Heard bump in the night

[Markis82]

Hi All,

As the title says, I heard a bump in the night. It has about 3:45am when I was woken by a crashing sound coming from the kitchen area. I immediately grabbed my nighttable gun (Glock 19), my Fenix PD 32 flashlight and headed downstairs. This is the first time a grabbed my gun for real. It is amazing how you change when you think it might be for real. My senses heightened, my concentration got intense, and my practice and training took over. Without thinking my gun was the close ready position and my light was in the syringe position in my support hand. I was pieing the corners, looking behind doors from the outside through the door jamb etc... all on autopilot. It turns out that something for whatever reason fell off the countertop. What a relief!!! It took some time for me to calm down afterward. But now I know I can do it when it counts.

[wyntrout]

Glad it was a false alarm... but good exercise. I've had things like that happen and done the same thing. A large cardboard box fell over in the attic... LARGE TV box leaned against the wall, settled and fell, making quite a noise.

I've had LARGE "thumps" against the house many years ago and done the drill around the house and yard. It turned out that Friday nights after the home team scored or at the end of the game, they would fire off some large fireworks and the booms hit the house like actual blows. The stadium is maybe 4-5 miles as the crow flies. Now I consider the day and time... usually around 10PM or so.

Things like that can wake you up and get your flowing... and some adrenaline, too!

Wynn:)

[knkali]

glad it was a false alarm but also glad you were on top of your game too.

This brings up a couple of points that we need to remind ourselves of:

1) if there are other people in the house, they should remain in their rooms and do not come out. This will keep innocents from being confused for an intruder. Check on all family members first and accounted for before venturing off into common areas.
2) If you have a significant other, they should stay put, and have the cell phone at the ready as well as their self protection gun at the ready waiting for the safe word. Do not re enter room where SO is if armed without using the safe word first.

[Markis82]

glad it was a false alarm but also glad you were on top of your game too.

This brings up a couple of points that we need to remind ourselves of:

1) if there are other people in the house, they should remain in their rooms and do not come out. This will keep innocents from being confused for an intruder. Check on all family members first and accounted for before venturing off into common areas.
2) If you have a significant other, they should stay put, and have the cell phone at the ready as well as their self protection gun at the ready waiting for the safe word. Do not re enter room where SO is if armed without using the safe word first.Good points! I did close all the upstairs doors before I ventured down. However, I did neglect to grab my cell phone. So now, my cell phone will "sleep" next to my gun.

[muggsy]

The smart thing to do is to dial 911. Stay armed in your room and wait for the perp to come to you. Go looking for trouble and you're likely to find it. Put cover between you and the perp to give yourself the advantage. If he hears you coming he has the advantage. He'll know where you're at and he'll be able to ambush you from cover. You need training in home self defense tactics.

[Markis82]

The smart thing to do is to dial 911. Stay armed in your room and wait for the perp to come to you. Go looking for trouble and you're likely to find it. Put cover between you and the perp to give yourself the advantage. If he hears you coming he has the advantage. He'll know where you're at and he'll be able to ambush you from cover. You need training in home self defense tactics.Not many people have cover in their homes, they have concealment. Not even a refrigerator is cover. You're a sitting duck! I am not one sit there and let something happen! If I'm going down it will be being proactive not crouching behind my bed!

[CJB]

Go looking for trouble and you're likely to find it.

Oh hell yeah! Big time... bring 'em on, in my house, I'm the baddest SOB there is. I dream of the day

Actually, I lived the day, or evening as it were, already. No shots fired. Didn't have to. Did hold at gunpoint with a Browning High Power.

[CJB]

Go looking for trouble and you're likely to find it.

Oh hell yeah! Big time... bring 'em on, in my house, I'm the baddest SOB there is. I dream of the day

Actually, I lived the day, or evening as it were, already. No shots fired. Didn't have to. Did hold at gunpoint with a Browning High Power.

There are two kinds of people in this world my friend: Those that sit on my kitchen floor with their hands on their head, and those with loaded guns. You sit...

He did.

[knkali]

There are two kinds of people in this world my friend: Those that sit on my kitchen floor with their hands on their head, and those with loaded guns. You sit...

He did.

That is a bad azzz line right there. Did you say it to that SoB? That is Dirty Harry sheet there.

[CJB]

Actually, its a line from "The Good the Bad and the Ugly". Clint Eastwood said it, the scoundrel said it (forget his name)... great line.

