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Something went bump in the night.

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H

harmonic

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Aug 10, 2007
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2:30 am this morning. My wife and I both woke up and didn't say a word. I jumped out of bed and 1) grabbed the Glock 17 and chambered a round (I don't keep it chambered) and 2) grabbed my Surefire flashlight which I keep between the box springs and mattress.

I then walked from room to room holding the flashlight up and away from my body. I started out with my finger resting on the trigger guard. Then I thought that wouldn't be fast enough so I put my finger on the trigger.

Then I remembered that's a no-no (even though there's no one in the house but the wife and myself). So I put my finger back on the trigger guard.

Going from room to room, if someone had been hiding behind a door, and when I reached in to turn the light on, they probably could have overpowered me. The whole process/my posture was awkward.

I think I want a tactical light for my Glock. What do you think?

BTW, the noise was the washcloth rack in the shower. The shower is marble and the rack is a suction job. It fell off. First time I ever almost shot a washcloth.
 
i'm glad you did't put a hole in the shower:), and every thing turn out ok, good job being ready for the worst.


R58
 
I think I want a tactical light for my Glock. What do you think?
Click to expand...

I think the second rule of firearms safety is "Never let the muzzle cover anything you do not wish to destroy".



I had a Ruger GP100 for four months which I had bought as a bed gun. I didn't put it beside the bed because the wife and I agreed we both had to shoot it first.

Then one night I had to do exactly what you described, only without a gun. Turns out a storm window slammed shut in the middle of the night. Two days later we were at the range.

I didn't have that big a problem seeing what was up, because we have good street lighting, and there isn't too much of the house which doesn't have ambient light at night. I'd suggest night lights, or something which you don't have to think about.
 
Sounds like it's time for a good low-light tactics class. ;)

This is one of those situations where it would be easy to tell you you should have done this or that. In general, if you know for sure there's someone in you house who shouldn't be there, going looking for them is usually not a good idea. Call the cops, stay put, and let them clear the house. On the other hand, you don't necessarily want to call the cops every time the shower rack falls down in the middle of the night, either. It not only takes up their time, it's a pain to have to wait for them to get there, clear the house, contact you, etc. It would really mess up your night's sleep. Good job of thinking on your feet, especially that early in the morning.

Seriously, think about getting some training. Another thing you can do in the meantime is some walk-throughs and gaming some different scenarios so you know where your best locations are, your danger areas, etc. It might help to arrange the lighting such that you can illuminate an area while remaining under cover, all the little "cheats" that you can think up to give yourself an advantage.
 
I think I want a tactical light for my Glock. What do you think?
Click to expand...

I think you would be better served to use that same money to purchase some training for yourself. Not saying you did anything wrong, but since you found the whole process awkward, it would probably be worthwhile to get someone to work with you about how to make it less so.

pax
 
Another thing you can do in the meantime is some walk-throughs
Click to expand...

I did that this morning. The house is a French Colonial and has a ton of blind spots. Walls constructed at 45 degree angles, etc.
 
In the dark, inside your own house, don't use your eyes. A home invader needs light to move around; you don't.


If there's a stranger in your house, it should be obvious. If his purpose is burglary, he doesn't think you're there and will exit hastily if you say boo. If on the other hand, his purpose is violent, find him before he finds you. By stealth in the dark. Light him up before you pull the trigger, though.
 
I can switch on lights all around my modest home, thanks to "X-10" controls.

Lotza folks here are not fans of the X-10 stuff, but it works for me.
 
LightningJoe makes a good point - no lights until necessary.

Keep the initiative and work in the dark until you need to positively identify the BG.

Alternative:

Have a plan of escape and meeting points, practice them with any family member living in your home.

Never seek out a BG, no good can come from that.

Have a plan of barricade, a safe room if you will. Have a plan to defend it and include in those plans to have communication (cell phone, etc.) to summon help.

Announce to the BG that you will fire to kill should he cross the threshold.

Hold your fire. Fire if given no choice. Center mass.
 
