Book Diversion Safe for Hiding Your Stuff!

At our WomenOnGuard.com store, we have 8 safes that look like regular books, but are really Diversion Safes! 

Diversion or Hidden Safes have a small storage compartment, for you to keep your valuables hidden from others. Visitors or burglars at your home, won’t know that you are hiding your valuables in a safe that looks like an ordinary book on a shelf!

These Diversion or Hidden Safes are very convenient to have and they can be in plain site, yet nobody will know they are really safes, when they see them! Perfect for hiding your jewelry, money or other valuables. PLUS, you won’t need to purchase an expensive safe for hiding your small stuff, such as jewelry or money.

So… feel safe from burglars or curious visitors, who might want to take your jewelry or money!

Your Car Keys Can Also Be A Home Alarm!

Sounds like a joke, right? But it's true... If you have a car, you already have a convenient burglar alarm that you can activate from your nightstand!

Many of us can't afford a home alarm, but most people have a car and along with a car you normally get a set of keys. Have you ever thought of using your car keys as an alarm activator for your home?

It's simple, just place your car keys on a nightstand when you go to bed at night. If you hear some strange noise around your home, simply pickup your keys and set off your car alarm! The noise will scare burglars or intruders away from the neighborhood. It will also wake up your neighbors and let them know something is happening outside!

There you have it... A home alarm that doesn't cost you a penny, alerts everyone in the neighborhood that something is happening in your home or outside! Let your neighbors and friends know about this little trick to fend off intruders, especially if they are on a budget.

Holidays are for Burglars & Pickpockets Too!

Photo by teachernz

That's right. Burglars and pickpockets have a great time during the holidays too. In fact, the holidays are the best time of the year to sneak into homes or pickpocket in malls. The problem for the rest of us is that we seldom think about this threat because we are too busy planning and buying gifts! But this year, let's make it a point to deter burglars and thieves.

Best thing to have for your home, especially if you are going away for the holidays, are digital timers. Get yourself a few of them and place them around your home. These nifty digital timers will make your house or apartment, seem like it is occupied, by turning lights on and off automatically, during the evening. Burglars like dark houses and avoid ones that look like people might be walking around in them. Digital timers can turn your lamps, TV, stereo, Christmas tree, etc., on and off, making burglars think twice, before they try to enter your home.

Pickpockets are everywhere especially during the holidays. One thing you should try to avoid are very crowded situations. This is heaven for pickpockets, because they can rub against you while at the same time, take your wallet or an item from your purse. Best thing to do if you are going shopping for many items, is to take the least amount of things with you. If you have buttoned or zipped pants or shirts, wear them when you shop. Placing your credit cards or money in hard to access pockets deters pickpockets. Avoid using backpacks while shopping. These are just invitations for thieves. Plus make sure never to leave a shopping bag unattended!

If you want to read more about preventing crime, visit our website's Safety Tips!

The Importance of Property Marking

Some of you might ask what this means. Well, it means literally marking your possessions. Remember when you were a kid and you didn't want any other kid to take your toy? Most of us would place our initials on it with a scratch or a marker. Well that is what I am referring to.

There always have and always will be a thief among us and the best way to deter someone from stealing your stuff is to mark it. Burglars know that they will not be able to resell something that has been marked with an address or name. Police can better identify a stolen item if it has been marked previously by it's owner before a thief got a hold of it.

Of course the best way to mark an item from you home or office is not by using a knife, burning it or using a hammer. We are adults and can use many tools available with which we can mark our valuables. The best place to mark your belongings is obviously underneath or behind the object, so it's not in plain site. If you have an antique piece of furniture for example, you need to be careful where you mark it and if the mark will affect it's value... Marking does not only apply to interior objects, you should also consider marking your outdoor tools like lawnmowers and weed wackers. These types of items are more often stolen than interior belongings and very popular with petty thiefs.

Police say that there are two main types of property marking: the first is known as permanent marking, when you engrave or "punch" your property with your street number and postal code. The second method is making an invisible marking. This is best for antiques or valuable property that would lose value if spoiled by permanent marking. Police usually check stolen property with a special ultra-violet lamp, so an ultra-violet (UV) marking pen should be used. If you use this UV type of marking, you need to know that it will fade with time and it will need to be renewed every so often. Police actually can give you a sticker that reads, "property in this home has been marked". Or you can make one up yourself and place it by your home alarm sticker or anywhere you think would be appropriate. The bad thing about using UV markings though, is that they can be removed with special solvents that can be bought by burglars. But if they do not know the mark is there, they won't know to erase it!

