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clearing your own house question


Trigger Mike

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so my glass break alarm went off for some reason this week at 4:30 AM much to my dismay. not sure what caused it. It was the glass break in my basement garage. I doubted there was anything to it but cleared the house as if it was a real threat just in case and good practice anyway. got to wondering if i would have been better off leaving the lights off as I cleared it since I am familiar with my house and where toys are usually left on the floor by 4 children and where furniture etc is. turn on or leave the lights off and use a bright flashlight?

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At that hour, I'm getting down beside the bed and dropping 'em when I see the figure in the doorway. No one I know would ever just walk into my house @ 4:30 AM and due to ammo shortages, a warning shot would not be fired. JMO

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If some one breaks glass and the lights go on all over the house, my quess is they will leave and a confrontation would be avoided. With little children around this is something you do not want or a missed ID. If you respond quikly, they might not even be inside your dwelling

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No light on .

Only light on and off is the light on your Wepon !

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I've cleared my house twice. Both times, since I knew where light switches were, I flicked the lights on before entering the room.

 

Figgered I wanted to see EVERYTHING, not just what showed in my flashlight beam.

 

Think about this for a minute.

 

You are going to drive 150 mph on a six-lane interstate bypass (like 295 in Atlanta) with all kinds of on ramps and off ramps and people changing lanes constantly.

 

Would you rather do this in the middle of the day, where you can see everbody on the road?

 

Or the middle of the night, when no one but you has their lights on, so the only thing you can see is what's in your headlights?

 

I'd rather do it when I could see.

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I'm with Horg on this.

 

IMHO the worst thing you can do clear the house by yourself. Flashlight or turning on lights gives away your position the same as the noise you'll make when you stub a toe. If you're neutralized who's left to protect your family?

 

My wife will get on the floor behind the bed. She will call 911 on her cell and stay online with the Dispatcher. I retrieve a item or two, lock the bedroom door and the join her. Anyone breaking down the bedroom door will be meant with a blast....or two.

 

Same procedure if the children was home except I'd be laying at the top of the stairway. If you're coming up the stairs and Dispatcer didn't advise police was entering our house you'll be meant with a blast...or two...or three....

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Don't none of you pards got a doggie or two? Someone comes down my long Ole driveway even at 3am, my babies go crazy! Far as someone breaking in? Lol, if they hear the barking from my babies (pit,pit,pit,mastiff) and still come in, they are either crazy or coming in to kill me and all bets are off! Not much clearing to be done when ya got a couple 4 legged alarm systems

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Don't none of you pards got a doggie or two?...

Wife has two attack cats. Any strange car comes down our drive they run as fast as they can get traction to the basement...to hide.

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Original post says there are 4 kids in the house.

The noise could be one of them up for any reason.

Can't sleep or sick.

Noise would have me up.

Make sure spouse...is awake and knows what is happening. quietly.

Then check on kids locations.

If kids are accounted for then, I would place myself between family and any access to them.

I would not go looking for trouble in the dark.

I would wait for it to come to me where I know were I am and where trouble will be exposed to me.

 

There will be a time where you will have to go forward.

After there is no further noise.

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About the light question. I have noticed that the LED bulbs I put in my kitchen light fixture have about a 1second delay

from when you flip the switch to when they come on. This would give you a chance to move away from the switch before

they illuminate the room.

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my dogs just stare and maybe lightly bark but other wise bark all night at everything in the woods so i can't tell the difference between them barking at a dog a few acres away or a prowler.

Same here, My Rottweiler would just want to greet them, But barks at any other noise or light 1000' out on the road in the middle of the night. Rottys aren't as fierce as the reputation would have you think.

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Done this for a living so I know a few things.

Light works both ways. If you are in darkness, use a flashlight to illuminate, turn it off and move, your opponent will be less likely to pinpoint you. BUT HE KNOWS YOU ARE THERE. Using the assumption that were talking about a nighttime residential burglary, if that guy (s) don't leave post-haste you got bigger problems. Major problems.

 

Turning lights on as you go allows you to see and identify the threat. It also allows the opponent to track your progress through the structure. Same as moving through dark with a flashlight. Hiding, he will see you long before you see him and ambush you. The light has to be on for you to see him so the light-on-look-light-off-move doesn't always work to your advantage. He will see you, wait for you and ambush you. I know because I've done this. Been on both sides as a matter of fact. (tell ya a funny story at the end)

 

SWAT teams clear a structure differently than single/double officer teams. One uses dynamic entry, speed and violence of action and overwhelming firepower to acheive the objective. The other uses stealth more but is VULNERABLE to a sudden violent action by the opponent. How do I know this? Because I've done it.

