Home Defense... My thoughts... Very Long

[Ksail101]

Taking the Fight Outside.

Yesterday while I had some down time I decided, instead of wasting time watching John Wayne beat Scar the evil Chief in The Searchers, I would go through my house again with a tactical mind set to find fields of fire and cover. If I should ever encounter a time when I must shoot my out or protect someone in my house I want to have the upper hand by knowing where to go and what I can use. Instead of improvising.

I have done this before and  when I did the last time, I found I huge problem to my original plan. If I wake up in the middle of the night and grab my gun off my dresser I will most likely not be thinking about spare ammo or for that matter have extra magazines in my boxer shorts that I sleep in. So the last time I went through my house I put a magazine in every room and made sure that they were accessible upon entering and made sure I could get to them from what ever cover that room provided. Sometimes cover in a particular room in my house is really a place where from the direction of the entrance I can not be shot, but I can expose a small portion of myself put rounds in front of me. I should hope that the attack is coming from the outside in. I would not walk into a room if the bad guy was there. So I will be dealing with fire from the outside in. And if I should jump into a room in a moment of distress and someone should be in there well hold on to your hat cause things are going to get hairy.

The next thing I did is I used scenarios like bad guy in spare room where the TV and Sound system are. Or bad guy upstairs walks down hallway cause he hears a noise coming out of the room where member of my family sleep. Mostly I would think that this would be the first thing to happen. The way my house is set up unconsciously when you walk in the first place you head is up the short flight of stairs to the living room and Kitchen. So I am sure the intruder would go there see the TV and goodies.

I tried to think of a very real scenario for my house and life. And what I mean is something that is very plausible. We have a family cabin and in the summer time we frequent it often. We have a garage so our cars are most of the time in the Garage out of sight. So scenario one would be return to our house after being gone a couple days. This has given the intruder a chance to case his target. He notices newspapers in the drive way stacking up and no cars in front of the house and extremely dark from evening through night. No lights on. So upon our return we get home at a typical 9pm and park our cars in the garage being easier to unload into the house, are exhausted and go to bed within an hour or two.

Now bad guy does not want to be prowling around the house the day of break-in cause he doesn't want to alert anyone of the 80 year old neighbors I have. So upon his arrival at midnight, 1-am, he sees no cars, lights out, and dollar signs puffing out of chimney. Prowler exits Van, breeches front door, and does the typical walk up stairs, and eyes go wide and excitement flows through his veins and his stealth is hindered and noise emits from his crowbar being placed on the counter top. In turn dog downstairs makes a noise, as does down the hallway where two family members sleep. A quick wake up and roll over cause of the noise and off to sleep family member returns none the wiser someone is in the house. Now the intruder hears these noises and first place to look is down the hallway. Gun drawn, footsteps creaky the loose floor joints, I downstairs am alarmed after dog has stirred and creaking is evident, I grad the Kimber and upstairs I am bound in a crouch and silent manner. Now the hallway up stairs is about 20' or so, So time is of the essence. If in the intruders mind is to shoot so no witnesses, or fear takes a hold of him, I don't have much time.

So this is how I start my walk through. Now this is only one scenario and I tried to do three of them all leading to different key areas in the house, and with myself alone in one of them. Now alone the story I feel is so much easier and my objective then is to use the downstairs exit and get out side where I can get to a neighbors or have a whole lot better chance at winning a fire fight.

After walking up the stairs and looking at all the possible ways of protecting myself, incase bad guy just tries to make a run for it, I would be who he would run into, I want to make sure that above me I am clear while going up the stairs. I go through maybe three four different ways things could play out on the stairs from getting shot at from above, maybe he is just coming down the hallway and I am stuck towards the top, or the fight happens right on the stairs. Look for ways to go fwd, backward, where and what room is the closest, how can I make myself small should I get caught in the open. Against one wall, against the other, Can I get a shot off through the raIling, or is the banister going to deflect the bullet and from what stair is this more eminent. Now granted these are all very technical things that in the moment will not matter and I will not be thinking about them, but going through them now and thinking about them could make me more conscious when the time comes but mostly I will just be shooting. As people say I am just trying to figure out ways to control the chaos.

