Security in the Home: Vacation Electrical Timer

One of the items mentioned in the NRA Refuse to be a Victim class is a simple electrical timer to turn lamps or TVs on/off at various times in order to make it look like someone is home. Such timers are also good for other purposes, like saving money by running a water heater only during the times you usually need it. In my case, I got one to save money on running a recirculation pump on my hot water supply (in addition to the ones we have for controlling lamps, and in the winter, our Christmas tree lights).

At the low end, you can get a mechanical electrical timer for about $10. Amazon sells one (The Intermatic TN711C 24-hour timer) which is adequate for controlling a few lamps, and features a “randomizer” that causes the on and off times to vary by a few minutes either way to avoid the “timer-controlled” predictability. You can probably find a mechanical timer even cheaper without the randomizer, but the randomizer is a good feature to have, and my experience with the cheaper timers is that they don’t keep time reliably. When I used one with my recirculation pump, I found that after a week, the time was off by enough the the pump wasn’t running when I needed it.

Also, if you have a power failure, the timer just stops while the power is off, and the time will be off by the length of the power outage when it comes back on. That might not matter much if your primary usage is to run lamps on “vacation mode”, but if you are using it for saving money by turning off appliances when unneeded, it’s a bother.

A better solution in that case is a digital timer. While the mechanical timer is a bit simpler to set up, it is much less versatile. A digital timer, depending on the features, will run two or three times the price of a mechanical one. My wife purchased a GE 15079 Digital Timer, which features up to 20 different on-off times over a 7-day period, so you can set up different times for weekends and weekdays, etc. For security purposes, it has a simple push-button random setting. One of the nicer features of this timer is a built-in battery backup, so power failures don’t cause the timer to lose the time of day. That also means that you can un-plug the unit and move it to another location without having to completely reprogram it, making it a portable timer.

We did find one drawback to this unit, namely, the instructions were written in teensy-tiny print on a small slip of paper, which can be a problem for folks in the trifocal generation. My wife took the instruction sheet and scanned it into her computer so she could enlarge it enough to read easily. Overall, though, we have been very pleased with this unit, especially after discovering that it has several useful features that weren’t even mentioned on the outside of the retail packaging, such as the count-down feature.

SmartCarry review, revisited

I got my SmartCarry holster back in July (See my initial review). At the time it was my favorite holster, the only one that I could find for my Bersa UC9 that was convenient enough for daily use. Well, I’ve been wearing it on a more-or-less daily basis since that time, and here’s my follow-up.

Here’s a snapshot of the SmartCarry with my Bersa UC9 and a spare magazine in it. The decocker/safety, which has been a source of concern with this holster, is visible at the top (see note below).

The seam cover is starting to show some wear, as is the bottom of the pouch. It appears to be good for another 6-9 months, although I will be watching carefully. I may try to re-do the seam cover with kevlar tape.

Here’s a closeup of the wear near the bottom of the pouch. This is after (mostly) daily use for about 7 months. The seams are still in good condition, although the seam covering has worn away at the bottom.

The only problem that I have had with the SmartCarry so far is that I have noticed that the decocker/safety on the UC9 sometimes is disengaged in the holster. I think that is due to moving the holster to the left when I visit the men’s room, probably because the lever rubs against the inside of my trousers. I have started checking the safety after each visit to the urinal. The elastic is stretching out a bit, which is to be expected. The velcro is still just as good as new. I’ve lost a bit of weight since I got this rig, so I may be ordering a smaller version when the wear on this one gets to the point that I no longer trust it.

The SmartCarry is currently my 2nd favorite holster (I have decided that I prefer a paddle holster, but I have not found one for the UC9). If I get another one, I will not get the one with the document pouch (“Security Model”). I used the document pouch a couple of times, but I did not find it to be very convenient (YMMV), and not really worth the extra money. I have a separate travel wallet that I can wear on a lanyard underneath a shirt that works better for me.

A review: The SmartCarry

Back when I first got my CHL, my instructor warned me that I would probably spend more on holsters than guns. I didn’t believe him.

For a long time, I resisted buying holsters. I made one myself, and it worked well enough that I tried to sell them. I sold maybe a dozen of my shoulder rigs before I gave that up. Never had a repeat customer, so it was fairly obvious that I didn’t have The Formula. So then, I started looking at other holsters. First thing I tried was a belly-band, which wasn’t even as comfy as my homebrew rig. One thing led to another, and yes, I ended up spending more on holsters than I did on my first gun.

Up until I got the SmartCarry (http://www.smartcarry.com), my favorite was a Houston paddle-holster for my Bursa Thunder .380. But when I got the UC 9mm, I could not find a paddle-holster for it anywhere. I tried an IWB and a traditional shoulder rig, but neither was satifactory, and I was well on my way to spending more on holsters than on the UC9 when I got the SmartCarry.

I have no affiliation with SmartCarry, nor have they given me anything for this review.

I got the SmartCarry after reading the description, and watching the videos on their website. I got the “security” model, which was about $60. When it arrived, I thought, “I just spend $60 for THIS???” But the gun did fit in it, and when I tried it on, it was unexpectedly comfortable. It took a while to find the most satisfying combination of snugness and position, but I finally did settle on a fairly tight adjustment, and wearing the rig somewhat higher than recommended in the videos, and offset about one inch to my right. The offset keeps it from poking me in sensitive places, and makes it a lot easier to use the urinal in a public restroom.

I think I got my $60 worth, although the SmartCarry is showing some signs of wear. The elastic is pretty strong, but it’s still starting to stretch out a bit, and I’ll probably end up replacing it in another 5 or 6 months. The Velcro is the super-aggressive type that you see in hospital-grade leg braces, so it will probably last as long as the front pocket.

The concealment also better than I expected. There is a slight bulge in the crotch area, but that one-inch offset helps there, too. I have stood in front of several CHL classes, and asked if anyone had spotted my concealed handgun. So far, nobody had picked out the SmartCarry location without making several other guesses first. Seems folks have a build-in aversion to looking at a man’s crotch (well, at least the ones in my classes, anyway). It provides concealment as least as good as an IWB. And the concealment is absolute if I wear a Hawaiian-style shirt un-tucked.

Drawing from concealment is no harder than from my paddle or IWB. Actually a little easier than from my paddle, since I have to get the extraction angle just right on the paddle. I did initially have difficulty getting the drawn handgun back into the holster — that takes practice and two hands. Plus, I haven’t found any way to do it that I would consider graceful, but re-holstering a handgun is something that you don’t have to do quickly or gracefully.

The SmartCarry is (at least for now) my favorite concealment holster, with the Houston paddle coming in 2nd. When the SmartCarry wears out past the point where I can repair it myself, I will probably buy another. Maybe two.