Best way to handle a late night knock on your door

Wow! I believe some of you have read into many responses. I see no one saying shoot or spray first and then ask? There is nothing wrong with being prepared. It only takes one perp that understands how being nice or even playing a victim can get you to let your guard down and they are inside. While they are not the perponderance of the people, there are very good con artists out there. Some may appear naked and with beer. The boyfriend does not pop up until the door is open.

Now, I would have my weapon in hand,and the dogs are always beside me when I go to the door, even if no one is knocking. If someone knocks, our dogs are encouraged to bark, until wife or I tell them when to stop. Good doggie.

Like many, I would suspect that the person needs something or has info they think I need. The conversation would be through closed door. If it is the police, they would have to prove it. I would also be dialing 911 to verify that they had a car in the area and who was manning it. Thank you officer Schmidlap. I'll move on now.

Just playing it safe. Do not expect to or want to meet Michael Myers.

two-niner wrote:
The recurring thought here is that something bad is knocking...

And should be met with deadly force. :S

Do the same thing you would at home. Leave the door secure, ask them if they need you to call 911 for them. If not, wish them a good night.

BTW, not to many rest areas are cell phone free, maybe they will be roaming, but 911 is always free.

coolmom42 wrote:
Any persons with good intentions and an ounce of sense is going to announce who they are and why they are knocking.

If anyone does not do that, I will be on the phone with 911 before I go to the door, and have pepper spray in hand. Then the window will be opened, a crack adequate for communication. NOT the door.

Actually, in some areas of the country you would not be on the phone talking to anyone. Regardless of what the cell providers say, there are still large areas where there is NO cell coverage!
DO NOT rely on that phone for protection. It may not work at the worst possible time!
If you do get hold of 911, help may be 5 minutes or an hour away.
Good luck.

Send Rex out to see what they want.

My OFF-ROAD TRAILER has motion detectors on both sides of the trailer which turn on the patio side outside lights when activated.

I guess my home defense posture is BEAR SPRAY cans and a large AX Handle...

Roy Ken

Vet Man wrote:
Go to the door with a can of wasp spray. Not illegal and would blind an intruder quick.

This is terrible advice for a couple reasons.

First, using pesticides in ways not in accord with their labeling is a federal crime, potentially punishable by rather severe punishments...and it seems to me not unlikely that intentionally spraying wasp spray into someone's face would attract that sort of attention.

Second, most wasp sprays are concocted to be as harmless and inoffensive against people as practically possible. A good pepper spray would be far more effective at stopping an attacker (and safer) than a wasp spray.

I'm really glad that the driver of the car with a completely flat tire that I ran after and pointed out their problem to was not so paranoid as some people here seem to be. Granted, that was in the middle of the day...but I still get the feeling that a single guy running after a car driven by a woman would be assumed by some to be up to no good.

a lot of good and some very bad reply,s best thing is use common sense each case is different.

Have all you "tough" fellows with your shotguns and 9mm ever considered what kind of trouble you would be in if you shot someone in a rest stop or parking lot? If it turned out person knocking was unarmed, you would be alive but spending the rest of your life and all of your assets paying for that minute of macho. And as others have said, you point the firearm at a police officer, you may never point another firearm again because you could be DEAD.

I've been RVing since the 60s. Only had one guy knock on my door. He was a park ranger telling me that there were empty sites now available. ( I was in an overflow area) Since I was in my bathrobe he said moving in the morning would be OK. That said, if you have any weapon you best be sure who you are pointing or shooting at. Even LEOs are going to jail these days for bad decisions and they are trained to use firearms.

Like most others I would be asking what the person wanted. I also feel like the chances are much greater you would WANT to hear what they might tell you versus something criminal. Coach on fire, coach leaking,
left hood up on toad, are just some things that come to mind.