Camping out vs staying on the move

[BCeagle]

I always told that unless you are behind solid 100% reliable cover you should stay on the move, as a moving target is harder to hit. If you stay in one place a BG has a chance to assess where you are and your position's weakness if he has decided to stay and fight.

What changes at home. My defense plac involces getting the family in a safe place away from the line of fire and kneeling sideways in a door jam facing a choke point entering my bedroom. Any BG trying to get into the bedroom has to get past 10 feet of narrow entranceway, so only an idiot could miss him if he tried to enter.

I assume everyone here is in the same boat, is there any situation where anyone would give up the tactical advantage (and I assume suprise factor) and actually go out to find the BG. Obviously if you hear something but are unsure if anyone is in the house and need to clear the home that is a different situation (and in my opinion more dangerous)

[N.H. Yankee]

Agree that in the home DO NOT advance if all of your loved ones are are protected. I also would not go outside to check on a strange noise, once again you are at the disadvantage not knowing who or what is out there and where they are. This is just one more reason I like having at least one BIG dog with no sense of humor. Dogs can also be a very good first alert though some breeds are better than others. I have a 100lb Lab that just plain has no sense of humor, but snores so loud and hard when she sleeps next to the wall, it vibrates. She is oblivious to anything except the refrigerator door opening.

Now here's where the little 10lb REAL watchdog comes in, this dog sleeps with one eye and both ears open. A freeking ant crosses the driveway and she lets you know. This is my setup, the WATCHDOG senses intrusion, she barks nonstop and wakes up the enforcer who now yawns and shakes her big head, then hauls butt barking. The lab was an abused dog has does not trust nor like anyone but immediate family, she makes Charlie Mansion look tame.

I never go on the offense unless someone is in immediate danger. Also if outside I would not keep moving, I'd find cover quick forcing the aggressor to expose theirselve. I see it this way moving around may expose you long enough for a lucky shot to get you. I would hesitate moving even with minimal cover if it meant the BG would have to move to get to me. All in all most times common sense will prevail but even luck can still play a vital role.

[BCeagle]

Right now I stay small and stay in the door jamb facing the entranceway, I assume a BG will have no idea which is the master bedroom if he chooses correctly he is shot in the front, if he chooses wrong then I need to be careful not to shoot him in the back but a shot to the legs may be an option.

Every fall, my alarm goes off from mice fleeing the cold and the motion detectors pick them up in the basement. I always wait a few minutes, see if the alarm trips again but then have no choice but to look around if I dont hear anything for 5-10 minutes. Hated it before I had a gun, and hate it now because I feel I need to be extra careful.

[bigghoss]

She is oblivious to anything except the refrigerator door opening.

ROTFLMAO

that reminds me of something I read the other day in a story by Charles Dickey. He said his dog Buck was very astute and if you got up to get a drink of water he paid you no mind. But if you got up to make a sandwich he'd follow you into the kitchen.

[m&p45acp10+1]

I personaly do not have a problem of staying put vs. moving in my place. I live in a duplex and my apartment is a studio style. The only room that is enclosed is the bathroom which is very small. There is only one door in and if that opens and it is not maintance when I have called they will be greeted by my 45. If they get past my blue heeler it means that they have thrown his fizbie a few blocks away and he has not made it back yet.

[P97]

I know that a lot live where its impossible to have dogs, but to me dogs is just as important as my guns for defense. No one will be in my house or yard without me knowing it. I have the advantage of hearing them enter the house and stopping them as they enter. I live in a neighborhood that has had break-ins while the owners are away during the day. I believe my dogs has prevented daytime break-ins at my house. I value my dogs as highly as my guns for defense.

[Rangefinder]

Moving positions generally falls into one of two catagories: Advancing, or retreating. If you're in your home, I would say there are very few circumstances you should do either one--inside your home is a defensive position. Sit tight in a defendable position, and let the intruder make himself a target. If he doesn't, there is no reason to go "hunting" for him and make yourself vulnerable.

