# Something went bump in the night.



## truman565 (Jun 27, 2007)

Well this week seems to be the week for drills. First Shipwreck has a nice little drill on situational awareness the other day and last night I had a little drill on my reaction speed from sleep.

Ok here is the setting. I am a college kid living on the first floor of a college apartment right next to campus. I am dead asleep and it is about 4am. I am jarred awake by the sound of someone banging hard as can be on the glass of the window not 4 ft from my head. While still in bed I reached under my mattress and retrieved my trusty Sig P226 and Command Arms flashlight (hell of a bargain compared to most of the other tactical lights FYI). I racked the slide and got out of bed. The banging lasted about 5 or 6 blows and stopped shortly before I racked the slide but I am sure whoever was doing it heard that slide rack (as I meant them to). I carefully looked out around my window and watched for a bit and then went to the front of my apt and watched around there. Nothing. I went back to my room, set the gun next to my bed for quick access, and then finally fell to sleep once the adrenaline wore off.

For all I know it could have been one of my friends messing with me or just some jackass entertaining himself while he was drunk. All I know is that thankfully nothing came out of it except for a good test of my readiness to meet a situation from sleep. It probably took me about 7 or 8 seconds to
-hear the noise
-recognize it as the banging of a window, my window
-decide to retrieve my gun
-actually retrieve my gun and flashlight
-rack the slide
-and prepare to meet the threat.

Thanks guys for the good tips I have read on this forum that helped me be prepared. I didn't just buy a gun, I practiced with it. I didn't just put it somewhere in my house, I put it somewhere were I could retrieve it quickly. I didn't just put it there and leave it, I practice retrieving my gun as quickly as possible from that location. Another good tip I got one time that I can say definitely worked is to keep a full mag in your gun but keep the chamber empty. That way when you wake up in the middle of the night the act of racking you slide is kind of a mental focusing exercise. It sharpens you up and lets your mind know ok dream time is over. It is time to focus and make some smart decisions.

Hope this helps someone down the road. Stay safe and vigilant guys.


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## Todd (Jul 3, 2006)

truman565 said:


> Another good tip I got one time that I can say definitely worked is to keep a full mag in your gun but keep the chamber empty. That way when you wake up in the middle of the night the act of racking you slide is kind of a mental focusing exercise. It sharpens you up and lets your mind know ok dream time is over. It is time to focus and make some smart decisions.


An empty chamber is fine provided you have the time to get a round in the pipe. But a lot of SD situations don't allow for that luxury. You were lucky enough to hear the person outside, but what if they were already in your room? What if that person started attacking you while you were sleeping? Would you prefer to have to chamber a round while fending off the attack or would you prefer to just be able to grab the gun and shoot the SOB? IMHO, if you have a gun for SD and don't carry it hot, then you might as well carry a brick.


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## truman565 (Jun 27, 2007)

> You were lucky enough to hear the person outside, but what if they were already in your room? What if that person started attacking you while you were sleeping?


Todd I hear you and I have heard that argument before but I must respectfully say that I think that is a moot point. If someone is already on the room then it is already too late. I doubt someone is going to take the care to quietly break into your house and then sneek into your room only to give you a time out to get your gun. If they are already looking at you and in your room they either A) have a gun and already have it point at you making any attempt to get your own dangerous at best, or B) they have some other type of weapon like a knife or blunt object and are no doubt close enough to close the distance between he and you in a second or two. My solution is to lock the bedroom door. Even if they could unlock it the sound made doing it would at least alert me to their presence before they got in the room.

If anyone knows of any case studies to support either Todd or myself I would be interested to read them. I have never had someone in my room but logic seems to say that if they are already there without you knowing then they already have the drop on you.


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## Redwolf (Nov 29, 2008)

As Todd said I would never carry with a empty chamber, no way. But I too leave the chamber empty at home for safety reasons in conjuction with a PEWDS. The PEWDS gives you all the time you need to rack the slide, wake up, tell the wife to call a coroner, find your flashlight, smoke a cigerette, then go maybe save who was braking in to your home.

PEWDS= 75 pound Pittbull Early Warning Detection System


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## Todd (Jul 3, 2006)

If you're comfortable with having to chamber a round every time you think might you need it, go for it. I prefer to eliminate unnecessary steps, not take the chance my fingers may slip off the slide because of stress and fail to chamber a round, and have my gun ready to go when seconds count. 

