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Maybe I'm seeing it wrong -- but "giving a company full access" isn't exactly right. Its more, you have "the ability to control who has access to your locks and

Maybe I'm seeing it wrong -- but "giving a company full access" isn't exactly right. Its more, you have "the ability to control who has access to your locks and Amazon is probably your biggest user". Some other anecdotes: When my townhome was broken into, I learned that windows are way less secure than smart locks. If someone wants in your home, they're going to get in. When my house caught on fire, I would have loved to have been able to let the first-responder in remotely as we were an hour away, the fire company was 20 mins, and seconds count.

djrogers 9y ago
Firefighters basically never have difficulties entering single family homes... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halligan_bar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halligan_bar
- emerged 9y ago
  Then all the delivery service needs is one of these Halligan bars to ensure your rolls of toilet paper and Hawaiian themed mouse pad are safely delivered inside your home.
- mholmes680 9y ago
  I'm going to buy one of these for my fire company. It took them (I'm told, I still wasn't there) 5 mins to get through my old 1960s solid wood door.
  - cr0sh 9y ago
    I just looked around - full-sized versions are pretty expensive; a 30" version I found from one supplier was around $300.00. Though I did find a 16" version for $80.00 - I'm thinking a tool like this might come in handy for off-roading use.
    - mholmes680 9y ago
      worth every penny, those guys (in my town, volunteers) are heroes.
arkades 9y ago
Windows are made of glass, and most deadbolts are installed into little more than a 1/4 - 1/2” of wood. In some places, they’re held by little more than mounding. Both are absolutely trivial to knock open, with the quality of the lock itself being far less important to the overall picture. Securing a door goes like this: 1) good deadbolt mounted into thick wood with a big strike plate and a sheet of sheet metal attached to the entire length of the stud with 3” screws, so you can’t just kick in the door. They sell kits like this oh amazon for usually sub100$. 2) good deadbolt. 3) steel door, because a 15lb mallet will knock through pretty much anything else and, if you have a door not visible to neighbors (like a backyard doors) no one will even notice. 4) an alarm system, because if no one is coming, steps 1-3 are irrelevant. Time defeats all security measures. 5) thorny bushes under all windows, motion-sensing lights on the entire perimeter. This keeps no one out, but if your house looks like a pain in the ass to get into, someone else’s will get hit. Outrun your neighbor, not the lion. 6) and if you’ve got the cash to spend, hurricane-proof glass and window stops will make it very unlikely anyone is getting in through a window either. 7) and that’s all still just to make you less attractive than a neighbor, ‘cause if I can get into your yard, cutting away some siding with metal snips and knocking a hole in your sheetrock is trivial. Walls are more psychological than structural in most modern home construction.
- latencyloser 9y ago
  Where'd you learn this stuff? As someone who recently ended up a family man, I'm definitely interested in keeping my place more secure.
  - arkades 9y ago
    Way way back when, before I had a professional degree and respectability, I grew up in the sort of neighborhood where this information is... something approximating common knowledge. My father grew up in a similar environment and passed along a lot of wisdom on the topic as well. I parlayed it into some security work in undergrad, where I got to see the way small businesses address these issues. I’ve never seen it written up anywhere, though I’m sure someone has to have spilled beans on this topic at some point. If you have specific security concerns relevant to your personal situation (eg, I live In an apartment with a balcony...) feel free to leave an email address or some other contact info and I’ll happily give you some quick tips. Most residences, unless you’re a high value target, need very similar security.

djrogers 9y ago

Firefighters basically never have difficulties entering single family homes... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halligan_bar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halligan_bar

emerged 9y ago
Then all the delivery service needs is one of these Halligan bars to ensure your rolls of toilet paper and Hawaiian themed mouse pad are safely delivered inside your home.
mholmes680 9y ago
I'm going to buy one of these for my fire company. It took them (I'm told, I still wasn't there) 5 mins to get through my old 1960s solid wood door.
- cr0sh 9y ago
  I just looked around - full-sized versions are pretty expensive; a 30" version I found from one supplier was around $300.00. Though I did find a 16" version for $80.00 - I'm thinking a tool like this might come in handy for off-roading use.
  - mholmes680 9y ago
    worth every penny, those guys (in my town, volunteers) are heroes.

arkades 9y ago

Windows are made of glass, and most deadbolts are installed into little more than a 1/4 - 1/2” of wood. In some places, they’re held by little more than mounding. Both are absolutely trivial to knock open, with the quality of the lock itself being far less important to the overall picture. Securing a door goes like this: 1) good deadbolt mounted into thick wood with a big strike plate and a sheet of sheet metal attached to the entire length of the stud with 3” screws, so you can’t just kick in the door. They sell kits like this oh amazon for usually sub100$. 2) good deadbolt. 3) steel door, because a 15lb mallet will knock through pretty much anything else and, if you have a door not visible to neighbors (like a backyard doors) no one will even notice. 4) an alarm system, because if no one is coming, steps 1-3 are irrelevant. Time defeats all security measures. 5) thorny bushes under all windows, motion-sensing lights on the entire perimeter. This keeps no one out, but if your house looks like a pain in the ass to get into, someone else’s will get hit. Outrun your neighbor, not the lion. 6) and if you’ve got the cash to spend, hurricane-proof glass and window stops will make it very unlikely anyone is getting in through a window either. 7) and that’s all still just to make you less attractive than a neighbor, ‘cause if I can get into your yard, cutting away some siding with metal snips and knocking a hole in your sheetrock is trivial. Walls are more psychological than structural in most modern home construction.

latencyloser 9y ago
Where'd you learn this stuff? As someone who recently ended up a family man, I'm definitely interested in keeping my place more secure.
- arkades 9y ago
  Way way back when, before I had a professional degree and respectability, I grew up in the sort of neighborhood where this information is... something approximating common knowledge. My father grew up in a similar environment and passed along a lot of wisdom on the topic as well. I parlayed it into some security work in undergrad, where I got to see the way small businesses address these issues. I’ve never seen it written up anywhere, though I’m sure someone has to have spilled beans on this topic at some point. If you have specific security concerns relevant to your personal situation (eg, I live In an apartment with a balcony...) feel free to leave an email address or some other contact info and I’ll happily give you some quick tips. Most residences, unless you’re a high value target, need very similar security.