Holiday Home Safety Advice

Fourth of July is next weekend and many of us have plans to go out and celebrate our national day of freedom and independence with friends and family with pride. From backyard barbeques, to camping in the woods, to going on a cross-country road trip to visit far-off relatives or old college friends, the activities that are on our schedules might be taking us a little farther than an overnight stay away from our homes. And it’s times like these that savvy burglars can take advantage of a home left unprotected.

A home invader can be someone you might recognize as a face you’ve seen recently, like a house painter or that new pool guy. Remember when you let them use the bathroom last week? Convenient time to unlatch the window for easy incognito re-entry later. That smattering of newspapers lying in your yard and next to your flowers says you probably aren’t in the neighborhood currently, and speaking of flowers, those roses are beautiful. If you have such nice things outside, one can only wonder what nice things you might have inside, hmm?

As for protecting those inside things, there are a couple of tried and true methods that can help you deter potential burglars. Use an electronic timer that you can plug your lights and your television and a radio into and set the timer to sporadically turn your electronics on or off depending on the time of day or night you are trying to simulate someone being home. Loud televisions and radios can be very effective at dissuading trespassers. Keep valuables in a burglary rated safe, not just a fire safe, and make sure that you have the safe well hidden, or at the very least bolted to the floor. A safe won’t be nearly as effective if it can just be carried out of your home!

One more thing... save your social media posts for after you get back from your holiday activities instead of trumpeting your plans for the world to see online before you even leave. It’s very considerate of you to post your impending absence from your home for any and all those who enjoy raiding homes when owners are away, but if you really want to increase your chances of coming home to everything being just how you left it, it would be wise to wait until you get back to share all the fun of your trip.

Just a few tips to keep in mind if you are heading out of town for the Fourth of July holiday. We here at Army Navy Outdoors are here to help you stay safe, wherever and whenever duty calls with the tools the pros use and the knowledge to help you be better prepared for whatever situations may arise. Enjoy your holiday wherever it takes you!