 

Danger areas in any structure are doorways, windows, hallways, stairs and any furniture that can conceal an opponent. Think about a typical residence. Bedrooms on one side, hallway down the middle to the kitchen/living area. You come out of the bedroom and down the hallway. Unless he's deaf or there's 150db rock music playing, he's gonna HEAR you. All the guy has to do is pop around the corner and light your a## up. You're in the fatal funnel of the hallway with nowhere to go.

 

Same for doorways. Going into a room, depending on the shape, size and so on it is virtually IMPOSSIBLE for one person to enter and clear that room safely. Think about entering a room that is square, the door is in the center of one wall. The near corners on that wall are the two places you can't see until you get INTO the room. Pick the wrong corner to watch and the opponent in the other corner is going to backshoot you. And while you're clearing that room on your way to the rest of the house, because you probably shouldn't leave an area behind you that isn't cleared, who's watching down the hallway to watch your back if you're alone? This is why cops don't clear houses by themselves. More the merrier.

 

Use the fatal funnels to your advantage. Use the existing light to YOUR advantage. Call 9-1-1. Tell them who what where. Tell them that you are armed and what you are wearing. Tell them where you are in the structure. Having a key on a lighted keyring like a glow stick or one of those big, bright floaty things so your boat keys don't sink when they fall into the water can be tossed out a window so the cops doin't break the door down to get to you.

 

For instance.

Your alarm goes off and you have a panel next to the bed that tells you what zone it is. Call, arm yourself and take up a position just outside the bedroom looking down the hall/stairs. Be vewy-vewy quiet, no light. If your opponent chooses to come your way you are ready to ambush HIM BUT....BUT make sure to IDENTIFY your threat before you fire.

 

Ok, funny story;

Worked full time at my Dept's range. Taught all manner of classes. Got accused of being a sneaky ba#$%d so I painted my black SWAT K-pot GOLD. SWAT entry, full violent action, overwhelming force. Got myself massacred pretty much every time. Teaching two-three-four non-SWAT tactics, using LIGHT to dominate and control areas one trick I used was the shadows. Stood well back from the door and whenever they used light wrong, IE didn't keep it on because when the light is on they can SEE me, when that light was off I leaned out and shot them. Every time. Using nothing more than shadows, I massacred them pretty much every time. Five man warrant team. Coming down the hallway on opposite side of structure. I can see/hear/track their every move. At first they done good. Saw the doorway leading into a large kitchen area, door on the far side where I was. Standing in the doorway the point guy sweeps the room, lights me up BUT DOESN'T SEE ME, gold helmet and all standing smack-dab in the doorway. YOU GOTTA LOOK. So. I let them search the room that put them right in my fatal funnel. For a time they kept a light in my direction and as soon as the guy got distracted and turned away I moved. Took a better position. Watching for my moment because I knew i'd get all of them in the doorway is just a second. Yup they stacked and entered the room, shot the last guy in the butt. Keystone kops. You can't fit five guys through a standard doorway at the same time. As expected, they piled back into that room to 'take cover'. Bad move as they hadn't cleared it yet and with TWO people I could have had lots more fun...but that's another story. By this time they've forgotten all about light, tactics, sneeky-peeky-nothing, they just wanna find Dubious. I'm using a doorway for cover, from their perspective all they could see was a good part of that gold k-pot half my face and my gun. Used the light but weren't looking. They came out of that room in a stack, heading in my direction and realized too late that I had moved into the room and off to the side flanking them....yeah, I got shot (a lot) with them paintballs but they learned the lesson I had to teach them.

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Howdy,

I once saw a house with a control panel in the bedroom.

They could switch almost every light from there.

I haven't thought about that in years.

Maybe I need one.

Best

CR

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I have a dog that will bark at anything or anyone at the door and at any strange noise. She is a burglar alarm not a land mine. She is friendly and greets people after they are in. Her job is to alert me, my job is to decide how to respond. Our kids are all grown and gone so that makes it easy. Get down behind the bed, cover the bedroom door, call the cops on the cell phone, stand by to repel boarders.