Now after the stairs I do the same from the top looking down the hallway. My first thought is what can I do to make sure he doesn't run right into that room with my family members. This is something that really stumped me and I still have yet to find the best alternative. Do I make noise and with a yell or a knock on the wall to get his attention, or what. I do not want him to get scared and run in that room. No hostage situations for me.

 I know from personal experience that I do not want to be trapped in a hallway. They are kinda like bullet superhighways for some reason bullets love flying down them. So upon me getting upstairs I went through all things I could from being the bathroom to the kitchen and where I could go and how I could get into a safe place while still making progress on helping those upstairs. I don't want to be on the opposite side of the room I am trying to defend shooting, thus putting them in danger of my gun.

For me the safest place I can think of is getting outside. I want to get out of the house and run. I want to be screaming and get the cops on the way to detain this person. Also if running far away isn't an option I want to be outside, because I don't want to be in a close quarters battle. I want to be as far away from the guy shooting at me as possible. I want to get my family members away also. If I am followed out side I feel much better hiding behind a tree, car, cement anything, than a slab of dry wall. Cover is better and shooting from cover is much easier out side. It works both ways so if I cant keep him trapped inside till the police get there, and police will come if you start shooting at your house or another person in house from outside. The 80 year old neighbor may just pick up on that if she cant pick up my house being cased.

As you can tell something that is very important that seems always to get looked over when people are talking about home defense, is know your surroundings out side. If you have a wooded area out side your house and you have never ventured out there to see what is in it, maybe this summer is a nice time to go for a little nature walk. If you have trees around your house run out to them get a feeling how far away they are. Sit behind them and look at your house and see what you can see. Is there a window that your neighbor is always sitting by or looks out. Can you get somewhere safe where they can see you, and you can see them, so you can wave your arms if their hearing aid isn't turned up and hear the gun fire. How far away is you neighbors house? And probably the biggest thing is do you know your neighbor? If he or she sees a large Van pull up to your house at midnight, will he or she know that you are not getting home from work late and you don't drive a large van while wearing a ski mask? Go introduce yourself. Start a conversation if he knows you work for Microsoft than a white box Van isn't your work truck. Or maybe if your really trust them and it is some 80 year old WWII vet maybe tell him that you going out of town for a couple weeks when you go. 

A couple things I am going to suggest, timers for your lights if you are out of town, and try and get someone to pick up your mail or news papers. A fire ladder if you have a house that has not got windows close to the ground. If you have people living upstairs and more than one room make sure you have one for everyroom. They sell those ones that roll up and can go under your bed and will hang from a window. And after you get the ladder make sure everyone can climb down it. Sometimes those ladders made with chains and tubes are difficult and almost like trying to climb those large nets you see in all the basic training videos. So please make sure that everyone has the strength to use it or it will cause more damage. Escape maybe the only way to survive. One more thing I see this all the time, make sure the you have locks on your bedroom doors and that they WORK. If the handle is broke what good is it doing you. Also some of you may be afraid that your teen will go in there lock the door and do whatever, well that is something you will most likely need to get over cause that lock may mean life or death. For that couple seconds the intruder is fighting with that door could just be enough.

These are things that I thought about yesterday. Is this healthy and should someone be so concerned with a break-in that in his or her down time he plays scenarios out in his head to find ways to combat these situations? I don't know but it helps me sleep better at night knowing that I have set my self and my house up for the best success in any situation.

I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences on what to do. Dont know what but HD has really been on my mind lately.

[Ron J]

Wow!  Very well thought out!  Smart thinking to look at contingency planning when shit hits the fan. 

Whether it’s a break in while I am home or one that I walk into, I would think to find a good place for cover and with my cell phone (that is fully charged before I say my prayers at night) call for the Calvary.  Clearing a house is not something that I really want to do. 

Then again, my situation is possibly different in that IF someone can get by my three hound dogs and the evil wife (AKA the rabid momma bear), I would probably have to wake up and kill them.  For those folks, I may have to use a wood stake or silver bullet. 

[tombogan03884]

It's just like thinking through whether or not you have extinguishers were you may need them.
Space allowing I think before heading out I would grab my rifle for 2 reasons range,and accuracy of a rifle over a pistol, and because the size of the rifle gives you another option. A good butt stroke is better than hand to hand, and LOTS less paperwork than shooting.
Just my thought, but you are better versed in this type situation. 

