[sombunya]

Normally I drink a big cup (16 oz) of water along with vitamin supplements before bed. If I get up at 2:00 I stumble into the bathroom and then stumble back to bed.

One night I went to bed at about 11:00, the wife followed at 12:00. At about 12:30 she woke me up and said someone was knocking on the front door. I instantly jumped up, grabbed my .45 off the nightstand and ran to the front door. Not groggy in the slightest.

I looked through the window and saw no one. I walked to the back porch and my Pit Bull was standing there, ears up. I opened the door and urged him to go investigate, which he did. Whoever knocked was now gone.

The whole point is: condition white, Adrenaline kicks in.

 

[jmohme]

In that scenario. the wife would wake me up to clean up the blood after the dogs did their job.

I slept through a tornado that totally demolished the school across the street once.

 

[The Shadow]

Maybe that sound is the growling or bark of your dog. Maybe its the sound of glass breaking. Or maybe its the sound of pounding, possibly breaking of your door. Do you jump up to investigate? Do you arm yourself first before venturing out of your bedroom? Do you stay put, dial 911, and wait with your gun aimed at the closed bedroom door?
......................

The last time that happened to me it turned out to be the local Sheriff dept. SWAT team. They were clearing out my cul-de-sac to deal with the crazy guy across the street. I answered the door with my Glock in my hand but they never saw it and I didn't tell them.

Terry

 

['Ol Grandad]

I am not a fan of gun mounted lights for clearing a house where other people live. I would rather hold the flashlight in my left hand and my gun in my right. When you have a gun mounted light you are pointing the gun every where you are looking. If your flashlight, lights up your child you are pointing a loaded gun at them. I am not comfortable with that. Some people have poor trigger finger placement, and if startled by a family member they could accidently shoot them as a result.

If you have a sufficiently bright flashlight, it will give you time to get a gun on target.

On the other hand, if you point your flashlight at the bad guy and your gun is pointed somewhere else, bang, you're dead. Maybe. Food for thought.

 

[rotorhead1026]

Sadly, Pittie is deaf so she looks to me to protect her. She sleeps on my side of the bed. You do what you gotta do.

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She can feel vibrations (door or window being smashed); she can smell on a level humans can’t comprehend; most importantly she can sense when you’re upset. She’ll be a lot more useful than you think.

 

[Cali-Glock]

I wonder what the heck my cats are doing. My wife used to say the cats are moving furniture again.

At various times both my wife and I have heard what sounds like a person walking around; definitely not a cat. I don't have a good answer other that it being a bit creepy and that it is not a person.

When I am awakened by the sound sounds and all of my cats are on the bed with me and they are looking around as well, I should probably be worried... but I am not; it is just the house settling, a cougar on the roof, or some other unknown but equally benign source.

 

[rotorhead1026]

beat me to it.


care to explain this

all this talk of kids has me laughing. I have never been around kids until the past few years, my girl has a couple. at first it was positively torture. every move would wake me up. now I can lay in bed and tell if they are getting up for a valid purpose, and go back to sleep. or if they are up to no good and can call 'em out on it. it is funny how innocent, and clueless they are. the sound of a TV remote being quickly dragged off a table will have me up and in that room in a split second. but they think they are slick. the other night I got the older one good. we were watching tv in living room. I heard him do his best stealthy exit from his bedroom and tip toe shuffle down the hallway (read: fully grown drunk would be quieter) to the corner wall facing the living room. I got up and stood up against the wall, when his head peered around to see where we were all he saw was me and scurried right back to bed. the OH CRAP look was priceless.

Enjoy it while it lasts. They’ll get a lot smarter.

 

[Lowcountry_Glocker]

Enjoy it while it lasts. They’ll get a lot smarter.

you know, I forgot to add that in the first post. not looking forward to the day when they are slicker than me. I dread that.

 

[racerford]

On the other hand, if you point your flashlight at the bad guy and your gun is pointed somewhere else, bang, you're dead. Maybe. Food for thought.

If you point your flashlight at the bad guy and he doesn’t shut his eyes, your flashlight isn’t bright enough. I would rather take the chance with a bad guy than shoot my wife or child. You may feel differently.

You can hold a flashlight to see your way and still have your gun at a low ready.

Even trained police make mistakes. I recall an officer holding a suspect at gunpoint. They got startled and shot the suspect in the head. Poor trigger finger control.

 

[Sharkey]

She can feel vibrations (door or window being smashed); she can smell on a level humans can’t comprehend; most importantly she can sense when you’re upset. She’ll be a lot more useful than you think.

