cabinalarm.com Blog

My mind was wandering on a ride back from camp one afternoon.  I took note of the number of pop (soda for the non WNYers) and beer cans along the road and I came up with the theory that you could drive from Chautauqua County to Albany NY without any money in your pocket.  That’s roughly 360 miles.  I see the cans and I want to pick them up, but when you travelling at 40 – 55 mph it’s hard to just stop and pick them up.  If you are walking its no big deal other than you end of carrying the large garbage bag like some big old junk collecting hobo.

I counted cans that I saw and there were about 1 – 2 cans every mile and that was just the ones along the edge of the road.  In reality there was probably more in the ditches.

So if I had a vehicle that get about 20 miles per gallon (my old Ford F150 forget it), gas at $2.65 a gallon, cans pay $.05 at the stores and the trip of 360 miles,  I would have to find 954 cans to fund the trip.  This would amount to 2.65 cans per mile, probably more like 4 cans per mile counting the stops for pick-up and drop off at the stores.

Anyways if you ever have a lot of time to waste.  Give it a try and see how far you get before you either get run over stopping to get cans, or run out of gas. 

You could improve this process by buying one of those long claw thingys that you can reach out your window to grab cans close by, or have someone with you to just hop out and grab the cans. 

Enough about this for now.  If I have anyother mind blowing theories I’ll be sure to post them.

I’ve had quite a few requests for a Cabin Alarm that resets itself after someone breaks in.  I have to give the bad news that this feature isn’t available due to various reasons.

The problem is; if someone breaks into your cabin they will most likely leave an opened door or window.  There will be total shock since the quiet night suddenly turns into a screaming welp inside and outside the cabin, totally unexpected since cabins rarely have any type of alarm system.  The chances are the guy is going to get the hell out of there and not come back.  If he has a vehicle he’s taking the chance that a neighbor heard the ruckus and is waiting patently at a window to get a glimps of a vehicle racing from the scene.  There’s also a chance that a neighbor camper is on his way with a shot gun to see what’s going on.  It’s really a big unknown and the uncertaintly really changes the rules of cabin break-in.

Many ask me; “what if the guy waits patiently in the woods for the alarm to shut off”?  First of all this person doesn’t knows how long it will go.  If it’s set for 2 hours, that’s a pretty long wait especially if the payoff isn’t know.  Most people don’t keep cash and their gold jewlrey in their cabin so a two hour wait in the woods for a coleman stove, a box of old tools, or maybe a chainsaw just doesn’t sound worth it.  Now if you have a gun rack hanging on the wall and your shades are wide open, then it may be a whole different story.

Cabin theives are opportunists and they pray on the fact that the property is unoccupied and they can sneak in and take things at their leisure.  There little chance of getting caught and they may even have time to make a sandwich, warm up a cup of Joe, or even do a little artwork with the paint left in the back room before they head out to the next cabin.  If you have a 140db siren bustin your ears, the cup of Joe is out.

I’ve also been asked; “If someone breaks in and waits it out, can the system have a motion detector to see if they come inside”.  Well, you can get a motion detector, as long as it has a N/O switch.  This will draw power and eventually drain a battery, but this can be overcome with a solar panel.  Unfortunately you would still have a door open and the movement would have also been sensed by the motion detector.  The alarm would still be in the same state.

My opinion is check your cabin often or have someone in the area do a walk around once a week.  This is your best defense to a robbery.  No alarm system can protect your remote property if you just don’t check on it. 

Following 911 me and my wife took a good look at the situation in this world and realized things may not be as secure as we would have believed. The day may come where we have to become more self sufficient and rely on our skills to provide food, shelter and security to ourselves and our families.
I believe it is every American’s responsibility to take the time to find ways to get by without all of the things we take for granted today. We should take actions to be easier on our environment by turning off the lights when they aren’t needed and considering solar and wind power as a option.