In these troubled times, our primary concern should be protecting our family and loved ones. One thing you can count on is that you are your own best protector. You can’t rely on the government, the police, or other agencies to save you in a worst-case scenario. You need to be able to protect your home at all costs.

It’s not difficult, but learning how to fortify your home takes some planning. Use our “Home Fortification Ideas Guide” to get started.

Burglaries are on the rise, with the number of home invasions rising by an average of 20.5% in 2017 alone. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in the U.S. alone, approximately 4.6 million burglaries occur annually. In the event a burglar targets your home, you’ll want to arm yourself with the best home fortification plans possible.

Home fortification is a great way to prepare for the worst. Your home is your castle, and it’s up to you to ensure that it protects your castle against break-ins. This doesn’t mean you need barbed wire, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

In the event of a major natural disaster or a “zombie apocalypse,” your home may be one of the safest places to be. But only if you close off all points of entry. You can make your home even safer in emergency situations by using the following tips:

1. Security Cameras

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to own a home security camera system? You’re probably sick and tired of your fear of getting robbed or burglarized regularly. Why not be proactive and install security cameras that send you alerts when someone is invading your home?

In a perfect world, your security cameras will work flawlessly and will not cost you a penny. Unfortunately, the world is not perfect, and, unfortunately, nothing is free.

Security cameras are great for keeping an eye on your home when you’re away. Unfortunately, the average price for a camera and monitoring service is well over $100 per month. You could spend $50-100 for an average quality security camera and a $30 monitoring service. Or, you could spend $500 or more on a high-quality security camera and have no monthly fees for monitoring.

2. Reinforced Exterior Doors

If criminals want to gain entry into someone’s home, the first step is to figure out how to open their doorknob. Or they’ll kick open your door, which is easier than you think.

Unfortunately for homeowners, the door lock is one of the most vulnerable features of a house. This front door lock is like the Achilles heel of security. Most people don’t think much about their doorknob locks — which is a big mistake.

If you own a home, take a few minutes and reinforce the locks on your doors. While all door locks’ basic design remains the same, there are two locks that are especially easy to defeat: doorknob locks and deadbolts. You might think it’s not possible to break into a home with these types of locks, but it’s a good idea to know how they work so you can better understand how to better protect your home.

Other ways to reinforce your doors from burglars:

1. Install an electromagnetic lock or smart lock

2. Install a door force gauge.

3. Install a door viewer or peephole.

4. Install a one-way mirror on the inside of your door.

The more fortified this initial point of entry is, the better chance you’ll be able to deter a potential intruder.

3. Protect Your Windows

According to the Telegraph, 60% of home break-ins occur through an open window or door. Especially first floor windows. While it may seem odd, a lot of homeowners don’t have a sense of how easy it can be for an intruder to gain access to their home. One way to deter home invaders is to install burglar bars on your windows.

Security window film is a brilliant investment for your home or business. Not only is it affordable and effective, but it’s extremely versatile. It’s also a great alternative to traditional burglar bars because it allows you to maintain the aesthetic of your home or business. This is because you can easily apply security window film over glass, mirrors, doors, aquariums, and virtually any smooth, hard surface.

This film is a tough, glass-like a security film that you apply to the outside of your windows to keep them from shattering in the event of an attempted break-in. They actually make the film from a UV-stabilized polyvinyl butyral (PVB), and when installed correctly, it acts like a shatterproof window that keeps intruders out.

Security film for your windows is a great way to make your glass more secure and reduce vandalism. The film is clear, so it won’t diminish the view from inside the house or get in the way of natural light. The process is straightforward and it won’t take much time to secure all the windows around your property.

4. Motion Triggered Lights

What do you do if you want to protect your home but can’t afford an expensive security system? One of the best home fortification ideas for monitoring your whole house is motion-triggered lights.

Motion-triggered lights use a light source to illuminate a space that detects motion within the illuminated area. Installing these lights around the outside of your home can alert you to an intruder’s presence, even if they’re trying to avoid detection.

A motion-detector light is a cheap, simple way of detecting when home invaders are intruding. We can install them on a fence around your yard, on a shed that has a valuable toolset in it, or even on your house. Most motion-detector lights will send out infrared beams, which are invisible to the naked eye. If anything passes through these beams, the beam will break, and the motion detector will activate.

Inside Locations for motion-detector lighting:

1. Place a motion-detector light in the hallway.

2. Place motion-detector lights in the ceiling in your bedroom.

3. Place motion-detector lights in the ceilings of your living room and kitchen.

4. Turn your bedroom into a safe zone.

There are quite a few different options to choose from. Sometimes it’s difficult to know which one to go for, especially when you’re on a budget. One of the cheapest options is the AVANTEK Motion Sensor Light. This is a really simple light that will switch on when it detects motion and will switch off after 30 seconds if there is no movement.

5. Installing Alarm Systems

It’s a fact that most people don’t think about protecting their home until it’s too late. If you want to keep your family and possessions safe, install an alarm system today. It’s one of the best tactics for you to learn how to fortify your home in the most affordable way.