"“There are two kinds of people in the world, those with loaded guns, and those who dig. You dig.”

No I didn't say it to him. He got stern instructions to sit with his hands on top of his head, but I did have to argue and remind him to remain seated until the ride was over. The cops gave him a thorough thrashing, busted his nose on my kitchen cabinet when he got up without asking "mother, may I?"

Was kind of neat actually... I was talking to the cops through the phone, they were outside on their radios, I told them EXACTLY what they'd see, and that I'd point away and clear my weapon upon their entrance. They did. I did. SOB got up, nose busted. They hauled him. Later, cops and I decided to not make it stick, as.... he was absolutely plastered, pissed his pants, had to sit in the holding cell in pee soaked jeans and no shirt and no shoes for a few hours, etc etc. The story was, he was looking for a bottle opener for his beer.... (and he did have a beer) and his GF lived in the same apt, but two floors up. Like I said... I didn't have to shoot, so I didn't

[knkali]

Actually, its a line from "The Good the Bad and the Ugly". Clint Eastwood said it, the scoundrel said it (forget his name)... great line.

"“There are two kinds of people in the world, those with loaded guns, and those who dig. You dig.”

No I didn't say it to him. He got stern instructions to sit with his hands on top of his head, but I did have to argue and remind him to remain seated until the ride was over. The cops gave him a thorough thrashing, busted his nose on my kitchen cabinet when he got up without asking "mother, may I?"

Was kind of neat actually... I was talking to the cops through the phone, they were outside on their radios, I told them EXACTLY what they'd see, and that I'd point away and clear my weapon upon their entrance. They did. I did. SOB got up, nose busted. They hauled him. Later, cops and I decided to not make it stick, as.... he was absolutely plastered, pissed his pants, had to sit in the holding cell in pee soaked jeans and no shirt and no shoes for a few hours, etc etc. The story was, he was looking for a bottle opener for his beer.... (and he did have a beer) and his GF lived in the same apt, but two floors up. Like I said... I didn't have to shoot, so I didn't

and that folks is what is called "trigger discipline"

[yqtszhj]

The smart thing to do is to dial 911. Stay armed in your room and wait for the perp to come to you. Go looking for trouble and you're likely to find it. Put cover between you and the perp to give yourself the advantage. If he hears you coming he has the advantage. He'll know where you're at and he'll be able to ambush you from cover. You need training in home self defense tactics.

I can agree with this in some part but the bedroom side of the house will be cleared and covered regardless because if a BG heads towards the young daughters room then... or if another member of the household is in danger... need I say any more? It's time to execute the plan.

We do have some responsibilities to take care of you know.

[Sap]

Your best bet is to have a plan that your family is well aware of. Stay put where you can put yourself between the bad guy and your loved ones. A choke point or fatal funnel for your enemy is preferable. Draw your imaginary line in the dirt ahead of time. If BG comes near it address it. Always attempt to get 911 rolling first or have a family member do it. Stay on the line as well. Running around your house after a BG is not real smart.

[LaP]

Out of curiosity, were you backed up by your wife, girlfriend or other responsible adult? Having a second pair of eyes and ears makes a huge difference while your heart beats loud enough to wake the neighbors up.

[Markis82]

Out of curiosity, were you backed up by your wife, girlfriend or other responsible adult? Having a second pair of eyes and ears makes a huge difference while your heart beats loud enough to wake the neighbors up.I'm divorced and currently have no significant other. My ill mother lives with me. But she still has no idea what happened. I was in a weird state. I was alert and charged with adrenaline pumping but still calm and purposeful. There was not much thinking. I knew what I had to do and ran on auto pilot. I didn't feel my heart beating until after it was all over and then I was a mess. Except my heart did jump when I was initially woken by the noise. As far as calling 911 and waiting until help arrives, that is not an option where I live after midnight or so. I live on a small island on the south west coast of Florida. After a certain time of night, our local police go home and the county takes over. The 911 calls get routed to the county sheriffs. They are great guys but not often on the island and probably far into the mainland and a long drive away. This is fine because crime is very low on the island. However, who is to say crime cannot happen. I did what I did and I'd do it again. The only difference would be that my cell phone will be in my pocket.

[U.S. Patriot]

I'm thankful for all the exelent training I learned while in the Coast Guard. Close quarter, learning to clear buildings and ships. I hope I never have to do it in my home, but if it happens, I'm confident my training will take over. Everyone needs training.

