4 Ways to Prevent Rape!

1. Work On Your Defensive Mindset: As I mentioned in my Defensive Living Manifesto, defense living begins in the mind. It is a mindset which is aware and prepared for action if necessary, not a mindset of paranoia and fear. Fear, weakness, and vulnerability are what an attacker looks for in a potential victim. How you think transfers into body language. If you consider yourself weak and easy prey, guess what you will look like? 

2.Reduce The Risk: The best defense is not to have to defend yourself at all. There are certain risks in this life which are unavoidable. We all realize that. But, the risks which we can reduce or avoid all together should have our full concentration. 

For example, I see women all the time walk into shadowy parking garages unescorted. Dumb! That is the only way to describe it. Preventing rape means you have to learn not to assume anything. Wait until several people are going in the same direction. Ask to be escorted. Most men are by nature protective and more than willing to help you get in your car safely; grocery boys, waiters, parking attendants, security guards, etc. 

3. Be Careful What You Drink or Drink: For you girls who like to party, be careful. Drinks and food can be laced with date rape drugs. Pour or open your own drink, or at least watch as it is being poured. If you happen to set it down and take your eyes off of it, even for a few seconds, open another drink and keep it with you. 

4. Select a Weapon: Thats right, a weapon. Obviously, guns are the most effective but you need to be trained in how to use one.  A knife is also effective, but unless you know how to wield it, it will probably end up in the hands of your attacker. The best all around option is pepper spray, in my opinion. It establishes a "critical distance" from the attacker and, most importantly, renders him powerless. Check out my post on pepper spray for more details on what kind and size of spray I recommend and why.  

For Your Safety,

Dr. Martin Wooten

Let's Talk About Those Sliding Glass Doors: A Few Things to Consider

You gotta love those sliding glass doors. Its nice how they really open up a room, let all that sunshine in, nice curtains and all. You can just open those doors and walk right out and view your estate, the hills coming alive with the sound of music, the city lights, or maybe just your backyard garbage cans. 

1) There are doors out there that would be more difficult to open than other less expensive types, but burglars, rapists, and murderers usually come prepared. It is amazing how much you can do with a crowbar. I used to be an iron worker and I have used bars thousands of times to pry, separate, break open, and lift all types of steel objects such as girders, huge flat steel plates, and multi-ton loads of steel. 

You don't want someone like me standing at your sliding glass door with a crowbar and a plan of using your family as means to fulfill my sinister desires.

There is not a sliding glass door that I can't pry open, trust me.

Except, of course, one that can't be pried.

I know, sounds crazy. If there is not a door that I can't pry open, then how can there be an exception? It's a simple matter of physics.

The key, obviously, is to keep the sliding door from sliding. Some doors either come or can be fitted with pins. Pins can be either at the bottom or top of the door. You push them through a hole that goes through both doors to keep the door from sliding. The fact that it is called a "pin" should raise some serious questions. Why not a bolt or a steel bar? A pin against a pry bar? Go figure. 

2) When a sliding door is closed, if a security bar is placed in the sliding track it is impossible generate enough force to snap or bend it from that direction. It doesn't take a would-be intruder very long to realize that the door is not going to give way, and he will have to move on.

I've done some research and I want you to check out this patio door security bar. It's adjustable which is very useful because patio doors are not as standardized as you might think, and sometimes you like to slide the door open just a little to get some fresh air. The adjustable feature allows you to do that. 

Also, the alarm feature is always a good deterrent. It gives you important time to prepare for an intrusion by calling 911, and an intruder is not usually going to take the risk giving you more time to find your gun or some other weapon.  Notice the big red, "Alarm" painted on the side of the security bar. This lets the intruder see that the door has an alarm on it. Chances are he will move on. If not, the security bar will keep the door from being opened.

Hey, if you don't like my suggestion, then get an old broom handle and cut it to fit in the door sliding groove, and there you go.

For your safety,


Dr. Martin Wooten  

Defensive Living Manifesto

Door Locks: Normal Dead Bolts Do Not Provide Enough Security

As I mentioned in my post on "safe rooms" after you secure a "safe room" in your home which is the first priority, it is important to secure the rest of the house.

Obviously, the main entries, i.e. front door, back door, entrance from the garage, must be properly fortified. The design of regular dead-bolt locks is not adequate to prevent entry. Around 200 lbs of pressure or less and you're in.

Kicking through entry doors is the best way for the majority of home invaders. No broken glass or the threat of being seen climbing through a window. A solid kick to the front or back door is all it takes. It just sounds like a door slamming loud.

Check out this web site if you haven't already and review the Ultimate Lock, particularly the demonstration videos. You can't kick or pry through it. An intruder is not going to risk the attention he will attract by continuing his attempts to kick the door in. There are two models, residential and business. The business model can also be used in your home, but the residential model should be more than adequate for most homes.

As I have said before, I'm not a salesman with a crazy pitch. If you can find a better lock then go for it. Just make sure you do it. I'm just trying to save you some time. If there is any question whether the dead-bolt you are considering is kick-proof, then keep looking around.

For your safety

Dr. Martin Wooten

Now, Does This Really Look Like a BB Gun?

