Thought I was gong to need my SD pistol last night...

[jblomenberg16]

I woke up in the middle of the last night after hearing a series of dull thuds that in my hazy state of mind sure as heck sounded like someone trying to open our deadbolted front door. (Imagine the sound a shoulder would make ramming a door 3-4 times to try to get it open).

I jumped up quickly, which woke up my wife. I said I think someone is trying to break in as I grabbed my pistol and headed out of the bed room to investigate. She sits up and starts pannicing of course.

What surprised me most is that I didn't get the sudden rush of adrenaline that I thought I would get. Everything seemed to slow down, though, and I don't even remember racking the slide and getting ready to go. (I don't keep it locked and loaded since I have a young child in the house)

Luckily it was a false alarm (no perp in the house, all the entrances secure), and I didn't have to use my weapon. I stayed up a few minutes checking each entrance a couple of times to see if someone was visible through the moonlight.

I never did figure out the noise, but suspect it might have been from the wind last night, the water heater burping, or I may have even dreamed the noise up.

In retrospect I'm sure it would have looked pretty funny to see a half asleep guy in boxers with a gun trying to find out what "goes bump in the night..."

 

[rhino]

What surprised me most is that I didn't get the sudden rush of adrenaline that I thought I would get. Everything seemed to slow down, though, and I don't even remember racking the slide and getting ready to go. (I don't keep it locked and loaded since I have a young child in the house)

Dude, that probably was the result of the rush of epinephrine. Tachypsychia (the sensation that everyone is slowing down) and not remembering all of your actions are common effects.

I'm glad it was just a false alarm, and even more glad that you were prepared to handle it. Good on you.

 

[ATM]

Be thankful for every realistic "training run" that turns out uneventful. You learn so much more when you approach it as reality and not just practice. Go over it and fine tune your plan for next time (which I hope is also uneventful)

 

[agentl074]

Beta blockers would prevent that feeling as well.

 

[ATF Consumer]

Scary to not know for sure if you racked the slide or not, as it sure would have sucked if you needed to take action and the action wasn't ready to go.

 

[techres]

Had a similar incident a a while back. I did not wake my wife (a tactical decision) but really wished I had those boxers...

What I remember most is the sudden realization of awakeness and absolute clarity in my senses. That and the thought "If that was not really a bad sound, why I am suddenly fully awake, standing and armed - all automatically."

I.E. question what you will, but I am certain that you did hear something that was out of the normal and threatening. That is what kicked you up and awake in 0 seconds flat.

 

[Electronrider]

LOL when we had that earthquake a while back, I woke with a start, and cleared the whole house im my boxers. No shame there.

 

[shooter521]

She sits up and starts pannicing of course.

Might wanna work on that.

It took a couple of "false alarms" before my wife and I realized that:
1) we needed a real plan, and
2) she needed to be an integral part of it

We sat down, figured some sh*t out and assigned respective duties, and our next "training moment" went MUCH better. It's all good in our hood now.

 

[SilentWarrior1]

Had a similar incident a a while back. I did not wake my wife (a tactical decision) but really wished I had those boxers...

Gee, thanks for the mental image. Remind me to you at the next The Appleseed Project. (Yes, shameless plug )

 

[techres]

I once read a thread from a guy who got scrambled in the night, lost his primary gun in the dark, tangled up his secondary in his pants so bad it put both the pants and 1911 out of the fight, and sent him downstairs in his wife's bathrobe with a taurus tracker 44mag hunting pistol.

The story ends with him locking himself out of the house in that bathrobe. Did I mention it was snowing? (I will try and find the article.)

I use that as my baseline for grading my reaction skills...

 

[rhino]

Confronting an intruder whilst naked is an application of potentially deadly force in some cases. It's a risk someone takes when they break into someone's house. They might prefer a seatful of buckshot, though. You can get buckshot removed and you'll eventually heal. You can't "unsee" something after you've seen it.

 

[Rookie]

What surprised me most is that I didn't get the sudden rush of adrenaline that I thought I would get. Everything seemed to slow down, though, and I don't even remember racking the slide and getting ready to go. (I don't keep it locked and loaded since I have a young child in the house)

I would suggest you take a look at that line and think about getting something with quick access but more secure than unloaded. Years ago I used to have my weapon unloaded because I figured if I were awake enough to load then I would be awake enough to know what was going on. One night I hear a noise in my bedroom, opened the nightstand drawer, inserted a magazine, racked the slide, and drew down on my wife who was coming back from getting a drink. That scared me and her. After that I have never had a gun that was not locked up. I now have my gun in a gun vault by my bed. The nice thing is that it is very quick to get to, it's already loaded, and the quiet beeps let my wife know what is going on. It's kind of strange - my wife will sleep through a tornado, but, if she hears those beeps, she is wide awake...

 

[VN Vet]

You had a good experience. Woke up. Decided to act. Racked the slide (instinct reaction) and went to investigate.

The next time it may be for real and now you have had some practiced.

 

[agentl074]

You had a good experience. Woke up. Decided to act. Racked the slide (instinct reaction) and went to investigate.

The next time it may be for real and now you have had some practiced.

fight the way you train.

 

[Shep79]

Same thing happened to me several years ago and I found myself clearing the house with a tiny Keltec P3AT. After this ended in a false alarm I realized that the p-shooter I was carrying was insufficient. Needless to say my night-time go to gun is now substantially bigger!

 

[agentl074]

Same thing happened to me several years ago and I found myself clearing the house with a tiny Keltec P3AT. After this ended in a false alarm I realized that the p-shooter I was carrying was insufficient. Needless to say my night-time go to gun is now substantially bigger!

Its best not to clear your house unless you have someone else to back you and/or you have been properly trained to clear a building.

Heck I was but I still dont want to... unless I have no choice - Its best to let the LE do the work.

Without a partner, you may be caught off guard. I would stay and let them come into a fatal funnel.

...Unless you absolutely have to ... in order to get to a phone etc. Just my

 

[Feign]

Yep, had the same thing happen to me last weekend. It's amazing how wired you become in five seconds.

 

[Sailor]

Possible your wife could have called 911 and been online with them while you investigated?

 

[techres]

...Unless you absolutely have to ... in order to get to a phone etc. Just my

Or to check on your kids down the hall or on a different floor. If the sound is definitely someone kicking in a door, the retreat and hold option is obvious. When you just hear a bump in the night and you have 2 cats and three small kids, the situation is never that simple. Your kids might have made the noise, or whatever did make the noise might be carrying your kids out the window and down the street...

Waiting is not always the easy option.

 

[mavisky]

Agreed on the "not clearing the house alone" and "creating a fatal funnel" theory. My ex came home one night after a night out with the girls at about 1am and proceded to kick at the door of our apartment because she was barely sober enough to stand even though she had a key. By the time she'd remembered she had her keys I was sitting in the dark with the XD ready to rock and roll. Upon hearing the jingling of the keys I figured out who it was and let down my guard, but after walking in to see me standing there locked and loaded essentially waiting for her (or whoever was so intent on trying to come in the door) she never pulled that stunt again.