The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - WOW! House alarm went off... How did you do?

PADefenseTrainer · December 4, 2011, 11:47 AM

False alarms are great training opportunities. That's when you find out what you don't know.

I had a similar issue happen about 8 years ago. Same thing, I was sound asleep when the alarm went off.

But, I had planned for that, so I knew where my HK .45 with weapon light was (I don't care what you say, my home defense weapon will ALWAYS have a light on it!). My pattern is to have a full magazine and an empty chamber. I need to be awake enough to rack the slide before I can shoot the gun.

But I also sprang for a decent alarm system and all bedrooms have a alarm keypad in them.

My first step (after getting the gun) was to go to the keypad and the display tells me "GARAGE MOTION". I wait for another 10 seconds - and no other alarm.

So now I knew what area to check first. And since there were no secondary alarms, I could tell that there wasn't anyone else anywhere else.

I stopped to put on pants because I didn't want to be found dead in my house wearing nothing but Simpsons boxer shorts

It turned out to be nothing - probably a mouse or something. I have since tweaked the system to keep that from happening.

There's a lot of places in our lives where we can save money. But if you are going to have an alarm - splurge a little.

December 4, 2011, 11:47 AM	#47
PADefenseTrainer Member Join Date: November 12, 2011 Location: Eastern PA Posts: 48	It's all about planning ahead False alarms are great training opportunities. That's when you find out what you don't know. I had a similar issue happen about 8 years ago. Same thing, I was sound asleep when the alarm went off. But, I had planned for that, so I knew where my HK .45 with weapon light was (I don't care what you say, my home defense weapon will ALWAYS have a light on it!). My pattern is to have a full magazine and an empty chamber. I need to be awake enough to rack the slide before I can shoot the gun. But I also sprang for a decent alarm system and all bedrooms have a alarm keypad in them. My first step (after getting the gun) was to go to the keypad and the display tells me "GARAGE MOTION". I wait for another 10 seconds - and no other alarm. So now I knew what area to check first. And since there were no secondary alarms, I could tell that there wasn't anyone else anywhere else. I stopped to put on pants because I didn't want to be found dead in my house wearing nothing but Simpsons boxer shorts It turned out to be nothing - probably a mouse or something. I have since tweaked the system to keep that from happening. There's a lot of places in our lives where we can save money. But if you are going to have an alarm - splurge a little.