Home defense "kit "

[Guest rxdoc]

I apologizes
if this topic has come up before,but, I am soliciting ideas for a "bag" to be keep in a closet near my bed. Thi idea is that if something goes "bump in the night" and I need to exit my immediate area for some reason I want to have a pre packed maxpedition shoulder bag or something similar to grab and go towards the threat. I am thinking handgun, magazines, electronic ears, disposable cell phone, flashlight,extra shells for my shotgun, a fighting knife, and WHAT ELSE?obviously if I can I stay in the
MBR and wait for LEO. I will. Unfortunately this may not be possible all THe time

Thank you all four your thoughts

Bob

[austin7.62]

I wouldn't worry about keeping a bag, rather I would keep a loaded 870 near :)

[Spots]

Can't see any reason to leave immediate area honestly. My night kit is a loaded 1911, loaded Mini 30, good flashlight, and a charged cell phone. What would force you from the MBR? The way my house is setup it would take a freaking platoon to force me from my bedroom.

[TMF]

A flashlight and a bang stick of some sort should be all you need.

[Wheelgunner]

What goes in the bag?  I prefer the alternative approach - hear the bogeyman, move from bed to a predetermined defensive position with weapon and light, dial 9-1-1, and wait.  By choosing a defensive position beforehand, you give yourself the benefit of good, hard cover and you can stage your equipment (flashlight, ammo, etc.) where you will need it to be.

[Dolomite_supafly]

If you have worked your way down to a knife fight something has gone terribly wrong.

 

Having a bag around your body while in a fight is going to be a huge disadvantage. It allows the bad guy to have something to grab a hold of easily.

 

I would have a flashlight, pistol or shotgun and cell phone in close proximity at all times. No need to over think it or over complicate it. You just want the bare minimum needed to defend yourself.

 

If someone enters or attempts to enter my home I would grab my firearm, cell phone and flashlight. Then if I decide to actively find the bad guy I will move slowly move to the area of greatest observation with a light switch. I will try to avoid using any source of light as I move because I have the advantage while it is dark but when the area is lit up it evens the playing field.

 

Then, once in position, I would use voice commands to warn the bad guy to leave. This should give me an idea of if they are friend or foe and if they are foe I would call 911. I will try to use the lightswitch to light up the area before using a flashlight. Then if the bad guy becomes a threat I would remove the threat.

 

If you decide to stay put, which isn't bad either, then leave the lights off and use the flashlight to light up the bad guy if he enters the bed room.

 

Distance is your ally. The more distance between you and the bad guy the better off you are.

 

Dolomite

[peejman]

Mostly what they said.... gun, flashlight, cell phone.  However, my kids are on the other end of my house so if someone were to break in, just hunkering down in the MBR isn't an option.  My wife gets her gun, flashlight, and calls 911.  I get my gun, flashlight, and go get the kids.  The only thing I'd add to your kit is shoes. 

[TMF]

Mostly what they said.... gun, flashlight, cell phone.  However, my kids are on the other end of my house so if someone were to break in, just hunkering down in the MBR isn't an option.  My wife gets her gun, flashlight, and calls 911.  I get my gun, flashlight, and go get the kids.  The only thing I'd add to your kit is shoes. 

Yeah, folks always post something about "why would you do anything other than just hunker down?", without considering that some of us have children. There is no option there. If someone breaks into my home, where my children sleep, there is nothing in the world that will keep me from finding them and preventing them from getting anywhere near my kids.

For this reason, my reaction is immediate. The flashlight and gun is in my hand and I'm out the door of the bedroom ready to shoot. We had a scare last year where the alarm went off in the middle of the night. I can tell you that I was able to clear a three story structure in less than 45 seconds, based on the timing of the alarm company calling. No shoes, no pants, no problem. There is only one concern I have and that is eliminating the threat as fast as possible and I only need a bang stick and a light to make that happen.

[glock55]

Your night gun should be accessible from your bed. If intruder is in bedroom before you awake gun in closet is no gun at all. Mine in holster attached to bed post don't even have to move to draw gun if needed. Every situation is different but my kids are grown so my wife and me will take defensive position 90 degrees to door. Then call 911 and after contact will advise intruder to leave house so recorded on 911. Most important thing in my situation is to have everything recorded on 911 so the police will be a witness if things go south. Just be sure you have a plan, you practice that plan and then reassess the plan until you feel everyone in the house is on board. Good luck

[UncleJak]

I often wonder if a air horn would be a nice addition to bedside defense.  Let the wife blow it while I shoot.  The noise would be a great distraction...I know I would crap my pants if I was on the other side of a armed homeowner and to top it off there was a loud honking.

[Guest ndhill1976]

I think gun shots inside a house would be a deafening experience without blowing an air horn.

[JayC]

Unlike the rest of these guys I'm going to answer the question you asked :)

 

But, I do have a couple of questions for you...

 

First, how quickly do you want to be able to get out of the house?  Is this a bag that you're going to grab as you head out the nearest 'exit' on a run from your bed?  Or is it a bag you'd grab as you were tossing on some clothes and take some time to walk out the front door?

