Waking up fast enough?

[Irelander]

I leave my handgun on my dresser instead of my night stand at my wife's request. She told me one morning that in the night I jerked (which woke her up) then reached for my gun. I didn't pick it up or anything but it gave her the willies. I think, for me, it is a good idea to have my weapon a few steps away since I have a hard time waking up. My dresser is pretty high so for now I don't worry about my daughter grabbing my gun since it is out of reach but I am in the market for a small fast access safe because she is growing too fast.

I have experienced the adrenaline induced immediate full alert wake up when my dog has started aggressively barking in the night so I don't worry too much about not being with it enough to respond to a threat if there was a break-in. My dog is getting old and my wife keeps saying that she doesn't want to replace the dog when he passes. I'm ok with that except for the loss of security. Something to think about.

[Tom Duffy]

Agreed. As a volunteer EMT/firefighter, I'm usually alert right after the pager goes off, but sometimes it takes a few minutes to shake off the fog. Accumulated sleep loss is certainly a factor.

I kind of agree, also from the perspective of being a volunteer EMT. I do admit that I'm less sharp on a 3AM call than one mid-day, but since I do it often enough, I'm sharp enough. I think a bright weapon mounted light is a very important part of the equipment for a nightstand gun. The light provides a good initial deterrent and allows a positive ID. Both important when woken suddenly from a deep sleep.

[DocGKR]

Put the pistol in a lock box...

[Alpha Sierra]

What BOM and Caleb said. The stimulus that wakes me up makes a huge difference in how I react.

I liken it to my Navy days. It took forever to wake up for a routine watch in the middle of the night. But if the words "man overboard" or "general quarters" came over the 1MC in the middle of the night, your brain says "it's GO time RFN".

[jetfire]

Doc and Caleb have very good points.

Waking up to strange sounds, glass breaking, your dog trying to get at a threat and eat same goes a long way to spike the adrenaline level in your blood stream. Suddenly the fog tends to go away faster as you wake up. Whether it's 3 AM or not, adrenaline tends to wake me up better than any of the current energy drinks on the market.

I have known a few who keep their defensive handgun a step or two away from their bed versus right next to the bed, or under a pillow. The thought being they wanted to have to take a step or two to get to the gun, causing them to wake faster. These same individuals also had a layered defense within their home. Solid doors with good locks. Loud dogs that would give advanced warning. and so forth.

This is a good point. I keep my HD gun set-up in a way that getting it into the fight will require an intentional decision on my part to make it ready, with long guns that means storing it cruiser ready, with handguns it means the gun is in the holster/or stored empty chamber loaded mag. Yes, it gives me an extra step, but that extra step of pulling a charging handle is also a moment of intention that helps me focus on what I'm doing.

[David Armstrong]

I'm sort of with Caleb. My bedside gun is kept C3 and just far enough away that I have to actually be thinking about moving and trying to get to it.

[Sal Picante]

On a related note: My dad was an OB-GYN doc. Before he retired, he would get called in the middle of the night for surgery/deliveries.

I was up late once years ago when I was still a kid. I remember this clearly because up until then, I never thought about it... Anyway, I heard the phone ring. Once. He had picked it up and was already asking about the situation... 5 minutes later he was in a suit and already heading out the door.

When he came home around breakfast time, I asked him about it... Specifically how he was able to get up/coherent so quickly?

He said it was all about training to react to stimulus: He had trained himself to wake up to the phone. Trained himself to never hit the snooze button. Trained himself to get awake, understand the situation, then make the decision to go back to sleep or not. He would wake up often if a storm blew in, close the windows and go back to bed, etc...

My mom laughed. She said that she was the opposite: she trained herself to sleep through all the damn phone calls and alarms.

I started learning this. I started by setting my alarm at odd hours and just getting up/learning how to fall back asleep again.
Now, even when one of my dogs gets into bed/jumps off, I wake up. I try to see if they need to get water, go to the bathroom, etc... I wake up at the first signal of my alarm. (Often, I'll wake up ~5 minutes before my alarm.) It feels natural to do this now...

[45dotACP]

On a related note: My dad was an OB-GYN doc. Before he retired, he would get called in the middle of the night for surgery/deliveries.

I was up late once years ago when I was still a kid. I remember this clearly because up until then, I never thought about it... Anyway, I heard the phone ring. Once. He had picked it up and was already asking about the situation... 5 minutes later he was in a suit and already heading out the door.

When he came home around breakfast time, I asked him about it... Specifically how he was able to get up/coherent so quickly?

He said it was all about training to react to stimulus: He had trained himself to wake up to the phone. Trained himself to never hit the snooze button. Trained himself to get awake, understand the situation, then make the decision to go back to sleep or not. He would wake up often if a storm blew in, close the windows and go back to bed, etc...

My mom laughed. She said that she was the opposite: she trained herself to sleep through all the damn phone calls and alarms.

I started learning this. I started by setting my alarm at odd hours and just getting up/learning how to fall back asleep again.
Now, even when one of my dogs gets into bed/jumps off, I wake up. I try to see if they need to get water, go to the bathroom, etc... I wake up at the first signal of my alarm. (Often, I'll wake up ~5 minutes before my alarm.) It feels natural to do this now...

I think this is what I am looking for. I think it'd be good to train myself how to get right up. I generally sleep pretty soundly. I once slept through a thunderstorm where a lightning bolt sheared a tree in two pieces not even 50 yards from my house. I woke up to the sound of the bolt, but fell asleep probably five minutes later. Now, being a nursing student with a strong interest in trauma, I figure if I'm gonna get called in to work at 3am it might be a good skillset to have. I can get myself up at 4am to go to clinical, but here's how I plan on getting it done.

-Set the alarm
-Wake up to the alarm.
-Do something that requires higher level mental function.
-Chamber check my gun.

[DocGKR]

-Chamber check my gun.

I would skip this step as there is no upside and lots of potential downside; definitely don't do this without a bullet proof backstop...

[Maple Syrup Actual]

Maybe this is anathema around here but I'd question whether the odds of a home invasion are high enough to trade threat-response alertness for the ability to sleep soundly.

Personally I can't sleep well at all and snap awake like my wife is screaming for help three or four times a night, every night.

I'd be utterly ready for anything any time I woke up and could literally do long division instantly on waking any time.

Do you know what I'd trade for the ability to sleep normally?

Granted I live in a very safe place. But sleep is not something I'd recommend altering, if one can do it well at present. I'd pay almost anything for that ability.

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