Plywood Window Barriers For Emergency Home Security
Image Source: National Geographic
One of the episodes of the TV series, Doomsday Preppers (Season 2), highlights Jay Blevins who is preparing for the breakdown of social order following an economic collapse.
Jay’s primary risk awareness motivator is one that I believe to be perhaps the most likely (or one of the most likely) scenarios to actually occur in our future. I believe that it is occurring now, just in slow motion, although the speed will likely pick up.
One particular takeaway from this Doomsday Preppers segment that I felt was unique and practical are Jay’s crafted window barriers for all of the first floor windows of his home. What a great idea…
The purpose of the window barrier is to slow down and/or keep out intruders from easy break-in through first floor access. The barriers could also serve another purpose for those who are in regions prone to hurricanes where we often see people preparing by nailing or screwing plywood over the front of their windows.
The difference in Jay’s method appears two-fold. One, the plywood is custom cut to fit over each window frame. Two, (the one that I thought was particularly unique) is the method of fastening the plywood to the windows…
He drilled a hole through the plywood to enable a threaded rod ( 3/4″ diameter rod? – it looks thick ) to fit through and extend into the house (looks to be about a foot long or thereabouts). Inside the house and fastened to the other end of the threaded rod is a 2×4 with a hole drilled through the center to accept the threaded rod and hold it via a nut and washer. In this way, there are no screws or nails on the outside of the window to ‘un-do’, and in addition, the fastening of the plywood is much faster.
The positioning of the rod is below the center-line of the window to allow the inside of the lower window sash to be opened which will allow clearance for the rod to protrude through.
I enjoy watching these episodes for tips and observations of what others have done with their preparedness plans. Who knows… maybe you too will get an idea or two…
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