Following a Life Altering Event (LAE) that causes a breakdown of society and a loss of norms (law enforcement response, crime, security , etc); defend and protect life and assets using ethically questionable traps.
If some series of events occur that disrupt life to a degree where you are no longer safe and secure, advanced tactics may need to be employed to defend your family and belongings. The traps below may harm or entrap intruders, marauders, and criminals. Most of these traps currently may be unlawful and unwise to utilize. They are not to be deployed during peacetime or during normal civility but instead for SHTF.
Check out other articles on target hardening.
#1: Tire Spike Strip
Concept: A low-profile strip embedded with nails or spikes designed to puncture vehicle tires.
How to Make: Use a sturdy, flexible base like a garden hose or 1×2 wooden plank. Drill or hammer nails through the material so they point upward in three directions, resembling a triangular pattern. Paint or cover with dirt for concealment.
Deployment: Place across roadways or driveways, ensuring it’s at least 2 feet long to guarantee contact with vehicle tires. This will primarily disable civilian vehicles by puncturing tires, slowing down or immobilizing intruders.
#2: Spiked Pitfall Trap
Concept: A deep pit filled with sharpened stakes, designed to trap and harm anyone who falls in.
How to Make: Dig a pit around 3-5 feet deep. Sharpen wooden stakes and anchor them into the ground at the pit’s base, ensuring they’re secure. Cover the pit with light branches, leaves, and a thin layer of soil to disguise it.
Deployment: Place in paths or choke points where intruders are likely to step. Ensure the covering blends naturally with the surroundings to avoid detection.
#3: Swinging Log Trap
Concept: A heavy, suspended log that swings down when triggered, striking intruders.
How to Make: Find a solid log, and suspend it from a high branch or structure using rope. Set up a tripwire system connected to a release mechanism, allowing the log to swing when triggered.
Deployment: Position in narrow passageways or trails. The tripwire should be hidden but easy to step on, releasing the log toward the intruder with significant force.
#4: Fishhook Snare
Concept: A painful, entangling trap using fishhooks at face level, ready to snag clothing or skin.
How to Make: Attach fishhooks to a thin, strong line at intervals. String it horizontally across a path, suspended at different levels between trees or posts.
Deployment: Place in low-visibility areas, like dense foliage, where the hooks are hard to spot until close. The height should be shoulder level to increase the chances of catching skin or clothing.
#5: Weighted Drop Trap
Concept: Heavy objects, like rocks or weighted sandbags, that fall on intruders when triggered.
How to Make: Suspend rocks or heavy bags from a branch or support above, attaching them to a tripwire release mechanism. When triggered, the weights are released to drop onto anyone below.
Deployment: Place above areas intruders might pass under, like doorways or narrow paths. The tripwire should be camouflaged to avoid detection and ensure the release of the weight from a height that maximizes impact.
#6: Ground Spike Mats
Concept: Spiked mats that injure the feet of intruders, capable of piercing through light footwear.
How to Make: Attach sharpened spikes (like nails or metal stakes) to a durable mat or board. Cover lightly with leaves or debris to conceal.
Deployment: Set these mats in high-traffic areas or hidden spots likely to be stepped on. The spikes should be long enough to cause injury but hidden just below the surface.
#7: Tangle Wire Trap
Concept: A low-level barbed wire setup designed to trip and injure.
How to Make: Stretch barbed or razor wire between posts at ankle and knee height. Secure it tightly to avoid sagging.
Deployment: Position across paths or narrow areas where intruders are likely to walk, ensuring that the wire is difficult to spot and ready to trip or ensnare.
#8: Bow Snare Trap
Concept: A spring-loaded snare with spikes, designed to entrap and puncture limbs when triggered.
How to Make: Anchor a bent sapling or branch with a rope that holds sharp stakes or spikes at its end. Secure the rope to a tripwire system, so when tripped, the branch snaps back toward the source.
Deployment: Set up along trails or paths, with the tripwire hidden across the route. The trap should release in the direction of likely contact for maximum entrapment.
#9: Improvised Flamethrower Trap
Concept: A brief burst of flame that ignites when triggered, potentially causing severe burns.
How to Make: Attach a can of flammable aerosol to a pressure trigger mechanism, such as a weighted pad or tripwire that releases the spray when activated. Add an ignition source like a spark igniter or strike-anywhere match.
Deployment: Place in a confined area, like an entrance, where intruders are forced to come close. Make sure the trap has a quick-release or timed ignition to avoid accidental burns or prolonged fire.
More Ideas
Here are more trap ideas if you want to further deep dive into additional SHTF security concepts: Spike Board Trap (hidden spike-laden board for foot injuries), Bow Trap (spring-loaded arrow launcher), Swing Blade Trap (pendulum blade strike), Pressure Plate Explosive (pressure-triggered explosive device), Tripwire Grenade Trap (grenade detonation via tripwire), Acid Spray Trap (triggered release of corrosive liquid), Glass Shard Mat (hidden mat embedded with broken glass for foot injuries), Bear Trap (heavy-duty leg trap with steel jaws), Weighted Net Drop (net weighted to immobilize from above), Oil Slick Trap (slick surface to cause slipping), Nail Board Swing (board with nails swung from height), Electric Fence Trap (high-voltage fencing to shock intruders).
Disclaimer
Keep in mind, traps that harm are mostly unlawful in the U.S., these traps are concept ideas that could potentially be deployed when SHTF. However, there are many non-lethal traps options, particularly those that are more centered on being an alarm or early alert. Such traps or alarms can be deployed.
This article was originally written by the Grayman Briefing. Stay in the know. Sign up for Intel and Situational Awareness alerts pushed to your phone on emerging threats and preparedness warnings. Click HERE to subscribe to the Grayman Briefing.
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