14 Things to Keep by the Front Door if You Want to Stay Safe

A clean doormat, decorations, and accessories such as a coat hanger by your door will all improve the aesthetic appeal of your home.

But what these kinds of things won’t do is keep you safer or deter intruders from breaking into your home.

Most homes in general are fairly easy to break into because most people don’t take the necessary precautions to fortify their homes or make them easier to defend.

The front door represents one of the most obvious entry ways into your home, so it should be the part of your home that you seek to defend first.

Here are fourteen things to keep by your front door at all times:

Handgun

Some people may be anxious about the idea of keeping a firearm right by the front entrance of your home.

What if someone walking in through the front door saw the pistol, for instance?

A burglar in particular would be quick to snatch it up.

At the same time, however, if you find yourself confronting armed and violent intruders at the entryway, a self-defense firearm could mean the difference between life and death. Otherwise, you may have to run back upstairs or into another room to access your home defense gun.

Related: The Guns the Government Doesn’t Want You to Have

The key is both to hide and secure the gun by the front entrance so it’s easily accessible by you and you alone. We’ll talk more about how to do this in a bit.

A handgun would be a better choice to keep at the front door than a rifle or a shotgun because it can be brought into action quicker and is easier to wield in tight spaces.

Pepper Spray

If you’re not fully comfortable with keeping a firearm by the front entrance of your home or if you would prefer an alternative non-lethal self-defense weapon, a canister of pepper spray will be your best bet.

Flashlight

Always keep a good flashlight by the front entrance of your home.

One of the best kinds of flashlights to use would be a Maglite or something similar.

These flashlights shine very brightly and can also be used as self-defense clubs as well due to their extra heft.

Safe

Above, we talked about hiding and securing your handgun by the front entrance. The way to do this is to use a handgun safe that you can bolt to the wall by the front entrance.

Then you can hide the safe with jackets, coats, or clothes that you have hanging by the entrance as well so it’s not obvious to intruders or casual visitors. You can keep your handgun, flashlight, and other self-defense tools in this safe.

Steel Door

All the same, most wooden doors can easily be broken through by anyone armed with an axe, sledgehammer, or a mallet. A metal or steel door will ensure that this can’t be done.

This is why all doors leading outside your home should ideally be replaced with steel doors, with the entrance door being the most important to replace first.

Security Signs

Security signs will always make potential intruders think twice about making an attempted break-in into your home.

Make sure the security signs you use are realistic and professional looking.

Make sure they are clearly visible to anyone who comes onto your property.

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Door Brace

A good brace is designed to have one end placed under a door knob and the other end on the floor. You can then tighten the brace to secure it. This will help to hold the door shut against an attempted brute force break-in.

Boots or Good Outdoor Shoes

Boots or good outdoor shoes that you can slip on quickly should be placed by your front door at all times.

This is because you may need to respond to an emergency outside of your home, and it’s crucial to have good shoes at the ready.

Heavy Duty Locks and Hinges

Ideally, all of the doors in your home leading outside should have the locks and hinges replaced with heavy duty steel versions.

Any burglar who knows what they are doing will be able to kick open a door, but heavy duty hinges will help make this attempt much more difficult.

Privacy Film

Clear glass by your front door will allow anyone to peek inside. By installing privacy film on your front windows, you will make it much more difficult for anyone to peek in.

This is important because it will help throw into doubt if anyone is home for a burglar, and it will also make it more difficult to see what valuables are inside as well.

Cameras

Security cameras are a lot like security signs in that they will always give intruders second thoughts before attempting to break into your home.

Related: 6 Signs Your Neighbor Will Become A Looter As Soon As SHTF

Installing real cameras would be best because they actually give you 24/7 surveillance of your property, but installing realistic-looking fake cameras will also effectively serve to deter criminals.

At the bare minimum, less-experienced or more nervous would-be intruders will think twice.

Video Doorbell

On the same note as the above, a video doorbell can help to deter criminals as well.

A video doorbell is simply a doorbell with a video camera attached that will notify you when someone approaches the front door, and also records a video of the individual. Many burglars will avoid homes that they see video doorbells attached to.

Motion Sensor Lights

Motion sensor lights act like security signs and cameras in that they will help to deter potential break-ins, at least at night.

Look for lights that can pick up motion out to at least forty feet away. This will ensure that any intruders are ‘caught’ before they get to the front door.

Radio

Last but not least, leave a radio near the front door and keep it running when you’re not at home. This will make potential burglars believe that someone is still home.

The above measures will make your front door many times more defensible than most other homes in your neighborhood. Your goal should always be to adopt measures that will dissuade intruders from making a move, as well as to have the necessary defensive measures in the event they decide to attempt to break in anyway.

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