Walking the dog late last night and...

[Alpo]

Some long range shooter-type LEO-type on this site turned me on to this little jewel. I liked it so much, I bought one for each of my sons. I'm never without it.

 

[Brad69]

Some of my personal rules

1. I have learned the not wearing a shirt increases your chances of being arrested by about 80%!

2. Never I mean never confront a man or woman that is “naked”.

(a) They are crazy and seem to have supernatural strength

(b) Often “naked” people are covered in a light sheen of sweat that makes them impossible to hold onto.

Note: If you have a physical encounter with a sweaty “naked” person go straight to blunt force skip the holds and such.

 

[churchmouse]

Some long range shooter-type LEO-type on this site turned me on to this little jewel. I liked it so much, I bought one for each of my sons. I'm never without it.

Interesting.

 

[Tactically Fat]

If you have a light on your gun; carry a hand-held flashlight.

If you don't have a light on your gun; carry a hand-held flashlight.

If you don't carry a gun; carry a hand-held flashlight.

 

[Ggreen]

If you have a light on your gun; carry a hand-held flashlight.

If you don't have a light on your gun; carry a hand-held flashlight.

If you don't carry a gun; carry a hand-held flashlight.

I get all this, but i'm not about to strap a utility belt on everytime my dog has a weak bladder in the middle of the night. we do have a flashlight we use when we walk him, but it was of the cheap/disposable and generally only used to spot turds so we can pick them up. Basically useless past 5 yards on a moonlit night. I've remedied the flashlight issue with a streamlight stinger hanging with the leash. This experience may be a good way to justify another glock 43/42 or a shield with a sticky holster to remedy the problems associated with a doublestack compact's weight while wearing gym shorts. I'd easily be able to pocket a 43 sized pistol in the gym shorts.

 

[rhino]

You are actually safer going out nekked. (or nearly so) Would YOU want to tangle with a half (or more) naked guy? Probably not. See...

(warning NSFW language, visuals, hence no preview)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7klxYbBRVAM

https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/break-room/376308-joke-day-2.html#post7545886

 

[rhino]

If you have a light on your gun; carry a hand-held flashlight.

If you don't have a light on your gun; carry a hand-held flashlight.

If you don't carry a gun; carry a hand-held flashlight.

Interesting!

WAIT! What are you doing here??!!??

 

[Tsssst]

I really liked this thread. It gave me more stuff to think about.

 

[Frost49]

You might consider a super bright LED headlamp. I have one that is 9000 lumens I think and uses the 4.2v Ion rechargeable batteries. Not practical for EDC, but for the quick trip out the door at night it would free up both hands especially if you have the leash in one hand. It has 4 or 5 light settings including a strobe pulse that you just can't look at on the receiving end. It also has an adjustable lens to "zoom" in with the light.

 

[dusty88]

I respectfully disagree. A double pane glass door or window is all that is keeping Mikey the meth head from my family, id have gone out jewels out to keep the threat out of my home. I grew up every other weekend with a dad in that crowd. Trouble doesn't wait. I saw a guy who had been hit by a semi on his Harley earlier that day throw down at one of dad's parties. I truly believe most people underestimate the threat level of these tweakers because they have never lived among them.

Thanks for posting your situation; it is a good discussion. And you make a point about different kinds of threats being unpredictable.

It is difficult sometimes to decide when to go check things out vs calling the police. When you read some encounter in the news that occurred on someone's lawn, you think they might have been better off had they stayed inside and called the cops. But in calling the cops you don't know if there really is even a perp, how long it will take the cops to get there, where the theoretical perp goes in the meantime, and if your priority is really an emergency vs somewhere else the cops need to be?

I called the police once when I was working late at my office in Indy. The back screen door opened then closed. So I asked them to just come check things out then wait while I got in my car. I think they thought the wind blew the door open. It's possible, but unlikely as it always latched easily and the wind wasn't coming from the right direction anyway. I've never felt badly about that.

At home though we live in a county that probably has 2-3 deputies out at any one time. Not only am I hesitant to bother them, it would take them a good while to get to us. We occasionally have people drive down the private lane that goes between us and the neighbors. Our neighbor, sometimes the 92 yr old Grandpa, will head right out there. So we keep an eye on things as well.

Our house sits above a creek bed and we have a fair bit of woods surrounding us. When we first moved here, we had several occasions of coonhunters being darn close to our house at night, claiming the dogs just ran off and they couldn't stop them. The worst bit about it was that I work 6 days per week and was not happy about getting woke up to hounds at midnight. And of course you want to know who is running around your woods with guns. Funny thing, those dogs stopped getting "lost" and running to our property once the coonhunters took us seriously and word got around that we had guns. I won't detail the "introductions" as they were probably a bit awkward and risky and I wouldn't do them exactly the same way again. In any case, the fact the coonhunters avoid us now is a good thing. Now I have poultry and our livestock guardian dogs are outside all night: If these guys showed up now, their coonhounds would be met by a couple of larger dogs that would not be tolerant of their presence.

