Oh Boy........how do you instantly react when your asleep ?

[xXxplosive]

Was woken up this morning at 3:40 AM..........dog jumped on the bed.

Just then I was thinkin' what if I had to clear the house at that moment during an eminent break in or something...... Oh boy, I couldn't even clear my head or get the cobwebs out, that's how sound asleep I was. I soon realized this wouldn't be good. I was not sharp at all, forget about my senses and vision was a bit blurred.
Makes you wonder.

Guess I'll be sleepin' with 1 eye open from now on................

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[WHEC724]

I think about that. I got married late in life and always lived alone, which kept me frosty. When I first got married, my wife was shocked to learn that if I was startled while asleep, my reaction was a cocked fist (fortunately not executed).

Now, after many years later of being ground down by family life, I sometimes don't even wake up when our kid jumps in bed with us.

Rambo, I am not.

I can only hope my increasing insomnia as I get older will allow me to already be awake when some poor, dumb BG targets my home.

[retsupt99]

Other than a canine 'early warning' system, I do not see how I could awake suddenly and be ready for instant action...my body just doesn't work that way.

[buckeye .45]

I'm still young and frost, but it is possible to train your body to react, although I suspect it may be detrimental to sleep quality (I have no evidence to back that up).

Anyone that has ever heard their Drill Instructor yelling as soon as the lights flip on knows what I mean. And it continues after boot camp. If someone says my name, or walks into a room I am in while sleeping, I am instantly awake.

Clearing your house by yourself after you just wake up would be bad juju anyway, make sure that you and your loved ones are secure in rooms with covered approaches, take a minute or two, if my audible or visual cues you still determine someone is in the house, call the cops, they are the pros, and trained to clear structures. I'm trained to clear structures too, but know that doing it by myself is a bad idea, regardless of the time of day.

[Biggie313]

I can tell you from first hand experience its not easy. Especially if you wear contracts and have them out, or leave them in and they get dry and need to use eye drops.

[oakchas]

Due to the fact that I'm a pretty sound sleeper, and there are no little ones in the house: If the alarm (my dogs) sounds, in a serious manner (every one who has dogs know the difference between their dog's curiosity "chuff", and a potentially dangerous bark or growl warning), my plan is to secure our room first, use the phone, and set up a defensive position in the room.

I'm not "clearing" my house.

That said, I have gone out and "cleared" the house, even the property, after having been in bed asleep or nearly so... But, those occurences were based on the perceived nature of the cause of the disturbance. More as a precautionary action than a thought-to-be-necessary action. For instance, I've had people go into the ditch near my home, I've had cars idling at the intersection for "too long" I've had a deer run into the side of my pole shed. I've heard a cat jump onto a 50 gallon drum in my unattached garage... tipping it over made a heck of a racket.

But, when the dogs go nuts... if it doesn't stop shortly, I've been on the phone.

[Glocksin]

I was a sound sleeper up until i got involved with gangs and all the nonsense that goes with that.Now i sleep light.Dont really like that from a comfort standpoint,i loved not waking up in the middle of a storm when i was younger.For those of you who still sleep heavy,an alarm system might be in order purely for the noise factor.

[bsnow]

Just wife and me. Kids are grown and gone. I find that the older I get the harder I sleep, when I am wiped out tired. But on the other hand being used to just me and my beauty, and not used to the kids and dogs possibly yaking it up. I find I can come alive pretty quick if something isn't right. Something like the house settling or an animal (wild or domestic) out on our deck, or whatever. I can't keep trusting myself much longer and am looking into a stout security system for the house. FWIW..

[ccw9mm]

I think about it, too. Occasionally, I am completely wiped out and unable to wake up, with "the fog" clearing all too slowly. One of the good reasons for having an active perimeter system with hugely loud sirens.

[kelcarry]

It is just my wife and I and no other family--children are all grown and out of house. For me, I lock the bedroom door and place a door stopper on door. I have never had a problem waking to the slightest of sounds. I have tried the door from the other side and it will take a fairly good effort to defeat the lock and the stopper---by then there is little doubt that I would be awake---38 is behind pillow, pump double o is within 10 ft---plan is in place. Do not expect to ever have to use any of this and I feel sorry for those of you who honestly have such problems that this is a priority worry. If perps are on other side of door, I activate car alarm, call 911 on bedside cell and just wait. Everything on other side of door is "stuff" and yes it is my stuff and I worked hard for it but I am not going to lose my life over it and insurance will take care of all of it--but if they try that door to the bedroom--all bets are off and I intend to have to deal with cleaning the rugs and repairing some door jambs.

[F350]

Anyone that has ever heard their Drill Instructor yelling as soon as the lights flip on knows what I mean. And it continues after boot camp. If someone says my name, or walks into a room I am in while sleeping, I am instantly awake.

AFFIRMATIVE on that!!! Even when I was in the hospital on post-op morphine every time the night nurse opened the door I woke up. Today I wake up when the alarm switch clicks before the actual alarm sounds.

Before we were married the wife was spending the night, I had a water-bed with bookcase headboard where I kept my cocked and locked 1911. We had the windows open and the wind blew a door shut with a BANG. I grabbed the 1911, pushed her out of bed on the far side from the door, and had a bead on the door over that big water filled bullet stopper waiting for someone to show. Finally we realized what happened but she still recalls it vividly, says she was on the floor before she realized what was going on.

[Sledzep01]

I certainly wake differently depending on what wakes me. I think we all have wake differently when we perceive that an actual threat has awoken us.

Sled

[glockman10mm]

Im not gonna worry about it too much. My vehicles are insured, so Ill worry about that stuff in the morning. I will stay in bed, and not clear my house. Why get up to shoot someone when I can do it from the comfort of my own bed? Nothin valueble can be taken because its all locked up. Only thing of value not locked up is in my bedroom.....come and get it.

[OldVet]

I go coma when I sleep, so anything sort of physical contact doesn't affect me. Alarm clocks have to be really loud.

[DamnitBob]

That's why I have the dog
My mutt is 120 pounds, but far from an attack dog. If a unwanted guest arrives and merely trips over the dog, I'll handle the rest