Thanks for the suggestions all. I think I'm going to go with bars on the windows for now and work on making it less inviting. I did let the three local scrap yards know about the rims but I didn't get a warm fuzzy feeling that they would do much. Looks like they also got a 1/2" drive MAC ratchet that was my fathers, bummed about that one. I wonder what else will come up missing.

I'm really not in a high crime area really but with the economy I expect it will only get worse.

Jim, Thanks for the laptop offer but I got an old desktop pieced back together that should do the trick.

Tim

David N asked about a buzzer alarm system with a range of around 100 yards. How about using one of the longer range wireless doorbell systems. Need to replace the push button with a switch or arrange something to push it when the door is open but otherwise pretty much plug'n play. Mine relays the house doorbell when I'm in the shop about 60 yards away. Also got another loose push button assembly set to a different ring for 90 year old Dad to use as a panic and "oi, where's my dinner / tea / coffee" alarm. Works well. About £50. Maximum range is around the 100 yards touch but some claim nearer 200.

Double glazed windows are harder to break than ordinary single glazed ones. Porch with proper exterior door, Alaskan entry or similar with siren / noisemaker inside makes things very unpleasant for the burglars trying to break in the proper shop door.

Clive

Someone stole the stator and armature from an old Miller welder that I had over at the Tod Engine Heritage Park recently. I had cut them up and was ready to haul them over to the scrap yard. The thieves didn't take any of the tools that were laying out, including the cutting torches which were right inside the building (which has no end walls). So it was just someone looking for a quick way of making some cash.

Since then I've resumed working on the fence along the rear of the property, but until the building is completed and secured we will remain vulnerable. Fortunately most of what we have is too large to lift without equipment, and I don't leave the keys in the machines. (except the Insley, but heck even I have trouble trying to operate it).

But in the nine years of owning the site, this is only the second time that we have been robbed. The first time someone took a scrap water heater out of a pile of scrap metal, including the big hole in the bottom of the tank!

Get some fake cameras (tough looking housings) and install in the usual places.
Put up placards that say "YOU ARE BEING VIDEOTAPED" or some such.

For extra credit, actually install a DVR.

Pros:

1. You can set it up so you can check the video from far away.

2. Being on video is a fine way to be caught. You are loudly announcing "YOU WILL BE CAUGHT".

Note however that thieves are stupid (see posts above) and stupidity knows no bounds, so there is no way to stop dump attacks that loss more money due to damage to the building than the value of what is stolen.

For your shop that's 100' away, this company makes some good products:

http://www.dakotaalert.com/

The MURS Alerts have about a 1 mile range, and you can use a Radio Shack scanner as the receiver.

JN

100' also. My Dobermans are the alarm , out comes 1 of my Winchester 97's or an AK-47 if more that 2 are seen. This is Texas where you can defend things.

When I worked in Houston, we had a doberman. He was as friendly as can be if he knew you. If he didn't know you, he would tear you into small pieces. We were never broken into.

here in the USA there is nowhere you can use deadly force to protect property.it like shooting kids stealing your hubcaps, you just cant do it.only if your life is threatened can you shoot bad guy.i dont think you can hold um at gun point ether.now if you get between the exit and bad guy and bad guy charges you, well then you can say you felt your life was threatened.think about burglar bombs these devises emit large clouds of OC pepper spray and keep anyone out for 1 hr.small rooms to large.

Actually many US states have a castle doctrine now that does allow you to defend your home and property with deadly force, your state being one of them. Of course my state of WI will be one of the last to adopt it (why do I live here again?). In WI it is my duty to retreat at all means possible before using deadly force even if it meant jumping out of a second floor window to do it.

Fine print of the doctrines vary state to state but most atleast allow deadly force in home, others like Texas allow with anything owned from home to shop to car.