To each his own.


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## truman565 (Jun 27, 2007)

> PEWDS= 75 pound Pittbull Early Warning Detection System


Haha. That is awesome man.:smt082

I may not have been clear earlier but I meant that when I am at home, and particularly when I am sleeping, I do not keep a round in the chamber. However when I carry I always have a round in the chamber. I am not advocating having to rack the slide and chamber a round under all conditions. Just when you are asleep and then waking up to meet a situation. I know I have personally woke up quickly and thought I was still in a dream only to say something stupid that the girlfriend repeated for at least a week:mrgreen:.

My point is that I don't think even Jack Bauer is fully aware of his surroundings the second he wakes up. It takes anyone at least a couple of seconds to get their bearings and become aware. Why have a loaded gun during that time when you could make a bad decision? Why not take a second or two to get your head on straight and while you are doing that rack the slide at the same time? I am just afraid that someone like a friend or family member could burst into my room in the middle of the night for any number of reasons and then I accidentally shoot them because I had a loaded gun and did not take the time to become fully aware.

You do make a good point about stress though Todd. Stress certainly makes things harder to do. Perhaps even make something like racking a slide harder than it normally would be. As you said to each his own. Thanks for adding to thread. Hopefully this will give people a couple of different ideas about how to address a situation like this.


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## Todd (Jul 3, 2006)

truman565 said:


> My point is that I don't think even Jack Bauer is fully aware of his surroundings the second he wakes up.


Jack Bauer doesn't sleep! :smt033


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## truman565 (Jun 27, 2007)

Touche


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## gnet158 (Feb 5, 2009)

College kid able to afford a Sig 226? Nice. Glad it was just a fire drill and not the real thing.


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## BeefyBeefo (Jan 30, 2008)

I'm with Todd on this one.



truman565 said:


> Todd I hear you and I have heard that argument before but I must respectfully say that I think that is a moot point. If someone is already on the room then it is already too late. I doubt someone is going to take the care to quietly break into your house and then sneek into your room only to give you a time out to get your gun. If they are already looking at you and in your room they either A) have a gun and already have it point at you making any attempt to get your own dangerous at best, or B) they have some other type of weapon like a knife or blunt object and are no doubt close enough to close the distance between he and you in a second or two. My solution is to lock the bedroom door. Even if they could unlock it the sound made doing it would at least alert me to their presence before they got in the room.


Regardless of whether this individual already has a weapon, and no matter what it is, having one in the pipe shortens the amount of time it would take to defend yourself. Whether or not you will have the time is another story, but at least you are giving yourself a "better" chance (in my opinion). The time may come where you see the opportunity to "go for it" and at least at that point, your reaction and defense to the situation is shortened by having a round in the chamber. I see your side on this about not being fully awake, but I'm definitely a 24/7 loaded chamber kind of a guy. But, as Todd has already said, to each his own. :smt023



truman565 said:


> I am just afraid that someone like a friend or family member could burst into my room in the middle of the night for any number of reasons and then I accidentally shoot them because I had a loaded gun and did not take the time to become fully aware.


My friends and family aren't that stupid. :smt033:numbchuck:



truman565 said:


> You do make a good point about stress though Todd. Stress certainly makes things harder to do. Perhaps even make something like racking a slide harder than it normally would be. As you said to each his own. Thanks for adding to thread. Hopefully this will give people a couple of different ideas about how to address a situation like this.


Stress is one of the main reasonings behind the "one in the chamber" mentality. If a situation as presented above were to occur, you would have enough going through your head, where chambering a round may not occur at all (point-click-nothing). Also, I practice the way I carry. The way I carry is the way that my guns are at all times - loaded with one in the chamber. If I'm constantly practicing from a holster, with one in the chamber, then it would be automatic for me to pick up the gun and pull the trigger (if needed). My body is not trained to rack a slide immediately preceding the first shot. Do you train/practice without a round in the chamber? With? Both? What if you unholster your loaded weapon in a time of need, and rack the slide out of habit (ejecting a live round), and that was the second or two you needed? Just a few of my thoughts on this subject (no flaming or anything intended here). :smt023


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## mustnggt619 (Feb 12, 2009)

For me it depends on how i am woken up as to how much time is necisary to get my barings. I have been woken up by my friend jumping on me while i was sleeping and i came out of a dead sleep swinging on her. Im the type f person that if woken up by someone on me or messing with me first reaction is to defend myself by my hands and wouldnt even think about reaching for a gun. On the other hand when i get woken up by a loud noise then within a second im wide awake and trying to figure out what the noise was and acessing the situation from there. To me if you dont have enough time to grab the gun and make yourself ready both mentally and phisically then your more of a threat to your family and friends then u are to a potential threat but i also agree with the mentality if you train yourself with a loaded chamber then thats the best way to defend yourself. So as with everything else in this world do what makes YOU comfortable and train yourself from there.


