OK, so you’re rich and you just bought your own private island. How do you defend it?
[ul]
[li]With an ADT system (or equivalent) that sends messages to the Fijian navy that something’s wrong?[/li]
[li]A group of mercenaries that lives in bunkers?[/li]
[li]Small arms cache?[/li]
[li]Just assume that no one would go to the trouble of trekking all the way to your island to steal your TV and if they did, they were so much more determined than you could have prepared for and that you’re basically screwed?[/li][/ul]
Also, would you lock your doors at night? When you’re away on business?
Since all islands fall under someone’s sovereign authority, it all depends on the laws of whoever claims jurisdiciton of the island. As a WAG, if you held title to the entire island as your private property, then you would have the same rights as any property owner to prevent tresspass and defend yourself against intruders. What weaponry you could legally own to do so would depend on the jurisdiction.
If you owned your own small island in the Carribean, and drug smugglers decided that your island was ideally situated as a base, then you would probably be justified in using whatever level of force you could muster to expel them.
Qualifications: Son of a former-CEO of a multinational corporation
If you bought your own private island, how you chose to defend it would be up to
Your level of paranoia.
How much money you were willing to spend to placate your paranoia.
What is feasible given the state of technology (specifically wireless communication) of the time and in your area, and how far away society is.
What is legal in your country, and how much stock you put in what is legal in your country.
How scary the area you lived in really is
Neither my parents nor anyone I know have bought their own island. I have heard about a famous sci-fi author living in Sri Lanka–who my parent’s company worked with on one product–but I can’t recall his name at the moment. And I don’t recall precisely whether he was on his own island off of Sri Lanka or on the main island.
For instance, my parents’ house in Mexico is in a gated community. There is no alarm system, there is a lady living at the house with a fully-working phone, and my parents lock up when they go out. They do not possess any guns and the only gun they have ever purcased was a BB gun because we had woodpeckers destroying the roof at a house many years ago. I suspect that a large reason there is no alarm system is because you either can’t get one in Mexico or others have told my parents that there is no point trying. They do have lights that come on with movement outside where no one should be moving and a video system that lets them see various places in the yard via surveillance cameras from any TV in the house.
But at times my parents have had an alarm system, they have generally not set it when they left the house, just locking up nice. My grandparents (who are not wealthy) do have an alarm system and religiously set it when they go out, and when they go to sleep at night.
Whether someone isolates themselves to write without interference or if they do so so that they can build a miniature fortress in case of WWIII is really just a matter of who the person is and has nothing to do with the amount of money they have. Having money just gives them a greater ability to see those through. Michael Jackson built himself Neverland Ranch, and personally I am much more worried about what he was trying to accomplish on the mainland with it than someone who bought an island.
Thank you. Yes, I never met him. I tended to do more sitting in on business meetings than going to try and meet famous people if I did business stuff with my parents. Lol.
Currently living in a gated community in Mexico, I can definitively say that, yes, monitored alarm systems certainly are available in Mexico. Depending on the character of the development, though, sometimes there’s just no point.
But seriously. There’s a guy on that lives on his own island in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Since it is in the states, I don’t think he could have bobbytraps or anything. A couple friends of mine did try to get on his island once and set off massive montion detector lights.
when dreaming of owning my own island off of new england i would consider large carnivores. i just keep hitting that carnivore swimming problem. my fav. carnivore would be tigers, giving an endangered species a nice protected place to live vs. swimming problems… dang swimming problem.
I’m not clear on why the defense of an island would be much different from that of any privately held piece of land. Except that on an island you’re perhaps less likely to have visitors.
Well, I would figure that being on an island meant that you’re far away from any potential help should something bad happen (whether it’s a medical emergency or burgalers), thus there would be logistical problems that one would want to take into account.
Furthermore, I’m assuming that someone who lives on their own island would be rich (I have no idea what an island costs, so it’s just an assumption). Likewise, I would assume that they’re not on the island 24/7, so there’s a chance that there will be nothing on the island at all. Thus, I would wonder if a particularly enterprising criminal would be tempted for a big score at a relatively low risk.
Of course, depending on where the island is, it may be a total pain in the ass getting there.
Well… First serious post that specifically concerned islands–though I did specifically mention such issues as the law of the country of your island, the level of wireless communication available in the area, and how far away society was.
[WAG]
While the idea of having your own island does seem cool for a moment, the issue of security and medical emergencies probably figure in to it and I suspect that most islands are really just not viewed as “prime” property. There’s really no point in owning one.
I’ve seen a couple of houses on little islands around the Seattle to Alaska area, and while these seemed to be fairly well kept, they weren’t large by any means. Probably they just had a goal to have their own island and saved up for it. My best guess would be that they are a similar type as likes sailing and for whom the idea of getting ill or injured away from society is something they basically take as a given in their life. Boaters have their own society that fairly well mirrors land-society in terms of wealthy versus poor. Island owners are probably a subset of the boating society.
And I do very litterally mean a society. Like city-people versus country-people, there also appears to be boat-people. But I haven’t spent much time talking to them, so no idea how they subsist.
[/WAG]
The guy across the street from my parents in Mexico has a very nice house, he is there about half of the year and when he is there, he paints. As such, his house has exactly: Walls, a roof, a floor, beds, restrooms, a single phone, and a lot of paintings of his make.
Just knowing there is someone rich and that his house is unprotected doesn’t mean you’ll get there and there will be much worth grabbing. Outside of some stereo equipment and DVD players, I am not certain there is anything to steal at my parents house either. Any nice jewelry my mom has, she probably takes with her when she is not there. Grabbing the really big vases she bought in China also wouldn’t be worth it–they’re almost as tall as me, and were only $350* (each) in China (though I assume a lot more was spent getting them to Mexico.) Anyone who could pay you enough for it to be worth stealing them could probably buy them legally cheaper.
Not to mention carting stuff away. Really, outside of hard cash most things in the world aren’t worth stealing unless you know what you’re going to grab and have a buyer who has already agreed to take it.
Local pranksters can be stopped with shutters on the windows and locked doors, and if you are wealthy, someone living at the house full-time. (The really big moat probably helps.)
So really, the big issue with being on an island is the question of what happens if you fall and break your leg. Defense is really just a personal issue of what you think is worth it given the area you are in.
My family has a private island and I know a number of others.
We don’t even have an alarm system on ours. However, there is a caretaker + family who keep the place occupied all year round.
A good friend of mine has a beautiful 32 acre island near Vancouver. He also has an outstanding wine collection that he kept locked in vast underground cellars. Sadly, this obviously became known to local criminals who broke in and took the most valuable bottles.
He still doesn’t have an alarm system (or a live in caretaker), although somebody visits the island every day. He did put in safe-like doors to the wine cellar though.
There really isn’t much you can do regarding security on an island other than having a permanent presence there to act more as a deterrent. If someone really wants to steal stuff, they’ll find a way to do it.
Most islands I am aware of have some sort of helicopter pad (more for medical emergencies than anything else though). I suppose that one could figure out a ludicrously expensive rapid response squad with the nearest police station that has helicopters if an alarm was triggered? I am not aware of anyone doing this though.