[Husky44]

US Patriot, and others: Good training helps, but well rehearsed drills in your actual environment are priceless. I would encourage all to practice, first in the daytime, their rollout of bed, initial positioning, movement techniques, sight lines, angles, etc. The layout of my house makes it very important that I get to a certain position before I engage, or my kid can be behind the target. From there, I know where the friendlies should be, and what angles I can engage, what angles would cause the BG to have strays going through walls toward friendlies if they're engaging me.

Someone else made the very valid point about concealment vs. cover. If you haven't done the whole drill multiple times in the daylight, I'd encourage you to. I know my fields of fire down the stairs, etc (all bedrooms on second floor). Then, once you've got it sorted out in the daytime, run the drills at night. You may not be able to train the exact scenario you'll face, but the more you train, the more automatic you'll be, and be able to adjust off the plan, rather than trying to plan as you go.

[U.S. Patriot]

US Patriot, and others: Good training helps, but well rehearsed drills in your actual environment are priceless. I would encourage all to practice, first in the daytime, their rollout of bed, initial positioning, movement techniques, sight lines, angles, etc. The layout of my house makes it very important that I get to a certain position before I engage, or my kid can be behind the target. From there, I know where the friendlies should be, and what angles I can engage, what angles would cause the BG to have strays going through walls toward friendlies if they're engaging me.

Someone else made the very valid point about concealment vs. cover. If you haven't done the whole drill multiple times in the daylight, I'd encourage you to. I know my fields of fire down the stairs, etc (all bedrooms on second floor). Then, once you've got it sorted out in the daytime, run the drills at night. You may not be able to train the exact scenario you'll face, but the more you train, the more automatic you'll be, and be able to adjust off the plan, rather than trying to plan as you go.

I practice clearing my apartment with rifle, shotgun, and pistol. In both light and low light conditions. I would not know what I was doing without proper training. I have seen to many videos of people getting trained poorly. Standing in fatal funnels, not slicing the pie, leaving there flash light on constantly, etc.

[joshh]

in MA ltc class they explained to us that if we think there is an intruder in the home we should lock ourselves in a room and call the police. HAHAHAHA.... ive done the walk around a time or two. once at our cottage in ct it sounded like someone was being murdered in our yard and it turned out to be a fisher cat. either way i was glad to have a gun at hand. this reminds me that i wanna get a gun to leave there...

[TriggerMan]

Hi All,

As the title says, I heard a bump in the night. It has about 3:45am when I was woken by a crashing sound coming from the kitchen area. I immediately grabbed my nighttable gun (Glock 19), my Fenix PD 32 flashlight and headed downstairs. This is the first time a grabbed my gun for real. It is amazing how you change when you think it might be for real. My senses heightened, my concentration got intense, and my practice and training took over. Without thinking my gun was the close ready position and my light was in the syringe position in my support hand. I was pieing the corners, looking behind doors from the outside through the door jamb etc... all on autopilot. It turns out that something for whatever reason fell off the countertop. What a relief!!! It took some time for me to calm down afterward. But now I know I can do it when it counts.But should you? Clearing a house solo is generally not recommended. I sleep next to my cell phone and charge it every night.

EDIT: I see where you live. Makes a difference. May I suggest a good dog?

[HDoc]

in MA ltc class they explained to us that if we think there is an intruder in the home we should lock ourselves in a room and call the police. HAHAHAHA.... ive done the walk around a time or two. once at our cottage in ct it sounded like someone was being murdered in our yard and it turned out to be a fisher cat. either way i was glad to have a gun at hand. this reminds me that i wanna get a gun to leave there...
I'd take a gun just for the Fisher Cat, those suckers are nastier than wolverines. They've been making a reappearance in SE CT over the last few years. Maybe they can take down the shrub eating deer ( :rolleyes:) that are all over the place since hunters are getting fewer each year.

[jlottmc]

Had to look that one up. I guess they get rowdy, and might take a 45 well.

[Chuck54]

I like SAP's approach about knowing where the fatal funnel will be for the intruder ...... I think that would put the element of surprise on your side, since the intruder would not know if you are awake or where you are located.

[rholmes69]

I'm in one of those sticky situations. All the rooms are upstairs, and the stairs hug the exterior wall of the house and deposit you on the second floor 4 feet from my bedroom door that hugs the same side of the house. The only direction you can turn is to the kid's bedrooms to your right as you come up the stairs. So if you are walking up the stairs, then I am in your funnel and vice versa. You start heading up the stairs though, and it is trigger pulled on my end...