It is the sound that almost everyone fears at some point. ‘That noise’ you hear while you are in bed that doesn’t sound right. I don’t know how many times I have been in bed with my wife and we will hear something and she will say ‘What was that’? Already, my ears are perked up and I am trying to figure out mentally what that sound was. In some cases it is perfectly normal like my daughter dropping what sounds like a 50 pound brick on the floor upstairs. Other times it may be outside or isn’t something I can explain so I get out of bed to investigate. It is times like this that I want to have items within arm’s reach that I may need should that bump in the night be more sinister than my daughter.
You aren’t much more vulnerable than when you are sleeping at night. Usually, we aren’t in clothes that would provide any reasonable protection. We don’t have shoes or socks on and if you are woken from sleep, you could be groggy and disoriented. Going from being warm and comfy under the covers to ready to defend your life doesn’t happen immediately, but the sooner you can be prepared to address a threat, the better off your chances of survival will be.
There was a time after the death of our last dog and before we got the latest survival dog that we couldn’t depend on a canine friend to warn us of danger, or to investigate strange noises. If something was wrong I would spring from bed and do my best job of investigating any noise and clearing rooms to ensure I hadn’t missed someone. Now, I would do the same but I would be sending my dog ahead of me because her senses would be far superior to any human at finding any trouble quickly and potentially starting to deal with the threat.
Even with a dog there are items in my nightstand that are ready for me to grab in seconds if a situation like this happens.
Gun – Assuming you aren’t anti-gun or they aren’t illegal where you live a gun is my first priority when it comes to home defense. Why not something like a baseball bat? Because a bad guy might have a gun and I would rather stare down a criminal who is bold enough to enter my house while I am sleeping with a gun that try to assume I can crack him on the skull and not get shot. In my case, the gun of choice is a 1911 .45.
Flashlight – There are some downsides to having a flashlight from the sense of showing the bad guy where you are, but the benefits of being able to see what you are shooting at far outweigh any downsides. For the obvious reasons of being able to see where you are going and what is the source of the noise a flashlight is extremely valuable. Add to that proper identification of the threat and you should agree that having a flashlight could save a life too. If you think someone is in your home and you have a gun in your hand you should be able to see accurately what you are aiming that gun at before you pull the trigger.
Phone – You may need to call 911 from your bedroom and if you are somehow trapped in your room you want a way to call out.
Knife – Why have a knife if you have a gun? For me, I have my knife on my nightstand anyway simply because it is part of my EDC gear that I have to wear daily. The knife is a worst case backup. What if the bad guy breaks down your door before you can grab the gun, or the gun jams? Not my ideal choice, but it is redundant gear that I have anyway.
Glasses – If you need glasses or if you sleep with your contacts out, you need something to help you see as quickly as possible. This is probably a no-brainer for anyone who does have vision issues but I know some people by routine leave these in the bathroom.
Shoes – Ideally something that you could slip on fast and I am not talking about slippers. If you have some violent altercation you would be better equipped if you had sturdy shoes on or at least something that would give you traction and could protect your feet. What if there was a broken window and you needed to move through the area with broken glass? You would ideally not have to worry about what you stepped on as you moved through the home and you wouldn’t want to slip and bust your ass on the stairs either.
So there are 6 items you can keep in your nightstand or directly next to your bed in the event you need to spring into action to investigate something in your home. I left off the other basics of a notepad to write down ideas…. or a glass of water. What are your ideas for what to keep in your nightstand?
