sound was distinctive and clear. I waited a bit longer, and no one was around. Ok, so I went to check on things slowly making my way around. I have my enclosed race trailer for all our building tools, and I use those enclosed shank master locks. Everything was secure. One of three things happened last night... Someone was snooping around, and realized without the right tools getting into the race trailer was not going to happen, a bolt cutter us useless. Or maybe we had a coyote come through and knock some lumber off the pile, it's a bit unstable so I could see it happen... But two times in like two minutes, it's unlikely. Or three... I have ghosts? I know someone was back there, the locks make it more difficult to get in without lugging around a few heavy tools. The person probably left after the second noise, knowing his or her cover has been blown. Man I hate to think of what would have happened if I had come across someone out there. The Sheriff is 20 minutes out at least. I'm just glad nothing came from this, I think better than average locks save me last night.

 

[Outlawmws]

Well last night I think It was my turn, but no one got anything. I'm building a shop, last night it sounded like someone tripped over my lumber, two medium loud thumps like someone knocked a few boards off the pile. I killed all the lights in the home, and grabbed a firearm. In the country it's hard to see at night, but by killing the light I was thinking that it would give my eyes a bit more time to adjust. I went out the front door, and made my way to the back, keeping quiet and observing from a distance. I saw no one, nothing, I stood and listened... nothing, waited for like 20 minutes, nothing. Hmm... I know something was going on, the sound was distinctive and clear. I waited a bit longer, and no one was around. Ok, so I went to check on things slowly making my way around. I have my enclosed race trailer for all our building tools, and I use those enclosed shank master locks. Everything was secure. One of three things happened last night... Someone was snooping around, and realized without the right tools getting into the race trailer was not going to happen, a bolt cutter us useless. Or maybe we had a coyote come through and knock some lumber off the pile, it's a bit unstable so I could see it happen... But two times in like two minutes, it's unlikely. Or three... I have ghosts? I know someone was back there, the locks make it more difficult to get in without lugging around a few heavy tools. The person probably left after the second noise, knowing his or her cover has been blown. Man I hate to think of what would have happened if I had come across someone out there. The Sheriff is 20 minutes out at least. I'm just glad nothing came from this, I think better than average locks save me last night.

Animals. Check for foot/paw prints, but I'd guess you had raccoons, oppoums, or other nosy inquisitive nocturnal critters.

Set up some motion/heat detecting lights, and this is good advise for the OP and others that have outbuildings. I have them all around my house, and I'm adding them in the direction on my shed once completed, as well as a couple of solar operated units on the shed (No power at the shed... Shed will be on battery powered lighting, solar charged... )

It becomes real clear what is coming around; cats, skunks, raccoons, etc set my lights off all the time, and I live in side city limits...

 

[Outlawmws]

Forget all the fancy padlocks, they're only as strong as the hardware that holds in place what they're locking to, I haven't seen a padlock a 4 foot pipe wrench and pry bar couldn't get past. A flush mount deadbolt lock is good but if you really want a door that can't be broken into you need to use rods through the steel reinforced framing into the sides of the door controlled by continuous operation or latching solenoids, it's expensive.

Best option is probably what has already been recommended, a loud siren, just make sure the town you live in doesn't have large fines if they go off and you're not there.

Good locking devices won't ever stop the determined. You want locking devices that force them to make lots of noise and impair as much as possible the smash, grab and run tactics the average crack head uses.

If they hit a window an it bounces back because it's Lexsan they get a wtf moment, and if it's Lexan behind glass, the surprise is doubled. and they made a lot of noise for no gain.

Hard to cut padlock arrangements make them get noisy, or force the culprit to pick the lock (an advantage to Almont locks, those are one of the most difficult to pick locks there are readily available)

Sawzall or mini grinder? Plate the back side of both the frame and lock and that saw slows down and gets a lot more noisy.

A pro, unless he had totally targeted you, will go somewhere easier. The stupid will get caught or give up.

If you do go with an alarm, many can be defeated by simply cutting the power to the house/shop, and/or cutting your phone lines, and who locks their service panel? So put the alarm on a deskside UPS unit so power being out doesn't affect it,at least for as long ans the batter lasts and that would probably be most on an hour, maybe more for a relatively low power consumption unit like an alarm (I have my networking gear on a deskside UPS normally god for maybe 5 min on a fullup computer, and have sat through 4-5 hour power outages without difficulty).