Another way people are keeping track of their home or office things is by using a camera or video recorder. It's a good idea to take a picture or video of these items where they are positioned in your home or office. This will prove that they were within your personal possessions at home or in your place of work.

Lastly, we all know, of course, to keep all our receipts for proof of ownership and you can also write the serial numbers on each receipt if applicable.

Leaving Your Home in the Dark?

The holidays are just around the corner and many people plan to spend time with family, away from home. When we leave our home for the holidays, many of us think about the movie "Home Alone". The movie showed how empty houses are more prone to be robbed while people take off on vacation. We also know that a totally dark house is a sure sign for burglars to know that no one is home. When leaving for just a few hours in the evening, most of us will leave a couple of lights or the TV on, just to make it seem like someone is home. This is fine when it is only for a couple of hours, but when you are away for a few days, you don't want your TV or lights constantly on, even during the daytime. This is not economically sound and it's also a green light to let burglars or intruders know that you are not around. Having the lights constantly on is just as inviting to burglars, as having the lights constantly off!

There is a solution to this dilemma. It is the Digital Timer. What is a Digital Timer? This is a handy little item that you can connect to a wall outlet and have a lamp or other appliance connected to it. You then program it to have a lamp turn on around 6 PM and turn off by 11 PM. If you have a Digital Timer with Random Feature, it can turn the lamp on and off throughout several hours of the evening. The times will be different for each day of the week therefore lights will not have a predictable pattern of turning on and off. There are Digital Timers that can handle up to 15 amps, for heavy duty appliances or for more than one lamp at a time. You can purchase Digital Timers that easily record up to 20 on/off programs over 7 and 8 day groupings and have a pre-installed battery backup. Some Digital Timers have 3 wire grounded plugs and even an LCD that shows the time and day.

Digital Timers are not only for security against burglars or intruders, but for other applications as well. I personally used one for my aquarium. I timed it so that the light in the aquarium would turn on in the early evening and turn off late at night so that my fish could sleep! Some people use them for their Christmas trees or holiday decoration lights. Many people put their backyard lights on Digital Timers. There really are no limits to what you can use Digital Timers for. If it uses electricity, you can have it on a timer!

So, remember to prepare your home with not just decorations for the holidays, but also with Digital Timers. These security items not only prevent your home from being robbed, but are convenient and reasonably priced. Some people are happy with just purchasing one for the bedroom and one for the living room. Others get creative and use them for various tasks.

Leaving your house or apartment alone when on vacation

One of the times your home is most vulnerable is when it is left empty for an extended period of time. Darkened windows, mail or newspapers collecting and closed windows in hotter weather all advertise your absence to a potential burglar. If you don't have any kind of home protection product, such as a home alarm, you might want to consider following some of the suggestion below.

• One of the best protections for your house or apartment during your absence is to have a house sitter. A friend you trust staying at your house can take care of your pets and/or plants in addition to making sure the house is inhabited.
• Have a neighbor check on your apartment while you're away -- turning on lights, radios or TVs and opening and closing curtains will give your apartment the appearance of someone home.
• If you don't have a friend or neighbor to house siter or check your apartment while you're away -- perhaps even if you do -- you should keep not only lights but also a TV or radio on a timer. If you're like me and have your TV on almost all the time you're home [NOTE: I don't watch it, it's just background noise.], the absence of the sound and that glowing light in the windows announces that you're not there.
• Make sure whoever is checking your apartment while you're away knows how to work your alarm system and who to call in case of a problem.
• Unless you have a house sitter, stop your mail and any newspaper or other delivery. Nothing announces an empty apartment better than a stack of newspapers or an overflowing mailbox. Ask a nearby neighbor to pick up any packages delivered while you're gone.
• If you have a garden or plants on your balcony, make sure someone is watering the plants regularly or put the plants where they can't be seen. Plants slowly dying due to lack of water may announce your absence.
• Check your lease. Many landlords require that you notify them if your apartment is going to be left empty for any period of time (this is so they can enter in case of emergency even if they can't reach you). If you've got a house sitter this isn't necessary.
• Before taking off on your vacation, don't forget to pack your self defense products such as Mace, pepper spray, a stun gun, personal alarms or a Taser.