What's the best option in the dark?

[BuzzinSATX]

For me, the answer is to wake my wife and let her know what's up. She knows to call 911 on speaker phone and get low in the corner with the G17 w/light &laser.

If there are kids in the house (my kids are 22 & 18 and students), I'll be heading out to secure them with my AR or 12 gauge. If not, I'll simply holler out to tell anyone around to get out as I'm armed and pissed off, and the cops are on the way.

BTW, we replaced our hollow core bedroom doors with solid wood doors, reinforced the frames, replaced tiny screws with long reinforces deck screws, and added bolt locks. They are not impenetrable, but will slow down an intruder much better than a hollow core door. Cost me about $200 each at Home Depot.




Take Care,

Buzz

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

You guys can wake up your wife? Mine sleeps thru her alarms.

My house has two stair wells to the second floor and is a tactical nightmare since our master is by one and the kids rooms are by the other. If I'm hearing active noise, I'm moving towards it and giving warnings. With our layout if someone gets in the house there are no choke points I can control.

One thing I did notice on a false alarm was how bright even a 10 lumen flashlight is for night adapted/sleepy eyes. Even in the 'dark' our eyes don't get as adapted it seems as when we wake up in the middle of the night.

With most night time 'bangs' I don't hear them, my brain is playing back a recording of it. Laying there trying to figure out what it was, if it even was, is usually enough time to clear the cobwebs.

One night my wife was working and the kids were in bed and I heard a noise in the basement. I was working in my office and had the door closed. I opened the door and heard dead silence for a minute. Left the door open and started doing email and about 15 minutes later I hear it again. M&P with an X300 in hand I start downstairs, open the basement door and realize its our new clothes driers we had just bought that my wife had set turn over every 15 minutes to reduce wrinkles....

We have more exterior security lights than the rest of the block put together, that's where I start. Also pulled out the bushes that hid some windows. Wife thought it was for more light in the family room...

[Caduceus]

My house has two stories with all bedrooms on the second story. We've discussed this and we would gather the little ones in the master bedroom and have wife call 911. I would cover the long stairwell up to the second story with a long gun. It's set up that anyone making the approach upstairs would not have the advantage and could be delt with. The meat eater and cop in me has considered many times of confronting the threat, but if I go down I've failed to protect my family, and what happens next? The pissed off dobie would probably ruffle some feathers as well but would be with the wife and kids.

Essentially this. We have baby gates on the stairs too which should give a few extra seconds. Unfortunately its a very short hall to the bedrooms.

[T2C]

This is merely a suggestion.

> Establish which room you want to use for a safe room where you can protect your wife and daughters before the home invasion occurs. That will be the place you want to go if someone breaks in. If you are all in the same room, it makes it easier for police to manage the situation.

> Have a plan that both you and the wife can practice. Have a plan on how you would deal with an injured family member and where should first aid equipment be located.

> Have a plan on how you will react when police arrive. Where will you place your defensive firearm? What information do you need to give them, such as how many family members are in the house, etc.

> Have a defensive firearm where you can get to it quickly in the middle of the night. You might consider two firearms, one for you and one for the wife.

> Have a good flashlight. Whether it is a weapon mounted light depends on your level of training and how often you practice with it to keep your training current.

> Get as much trigger time in on a range as you can afford. Both you and the wife should practice.


When the incident occurs:

> Call the police. I train people to leave the phone off the hook, so audio can be recorded by the 911 dispatch system. This helped two homeowners in our area when the State's Attorneys reviewed the investigations. Opinions will vary on this point.

> Announce to the home invader that you are armed and the police are on their way.

> Wait for police to arrive and handle the situation.

> If the problem comes to you, deal with it.

A problem a homeowner faces in a break in is that they do not know how many people entered the house or who is waiting outside if they try to escape out a window. Another issue is that you won't know how they are armed.

I would not want to start a gun fight with family members in the house. Bullets can pass through most walls and some floors in a wood frame house.

[BangBang77]

We have a code word that I yell out repeatedly and my family is to drop to the floor. Kids are to stand fast and wifey is to call dispatch to request backup.

My code word is "Barney"........

Go figure, my boy picked it out when he was 4....

[lunchbox]

Lie in wait with my firearm while BG deals with pissed large dog... is the current plan.

Same here! G19 has light and have handheld as backup. Some good info mentioned in posts above. Also came across tip of taking car keys to bed with you, can use remote/dongle car alarm as distraction or as alert. Not a game changer, but little things stacked in your favor can turn the tide.

[MegademiC]

Same here! G19 has light and have handheld as backup. Some good info mentioned in posts above. Also came across tip of taking car keys to bed with you, can use remote/dongle car alarm as distraction or as alert. Not a game changer, but little things stacked in your favor can turn the tide.

This is an awesome idea. Surprise factor would most likely buy you at least a fraction of a second if set up right. Thanks!

[wwdkd]

My fiancé and I have a plan for that. We take up defensive positions in our room, pushing the bed up against the door and using it for cover. Fiancé has her handgun and handheld light and I grab my AR. We use our cell phone in the room to call the police and we wait for them to come and clear the house. And god help anyone who tries to gain access to our room.

[HardToHandle]

Same here! G19 has light and have handheld as backup. Some good info mentioned in posts above. Also came across tip of taking car keys to bed with you, can use remote/dongle car alarm as distraction or as alert. Not a game changer, but little things stacked in your favor can turn the tide.

I keep two OC grenades in the upstairs bedroom. That is an option for creating a barrier and distraction by chucking pepper spray into the only approach path. If some one is willing to advance through OC, they are a serious threat.

OC makes a mess, but even if used, contamination can be cleared in hours.

[oldtexan]

First off, contact your local LE agencies to see if they will send out someone to assess your home for its weaknesses with respect to an intruder.

Make your home look occupied even when it's not. Exterior and interior lights on timers, preventing newspapers from piling up, etc are ways to do this. It's best to deter an intruder from getting inside.

Should deterrence fail, your residence should be hard to break into, at least harder than your neighbors' residences. If you don't have reinforced exterior doors, door frames, and hinges, with very good locks on them, motion sensor lights around possible entry points, etc, and assuming you have the authority to make such changes, I'd start looking for those.

But if that fails, you need a good plan based on your specific situation. If you have a competent instructor in your area who gives home defense classes in homes, try to set up an HD class in your home. The instructor will notice factors that others won't.

Just a few of the factors that should go into your plan:

1. Legal. What does the law in your locality (both statute and case law) say about how you can or cannot defend your home? How long would it take LE to respond to your 911 call?
2. Occupants. Is your home on one level or more? How many people live in your home? Are their bedrooms clustered together or separated at opposite ends of the house? What are their habits? Do they come in after being out late, creating the risk of mistaking them for intruders? Are they responsible (i.e. can they be counted on not to leave doors or windows unlocked)? How soundly do you and others in your home sleep? How loud does a noise have to be to wake each of you? Do you have a dog that could help with intruders? Do you have a cat that walks around the house at night and might knock over objects? What tasks can you realistically trust other members of your household to carry out(call 911, use a weapon, stay down, etc)? Will they train with you to execute the plan once you develop it?
3. HD weapons. Do you have a white light on each firearm to be used for HD? Have you considered the risk of overpenetration when selecting your HD ammo? How do store your HD weapons (location, security, ease of access)?