 

[nosnerd]

i keep a well worn aluminum bat under my bed..and a 1 million cp flashlight...i tapped it once in out very wide kitchen window,,gf thought i was going to break it!...but the ph*cker got off the lawn pretty fast...didnt even have to step outside..(which i was very happy for-as i was in my undies lol)

 

[PeterT]

"However the key thing to remember is that lethal force in Canada is allowed only to protect yourself or the lives of others from bodily harm..... to protect property you must used non-deadly force.... In other words, the guy breaking into your house has to be coming after you, and not your property. "

You can now buy 12 gauge shotgun shells with those bean bags or rubber buck shot in them for non lethal force. Have that as your first round and a load of "00" lead buck shot for your second round.

I alternate buck shot and slugs,, that way if you spray them in the face and they take off running,, you can plug em in the back.

 

[w1im]

Lexsan windows screwed in with plates on the inside of the glass windows. (Lexsan is super tough, and 1/8" will stop a .38 slug at point blank range IIR)

I assume you are talking about Lexan as google didn't turn anything up for "Lexsan".

I think your figures are a little off. Lexan is great stuff, but 1/8" won't stop anything but a bb gun. 1/2" may stop a .38 but if you want reliable protection from smaller handgun rounds, you will want at least 1".

This is why the bullet resistant windows you see on armored vehicles are 3"+ thick.

Here is a video of a 3/4" piece of Lexan, tested with different rounds.

 

[mrpowderkeg]

I am buying one of these today, it won't stop anyone but it will aid in seeing if anyone or anything is poking around. Yes I will be changing my lights to motion lights out back.

 

[trainer]

Just because the long gun registry is gone doesn't mean the police wont lay gun related charges. One of the favorite charges around here recently is "unsafe storage of a firearm". Enough to lose your firearms and possibly have your firearm licence cancelled.

A couple of kids who made a poor decision while intoxicated certainly don't deserve to be shot.

 

[GreyOwl]

Well last night I think It was my turn, but no one got anything. I'm building a shop, last night it sounded like someone tripped over my lumber, two medium loud thumps like someone knocked a few boards off the pile. I killed all the lights in the home, and grabbed a firearm. In the country it's hard to see at night, but by killing the light I was thinking that it would give my eyes a bit more time to adjust. I went out the front door, and made my way to the back, keeping quiet and observing from a distance. I saw no one, nothing, I stood and listened... nothing, waited for like 20 minutes, nothing. Hmm... I know something was going on, the sound was distinctive and clear. I waited a bit longer, and no one was around. Ok, so I went to check on things slowly making my way around. I have my enclosed race trailer for all our building tools, and I use those enclosed shank master locks. Everything was secure. One of three things happened last night... Someone was snooping around, and realized without the right tools getting into the race trailer was not going to happen, a bolt cutter us useless. Or maybe we had a coyote come through and knock some lumber off the pile, it's a bit unstable so I could see it happen... But two times in like two minutes, it's unlikely. Or three... I have ghosts? I know someone was back there, the locks make it more difficult to get in without lugging around a few heavy tools. The person probably left after the second noise, knowing his or her cover has been blown. Man I hate to think of what would have happened if I had come across someone out there. The Sheriff is 20 minutes out at least. I'm just glad nothing came from this, I think better than average locks save me last night.

Be ready for the next night as they just may have figured out what tools they need for a quick score at a later date.

 

[mrpowderkeg]

Yeah I kinda figured they would be back... I've got a way to deal with it

 

[Kevin54]

Just curious about how you detained them?

I've had some trouble in the past hanging onto the little bastards, a common thief fearing for his life is one of the most slippery violent things I've ever experienced.

Caught a young teen going into my camper one time, I was stronger mad than he was scared, but with arms and legs flailing as hard ad he could trying to get away I ended up with a lot of bruises. Luckily the neighbor called the cops, there's no way I could have kept the kid on the ground and dialed at the same time.

That's where the thieves end up hurting themselves while trying to get away. When they are really trying to get away from you, they may just break a leg or both by accident. Some of them even end up with a broken nose or jaw while trying to get away. Some of them have even been ruptured in the 'nads because of slipping on the floor.

 

[RalphInCA]

That's where the thieves end up hurting themselves while trying to get away. When they are really trying to get away from you, they may just break a leg or both by accident. Some of them even end up with a broken nose or jaw while trying to get away. Some of them have even been ruptured in the 'nads because of slipping on the floor.

As we all know, there have been quite a few instances around the country where cops have been accused of unnecesary roughness when handling arrests. When caught on tape it really looks bad for the cops. But, as mentioned above, a scared and angry criminal can be very violent and slippery.

Here in LA there is a current news story of cops allegedly being too rough on a woman. My guess is that she was the one that forced them to be rough.

Sometimes the cops have to be rough just to do their jobs! And sometimes this injures the criminal. I say... Too bad. If you don't want to get roughed up, simply obey the cops.