I had a home broken into once when I was a kid and I've had trespassers in my yard a few times. The treaspassers were just kids hopping fences, like what you experienced. The person who broke into the home just broke into the garage and car to steal some stuff.
As for what to do for home defence, it really depends.
- Are you indoors or outdoors?
- Is the person armed or unarmed? Can't tell?
- Is there any indication as to what their intentions might be?
- How fast do I think I'd need to react to this situation?
I can tell you what I have and what I'd do, just know that none of this might be for you.
Guns: I have a revolver and hollow point ammunition that I would grab under specific circumstances. However, everyone always defaults to saying "get a gun", but most people I've known who have guns don't know how to use them. Worst of all, some people get target ammunition that would go through a person and potentially a wall or door, which could injure someone out on the street. This is especially a risk if you miss the target.
Guns require maintenance and I also keep mine locked away, which technically means I can't grab it quickly. Don't forget that they're noisy (and using them indoors can be jarring) and they're messy. Then there's another issue with them: if an intruder sees a gun, that might cause them to pull their own weapon out and become aggressive toward you. This might be an intruder who would've otherwise run away, but now feels the need to defend themselves because they see a gun.
Blades: I really don't recommend this, but I actually have several custom-made katanas, a broadsword, and other knives I can quickly grab if I need to. But the reason I don't recommend this is because you really need to practice using these to understand how they can be used for self-defense. In the case of katanas, you often see people on YouTube swinging around a katana like a baseball bat; they don't know how to swing with the sword's curvature, which makes the weapon less effective. Their stances also look like something out of a cheap anime. If you're indoors and you have a hallway, swinging around a katana isn't really practical. I'm not practices with the broadsword or the knives, so I wouldn't grab them.
What your blade is made out of is extremely important. Don't just pick up some $30 mall katana made out of stainless steel: these are decorative and will break on you. There are many choices out there, but that's a whole topic itself.
Katanas and other blades also require maintenance; you need to know how to clean and sharpen a blade. This isn't difficult, but failing to clean it can result in rust.
Unarmed: Weapons seem like an obvious choice to grab, but in most situations, I would prefer to be unarmed just based on my own past experiences.
Whatever you decide to do, just make sure you practice. You can take self-defense classes for guns and unarmed combat, and if it's something you want to learn more about, you need to be able to determine what you're most comfortable with.
. Maybe he has a single cousin?
