Scared the *#$@!^&* out of me !!!!

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Sitting here reading some of the forums when BAM CRASH BOOM & the dog goes NUTS. Now I'm the only one home so I didn't have the alarm armed, but at least I was. The noise came from about 30 feet away & it sounded like it came from the 2nd bedroom. I draw my weapon get up & head for my bedroom in the opposite direction.Grab my shotgun & rack in a shell & wait with the dog behind me. Yeah great watch dog. My hearts going 120mph. Finally after hours of waiting, it was probably only minutes I go clearing the house room by room. Nothing. So I slip out the door to check the exterior. Boy did I feel stupid. A BIG hunk of ice fell off the roof hit the heat pump bounced off it & scraped the side of the house on the way down. Now I was lucky 3 feet the other way & it could have busted out that bedroom window.

Now call me paranoid but this got me to thinking here I am in my own home relaxed in my little corner at the computer back to everything else. What if someone did manage to quietly break in while I'm in my own little world??

I set the alarm.

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REX681959 wrote:

Sitting here reading some of the forums when BAM CRASH BOOM & the dog goes NUTS. Now I'm the only one home so I didn't have the alarm armed, but at least I was. The noise came from about 30 feet away & it sounded like it came from the 2nd bedroom. I draw my weapon get up & head for my bedroom in the opposite direction.Grab my shotgun & rack in a shell & wait with the dog behind me. Yeah great watch dog. My hearts going 120mph. Finally after hours of waiting, it was probably only minutes I go clearing the house room by room. Nothing. So I slip out the door to check the exterior. Boy did I feel stupid. A BIG hunk of ice fell off the roof hit the heat pump bounced off it & scraped the side of the house on the way down. Now I was lucky 3 feet the other way & it could have busted out that bedroom window.

Now call me paranoid but this got me to thinking here I am in my own home relaxed in my little corner at the computer back to everything else. What if someone did manage to quietly break in while I'm in my own little world??

I set the alarm.

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Well, you know you're paranoid. But are you paranoid enough?

Maybe get a cat...

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How do you know someone would have quietly snook in?

Don't give us details of how your alarm system works, but do a private mental inventory of your system.

1. Do you have signs posted regarding your security system?
2. Does you system use the land-line or is it cellular?
3. Are your windows covered for breakage or movement of any kind?
4. Obviously, with you in the interior, the motion sensors are inoperable for tripping an alarm, and I'm sure the doors are the typical magnetic sensors. What else does your system have?

Remember, do not give US the answer to the questions.

As far as your behavior, I think you are fine. You felt there was a potential threat and you acted accordingly. Don't let this reduce your will to react to events of uncertainty. Some could have been trying to break in. And if someone is able to quietly break in to your home, I would examine those entry points and ascertain how to make them noisy to break into. With my home, you're going to have to make some kind of loud racket before you get in. My own world or not, I'm sure I'll hear and have access to a gun before you make entry.

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Oh I ALWAYS have access to a gun. There are no children in my house so thateven when I don't have a gun on my hip, which is seldom. I still have at least one within reach atall times. You'll notice if you reread my post that the alarm was not armed when this happened. However this did give me an idea of how I would react in this situation. I had my handgun out & ready without thinking about it. I didn't cock the hammer back but had my finger on the trigger for double action. The only lights on were in the room that I was in. I then retreated to a darkened room where the threat had to come at me through the lit room while I remained in the dark. Plus that's where I access my shotgun. It's always a good idea to trade up if you can. All in all I had a chance to see would I would do in that situation & think about if there are things I should or shouldn't change about my responses.

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I would recommend personal training and conditioning to enable yourself not to panic when something unusual and expected happens but to be to calmly and quietly access the situation without going into panic mode.

Mistakes are often made when the adrenalin is high.

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Yeah Rex, we don't want you to blow the crap out of an innocent piece of ice

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I hate the saying, "I use my handgun to fight my way to my rifle". In the case of your own home, I think the saying isn't all THAT bad. Good thinking to go get a bigger gun. What kind of shotty is it? what kind of dog do you have?

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If I read your post right did you say you had your back to the entrance to the room you were in? That could be a bad deal (if) someone got in quietly then came up behind you then what would have happen? Just fuel for thought and for future reference, ya have to cover all bases so to speak. I think I would turn my room around so as to face the door. I never like to sit with my back to the door even when my wife and I go out to eat.

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REX681959 wrote:

Oh I ALWAYS have access to a gun. There are no children in my house so thateven when I don't have a gun on my hip, which is seldom. I still have at least one within reach atall times. You'll notice if you reread my post that the alarm was not armed when this happened. However this did give me an idea of how I would react in this situation. I had my handgun out & ready without thinking about it. I didn't cock the hammer back but had my finger on the trigger for double action. The only lights on were in the room that I was in. I then retreated to a darkened room where the threat had to come at me through the lit room while I remained in the dark. Plus that's where I access my shotgun. It's always a good idea to trade up if you can. All in all I had a chance to see would I would do in that situation & think about if there are things I should or shouldn't change about my responses.

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Were you holding a revolver?

Why on earth would you have your finger on the trigger before you had a target in sight?

That is very poor technique. Very dangerous.

It's one thing to play instant night time commando. It's another to walk around in the dark withyour finger on a trigger.