I hope so. Just got home and parked out front. Chirped the Alarm on, walked across the yard with leaves. Open front door and closed it hard since I had stuff on my hands. Kissed wifey, gave the finger to our mean cat, hit the head, and then went into bedroom where two windows face out to front yard. She has a bed by each window. Nothing. She was fast asleep. She'll get excited when shoes go back on for our walk.

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[WillyM]

Maybe that sound is the growling or bark of your dog. Maybe its the sound of glass breaking. Or maybe its the sound of pounding, possibly breaking of your door. Do you jump up to investigate? Do you arm yourself first before venturing out of your bedroom? Do you stay put, dial 911, and wait with your gun aimed at the closed bedroom door?

I know that the "experts" say to stay put, but on the few occasions where I have been awoken in the middle of the night, the sounds that I heard or think that I heard have never been clear indications of a break in, only of something not quite right. I have (in this order), put on my eyeglasses, grabbed the Glock 17 with rail mounted flashlight that I keep in my bedside table, gotten out of bed and gone to quietly check out the entire house. On one occasion I told my wife to dial 911 and to tell the police that I think we have an intruder, but to describe me and what I am wearing so that hopefully the police do not mistake ME for the intruder when they arrive. In that one case I had her call again shortly to say "false alarm" and it was easily in time to avoid having the police come to my home.

I keep a loaded Mossberg 500 in a ShotLock on my closet wall, but I have yet to grab that in the middle of the night. And hopefully will never have reason to do so. The Glock 17 gives me a fairly nice warm feeling of security when I have it in my hand.

It's a matter of personal reaction. I would check the whole house armed, others may stay in their room, others may call 911. I won't stay still and wait, but that's just me.

 

[Mugsie1]

Heard loud banging on a basement window late one evening. Got my gun and went outside to check. Didn't see anyone but then heard the banging start again. Shined my flashlight, which I had kept off till then, on the window and found the culprit. It was a bull frog the size of a small cat continually jumping against the window and slamming his head into it!

Stupid Kermit, he could have gotten himself shot!

 

[Rotn1]

Very unlikely anyone would be stupid enough to break in...... if they did they would set off the alarm....... the alarm pisses off the dogs

If the dogs don’t scare them off then:

Note: two warning shots will not be fired into the air.

...... I have cleared a house before. Didn’t like it one bit.

 

[sasqwatch2]

So you have your light point in a different direction than the where the gun is shooting? I am not sure you understand how they are designed to be mounted. I have used them on a range and the light points where it shoots. I am sure you are going to tell me all about the spill, yeah I am not willing to point that close to my children. Maybe you are.

How many people that buy weapon mounted lights go to hundreds of hours of tactical training on how to use them and practice with them until they use them properly every single time? They can't keep their fingers off the trigger under stress why would they be any better with the lights?

I am sure you are a well trained, master pistol tactician, and shot, but 99% of people with pistols are not. I have been to the range and watched, I repeat, they are not.

I should have been more careful with my clipping and be more direct. Point your WML at the ceiling while you are searching. You will see everything in the room if your WML has a good output. Doesn't take hundreds of hours or even hours to figure out.

 

[bunk22]

Cool story bro...

 

[JohnnyReb]

Truly clearing a house by yourself is extremely challenging to impossible. Do the best you can to make sure your family is safe.

Before just calling 911, try to be fairly certain something is amiss, and isn’t just a dream or your dog knocking something over.

Also, don’t search your home with your weapon light pointed at the ceiling like one poster suggested. It’s a good way to illuminate yourself with your gun not I position to address a threat. Just keep your finger off the trigger and stay as calm as possible, using the spill of the light to illuminate the direction you want to look in.

Cutting on a light switch prior to entering a room isn’t a bad idea.

If you want good practice, have a family member hide a large teddy bear, Halloween figure, or something that is roughly human size in your home. Then with an unloaded weapon, locate it practicing good room clearing tactics.

You can also play this game using a flash light, and the other person with a nerf gun. Watch some YouTube videos on room clearing too.

 

[AK_Stick]

Most times I shuffle to the door with my pistol and light.


If the dogs are really losing their crap, I might grab the rifle and the NVG’s.

 

[NW IL River Rat]

Me? I'll make sure I'm freshly showered and bend over in eager happiness after the long awaited arrival of the alien overlords and accompanying probe.

Oh wait....I answered the wrong question, you say? Do carry on...uttahere:

 

[syntaxerrorsix]

I'd do the same thing as I've done with people trying to break into my vehicle in the middle of the night. I'd meet them with a blaster and good WML and see how things go.

 

[Valmet]

Depends on the noise, and how I wake up feeling...if it’s dull and outside, I may get up just to walk in the other room and peer out the window, if it’s particularly loud and I feel endangered, I grab my Glock 21 and take a walk. If I was certain my house was being broken into, I may stay put with my Rem 870.