About
keep your tribe alive

Experience

The author of this website spent many years in product development and consulting for the physical security industry. This included many large multi-year projects for secure military and government installations as well as hundreds of private single family security solutions. Now retired, this website is the culmination of years of accumulated knowledge.

Your support

This website is supported by an Amazon affiliate program. We features links to items that will help keep your tribe alive. Please follow the Amazon links in the articles when purchasing the relevant items you need. This will support our ability to provide you with new articles and resources. Bookmark this website, check back often, and stay safe. You are greatly appreciated!

Be Careful

There is a lot of false and dangerous information that is being presented online. Marketers seem to make the most noise and get the most attention, but they do not know how to create safe and effective products. An engineer in the transportation industry once told me, “We put prices on human life every day.” At least he understood what the consequences of his decisions could be. Not everyone does. 

Here is my take on the players in the physical security market:

1. Manufacturers: some have legitimate knowledge on what they are producing, but many do not. Here are two examples of manufacturers that know how to engineer safe and effective products: HDT Global and Brown Safe. And here are two that appear to need some help in understanding the important aspects of what they are building: Rising S and Sportsman Steel. Note that website presentation is not a good indicator of product reliability. You will live (or not) with their products for years. Lifetime warranties are for the life of the seller, not the buyer.
2. Resellers: if you are purchasing a known product in retail packaging, buying on price from a reseller can save money and delivery time. As a general rule, anything that is customized should be purchased from the manufacturer. This will save a lot of back and forth communication with the reseller in the middle.
3. Click-bait marketers: their websites are full of articles that have very little real information. If a website persistently asks for your contact information, you are the product, not the customer. Mushroom clouds and biohazard warning symbols are the usual lodge pins for this club. Here are a couple of examples: Survival Mastery and Underground Bomb Shelter.

It’s the lure of easy money. It’s got a very strong appeal. Be very careful when selecting components and installers, stay safe, and keep your tribe alive!