As far as what gun to take out, I'm in the "if you have time to come back in: get your long gun on, holster your sidearm and put shoes on" camp. The pistols are on our person or in a bedside safe for quick surprises. Long guns can be kept on a sling, in a safe, with a loaded mag at the ready and be accessed in 30 seconds. Don't forget to keep a flashlight on the long gun safe so you can see the combination at night with tired eyes. Of course we have the benefit of (usually) having 2 adults at home that are both somewhat trained. So one of us can get in the long gun safe while the other begins to check things out. If your wife doesn't want to be trained to shoot, you might at least have a plan where your wife and baby go in the event of something suspicious going on outside or someone breaking in. Let her make the 911 call. If that happens to allow her to be armed and/or to get the long gun out for you, so much the better.

You said you don't want to take a bunch of time before you take the dog out. And you didn't want to take time before you went outside to confront the potential tweaker. But with a bit of change in habits, you can set things up so you are already armed with the handgun and flashlight. And IF there was time to come back for the gun or better shoes, now you'd be much better equipped to deter or handle the threat. I'm not going to tell someone what is safe/comfortable to carry. But once you figure out what it is, you can keep it in a $100 bedside safe. I keep my 9mm carry gun in my nearby safe, but also my .380 with a quick holster like Thunderwear so I can put that on in a few seconds if necessary. Even naked

And give your dog some credit here for paying attention. Sometimes when people dismiss the protective potential of a dog it is because "well someone could just shoot your dogs". Yes, true. But they've just started the gunfight and announced themselves if they do that. I don't say that because I feel lightly about my dogs getting hurt. I say that to point out that the lower-level perp is already deterred by my dogs and I will never meet him. This can be true even for little yappy dogs that smell/see a threat before you do. Someone willing to engage my dogs, or start the gunfight to get past my dog, etc is a super-bad guy or super-stupid-dangerous guy and his engagement with the dogs might give me an extra moment.

 

[Ggreen]

Thanks for your input Dusty. I really can relate as I lived with my grandma on her farm for a few years after my grandpa passed. locked in the middle of a 100acre combo of field and woods can lead to some very interesting encounters. I did not go out at night without a shotgun close, for pests as well as scrappers who thought barns were easy targets.

I have started to remedy my readiness, and am shopping for a nice easy to pocket holster 380, doesn't help that I recently made the mistake of picking up the new SA 911 at the lgs. I don't necessarily like 380's, but for the purpose of walking the dog it seems appropriate. It wear gym shorts 99 percent of the time to bed and I'm not going to strap on a belt just so the dog can take a leak. Most of the lanes of engagement provide easy escape for mr. creeper. And if they are fleeing, I'm not going to be pursuing, most of the time. If they are fleeing after having committed a heinous act against my family God himself would have to remove me from the situation, but just creepin scoping potential hits if they run I'm not pursuing. This means that engagements would take place within a 5 to 25yd ring, and I'm confident that a 380 even at 25 yards will make most aggressor reconsider their life choices... I have taken my recently retired worklight home so now it sits charged and ready right next to the leash. The streamlight has a strobe that really will f you up if you are not prepared for it, so it has a benefit to my wife as a device to aid in fleeing.


I appreciate how positive this thread has stayed, these real world embarrassments are excellent learning tools when shared and discussed openly.

 

[LP1]

Thanks for your input Dusty. I really can relate as I lived with my grandma on her farm for a few years after my grandpa passed. locked in the middle of a 100acre combo of field and woods can lead to some very interesting encounters. I did not go out at night without a shotgun close, for pests as well as scrappers who thought barns were easy targets.

I have started to remedy my readiness, and am shopping for a nice easy to pocket holster 380, doesn't help that I recently made the mistake of picking up the new SA 911 at the lgs. I don't necessarily like 380's, but for the purpose of walking the dog it seems appropriate. It wear gym shorts 99 percent of the time to bed and I'm not going to strap on a belt just so the dog can take a leak. Most of the lanes of engagement provide easy escape for mr. creeper. And if they are fleeing, I'm not going to be pursuing, most of the time. If they are fleeing after having committed a heinous act against my family God himself would have to remove me from the situation, but just creepin scoping potential hits if they run I'm not pursuing. This means that engagements would take place within a 5 to 25yd ring, and I'm confident that a 380 even at 25 yards will make most aggressor reconsider their life choices... I have taken my recently retired worklight home so now it sits charged and ready right next to the leash. The streamlight has a strobe that really will f you up if you are not prepared for it, so it has a benefit to my wife as a device to aid in fleeing.


