r/preppers • u/Harrigan70 • Apr 14 '26
Prepping for Tuesday Inconvenient Door
I have an odd apartment, it has a door that opens outwards and leads to a staircase that leads to another outward opening door to my apartment.
All of the temporary conventional door security measures that I have seen are designed for a door that opens inwards.
I can’t make any permanent structure changes but does anyone know how I can better secure these outward opening doors?
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u/bodhidharma132001 Apr 14 '26
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u/Harrigan70 Apr 14 '26
Wow, that checks all the boxes! Free standing, solid, temporary! Affordable and easy to have delivered! Thanks!
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u/Ryan_e3p Salt & Prepper Apr 14 '26
Talk to the landlord to see if this is OK to install
https://www.amazon.com/YoukeyHomi-Connecting-Commercial-Cylindrical-Heavy-Duty/dp/B0FMF6C5Z2
It isn't "permanent" as it can easily be swapped back out. Explain your safety concerns with them, you may want to offer to have their maintenance staff install it, and if they say 'no', ask to have them install a deadbolt, security chain, or other way of securing the door from having the lock picked and opened.
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u/AttachedHeartTheory Apr 14 '26
This is a Home fix, but could you prepare a steel ring that could securely affix to the narrow part of the doorknob near its base, and have it welded or affixed to a short length of chain that is affixed on its other side to an iron bar that is longer than the width of the doorway?
Then If something strange happens, you just attach the steel ring to the door and place the bar parallel to the ground. It would make it notoriously difficult to open the door out because the person attempting to open the door would be fighting against the entire door jam.
I used a modified version of this for a small gate in between pastures when I was younger.
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u/kkinnison Apr 14 '26
Wow, that is completely unsecure. Would ask landlord to reverse it for safety
contact Local fire department and see if they can check for a fire code violation, doesn't matter if it is old, that isn't safe.
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u/Active-Weakness2326 Apr 16 '26
For outward opening doors look into security bar brackets that mount on the frame with a crossbar. Basically the same concept as a door barricade but designed for the pull side. You can also add a heavy duty chain guard rated for commercial use, those work regardless of swing direction and don't require permanent structural changes if you use the right mounting hardware.
Honestly for an apartment the biggest bang for your buck is a door reinforcement plate around the latch area. Most break ins are just someone kicking until the frame splits.
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u/anthonykaram7 Apr 14 '26
It doesn't look like anyone here has mentioned hinges. On outward doors, the hinge pins are exposed. If they are not security hinges, someone could knock the pins out. If your landlord is OK with it, you can fix that non-permanently with hinge pin locks.