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Two little dogs will set up a racket if a strange car drives into the cul-de-sac (they know the sound of our two vehicles' motors!!!). At night they are downstairs, and would warn us of any break-in. No small kids in the house, but wife or sometime visitors sometimes present. Dogs will ignore them.

 

BTW, you've seen these signs that say, "My dog can make it to the fence in 8.3 seconds, can you?" I tell people I haven't seen anybody that can run faster than 830 ft/sec or 1100+ft/sec... :o;)

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BTW, you've seen these signs that say, "My dog can make it to the fence in 8.3 seconds, can you?" I tell people I haven't seen anybody that can run faster than 830 ft/sec or 1100+ft/sec... :o;)

would that not be shooting the subject in the back? And person advertises it with yard sign?

 

I don't know what the legal ramifications would be if an attack/aggressive dog mauled a subject (bad guy, meter person, delivery person, neighbor child, whom ever). in the back yard, locked up home, open door home, or the gate was left open. It couldn't be good.

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I have a dog that will bark at anything or anyone at the door and at any strange noise. She is a burglar alarm not a land mine. She is friendly and greets people after they are in. Her job is to alert me, my job is to decide how to respond. Our kids are all grown and gone so that makes it easy. Get down behind the bed, cover the bedroom door, call the cops on the cell phone, stand by to repel boarders.

Good response.

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Don't none of you pards got a doggie or two? Someone comes down my long Ole driveway even at 3am, my babies go crazy! Far as someone breaking in? Lol, if they hear the barking from my babies (pit,pit,pit,mastiff) and still come in, they are either crazy or coming in to kill me and all bets are off! Not much clearing to be done when ya got a couple 4 legged alarm systems

 

"pit, pit, pit mastiff..."

 

Sounds like you earned your name, Ornery!

 

Seamus

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No light on .

Only light on and off is the light on your Wepon !

I personally find a light on my weapon to be a stupid decision at the outset. If I were in a darkened area and goosey about being caught or shot anyway, I would fire three shots at the light, one down the middle and one more to each side about ten inches. Then I would drop to the floor and find an exit. Why would anyone deliberately mark them self for an intruder?

 

Hand held light well away from my body.

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The small dog in my room and the Doberman on the main level know who belongs and who doesn't. No one is dumb enough to stay around when the Dobe goes off. I've had five Dobes, all temperment tested. All natural guard dogs.

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Clearing buildings is for SWAT teams. Gather yoyur loved ones in one place, arm yourself, and wait for the cavalry.

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Does you car fob have the "blow horn and flash highlights" button? If your car is in range at night leave the fob on your bed nightstand. A bump in the night could be scared off simply by setting off your car alarm.

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I agree with the guys that say to stay put. After training to do the door kicker thing, and realizing how vulnerable you are when moving through a building, I decided that I would let any potential bad guys come to me. Along the way, they will have to contend with two locked doors, excluding whatever method of egress they chose into my home. Defensive positions have tactical advantage, why lose it?

 

Having said that, I did find two very useful ideas that I had never considered:

 

Having a key on a lighted keyring like a glow stick or one of those big, bright floaty things so your boat keys don't sink when they fall into the water can be tossed out a window so the cops doin't break the door down to get to you.

 

 

 

Does you car fob have the "blow horn and flash highlights" button? If your car is in range at night leave the fob on your bed nightstand. A bump in the night could be scared off simply by setting off your car alarm.

 

 

Thanks!

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some good ideas. i should add that i doubted anyone had broken a window but wanted to be sure. i did not hear other sounds after i turned the alarm off but felt compelled to check everything out to be sure. i doubt criminals wait around for you to calm down before stealing or attacking but if no steps were taken to verify no threat is present it'd be negligent so i treat all alarms as real until verified otherwise but want to clear the home in a safe way without bothering the cops for a false alarm.

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some good ideas. i should add that i doubted anyone had broken a window but wanted to be sure. i did not hear other sounds after i turned the alarm off but felt compelled to check everything out to be sure. i doubt criminals wait around for you to calm down before stealing or attacking but if no steps were taken to verify no threat is present it'd be negligent so i treat all alarms as real until verified otherwise but want to clear the home in a safe way without bothering the cops for a false alarm.

 

You do make a good point about a home alarm system. Does your alarm company call you, in addition to the police?

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