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## bdp2000 (Apr 22, 2008)

A few thoughts. 

When I was in college, A couple of kids broke into the fraternity house where I was sleeping, No cars were in the lot because it was midmorning and everyone but me was in class. The neighborhood kids (frat row was NOT in a good neighborhood) thought the house was empty and broke the back door glass. I was not awakened because it was two floors down and I am a heavy sleeper. They walked INTO MY ROOM AND STOLE THINGS WHILE I SLEPT ONLY TO BE CHASED OFF AS I WOKE AND SHOUTED AT THEM. I was not armed at the the time, but I may have killed a couple of 13 year olds in my waken stupor for a few bucks worth of crap.

My wife woke me from the only time I was ever known to sleep walk about to pee in the corner thinking I was in the bathroom.

What if my daughter burst into the room from a bad dream screaming. She doesn't qualify at her age as "aren't that stupid!"

During a bump in the night, the act of grabbing your weapon and racking the slide DOES serve as the shot of espresso the brain needs to aquire the RIGHT target sometimes.

For some who live in an area or situation where interruption of sleep is few and far between, having one in the pipe is fine. But there are those situations where the need to aquire a sense of your situation is important before a gun is ready to shoot is more imprtant. This harkens back to the AD vs. ND arguement.

I comment the OP!


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## zhurdan (Mar 21, 2008)

bdp2000 said:


> But there are those situations where the need to aquire a sense of your situation is important before a gun is ready to shoot is more imprtant. This harkens back to the AD vs. ND arguement.
> 
> I comment the OP!


I think this has far more to do with "situational awareness" than anything else. If you are in a situation where a child busting into your room is possible, then by all means, keep the tube empty.

If on the other hand, it's just you and your wife, and the wife knows to let you know she's getting up at night (bathroom, whatever) then by all means, keep the tube loaded.

Trying to make a one answer fits all post never works. Do what works for you, take what you can from others experience and hope and pray that you never have to use any of it.

Zhur


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## unpecador (May 9, 2008)

bdp2000 said:


> During a bump in the night, the act of grabbing your weapon and racking the slide DOES serve as the shot of espresso the brain needs to aquire the RIGHT target sometimes.


The thought of having to grab my gun in the first place is my shot of espresso.


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## tekhead1219 (May 16, 2008)

unpecador said:


> The thought of having to grab my gun in the first place is my shot of espresso.


+1...I agree with Pec on this one.:smt023


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## Brevard (Jan 24, 2009)

I was reading this and finally thought I would comment. For me I have never had any problem waking up and making sure my bearings are straight. I am a really lite sleeper and most of the time when I wake up I am up till the night wether I have slept for 10 mins or 5 hours. 

Now, with that being said. I will keep one chambered at all times. The only point for not loading one was in the case of a kid. Other than that I say leave it ready. 

If you think racking the slide would deter someone why not try this. Leave one chambered in case you dont have time to rack the slide. But when you do have time if you think you can deter them eject the live round and just just let it load another live round.

Now for me personally I dont want to rack a slide. I dont want someone to know I have a gun. For one point...what if they are armed? My father in law was over the county jail here. My wife and I went to see him one day and I saw a guy I went to school with. Getting permission to talk to him I found out he was arrested for B&E. He said that he went in with a gun. If he heard a slide rack or someone rack a pump on a shotgun he would waiting somewhere or behind something and if he saw they were armed shoot them. But he said if he broke into a house and the owner came up and was armed he would have made no attempt to reach for his gun.

In NC you can not shoot someone that is already in your house unless you think they are going to harm you. So he said he would keep his handgun hidden in case someone did see him so they wouldnt think he was armed. 

But I mean you got ot take it for what it is worth.


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