I appreciate how positive this thread has stayed, these real world embarrassments are excellent learning tools when shared and discussed openly.

Good for you thinking about being better prepared. One area of concern from your post is that it sounds like you might not have a clear idea regarding when the use of deadly force is justified. The use of a firearm against someone creeping around an outbuilding or running away is likely to get you in trouble. And although it's up to you how you're going to act if someone has harmed a loved one, shooting when they are fleeing is another problem area.

IANAL, but the generally accepted definition regarding when deadly force is justified is if you (or a loved one) is in immediate danger of serious bodily injury. There is a lot of difference of opinion regarding curtilage. Strongly suggest that you invest in some good training that includes covering your legal rights and responsibilities.

 

[Ggreen]

Good for you thinking about being better prepared. One area of concern from your post is that it sounds like you might not have a clear idea regarding when the use of deadly force is justified. The use of a firearm against someone creeping around an outbuilding or running away is likely to get you in trouble. And although it's up to you how you're going to act if someone has harmed a loved one, shooting when they are fleeing is another problem area.

IANAL, but the generally accepted definition regarding when deadly force is justified is if you (or a loved one) is in immediate danger of serious bodily injury. There is a lot of difference of opinion regarding curtilage. Strongly suggest that you invest in some good training that includes covering your legal rights and responsibilities.

I'm not going to shoot a prowler. I do have a hard head tho and will generally try to engage them in a calm, but serious conversation away from my loved ones. I don't want to take a knife to a potential knife fight tho, i'd rather be armed appropriately to win unfairly and overwhelmingly. I believe that the stakes tilt towards their nefarious favor if I would allow them to gain access to the home, when I could have ran them off before Mr. Methmouf decided to break my window and slither into the resting place of my family. Where as engaging them outside will make them think "this home is not a soft target, better move along." I've got enough personal experience with these lowlifes to understand their slithery mentality, one of the only lessons I learned from my dad was through exposure to their world. Once they enter a home it is much harder to get them to run away than meeting them outside where they have shadowy options for a stealthy egress. Fight or flight will turn into a fight if there is no easy flight.

I do not recommend my mentality on an after the fact action, and I see the problems with it. I'm not blind, but I am broken. I've lived through a bit of the f*&#ed things this type of human is capable of, and I'll be d*&(ed if my wife or daughter have to live in that type of aftermath. If a horrible, life altering event took place in my home, it would take all of my being not to pursue. I think at that point it would be a race for the pd to get to them first. But this all hypothetical, if that moment ever came it may work out differently.

But back to the point, no i would not shoot a creeper. A creeper that made a life threatening move towards me or my family, absolutely. But just casing the house, my personal experience and reactions have been to engage and watch them flee. Older and wiser, but still not wise me, will move forward being prepared (trained and armed) for events to turn bad. IF the balloon had been a creeper that fled I would have called the pd immediately. And moving forward I will call while standing my ground and defending the accessible points of my home. Side benefit of gym shorts is that the speaker phone can hear pretty well through the pocket.

 

[Lex Concord]

My solution for having gear at the ready at all times...

A few years ago, I found one of these at Goodwill Outlet. It's an older version; likely sturdier.

It is sturdy enough that I can hook one end over the bar and hook the other end through my carry belt, which is connected to my shorts/pants (depending on the season) which will have the following already loaded:
Wallet
Cell phone
Large folder
Small folder
Fenix PD 35 handheld flashlight (I've gotten a few deals on these via Amazon's Warehouse deals over the years; I can't recommend them highly enough as EDC lights - they are very bright and damn-near bulletproof)
Small multi tool
Spare mag carrier w/ 2 full mags (13 x .45)
Empty holster

It doesn't take much longer than putting on gym shorts and tying them, and I just walk over to the safe and grab my carry pistol and lock it in the holster, and I'm good to go.

YMMV

 

[rhino]

My solution for having gear at the ready at all times...

A few years ago, I found one of these at Goodwill Outlet. It's an older version; likely sturdier.

It is sturdy enough that I can hook one end over the bar and hook the other end through my carry belt, which is connected to my shorts/pants (depending on the season) which will have the following already loaded:
Wallet
Cell phone
Large folder
Small folder
Fenix PD 35 handheld flashlight (I've gotten a few deals on these via Amazon's Warehouse deals over the years; I can't recommend them highly enough as EDC lights - they are very bright and damn-near bulletproof)
Small multi tool
Spare mag carrier w/ 2 full mags (13 x .45)
Empty holster

It doesn't take much longer than putting on gym shorts and tying them, and I just walk over to the safe and grab my carry pistol and lock it in the holster, and I'm good to go.

YMMV

You're like a fireman! (they are smart too)