Thieving sprouts AGAIN

[BigShot]

Sorry to hear about the break-in. Robbing scumbags.

As for how to stop them, I'd suggest a solution I heard someone suggest for classic car security... don't use sound as an alarm - use it as a weapon.

You can get some ludicrously loud sirens which make it physically painful to stay in the area - even worse in an enclosed space. One of those things screaming from behind a protective cage 6 feet from the scumbag's ears should bring you running and send them packing at the same time.

With a normal alarm they may be tempted to chance their arm and rob a few things anyway but if staying in the room causes physical pain and makes it hard to think they'd probably just leg it.

We had a brutal alarm in a pub I used to work in in France, imagine a rape alarm sort of sound (pulsing) at really high volume. One time I set it off by accident I didn't even stop to put the code in, I just went out to the street and waited for it to stop before going in to disarm it. It wasn't even as loud as many serious sirens, but in an enclosed space it hurt.

Totally legal and also adds the bonus of the sheer fright making the thieves make a mess on themselves! Haha.

 

[Grinding One]

Ever think about wrapping a hot wire to the doornob? Switch it on from the house....off when you go out there,you will find they will not bother with you after a good jolt.

 

[BMac]

Attractive as booby traps are they will result in a lot more bother for you than any attempted crime.

 

[devonwoody]

Big Shot, dont the intruders have ear plugs these days?

 

[paulm]

You have my sympathies Blister, must be awful and the worry of repeat visits too.

Couple of thoughts for you.

Is there anything that can be done to make it impossible for them to get over the 6' gate, like putting something above it, trellis, rebar, wire etc. Doesn't have to be Fort Knox, just anything that would take more time and effort and noise for them to get past.

Looks like the weak spots were not the padlocks used but the fittings and/or screws used. You can get much heavier fittings from Screwfix and such like that are significantly more difficult to break than the ones in the pics which look a little lightweight possibly ? Use of heavy coachbolts and similar for all fittings and with reinforcing timber or metal plate on the inside to beef up the mounting might also help.

Sounds like a lot of time, bother and expense, but good quality kit well fitted might help a bit, even if only to slow them down and increase chances of being interrupted.....

All the best, Paul

 

[mickthetree]

Hey Blister

Really sorry to hear that mate.

In light of Blister's bad fortune here and the apparent common place of this, maybe we should all take this as an opportunity to seriously mark our equipment. It would make resale for the thieves more difficult and could even lead to the return of equipment in the future if discovered.

I know it may (possibly) reduce the resale value if you intend to sell any of your equiptment in the future, but I'm sure this is worth the hassle of loosing the stuff in the first place.

Plastic moulded cases (on powertools) can be embossed with your name and address using a heated metal stamp, metal casings can be scratched with details, wooden handles can be carved.

I suspect clear visual marks are better than the ultra violet type pens as I doubt the regular bobby carries a black light to check them with.

I would suggest that you put a sticker in the window of any shed / workshop where tools can be seen that states that all tools are clearly marked.

Maybe also add a caveat to the sticker diminishing any responsibility for any injury sustained whilst your thieving b*&%^$d hands are reifling through my gear!!!

tuppence worth.

 

[newt]

Hey Blister

Really sorry to hear that mate.

In light of Blister's bad fortune here and the apparent common place of this, maybe we should all take this as an opportunity to seriously mark our equipment. It would make resale for the thieves more difficult and could even lead to the return of equipment in the future if discovered.

I know it may (possibly) reduce the resale value if you intend to sell any of your equiptment in the future, but I'm sure this is worth the hassle of loosing the stuff in the first place.

Plastic moulded cases (on powertools) can be embossed with your name and address using a heated metal stamp, metal casings can be scratched with details, wooden handles can be carved.

I suspect clear visual marks are better than the ultra violet type pens as I doubt the regular bobby carries a black light to check them with.

I would suggest that you put a sticker in the window of any shed / workshop where tools can be seen that states that all tools are clearly marked.

Maybe also add a caveat to the sticker diminishing any responsibility for any injury sustained whilst your thieving b*&%^$d hands are reifling through my gear!!!

tuppence worth.

The marking can certainly help, but any notice assumes the sub morons can read.

 

[devonwoody]

Isnt there a electric plating system that can be fitted to door handles, no need to have it on all the time? :wink:

 

[John. B]

Sorry to hear about that allen,
I thought you had alarmed all the sheds?

John. B

 

[BigShot]

Any kind of booby trap is an open invitation for Johnny Scumbag to press charges against you. As stupid as it is, the law and the courts don't look at the case and say "What were you doing there in the first place? Stealing? 5 years hard labour!" they look it and say you expected someone to be breaking in so set a trap for them and so are guilty of a crime befitting the level of injuries and distress the scumbag suffers.
If I ruled the world I'd give a beating to anyone who tried to press charges against their would-be victim after being injured in the course of committing a crime.



