Good call...I can see how that could become a huge risk for negligent discharge.Originally Posted by DocGKR
Perhaps, the best option is to have an alert/alarm system. This way, the stimulus that snaps me awake is something that I instantly know is a Bad Thing.
I'm with you. After years of being perpetually sleep deprived due to work, I sleep pretty well now and I'm much happier.
Of all the component skills required to solve that problem, waking up is the one I would worry about the least. I would rather invest time in weapons handling and decision making, in an effort to improve my performance through the fog.
My experience is that when woken up by something serious, the adrenaline gets you started. I can sleep through almost anything, but the work phone ringing (or the dog vomiting) and I am up in a flash.
I'm pretty lucky in this regard. I have literally been downstairs, on the phone to 911 with a neighbor having a heart attack, before my wife had her eyes open and glasses on.
Being easily roused is pretty handy… except when the dog is wanting to go outside at 3am, and I'm always the one to get up!
Had an issue where a younger man that was with us overseas had to be strongly counseled regarding appropriate distance and time when sleeping with a weapon under various conditions. The individual in question had nearly shot his assigned roommate in a safe house as the latter came in after doing what we were there to do, sometime after 0 dark whatever. Now, the young man had been particularly sleep deprived for many months at that point, and had happened to live through a hit on a different house by a determined set of adversaries that actually made it over the wall, so he was a bit jumpier than most folks. But this incident taught him a lesson, strenuously reinforced by the extreme displeasure of those of us that were there, about the one extra movement rule for sleeping with weapons.
Now, I make it a point to have that conversation with new folks going out for the first time to avoid having to debrief over midrats in the aftermath. It is interesting to see who protests and who gets it. For the ones that protest, there is always the further discussion of the case out of New York a while ago where an otherwise relatively experienced DEA agent was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head, no apparent motive for suicide; but where phone logs showed a call in the wee hours of the morning.
For what its worth, problems with going to weapons before one is fully awake seems to be more of an issue with pistols than with long guns (even those not in condition 3 / cruiser ready). Never quite sure why - does not seem to be just the issue of safety manipulation, but rather something about the mental model of how one interacts with the pistol versus the rifle (or even the short subguns like the MP5K). An interesting factor for the debate over what to reach for when things go bump in the night....
If you sleep well at night, don't stop sleeping well. Invest in layered security and sleep soundly.
I wake up five times a night. Car alarms, dogs barking, if snow starts falling (seriously the sound of snowfall can wake me up). The only thing in "thrust and grab" distance from my side of the bed is a glass of water, a bright flashlight, and a cellphone. Feet to the floor to reach the weapon.
Quick example of why you should not interrupt sleep cycle stuff...I just wrapped up another killer ECQC course - which is a physically and mentally exhausting experience - and even with sleeping pills and total exhaustion, and a day off and no kids or anything to bother me, in a quiet place...I got a total of 4 hours of interrupted sleep last night, just like the other nights.
Seriously, those who sleep are blessed. Let them have it.
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This is a thread where I built a boat I designed and which I very occasionally update with accounts of using it, which is really fun as long as I'm not driving over logs and blowing up the outboard.
https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....ilding-a-skiff
I used to think that home invasions were low probability events, considering the good neighborhoods I've lived in. But after two attempted home invasions, I don't question the odds anymore. I just expect it's going to happen.
Jesus, aren't you in Victoria?
What are you, living in a house with blacked out windows and a hydro meter stuck on fast forward?
Sent from my SGH-I317M using Tapatalk
This is a thread where I built a boat I designed and which I very occasionally update with accounts of using it, which is really fun as long as I'm not driving over logs and blowing up the outboard.
https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....ilding-a-skiff
Not to drive the thread in a completely off-topic discussion. Knowing that you are an intelligent and pragmatic man, I assume you've worked with a sleep specialsit/research group to explore potential sleep disorders? If not I'd strongly recommend it. They have more complex research methods now where you may not have to leave the comfort of home to explore potential disorders.
-Rob
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