[Mannlicher]

Just the wife and I, but our bedroom is fairly 'safe'. It would take a determined and skilled person to gain ingress if I wanted to deny that.
I am NOT going to them.........

[FireForged]

It all depends on each situation.. where you are may not be good but I might be better than where you can go. I think it is better to understand the methodogoly of armed combat and decide for yourself what you need to do rather than have a list of rules.

[Skans]

Yes, it depends. It depends on your family situation and on the layout of your house. In my situation, I have a one story 3,700 sf house, but me, my wife, my kid and the dog sleep in the two adjacent bedrooms in the far corner of the house. I know where everyone is in an instant.

My house is also an older house where it is easy to section off rooms just by closing the doors. And, in fact, we leave large sections of the house closed off so that we only need to run one A/C unit most of the time. Two story or open plan houses would be totally different.

Because my house is normally sectioned off into 3-4 distinct areas (other than the bedrooms) it's real easy for me to clear an area and move on. It's also real easy for me to hear where the BG might be. He would likely have to open several sliding pocket doors just to get to the main part of the house.

So, unless the BG wants to wonder around my work-out room, extra bath room, laundry room, and kitchen, he's going to make a crap-load of noise getting to where anything valuable is, or even beyond to the bedrooms. So, I can clear the critical areas very quickly and then take my sweet time checking out those areas that aren't very meaningful.

Everyone's house and family situation is going to be different and prsents different complexities.

[Mello2u]

Maybe those of us concerned with home defense should consider filling our interior walls with sand.

A web article at the link below shows what a wall constructed of 2" x 6" covered with two 1/2" drywall/sheetrock layers can do. They fired .22 rim fire, 9mm Ball, .45 ACP, 5.56mm XM-193 Ball out of a 20″ AR15, 7.62 X 51 from a FAL, a 12 gauge slug, and finally .223 and .308 rifle rounds.

The Sands O' Truth
http://theboxotruth.com/docs/bot7.htm

[GSDs]

Send the dog to go figure out if it's a threat or not.

[Rangefinder]

The problem with that is my dog is tough as all-get-out, so long as they're on the other side of the door... Great early warning system, no doubt. But when it comes time to walk the walk, my dog would rather have a treat and a comfy spot to lay.

[45Gunner]

Probably the best bet is to teach the dog how to shoot.

My dog is the first line of defense. Aside from hearing the refrigerator door open from a mile away, she is tuned in to everything and anything that is not "normal." And for such a pussycat of a dog, she can sound and look pretty scary when the need arises.

The master bedroom sits off a loft on the second floor. I have instructed my wife that her job is to get to the phone and call 911. I could easily hold down the fort from a tactical position at the loft as it has a commanding view of the great room below and there is only one way up. However, I would not want to chance losing what is downstairs and would in deed grab my 1911 and tactical flashlight and go on the hunt for what may be lurking in the shadows. Keep in mind that unless one of your friends has broken into your home, a thief is unfamiliar with the layout and must grope around in the dark to find the goodies. I have a sign by the entrance to the house at the garage that says, "If you are found here at night, you will found here in the morning."

[Dwight55]

Bump in the night leaves one with two choices: hole up or go investigate.

I have gone investigating, . . . but only when I was 90% sure that I knew it was going to be OK, . . . and only then with my 1911. I don't have dogs.

My preferred choice that we so far have not had to use, . . . my wife goes into our private bathroom off our bedroom to do 2 things: get out of any line of fire, . . . and call police on her cell phone. I'm on the other side of the bedroom, . . . and just by chance, . . . I found a perfect spot for defense. It is behind the door of my gun safe, . . . with my rifle laying over the top.

I can cover anyone attempting to enter the bedroom with my M1A or 1911, and have no worries unless the bg is sporting something that will pierce 3/8 inch steel on the front of the safe door.

It is one of those things that just worked out, . . . never planned that way, . . . but I like it. I also have a battery powered megaphone to let bg's know that the cops are on their way, . . .

May God bless,
Dwight