Devonwoody
As for scumbags carrying earplugs - I wouldn't have thought they'd be standard issue kit, no. And with the kind of volumes of sound I'm talking about you'd want some serious hearing protection to even hope for no lasting damage.
The bonus of sound like that is it also doubles as an alarm bringing the unwelcome attention that they go to great lengths to avoid.

 

[Vormulac]

I have always meant to fit one of those weapons-grade alarms inside my workshop, I think the two biggest you can get are the Klaxon Inferno (125db) and the Master Blaster (127db). Apparently either of these can make it virtually impossible to actually enter the room in which it is going off.

 

[BigShot]

That's the kind of thing I'm talking about, Vormulac.

"weapons-grade alarms" - beautifully put. I do like that expression.

Just for fun, here's a quick rundown of decibel levels in real-world terms...


0 dB Threshold of hearing
10 dB Rustling of leaves
20 dB Whisper
30 dB Quiet conversation
40 dB Average home
50 dB Normal conversation
60 dB Busy shop
70 dB City street
80 dB Busy workplace
90 dB Underground railway
100 dB Pneumatic drill 10ft away
110 dB Propeller aircraft taking off
120 dB Jet aircraft taking off


Remember, each 10 decibels is ten times louder than the one before.
So the 120dB Jet aircraft is ten times louder than the 110dB Propeller aircraft. Which would make the Klaxon Inferno 5 times louder and the Master Blaster 7 times louder than a jet aircraft taking off. OUCH!

 

[Digit]

They certainly wouldn't be answering any questions very soon after that!

Roy.

 

[Vormulac]

Just promise me if you fit a MasterBlaster you fit a camera too so we have footage of the scrote's head exploding when he trips it. I could use a chuckle :twisted:

 

[BigShot]

Vormulac
We could collect the footage and sell it to some TV channel. It'd be a bit like that "Bait Car" series only with scrotes jumping 6 feet in the air and hitting their head on the workshop ceiling!

 

[CWatters]

Blister - don't forget to keep an eye on ebay for the stuff that got nicked. That and the local pornbrokers shops. With ebay I think you can set up alerts so it emails you when what you are looking for appears.

 

[Joints]

First I have to say I am very sorry to hear about this, cowardly sprouts all of them!

I must however say that those locks to not look upto scratch.

Think about having a metal bar that is drilled with hinges into stonework on one side of the door, that then goes acros the width of the door and is the bolted with a very big padlock into the stonework on the otherside.

It a very secure way to lock your door as they have to either hack the door with an axe or use an angle grinder on the bar which both make a lot of noise.

But the most important thing is that it looks hard to get into which, i am afraid those locks screwed into the woodwork dont.


PS - Buy a pitbull, keep it in the shop, do not feed it.

 

[OPJ]

Very sorry to hear this has happened to you again, Blister.

I think you've already had plenty of great advice... Do you think it would've been possible to have replaced those screws with bolts, secured on the inside with Nyloc nuts? I think you could've done this on the doors, no problem. Drilling through the frame would've been tricky.

 

[promhandicam]

Sorry to read about your problems. However by the look of the security you had, the padlocks / hasps and staples weren't really going to stop anyone who wanted to get in. The best way I've seen of protecting padlocked doors is with a metal box fitted over the top of the lock with an opening in the bottom - easier to do on a metal door where it is welded in place but feasible on a sturdy wooden door if it is bolted on with a decent size metal plate on the back. It is a bit of a fiddle to reach up inside it to undo the padlock but it saves someone whacking the padlock to pop it open or levering off the hasp/staple. This will stop the less determined thieves but at the end of the day if someone wants to get in then they will - through the roof is the easiest way on most workshops.

Steve

 

[big soft moose]

I have always meant to fit one of those weapons-grade alarms inside my workshop, I think the two biggest you can get are the Klaxon Inferno (125db) and the Master Blaster (127db). Apparently either of these can make it virtually impossible to actually enter the room in which it is going off.

we had one of those where i used to work , plus a smoke cloak device the fills the building with harmless glycol smoke - to the point where visibility is limited to less than a foot.

i can vouch for the effectiveness as it was my lucky lot to be care taker and or more than one occasion i had to disarm the thing (after some scrote tripped it trying to break in) , and the only way to tolerate it long enough to find the panel and punch in the code was to wear industrial quality ear defenders

it would then take nearly an hour to vent all the smoke , to get things to a visible level - no way would anyone have been able to steal anything from that place.

the downside tho is that they are expensive systems to fit and maintain, and only really viable if you are opperating a comercial level. Also you need someone on site as the neighbours will not love you if it trips and theres no one there to disarm it.