Thing that went bump in the night

[hog45]

So for various reasons I got up today at 4:30 AM, which is very much out of the norm for me, and I had a bad night of sleep for what little I did get.

My EDC is the same as my nightstand gun, so I grabbed it from beside the bed (it is always holstered) and headed downstairs where my clothes for the day were.

About two steps down the stairs, I fell. All the way down to the bottom. Bump bump bump bump bump bump bump splat. (splat, not bang)

I held onto the gun, and it remained in the holster, so everyone was safe in that regard, and remarkably I did not hurt myself very much. I am 32 years old and in good health and good shape. I haven't fallen down since I was like 6.

I share this story because it is hopefully mildly amusing, and it tells me that I am not nearly as balanced and clear-headed in the middle of the night as I would like to be.

If an intruder had awakened me and I responded by falling down the stairs, it probably would have gotten worse when I landed, and been worse for everyone.

Lessons:
1. I cannot plan on jumping out of bed in the middle of the night and immediately having control of my faculties enough to defend my family. I will need some sort of early alarm setup that will hopefully buy me an extra moment or two to fully engage

2. if the gun had not been holstered, its very easy to imagine me squeezing the trigger when my feet went out from under me and every muscle in my body tightened. Keep the holster and always maintain trigger awareness. MAYBE consider emptying the chamber at bed time, if I am confident enough in my early alarm setup from lesson 1.

3. Nobody else in my family woke up when I tumbled down the stairs, so again, an alarm system might be the only thing that would reliably wake us up.

There, that's my embarrassing story, make what you want of it.

[normanvin]

At least you would still have gotten the bad guy.



He would have died of laughter.

[RebelRaider5]

As soon as I remove my sidearm from it's holster I drop the mag, clear the chamber and put the mag back in. My carry gun is also my nightstand gun.

*Also this could be a plus for a gun with a magazine safety. If it weren't holstered [I keep my holster on my pants], and you took a fall you could of hit the mag release and wouldn't have worried about the gun firing since there's no mag inserted.

[AJ C-burg]

At least you would still have gotten the bad guy.



He would have died of laughter.

Lol! Rep sent

[FLICK]

*Also this could be a plus for a gun with a magazine safety. If it weren't holstered [I keep my holster on my pants], and you took a fall you could of hit the mag release and wouldn't have worried about the gun firing since there's no mag inserted.

Or, if your in a tussle with a bad guy and somehow the mag release gets hit, you don't even get the one shot in the chamber. A magazine safety is a bad idea, period. For me, the minuses of a mag safety far outway the positives.....

[Snert]

Yeah sure...

We all know the truth, you were wearing those pink bunny slippers again. And you for got to make sure you didn't step on the long ears flopping around. So you went ass over tea kettle down the stairs wearing the bunny slippers and your snuggie jammies...lol

OK so on the serious note, good thing on the retention. But you are absolutely correct on the awaken in the night. Unless you are awakened by the bad guy entering/forcing his way in. You can expect to be at a big disadvantage from being asleep.

Maybe invest in the stand alone alarm set. put the door and windo sensors to beep in the master bedroom when things are opened. But bog thing is not sleeping through the beep sound.

Ironically, Lightning can strike outside my window, my wife says I sleep right through it. But she said as soon as the slightest little bump/thump of a branch falling on the roof I am awake in a split second. Or if I hear the dog starting to make the "I'm gonna puke noise" and we all know what that sound is. I am up and heading to get the door open before the mess is made.

Snert..

[jthrelf]

I think this is a good reminder to never catch a falling gun. Yes that means your hi point or your ed brown.

[markshere2]

One thing missing from this morning's fiasco: adrenaline.

You get woke up in the bad way and you KNOW you are going into combat, it's a whole different situation.

Your nostrils flare and you heart starts hammering and time slows down and you ARE awake.

[snakeman21]

If I were your roomate, I'd have been there for you, right at the top of the stairs, to laugh histerically at you. I would help you, but only after A) verifying you were still alive, and B) busting my gut laughing.

[Bill67]

I feel for you amongst all of the laughs. Don't get me wrong , it is still pretty funny. I get up every night at the same time, get dressed and plod down the steps to go to work. Sometimes awake, sometimes not so much.
There have been a few times I have missed the stair tread all together and down I go. I am not as young as I used to be, but I still know how to fall gracefully.

Good job on keeping your EDC holstered. That may have saved you from putting a hole somewhere in your house or yourself.