[John McCreery]

Have you thought about using an airsoft replica of  your firearm and training on targets placed around the house?  Someone could change up the position for you each time. 

[DesertMarine]

I like the thinking of options as to what to do in various scenarios.  I made a check on my house, which is small, and for me the biggest concern was extra ammo.  My solution was to modify my AR with 16" tatical barrel and 20 rd magazine handy with pistol backup.  My backups are 1911 and S&W J frame .38.  My AR is not complete, need to change scope to an Aimpoint and replace A2 stock to tatical stock. making the rifle easier to use in close in or distance scenarios.  I had a upper receiver with 24" heavy barrel and am more comfortable with 20 rd vs 30 rd magazines.  Learned with and used 20 rounders.  I prefer the AR to shotgun in this and just about any situation.  I want the accuracy and distance of a rifle.

[Sponsor]

[2HOW]

Very right thinking ksail, I have done the same and set up some active systems to detect outside, and have firearms upstairs and downstairs along with ammo and knives, along with the dogs I feel pretty sure that I would have time to repell intruders (if they got in) Im 20 minutes from any LEO help if I need it so A good plan is mandatory. Sounds like you are squared away.

[gunman1911]

Tom's idea of a long gun is good but may bey a well place one in the garage, one thing also  those miscreants that do B and E's are notorious for cutting phone lines so my suggestion would be to have a cell phone next to your Roscoe a well placed 911 call is as important as the rest of the plan ,even in terms of back up, speaking of which how does the Misses Mam feel about helping out in this crisis. I lived in a very bad neighborhood in Detroit and one of the fist thing I did was to replace the cheap hollow bedroom doors with solid doors with dead bolts and I kept all the keys in the area the I slept. But I looks like you have things well covered and I am very glad that you do not put a gun in every room for the bad guy to find before you get  there. I never liked rolling up and have the homeowner outside tell me that the perp is still inside and he has put guns "strategically "throughout the house.. Your main objective should be to get your family out safely  and not clear your house, I think that goes without saying.

Keep your head down and stay safe!

[Solus]

Gosh, Ksail...I'd say with the thought you have put into your plans, you are way ahead of the game.

One thing I did read about was a "grab bag" someone had made.  (it might have been in an article or post on the USCCA site)

This bag had places for spare mags, tac light, cell phone pepper spray and a couple of other things I don't recall. 

The plan was to pick it up after your weapon and hang it around your neck I believe.  It would also serve as a place to put your handgun if you grabbed a long gun or needed both hands for something else..

[CZShooter]

Well thought out, Ksail.

I would like to also recommend setting up a "safe room" in your house (designated room everyone runs to when you yell "safe room"). have safe room drills just like fire drills. As Gunman1911 stated...put solid doors with deadbolts on the safe room. I would also like to recommend some items for the safe room...12 gauge pump (unmistakable sound that means business), cell phone (an old phone with no service can still call 911), and an extra set of keys for the front door (this is so you can chuck the keys out the window when the police arrive...beats them kicking in the front door).

Just my two cents.

[twyacht]

Ksail, that was a plan that alot of people need to realize when and if that bump in the night is a real threat.  Robert Pincus of the Valhalla Combat Focus Shooting Center, has a DVD series, (or a couple thousand bucks to spend a week at his Colorado center), going over exactly what you covered. If you get a chance, he gives out a free DVD that cover SD ammo in the home and other important issues that can save one's life.

The big "BUT" that changes equations, are for some, "the kids", for those that have kids in another section of the house, confronting and letting loose on a BG can have consequences.

As my son is older, 13,  I have told him to listen for my "Code Red", its a word or two that lets him know, in the middle of the night, to get on the floor as I will be aiming waist or chest high. It would be totally different with toddlers or younger children.

So many factors involved, but I can get around my house in the dark, I know where the chair leg sticks out, and the sideboard takes a little off the hallway corner, the BG doesn't.  That is my advantage.

I hope you and all on this forum never have to engage a BG in one' own home, but the BG will "Rue The Day!" if he comes in mine.

Great post, It gives me chills because I have had a Close Encounter with a B&E, but "it" ran away, thanks to my dog and a verbal threat from me.   Adrenalin, fear, and most important, state of mind, focus, training, and a heap of practice, DO make a difference.

Stay Safe

Tom W