JP

i repeat THERE IS NOWHERE IN THE USA THAT YOU CAN USE DEADLY FORCE TO PROTECT PROPERTY!!you cant shoot people for stealing your hubcaps.even the cops cant do that .this is why set or trap guns in your own home to shoot intrudars are illegal,because you are not there in the house.the castle doctrin you refer to has to do with repealing the retreat from danger laws that florida and other states had ,they actualy meant that if faced with danger your were to retreat from it even if you were legeally armed until you couldnt retreat anymore(your back was against the wall) then you could use deadly force to defend your self.the new changes have nothing to do with protecting property.you can go to NRA site ,go to legistative and policy issues, they have good article there that explains it.if you are getting your news from tv guess what, its not the news anymore its poticisied entertainment.the 3 "news" shows,(because a show is what it is)abc.nbc and cbs are all 3 liberal and that is the way your "news" will come out ,certainly not the truth. you will have to dig for that.

"The Texas law protects citizens when an intruder is:

1.) committing certain violent crimes 2.) unlawfully trying to enter a protected place or, 3.) unlawfully trying to remove a person from a protected place."

Protected place was recently expanded to include home, vehicle and place of employment.

So if you have an alarm that alerts you to problems in your shop (your place of employment), you go to investigate and find someone has unlawfully entered and is still inside and you believe they wish you bodily harm...........

madokie
There are at least 13 states where you have no responsibility to retreat, also called a stand your ground law and yours is one of them.
http://www.oscn.net/applications/osc...p?CiteID=69782

My shop is 60 feet from my home. Accross the street is an alarm company where my wife works. My business is gunsmithing and I have quite a few guns there most of the time.

We have an alarm system from her company naturally. It transmits data by microwave which gives the monitors an alarm in less than one minute. It is immune to cut phone lines and storms. When they receive an alarm, it comes up on a computer screen which gives them individual instructions on how to handle the alarm. Who to call and when according to the situation. In order to minimize false alarms mine has instructions to call me, wife, or employee in that order if they receive only one device by it self. For example one motion detector. If they receive any two devices, say one door and one motion or two motion alarms, they are to dispatch police immediately, then notify me second.

One of the sirens is inside and will drive you insane in 3 seconds. The other is outside aimed toward the street and sounds like a city disaster alarm.

I also have a panic alarm switch with silent alarm and instant dispatch to police. We have a key fob for that purpose as well.

Another gun shop in the same city had thieves who backed a stolen truck through the front door, crash and grab. I have been parking vehicles in front of my doors at night. I also plan to install steel posts front and back in the near future.

I am low profile, no advertising and only semi commercial neighborhood in a nice part of town. We have fairly low crime for the population approx 100,000 . However ten years ago we had another gunsmith and customer murdered in their shop accross town. Now my only employee and myself always carry concealed arms.

Solar panel with a deep cycle 12v golf cart battery supply power to a car alarm, with ugraded system that has glass sensors.

The pros of this system is that car alarms are very affordable. They run off of 12v, so you can have a system totally independent of the city power, and they use very little power when monitoring.

Cons are you need to know how to wire a car alarm, and you have to pick a car alarm that doesn't "sound like a car alarm" because most neighbors ignore that sound when they hear it. If it's just for you, then it should work out fine.

Most burglars would be unnerved from hearing it though.

When I was a kid, some high school kids broke in to a house and the owner was home and shot the kids in the ass and back of the legs with rock salt.

Imagine having to tell your dad (a city cop) why you couldn't take a shower.

That was back in the day when you could defend your property.

Heh...the sole benefit to the decline in US manufacturing?

Since shop isn't taught anymore, and most people can't tell the difference between a tool post and a 'marital aid', our tool chests are safe.

Unfortunately, drug addicts will break in & cause an inconvenience for you. Fortunately, they took items of minimal value & probably got 2.00 at the scrapyard. Install iron bars over inside windows & install an alarm system that anyone inside will hear loudly. A good std system has thin cables under a mat & shrills off as soon as someone steps on the mat. I assure you they will run as soon as they hear the alarm

I own an alarm company and the systems we install are very good without false alarms. The monitoring fee per month is $23.50. Typical system is around $600.00.
We have signs that you could post on your building or property if you are interested. $3.00 each
I can help you with any questions you may have if your local guys are giving you a hard time.