 

Second, how long/far does this bag need to take you?  Are you just looking for something to help you get to your next door neighbor, or something to go 20 miles to your buddies house?

 

Without having a little more information on the use of the bob, or go bag it's hard to make recommendations on what to put in it or what not to put in it.  Can you provide a little more insight into what you see the use of this bag being?

 

I apologizes
if this topic has come up before,but, I am soliciting ideas for a "bag" to be keep in a closet near my bed. Thi idea is that if something goes "bump in the night" and I need to exit my immediate area for some reason I want to have a pre packed maxpedition shoulder bag or something similar to grab and go towards the threat. I am thinking handgun, magazines, electronic ears, disposable cell phone, flashlight,extra shells for my shotgun, a fighting knife, and WHAT ELSE?obviously if I can I stay in the
MBR and wait for LEO. I will. Unfortunately this may not be possible all THe time

Thank you all four your thoughts

Bob

[Guest rxdoc]

Thank you for the thoughts concerning the contents of the “bag”.
I am thinking more of a “Reaction” bag than a BOB. We have a fairly
large 3 story home and there is no guarantee that everyone will be
together in the MBR when a problem arises.
I do maintain a XDM by the bed. But if I have to leave the safety of
my MBR I have a 12 gauge Mossberg to go with it. I was thinking about
having a bag put together (Maxpedition or something similar) to hold
other essential items, ammo, flashlight, cell phone, electronic ears
etc. and that was the root of my question. Clearing ( i.e getting to )
a distant section of a home is complicated, stressful and dangerous
enough without having to gather your stuff together before you go.
I hope that this clarifies where I am trying to go with this.

Thanks
Bob

[TrickyNicky]

I wouldn't over think it. I think a cell phone, flashlight, and pistol are going to be all anyone needs. If your really wanting to gear up I'd suggest a belt with holsters or holders for all the gear mentioned. At least then you could access your equipment as you need it as appossed to rummaging around in a bag full of supplies. I'm sure there are many cops out there who would love to be able carry their gear in a backpack as appossed to around their waist, but its just not practical.

Also, not to be a jerk but have you ever tried maneuvering with/utilizing all that stuff? My plan for awhile involved a shotgun and pistol. Trying to carry both made neither effective from my "test run". My plan now involves just a pistol and flashlight. If I grab anything else its going to be the phone. If I hear a commotion that would lead me to believe a big problem was coming my way, like a multi person home invasion, I'm grabbing the AR and one extra mag and that's that. If 60 rounds of intermediate firepower won't help me, 90 surely won't.

IMO.

[Moped]

Pistol and flashlight.  Cellphone is for the wife, along with her pistol and a shotgun.  I think clearing a house by yourself with a long gun would be difficult.  I too, have kids, who are on the other side of the house and I have ended up clearing the house before (it was a similar situation as TMF's).  Honestly, most homes aren't set up for defense in mind it, seems like.

Edited February 8, 2013 by Moped

[c.a.willard]

For the most part i'd suggest avoiding using a bag for this type of thing.  It gets in the way, may snag on things and makes additional noise. more is not necessarily better but If you feel you absolutely have to have more than the gun and a flashlight than a decent LE duty belt would serve your purposes well and give you faster access.   Also not sure if you already have a alarm system for your home, but if you do look into wether or not they offer a key fob remote with a panic button, It allows you to notify the alarm company/police without having to make a phone call. 

 

Whatever you choose to do do some dry runs with your chosen equipment to figure out what works well for you and what doesnt.

[gjohnsoniv]

I'll be honest, I don't think you really need a bag. Get your gun and light, or gun with light attached and you should be good.

[Defender]

An idea I had was to use one of my old duty belts with gun holster, cell phone holster spare ammo, flashlight...could grab the belt and snap it on...am thinking that i need 3 hands at times...gun, flashlight, cell phone etc...belt might be handy

[Peace]

You are thinking about it right.

Have a plan. Get everyone else on board. I would have that bag with combat gauze, tourniquet, flashing light w/ house key attached (to drop outside for LE if necessary), but I would have your wife/partner grab that bag. Chances are decent that .. if you are going to need that HD weapon, you will be defending an assault, not "finding" and intruder. Oh yeah, the bag is not for the BG (that's a good way to make a bad situation worse), but it may save you or your loved ones.

If you are in different sections of the house, you might want to have a call/response safe word for linkup. Don't use an obvious one - as a BG may be wise to it and dupe you or your loved ones.

Ensconce in a defensive posture with everyone if at all possible. Experts say being ensconced in a fixed position gives you an 8:1 advantage.

Also, when you train for this, you might want to train for the possibility that you may be facing/using lethal force as quickly as you access your weapon. Know your safe shooting lanes (backstop, angles, positions you can fire from), and, if possible, make sure your family members know to get to ground/cover if the alarm is sounded. And by all means, practice mentally identifying the threat!!!! Keep your family and friends safe from friendly fire when the stink hits the breeze.

All the best to you and yours.