Do you have a weapon ready in case of burglars and is it a good idea?

Seriously though, the best way is to make your house as secure in the first case. Most burglars want to be in and out as quickly and quietly as possible. Security lights fitted at the back of the house, and a dog are good detergents. The local police recently recovered a haul of stolen goods from a thief's garage. There was also a list of local streets, several addresses were crossed off. When crossed referenced against a list of local burglaries none of these had been burgled, but the common factor was they all had dogs.

I saw a burglar being interviewed some years ago and when he was asked which houses he would avoid he said those with dogs, even little dogs that yapped loudly.
I am very secure in my second floor flat - even if Spiderman accessed my balcony, he would have to deal with heavy wooden shutters.
I have lived in several very isolated houses in France and I have rarely felt the need to lock my door. The only time I have felt nervous was when I lived in Lower Sloane Street and had to get out of the tube at Sloane Square.

If you attack an intruder with something you have specifically set aside as a weapon, such as a cricket bat, you are likely to be prosecuted for assault. Also, as has been pointed out, if the intruder takes it away from you, you have just handed him a weapon.

By the way, many burglaries happen during the evening while people are watching television rather than during the night when they are asleep. Most of them, of course, happen while people are out.

merlotgran Storing knives in a drawer is very bad for them. Put them back on the magnetic holder.

You could put them in a knife block and keep that in a tall cupboard!

Yes, but can imagine the headlines? 'Pensioner fells burglar with rounders bat. Police to prosecute' . Not a chance!

Nanadogsbody It's happened.

Nanadog - no joke:

"The WI movement began at Stoney Creek in Canada in 1897 when Adelaide Hoodless addressed a meeting for the wives of members of the Farmers' Institute. The first British WI meeting took place on 11 September 1915 at Llanfairpwll on Anglesey in North Wales. The WI was originally set up in the UK to revitalise rural communities and to encourage women to become more involved in producing food during the First World War."

(plagiarised from Wkik)

I only know about this because a friend who is a stalwart of the Scottish WRI told me about a 'pilgrimage' she made to Stoney Creek when she was last in Canada.

nanadog
"Security lights fitted at the back of the house, and a dog are good detergents."

Oh no! That won't wash, Ella, will it?

We have a baseball bat-sized rod in the living room - husband is trained in the necessary skulls from his days in special forces way back when.

Me - I don't know what I'd do if I was alone and our house got invaded. I might scream and run, or I might stay and throw something at them - then run.... Meanwhile our big soft golden retriever would be licking them to death. I could set the chickens on them - they can be quite vicious when annoyed.

So our burglars could be licked, pecked, bashed or bombarded.

absentgrana, I keep my knives in a chef's canvas roll. It fits nicely in the drawer and prevents them from getting damaged. Also, it's impossible to grab a knife without unrolling them first. My veg and cooks knife are always in use so I don't bother rolling them up.

Geese are very good deterrents I believe; I've known some pretty scary ones in my time..there was one at a local farm museum that everyone was scared of.

DH won't let me have geese as he was attacked by one when he was a child. Guinea Fowl also make a racket when alarmed and they're very tasty if you can catch the blighters.

I went on a self-defence course some years ago.We were strongly advised NOT to have knives visible in the kitchen.
I used to keep a hockey stick by my bed but no longer.I don't have any antiques or much worth stealing.
Had break-in in at a previous address early evening when I was out.They jemmied back door and stole TV , video recorder and a watch.Main expense for insurance was repair of door.
During the night I think I would follow example of an elderly woman near a previous address and pretend to be asleep.She survived unharmed and very little
stolen or damaged.

My iPad is dyslexic!

When I was with ex dh, (living even more rurally than I do now), he was often away for days (and nights) at a time.

He removed all the shot from a cartridge, re-filled it with poultry corn and left it loaded in one of the guns for me to keep to hand!

Thank heavens I never needed it.

nanadog they all are!

I'm not concerned about being burgled but terrified of unexpectedly finding someone in my bedroom. Downstairs rooms with access from the back garden have locks on the doors which lead to the rest of the house. I don't care about damage to the doors because they're locked, the noise will wake me, that's all I care about. My daughter lives with me but if she's away, I lock my bedroom door from the inside. It would give way with a good shove, but at least I'd hear it. I keep a cosh and a can of hairspray by my bed as weapons. If I have to use them and as a result am prosecuted...well fine. At least I'd be alive to attend Court. I am truly not bothered about the possibility of being fined or imprisoned for sticking up for myself and injuring a burglar in the process.

I had a friend who woke up one night to find a strange man in his bedroom. So he picked up the cat sleeping on his bed and hurled it at the burglar. Cat was fine, burglar was not. I have five cats – but none of them is allowed to sleep on the bed. Mr absent is smaller and lighter than me …

That's a relief jeni though I had a rogue one

I've a mental I age of absent hurling her 5 cats one after the other at some poor unsuspecting burglar.... ! Sort of like a catling gun?

Nanadogs

I had a mental image of absent hurling MrA at the burglar....

I could set up Mr Moser to talk at them until they ran away in despair.

My ex and his wife live in Florida, they have several guns between them. They'd use them too and probably get away with it. I do lock up the house at night but the only weapon I take to bed is my cat, who doesn't like strangers and will hiss at them in a very nasty way.