How about some cameras that show up on the monitor in your bed room? Quite easy to keep stock of what is going on then and you dont have to move with out knowing what is around the corner.
Works for me.
 
Clearing a house by yourself, in the dark, is a big task.

It is something one needs to train for and practice for. Luckily, you have a full-size practice area: your house. Best not to use live ammo, though. It can scratch the paint.
 
A home invader needs light to move around; you don't.
Click to expand...

Ever step on a Lego in the dark? It is not an entirely silent activity ...

pax
 
I had the same situation happen to me last year, but it was an air compressor in the basement (which was being finished) that kicked on at 2:30 am because it had a slow leak and started up to refill. It scared my wife to death.

Things I learned from that experience.
-I'm glad I had my Glock 21 WITH a M6 tactical light/laser sitting on the rails of my gun.
-My wife stayed in the bedroom on the side of the bed with the shotgun. (She knew I would announce myself when coming back to the bedroom)
-I knew the layout of my house and had practiced this scenario several times before, but I was still pretty scared.
-Everything worked out ok, but all things considered, it is not something I am looking forward to repeating again.

Summary:
-Everyone must decide for themselves what they will do in those situations. For every person that says stay put, call the cops, and wait it out, there are just as many that say go clear your house as properly as you can. Every situation is different, but I fall on the side of checking out what is going on in YOUR house.

-I was so glad I didn't have a flashlight in 1 hand and a gun in the other. It worked better for me that way. I used to have a flashlight separate, but I like have the rail light better. YMMV.

-Having a laser on your gun in middle of the night is pretty nice. It doesn't make you invincible, but it is nice knowing exactly where you are aiming.

-Lastly, get a plan, practice it, evaluate, practice it somemore, re-evaluate, and then practice some more. While I was still pretty scared venturing into the unknown, I had gone through this routine several times in practice and in my head and so I just followed my plan. That helped quite a bit.

Good luck with what you decide.
 
Unless you have children in other rooms to protect, clearing the house is very risky. My strategy would be to get behind the bed using it for cover while exposing as little of your body as possible and wait for the bad guy to come to you. Your wife can call 911 from behind the bed also. Unless you have an air mattress, a typical matress will stop most bullets if hit wide ways. There is an old military axiom that it will cost three soldiers lives to eliminate one entrenched one. That means using cover and concealment gives you a three to one advantage.

OS
 
Ever step on a Lego in the dark? It is not an entirely silent activity ...
Click to expand...

LOL. Hmmm, do Legos come in tactical black or camouflage? (The intruders were foiled when they stepped on the strategically placed Lego booby traps and fled howling into the night... ) :D
 
pax wrote:
Ever step on a Lego in the dark? It is not an entirely silent activity ...
Click to expand...

pax makes a very good point and suggested a very good security tip for those without pets.

It takes some lessons and practice to know when to Hear, actually "Hear" and not just "listen".
Along with taking an action and not just "reacting".

Those with pets understand, the dawg moves from one spot to another in the night, and the sound of paper, means the dawg found , or is finally sneaking into that six pack of peanut butter crackers he/she pawed over and under for later where dropped, and nobody missed.
The sounds of jumping onto or off of a chair, or sofa...

Hear, what is going on. Access, what is going on.

That scooting of chair, the banging of a hand onto a wall, or door facing might be pax trying to catch herself.
Give it a second, don't react, more will be revealed.

"$%#@#$! Who did not put up their Legos! "

I had a Glass Jug full of coins decide to break at 3am one time. It sounded like the glass in that room breaking.
I waited, waited, waited.
Finally my brain said that was not glass...not pane glass.
Still I waited, in the bedroom, though I did get dressed and was behind cover.
I called a neighbor, as pre arranged, he called the Police.

Code word, password to let me know it was the Cops and neighbors, on phone, outside.
No visible sign of entry, and I actually had a Cop come in via a bedroom window, a lady cop, she was the more agile of the bunch.

"All Clear" she radioed.

I did the same thing when I was married, wife took cover, and did the phone part.
We waited.
Had a eterge, with shelves decide to have a shelf let go at 2am.
Dawg ran to his hiding spot, barking, then stopped.

