Thread: When it goes "bump" in the night!

I have been reading FBI crime statistics and most crimes happen day and night... But when it comes to the more heinous violent crimes like rape over 62% happen at night. Violent home Invasions also occur more at night. Sharp cutting tools were the most common used for home invasions, usually through the front door or garage, and the perps said many of them got a "rush" from the intimidation factor!

How ready are you for the "Bumps" in the night? I noticed that at 4 gun shops I visit near me only one stocks night vision... and it is a SLOW mover! Are you going to use Lighting that marks where you are? What's your plan? If you can't see it coming how you gonna stop it?
A1

one word: Dogs. (notice that is plural).

No one gets close, day or night, without me being very aware...

Night vison you have to be kidding. Your going to run to your night vison goggles and put them on then what arm your self and turn off the lights?

Some one comes banging on my front door (it will not be a simple process to gain egress due to it being hardened) or on one of the other three doors to the house (windows have internal decroative bars that would prevent entry until they were cut)

And I'll be standing their waiting for them to get all the way inside before I start unloading either the 12ga or the M1 Carbine while the wife backs me up with either her Astra A-90 (holds 18+ 1 rds of JHP 9mm) or if in the bedroom a Charter Arms Bulldog Pug in .44spl w/3 speedloaders)

If by some wild turn of luck and we were asleep and they managed to get into the house they would never make it up the stairs in the dark (let just say it's been tricked) And the same thing would happen with us above them in the stair well.

Thanks One-Eyed Ross,
Hey I like the Dogs avenue. We always have at least one well trained sentinel at our house. And their sense of loyalty and ability to sense a "bad egg" have been proven again & again.
But once the dog has gone off I need to see what they're going off at, in the dark. I was thinking more along the lines of the you've already fled to your BOL/Retreat and here come some bad hombres in the dark... J. Rawles style. DO you have that good of night vision naturally, Do you throw a beam of light and mark your location, Is the whole place wired for passive infrared, or do you have personal, or hand held, or weapons, NVG. What kind of suggestions do people have.... Not what they dream about, but what have they done?
Thx A1

Well, I got a nice test run last-night/this-morning when the thunderstorm hit.

I was sleeping soundly when all of a sudden my mastiff let out one very loud and very firm bark. I hit the floor and walked out into the hallway to see what the **** had set him off. And then realized that I had totally failed... the pistol and flashlight were still sitting on the nightstand. Ah ****! Thankfully it turned out that the mutt was staring up at the skylights and barking at the lightening and thunder. I couldn't help but laugh.

That being said, it was a test run that I totally failed and that lesson will not soon be forgotten. Oh, and at 3:30 in the morning a mastiff has one **** of a freaking scary sounding bark. If I was crawling through a window and heard that I sure as **** be headed for the fence line.

-d

Originally Posted by One-Eyed Ross

one word: Dogs. (notice that is plural).

No one gets close, day or night, without me being very aware...

Yep! and a .45 with Trijicon sights, plus enough ambient light from the street lights and the night lite (high pressure sodium) on the garage.

Originally Posted by One-Eyed Ross

one word: Dogs. (notice that is plural).

No one gets close, day or night, without me being very aware...

Same here. I know a big dog is much more intimidating and better at offense / defense situations, however, my wife's little dog (Chihuahua, dachshund mix) has proven time and time again to be a superb early warning system. I'm hoping our newest edition will learn a thing or two from the little one and pick up some of the alertness.

We have two boxer dogs that have appointed themselves guardian of my 3 year old son. They either sleep in his room or in the hallway outside his door. I feel very secure with them around.

As a wise old boy I knew as a kid told me once "you all never mind the dog she just points at what I shoot at"

Best guard dog I ever had was an English Cocker Spaniel bred for Pheasant hunting and trained to do the same. She would never approach the target always bobbing and weaving like a prize fighter would in the first rounds of a fight. Her JOB as she saw it was to corner or flush the target. And twice at night she did her job with human targets.

Once when my brother who was staying with us for a couple weeks while waiting for a house he was buying to close. Decided to come home drunk on his *** and rather then wake us up since he had lost his front door key he thought breaking the decorative glass next to the door would be a better plan. The cocker went off like a fire alarm and raced down the hall barking her head off. I rolled out of bed and armed myself with a Star Model B 9mm and I setup peeking down the hall around the door jam (95% of my body hidden) As the Cocker reached the front door I saw a head come through the wall. And that instant her behavior changed completely from one of alarm to one of excitement. And I knew the head coming through the wall followed by shoulders and his dumbass was not a target. So she not only alarmed me to danger but was able to save my dumbass brothers life.

The second time was when someone came into the carport at our present house. She smelled them and went off like an alarm again. This time she beat me down stairs and out the doggie door to end up chasing some moron kid down the street at about 3 times the speed that kid had ever ran before. I'm guessing. All I ever saw was a skinny kids shape turning the corner of the block with Lady Freckles Mc Bark about 6 ft behind making a racket like you were trying to pull her through a knot hole in a fence by the tail. One good long return whistle and she came lopping around the corner satisfied she was done.

She also in her 13 years managed to corner and allow me to kill 17 possums that came on to the two properties she lived at with us. that dog loved Pheasent hunting so much when she wasn't hunting Pheasents she was protecting them from Possums which eat their eggs LOL.

Man I miss that little dog.

Yep dogs are the trick, and once they alert me and shoot them, I will have plenty of meat to feed the dog..

Also, I have battery operated door chimes I bought at harbor freight. I also picked up some drive way sensors with remote alarms, they have three settings off louder, wake the dead. neat thing with them is they are water proof and can be moved to any location inside or outside. When they sound before the dogs bark, it really pisses off the dogs and they want some. Oh yeah they come a bright white but I cover the sensor with tape and painted some O.D. green, put them in my hedges and they catch anything. So I had to move them up a little higher to catch human traffic, I got tired of getting woke up everytime skunk, opossu or cat would venture through.

Dogs are my early warning device as well. My Boston Terrier sounds off if a leaf falls out of a tree and my 140lb bloodhound-mastiff mix can be heard for 3 counties once he gets going.
Both are good-natured animals, but I would hate to be the hapless intruder who incurs their collective, protective wrath.

i have a border collie that is so protective of herself, that the family members have to be careful about how we approach her....she is WELL protected...and that is just one of the inside dogs....thats after getting by the outside dogs..

Two OCD hunting labs, BRIGHT motion lights around entire home/garage, cameras at all motion lights and front of driveway (65 yrds long), motion sensors throughout property with remote chimes, Securall steel frame steel double wall door, Swissshade windows, DanielDefense for window "hunting", Nighthawk for room to room. The guy we bought the house from was more paranoid than I am. The house isnt a fortress, but you'd have to be a pro to get into it.

My pair of Dobies are barky and loud. The one to be worried about never says a word, in fact he doesn't even growl.