There was an article a few years ago about a Missoula, Montana student's decision to bring a BB pistol he found to school which resulted in a one-year suspension from every public school in the United States. Seem a bit harsh? Only until you see what BB guns look like these days. Sure, this kid should have known better and apparently did. I'm sure he'll learn a lot from the experience and one day look back on the incident with a bit of a haunting embarrassment.


Yet, if the manufacturers had made the gun orange, would the authorities have been as concerned. Obviously not. The issue to the school principal was that a made-to-look-real BB gun can initiate police action that puts other students at risk. If this student had brandished an orange gun, however, others would know that it wasn't real.


Several years ago I bought my son a BB gun that looked like the real thing and was powered by gas cartridges. Hey, every good American boy should have the experience of a BB gun, you know, just like going to a baseball game or chomping down on granny's home baked pumpkin pie on a cold Thanksgiving afternoon.

However, how is a police officer with a wife and family, and a partner with the same, suppose to react when called into such a scenario? Assume its a toy? Would you? Just as a gun is always assumed to be loaded, a made-to-look-real toy gun is going to be assumed real. Any other assumption places the assumer in great danger.


The moral of this story: Don't buy your kid or allow him to buy a BB, pellet, or toy gun that looks real. I was in a store the other day and my son saw some soft pellet air guns that looked very real, and he asked me; "Dad, can I buy one of these." I replied, "No way son, they look real." "Yeah, but Dad, they only shoot soft pellets and all the kids have them and the police have learned to tell the difference." (It always amazes me how much intense research our kids do on these subjects. I'm sure my son has interviewed all the police officers in our town and accurately assessed all of the most recent training programs)


I have learned to stand my ground and trust my common sense, even though my kids have often made me wonder if I have any connection to the present cultural realities around me at all. The answer was kind but firm, "No way son, I love you too much to put you in a dangerous situation." I suggested that we buy an orange one to which he replied, "Oh Dad, but they make those for kids." A pause, and then, "Oh yeah, that's the point, huh Dad".


Who knows? Maybe I saved my son's life that day, or saved an officer from a life of alcoholism who felt he had to pull the trigger. Too dramatic? Yeah, death has a funny way of doing that to me.


Oh yeah, about that BB gun that looked real I bought for my son a couple of years ago? It somehow just kinda got lost.


For Your Safety,


Dr. Martin Wooten

There is Nothing Like Seeing The Real Thing!

Click on this link and check out the safety program for children put on by the local police department in this Missouri town. Hey listen, the earlier we begin to teach our children about overall safety, the more ingrained these realities will be when the time comes for them to start making decisions for themselves.

This program focuses on and demonstrates in real life what the hazards can be when we don't wear our seat belts. The up-close observance of what will actually happen in an accident without seat belts leaves a life-long impression.

This program focuses on and demonstrates in real life what the hazards can be when we don't wear our seat belts. The up-close observance of what will actually happen in an accident without seat belts leaves a life-long impression.

Just imagine your little girl finally grown up enough to be out with her friends, with one of her friends driving. And just suppose the driver starts acting a little silly, driving crazy, you know, all the things one does when one is of a younger age. And now picture your daughter, reach across her waist and quietly buckle her seat belt (while cussing out her crazy friend) even though no one else in the car does so because of being made fun of earlier, i.e. "Only a sissy will wear a seat belt."

Check to see if any safety demonstrations are being held in your area. Your family will enjoy the time together and learn a great deal about safety practices. C'mon, just sitting there won't make you safe, you've got to practice it!

For Your Safety,

Dr. Martin Wooten

Safe Room Weaponry: Pepper Spray

As I discussed in the article on "Safe Rooms," the quality of the lock is the most critical part of the room. The longer the lock holds, the more time you have to alert the police and for them to arrive.

Okay, hopefully by now, you understand the importance of the lock in your overall security plan. If you don't, then you're an idiot, and I just can't do much for you.

Yet, a " Safe Room" is intended to feel safe. No matter how strong that lock is, there is no way to feel completely safe huddled behind your door when someone is trying desperately to kick through it. The noise alone will be terrifying and parents with small children will first need to feel safe and confident in order to convincingly calm the young ones. 

At this point, therefore, I suggest you buy some pepper spray in the event that an intruder is able to get into your "safe room" before the police arrive. It is unlikely if you installed the lock I recommended, however, it can happen, and you need to be prepared.

Pepper spray should be one of the main pillars supporting any defensive lifestyle. It is non-lethal but extremely painful and incapacitating. You hit someone with the pepper spray I recommend and all he is going to be thinking about is how to keep from dying, because he is definitely going to feel like he is. This stuff is strong. Here are some important things to consider:

1) In a situation like this, or in any critical situation for that matter, you need a good solid canister to hold with a more than adequate amount of pepper spray and a lot of power. We're not talking about spraying flies you know. I do not recommend at all those tiny little pepper sprays available in many different colors that you can hook to your key chain. With some drug crazed rapist desperately trying to cut through your door, that's a bit like setting a toddler next to a killer bee hive with a fly swatter.
Become familiar with your weapon. Never go into battle with an unfamiliar weapon. If you need to practice, buy two canisters. Just be sure you always point that thing down wind and not in an enclosed area. Just thinking about it won't get you anywhere. Do something! You really can protect your family. And deep down inside you and I both know that you want to.

For your safety,

Dr. Martin Wooten