Still I called a Neighbor, a Cop to come check it out,je called for backup, code and pass words used as always...
 
Great points brought up here. I've always been taught to train like I fight. Even if you know it was an air compressor (or ice maker, anything) it still probably got your heart rate up. Take advantage of that and practice your plan. A real life home invasion is the wrong time to be thinking about what to do.
 
Quote:
A home invader needs light to move around; you don't.
Ever step on a Lego in the dark? It is not an entirely silent activity ...

pax
__________________

The only thing I found thats worse are those dang toys from fast food companies. They dont pass QC until they have a 98% chance of landing with some pointy thing in the 12 o clock position.
 
One can use bump in the nights to deter.

Coke bottle with a marble inside, set on door knob on a Hotel Room door.
Someone grabs door knob, turns, bottle falls and this might deter someone outside your hotel door...wake you up as well.

Ever noticed kitty litter, or pea gravel or similar outside a door, always seems that entrance needs sweeping off? It has a unique "scrunch" when you walk on it.

Wonder why some do not have a paved driveway, or totally paved.
Gravel, and chat drives announce someone coming up, and some folks are sorta turned off by this, they know this is "noisy".
Crunchy landscaping near house windows, announce and can deter as well.

Simple Bell hung on a door, like businesses do to announce customers entered, can be hung on a cup hook at night before retiring...
Different bell for different door, and if door shaken or disturbed, the bell with its unique "ding* informs what door.

Hi-tech is great...
Low -tech still works, one might be traveling, and staying out, or one at home could have power out.

One does not have to have a dawg with squeaky toys, to leave a few toys that squeak out in front of a door...
One does not have to have a kid of tricycle age, to put a tricycle right at the front door, and in way of stairs where someone can trip.
 
How about some cameras that show up on the monitor in your bed room? Quite easy to keep stock of what is going on then and you dont have to move with out knowing what is around the corner.
Works for me
Click to expand...

Yup, me too.Got a b&W night vision camera for like $30 from Harbor freight, that plugs in to the jacks on the front of the tv.Also bought a big (probably a 6"x6" bank full of IR bulbs) stand alone IR light off the internet that lights up the entire ground floor of my townhouse for the night vision camera.I can see EVERY inch of the downstairs from my bedroom upstairs.Best $60 I ever spent, really.
 
FYI, those who don't like weaponlights based on the 4 rules, please realize that you don't have to point your weapon at someone to light them up. The lights have a very bright and very wide arc of light. You can point the firearm downwards at a 45 degree angle or so and still light up a room.

Then, if you DO encounter someone, you can point the gun/light at them and issue a warning (if the situation calls for it). The nice thing about this is that the light is extremely blinding and can disorient someone who might normally have attacked. Even if they do decide to attack, and they are armed too, the chances of them being able to get off a good shot is lowered. You might say "Oh, but they can just aim for the light". Try it sometime. You can't even look at the light, especially if your eyes have adjusted to the dark. You're going to be instinctually cringing/turning away. All the while, the homeowner has a very clear view of what is going on.

Add an integrated lasersight into the light and you've got an aiming tool too (like a TLR-2).

There's a lot of good advice here but don't try to downplay weaponlights. There's virtually no downside to using a good one.

Dope
 
Wow,

How many professionals would clear a house by themselves? None that I know of. I wonder why.

But amateurs think it is alright. Listen to the rationale's.

Know your ground/home. Know the sounds of your ground/home. Own it.

Most folks who leave their safe room, do so with a handgun, not a long arm, and invent reasons to justify using the handgun. If there are Bogey's in your home, stay put armed with long arms, and await the cavalry.

If you "REALLY" think there is one or more Bogey's in your home, call the cops. Besides if there is going to be a shooting, let the cops do it. A lot less paper work, legal problems, and legal bills, for you. It will reduce the problems with your significant other, kids, neighbors etc... and for some their own moral compass.

As to what a noise is, should not be an issue, if your own and know your ground/home.

Go figure.

Fred
 
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