Most times, the sound of an alarm going off works. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case, and criminals find a way to get what they want.

Even a small amount of time without proper protection can be devastating. But if you’re thinking of buying an alarm, it’s not enough to simply know the features you should be looking for. It’s also important to know that some alarms are more reliable than others, so here we look at some of the most common home security systems, including ADT, Vivint, Frontpoint, and Simplisafe.

6. Dogs Are Great Home Protectors

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), “a residential burglar spends an average of 8 minutes inside a victim’s home and will steal an average of $2,300 worth of property.” If you have a dog, those numbers diminish significantly.

In many cases, they are more loyal and protective than any other being on earth, and for good reason. After all, we bred their ancestors, wolves, for thousands of years to be the perfect animals to watch over us. While the most common domesticated dog breeds are all medium to large-sized, small dogs can be just as loyal and protective as their larger cousins.

Dogs provide a number of benefits that could make a homeowner sleep easier at night. The most obvious benefit is protection against intruders. It’s easier to get a guard dog than it is to install a state-of-the-art security system. Dogs need less upkeep than a security system. Some dog breeds require little to no maintenance at all.

7. Secure Your Garage Door

The garage door is one of the most vulnerable areas of a home because it’s exposed, and like many other entry points, it’s easy to force open. Having a garage door security system can help deter intruders from breaking into your home or, at the very least, delay them from gaining entry.

As much as locking your garage door provides an extra layer of security to your home, there can still be vulnerabilities. Garage doors are typically easier to break into than other parts of the home because all you need is a screwdriver.

It’s well worth investing in a garage door security product to protect your home from intruders and theft. Even if your garage is separate from your main house, it’s still attached to your property, and it’s still vulnerable. The cost of garage doors has come down a lot in recent years, so it’s possible to get a secure one at an affordable price.

8. Fences Deter Intruders

Since home is where the heart is, it’s arguably the most important place to protect. The best way to protect your property is to make it as unattractive to intruders as possible. Fences are one of the most popular ways of doing this. They’re also relatively cheap and easy to install.

Burglars don’t like fences. Fences have a way of making them feel unwelcome. Most burglars are opportunistic and will take the path of least resistance when looking for a way into a home to rob it. A fence makes that path all the more difficult and unlikely.

1. Increasing the height of your home’s fence can deter criminals.

2. Investing in a wrought-iron fence if you want to add some curb appeal to your home.

3. Installing a security camera in your backyard next to the fence.

Manufacturers do not create all fences equal. If you’re going to put the time into building a fence, you want it to be as hard to climb over as possible. Research the best materials for building fences and then examine how burglars can get over or around them. This way no one will get passed your first line of defense.

9. Train Your Family to Shoot

No matter what you think about prepping or survivalism, one of the most important elements of getting prepared is protecting your home in any situation.

Some of the most dangerous threats that you’ll face after a disaster are looters. When people are hungry and scared, they’ll stop at nothing to take what they need to survive. Protecting your home from looters, burglars, and any other criminally minded person is your top priority.

When you think about it, there are few things more dangerous than breaking into somebody else’s house. After all, we know most folks to keep at least one gun in the house, just to be on the safe side. The only thing that will stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. Or, as they say: “An armed society is a polite society.

If you were a criminal, would you be insane enough to try to rob the home of a highly trained, expert marksman? Well, how about in a house full of highly trained, expert marksmen? If that doesn’t scare you from trying to rob the place, you must be crazy.

Or maybe you’re just incredibly brave.

More than likely, you’re none of those things, and a “Proud Gun Owner” sticker in the window would scare you away. The same is true for any criminal who comes face to face with effective home fortification.

New technology to make your home safer:

1. Increasingly, smart home technology is becoming a must-have for today’s homeowners.

2. Smart Home security systems can detect intruders and send a notification to your phone.

3. You can monitor your home from anywhere via the internet.

Home defense can be a tricky topic, especially when you don’t know what you’re doing. However, there are a few things you can keep in mind to help you have the best chance of defending your home against a home invasion. The key is to prepare yourself for different scenarios.

Also, it doesn’t matter what security system is the best in the world if you fail to correctly install and maintain it. Having a security system that trained professionals monitor is absolutely critical to ensuring that it protects your home when you are away from it.

Fortifying your Home Now

This article’s purpose was not to give you a step-by-step plan for home defense but to give you some tips for how you can prepare yourself and your family for the situation, should it arise. By now, you know that the most important factor in home security is not whether or not you fortify your home like a prepper’s compound but whether or not you have taken the time to prepare yourself and your family for the situation of a home invasion.

Our strongest belief is that you can survive any emergency situation in these pivotal times, so long as you have the right tools for survival. Making intruders go to an easier target is simpler than you think.

Home security and self defense are the increasingly important concepts during times of civil unrest. Following these tips, you’ll be ahead of most people in deterring bad guys.