[Snowdog]

A little while back I experienced a most disturbing situation.
I dreamt I was being chased by a tiger and awake from this dream with my hand gripping my pistol's handle, still on the nightstand. This happened within half an hour after laying down.

I remember from my college days that there are periods of light sleep where the body isn't completely incapacitated, leaving a person physically able to react to dreams. If memory serves me correctly, this is sometimes referred to as a hypnogogic state. In the past, I have been known to leap out of bed soon after falling asleep, dodging the path of a giant spider repelling from the ceiling towards me and such similar things. However, this is the first time I've made a grab for my pistol.


Fortunately, this was a Steyr M40 with a funky manual safety... though I am uncertain if I had the cognitive ability to deactivate this feature or not while in this state.

Since this episode, I've been keeping my Steyr in the safe and the shotgun nearby (yet out of immediate reach).

Has anyone else experienced such disturbing "sleepwalking" similar to this?
I don't feel completely comfortable without having a pistol within arm's reach at all times, but I certainly don't like the prospect of blowing a hole through the ceiling while defending myself from phantom spiders and tigers.

Any ideas?

[MTMilitiaman]

I've been known to twitch myself awake reacting to something in a dream and when I was younger I sleep walked a couple of times, but nothing as dramatic as what you have encountered. While the chances are low, you certainly don't want to risk an ND. Even if you don't injure yourself or someone else, it would be embarassing and difficult to explain. A bad guy won't get a chance to hurt you if you kill yourself first. Is there any chance you could put the pistol in a holster? I doubt you'd be able to pull the pistol from its holster in your sleep, esp if it has a thumb break. But with practice you should be able to if you're awakened by a bump in the night. Don't forget also with regard to the M40's "funky" safety that you have to be familiar enough with it to operate it when your disoriented and groggy having just been jarred awake by a sound in the living room.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I can recall a story, I believe from the Darwin Awards some years ago, of a man who woke to the sound of the phone ringing. He reached over and grabbed for the phone, but got his .38 instead and managed to discharge it when he brought it to his head. Not a glamorous way to die.

[epijunkie67]

Why not leave the pistol bedside but with an empty pipe? You'd have to grab the weapon and chamber a round before you could use the gun but at least it would be right at hand if you needed it. And it's doubtful you'd be coordinated enough to grab the gun, chamber a round, and pull the trigger, all without waking up first.

[coylh]

Get a quick access pistol "safe".

[UWstudent]

get the bio-tech "finger print" safe. just push ur thumb on the scanner and opens up in no time..

they're like 200 dollars though for a 1 pistol case

[1911 guy]

My story about this happened shortly after seperation from Uncle Sam's Yacht Club. Middle of the night there is a very loud "whump" in my bedroom. I came up from a sound sleep with a chambered 12 Ga. pointed in the general direction. Dog had knocked over a laundry basket I'd set on top of another full laundry basket. No shots fired, still have the dog.

I currently have the same 12 Ga., still keep a full mag and a dropped hammer. Just a little further away.

[birddog]

I keep my nightstand gun far enough away so I have to sit up and lean over to get it. Just for that very reason.

[middy]

Just get yourself a real tiger and you'll have no need for a nightstand gun. :)

[boing]

Agree with epijunkie: Condition 3.

Works with most types of autopistol, so you have flexibility of platform, too.

And it's free. :D

[KriegHund]

hmm...thats strange.

If condition three is mag inserted, but no round in the chamber, then i agree.

It takes more comlex motor skills to chamber a round, and is less reactionary than gripping the handle. Yet you can also rack the slide quickly in case you do need the pistol.

*Edit*

2 days ago my bother mentioned he had a dream where there was a tiger outside our house that morphed into a black panther. He took it out with a full atuo 10/22, apperently. Must be contagious.

[MTMilitiaman]

Middy could be on to something as well...

[DJJ]

Best part is, you only remember hypnogogia if you wake up from it; not if you go on to full sleep. So who knows what else you might have done and never realized it!

[JohnKSa]

WARNING! BEFORE reading farther, please read the disclaimer at the end of the post.

What about wolves?

An acquaintance was attacked by a wolf a few months ago.

Fortunately he was able to defend himself by kicking the wolf vigorously.

But the wolf was in a dream and the wall was extremely unkind to his toe. Kicking the wall ended the dream abruptly--and also the wolf attack.

[MTMilitiaman]

WARNING! BEFORE reading farther, please read the disclaimer at the end of the post.

What about wolves?

An acquaintance was attacked by a wolf a few months ago.

Fortunately he was able to defend himself by kicking the wolf vigorously.

But the wolf was in a dream and the wall was extremely unkind to his toe. Kicking the wall abruptly ended the dream and also the wolf attack.

I can't even remember what the dream was but one time a while ago by brother's cat jumped up on my feet at a time that directly cooresponded to the wrong time in it. I flicked my foot so hard that the cat got wacked by the ceiling fan. It fact it was her scream, the thunk of the ceiling fan blade delfecting off her skull, and the thud of her hitting the floor that woke me up. She's fine now, but she never climbed on my feet again.

[telomerase]

Maybe you're dreaming now and the tiger is going to spring on you when you wake up.

(Maybe it's time for us to get some real biotech so we don't spend a third of our lives incapacitated...)

[Sunray]

Put the friggin' gun where hypnagogic hallucinations won't let you get to it. Like in a drawer, if there is one, or just out of reach where conscious action is required.

[Snowdog]

Well, I decided to take Middy's advice and puchase a tiger....

:D

In all honesty, I'm surprised I didn't think of the holster (w/ thumb break) route suggested by MTmilitiaman. I saw an advertisement years back for a holster that attached to one's bed. I believe it may have been held in place by a "paddle" that slipped between the matress and boxspring. I'm thinking it may have had a thumb break for retention too, even if it was held in a stationary vertical position.
I'll have to hunt one down, or construct my own... it seems to be a fairly straightforward and cheap alternative.
Thought I like the idea of the biometric thumb scanning safe, I never did trust anything that required juice to function. You'd think I've insulted Murphy's mother, but it's my luck to have such a device crap out when needed most.

Thanks for the suggestions.