What would you use to break glass?

What would you use to break glass?

That is a question I have asked hundreds of people over the years. I love the looks of confusion and comments like “WHY would I do that?” or "I would throw something"

Many of us have never actually broken a window on purpose. Here are a few answers I have received from various sources:

Allen wrench

Baseball Bat

Baseball

Brick

Escape Tool

Glass cutter

Golf ball

Hammer

Hatchet

Jack Hammer

Jewelers Hammer

Nail set

Pickax

Wrench

Rock

Hole punch

Sledge Hammer

Window Punch

Then I got a response I was unprepared for. “My elbow” he replied. He then explained how he had been a firefighter and there were a few instances in homes when he entered through the window.

While this is not the ideal method for forced entry it brought the point home. Glass is fragile and we have it installed everywhere.

I know you are probably thinking. “There is no way a person could break safety/tempered glass with their elbow.” That is mostly correct. Depending on the size of glass and thickness will depend on a person’s ability to use their elbow to break tempered glass. The thin annealed glass we are all accustomed to is much more susceptible to breakage.

Now we can all agree that glass is not the strongest building material, but it offers a clean clear view of our surroundings and we simply cannot live life without it.

We must ask ourselves, what is the number one method for breaking in? Most of us have never had the pleasure of breaking into a facility. In my opinion we have grown accustomed to cameras and alarms doing all the scary work of deterring intruders. But armed with a mask and a rock, anyone can enter as they please. They only need to be gone within a few short minutes. Cameras are everywhere, we enjoy their comforts and ease of use on our phones and computers, but when cameras are put inside an enclosure and mounted on a wall, they become scary, to most of us.

Today’s criminals are more brazen in their actions and some want to be seen. Cameras and alarms embolden these people.

In today’s world of instant availability, a window can be broken one night, and the memory and mess are cleaned up the next morning. In many instances’ camera recordings are rendered useless, due to power loss, device failure, bad angle, poor lighting or the DVR was stolen. Besides those few items, why are we watching what happened instead of implementing more proactive measures? It seems silly to adopt a security solution that is based on watching past events on TV.