(WARNING: This is a Long Post so it will take more time to read than normal.)
This is a subject that to the best of my knowledge few have written about, talked about or much less even taught in any kind of an armed self-defense course. What do you do with a firearm in a motel room? How safe are you in a 'rental sleeping room' and where is the best place to keep your blaster while you are totally in Condition White and 'proned-out' to boot?
Walt Rauch and I have discussed this at length over many years and I seriously don't want to steal his thunder on this issue because he came up with a method that I feel is pretty darn good and it should be his to explain. Not mine. However every method or means employing firearms always has good points and negative ones, so I will explain a method I came to on my own that works well in conjunction with Walt's. None of these ideas are the end-all, be-all on this subject. Just think of them as good starting points because so few have discussed this aspect of personal security in the popular gun press, or if they have....I was asleep in the back row and missed it.
All my adult life I have been a frequent traveler. And being the person I am, unless I was going off-shore, I was armed, sometimes heavily. Yet motels and hotels by definition are places where in all likelihood the bed you're getting ready to sleep in has been occupied by hundreds, if not thousands of souls prior to your dead-ass appearance. In the age of soft metal door keys, that fact alone always left me uneasy and lessen my belief in my personal security for the oncoming evening.
I believe the concept of security in a motel room is illusionary. Much like TSA's security procedures that fail to check body cavities. The minimal is done to create an illusion to make everyone feel good, when the reality is something else altogether.
Today the use of the programmable plastic pass card has eliminated some of that concern, but concerns remain and I don't intend to demean or raise questions about the overall honesty or trustworthiness of motel service personnel, but the fact remains that each of us in our respective families, close friends or loved ones have had someone battling a severe illicit drug problem, why should hotel maids be any different?
Add into this mix, the small percentage of the general population who are prone to violent criminal proclivities and eventually the roulette wheel of life is going to come up with a combination where hotel service worker is going to lose their 'master' pass card to one of these individuals and he will pick the room you're sleeping in as his equivalent of 7-7-7 on the slot machine of life.
Fifty or sixty years ago it was standard practice to place a straight back chair under the brass doorknob to your room as your own guarantee of personal security while you were asleep, but that kind of furniture and door latches have gone the way of the dial telephone and steam locomotion. Today the best you can do is just 'pile' stuff against the back side of door and hope for the best. Which isn't much with the leverage of today's wide doors.
My best, however, usually involves a five shot .38 and a larger pistol of some description. But where do you put them? And what exactly is the threat?
I view the threats to an overnight motel/hotel room occupant can be categorized down to three primary areas: physical assault (sexual in nature, mostly for women), theft and fire. Firearms are a good antidote for the first two...if you are prepared!
The main problem is the physical aspects of awakening from a deep slumber and the unfamiliarity of the sleeping room. It's obvious, but it still must be stated in bold print....YOU'RE NOT HOME! In all the motel/hotel rooms I've slept in every damn one of them was different from all the others in some way, shape or form....sometimes by the smallest of dimensions, but in an emergency that could be the crucial difference.
We have to assume that anyone entering the bedroom, even a rental bedroom, of a sleeping person is good at their criminal craft or else they wouldn't be doing it! Therefore they will be quiet and completely covert. If all they want to do is steal your cash, jewelry and credit cards they will do it in the quietest manner possible. If they want to assault you, they won't do so until they have positioned themselves in a manner that grants them the maximum in terms of raw physical advantage.
You can purchase travel doorknob alarms, but the idea of a false alarm has always turned me off of them. I know when I worked briefly as a police officer false alarms were always a great pain-in-the-butt, so I have a tendency to view such things with disdain. Maybe I'm totally in the wrong on this issue. You can put a bunch of newspapers down on the floor just inside the door that will 'crackle' if moved during the night, but I've found when you have to get up in the middle of the night and go to the bathroom your bare feet stick to them as you pass by and they 'follow' you back to bed. On such occasions, I've always felt like the woman who got the toilet paper stuck in her pantyhose and left the restroom trailing a six feet long white 'streamer'.
Sometimes you just have to sleep with one eye open.
In view of these facts, Walt Rauch feels the best place to keep your cash, passport, expensive jewelry, credit cards and your personal firearms is under the covers next to where you are sleeping. You can leave some 'bait' out like a wallet (mine has only identity papers, no money) or a watch, hoping that in the process they do something to awaken you. From this point on, it is easy to access your handgun without them even knowing you are preparing to give them additional body orifices. Walt can explain this whole thing better than I and his reasons for it, but I believe it is a good system. I will leave it for him to expound upon in one of his written commentaries for further explanation and detail.
Walt's method works and I use it, but it doesn't address the issue of FIRE. Additionally, it only works in my domestic situation when I'm sleeping alone as my wife, even after 32 years, won't sleep in the same bed with my blaster!
Therefore, I've come up with the following practice. But, it only works if you wear substantial shoes. If you are one who routinely wears four inch spike heels with spaghetti straps, then go back to Walt's system because this one won't work for you. You also have to identify which side of the bed you will be sleeping on; right or left? Remember you're not home and each motel room is different so you won't be doing what you do at home and for sound reasons. In a motel room I want to sleep as far away from the entry way door as possible and that determines which side of the bed I will be sleeping on.
Once decided, I place my shoes/boots on that side and as close to the head of the bed as possible. In one shoe/boot goes the larger blaster while the smaller one goes under the sheets beside me (Walt's system). In the remaining boot (Frank's system) I put all my cash, credit cards and passport. On the nightstand beside the bed I put my watch, my flashlight, a pen or writing instrument of some kind, a pad of paper and my cellphone while it is on the charger.
This system works when the wife is with me or hopefully in the event of a fire. I can access my footwear, a blaster, my identity and my money simply by grabbing my pair of shoes. If you sleep in the nude there is always the problem of exposure, but if you're female and built like a Miss Universe I doubt if any of the red-blooded first responders will even notice the 6" Model 29 .44 Mag you have in your hand. For the rest of us footwear is important for many reasons I won't get into here. I can always grab clothes or get them somewhere; money, guns and proper fitting boots are another issue altogether.
I hope you find this information useful and at some point in time it saves you some grief.
All The Best,
Frank W. James
Thursday, June 25, 2009
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20 comments:
The Safe-Packer holster from The Wilderness works well for me. Just tuck the flap between the matress & box spring. www.thewilderness.com The door can be wedged to by some time, buy one or cut one.
I travel a lot, unfortunately mostly by plane. I don't normally bring firearms along because of that. There is often a decent knife, and briht flashlight. When carrying a substantial non-folding knife I like to slip it betwee the mattress and box springs with the grip sticking out. I don't put things in my shoes, because eversnce Basic Training I've always kept them ready to throw on in case of having to evacuate due to fire. I'll give it another thought though. I have slept with the blaster under the spare pillow in other situations and it is truly useful. It is much easier to roll out of bed at night with gun in hand that way. That supcious noise on the back porch won't care about how you are dressed either.
I practice many of these same principles when I travel, Although I often travel with small children that sleep with one of the parents. That negates the gun in the bed. i've also thought about one of those little clip on bells for your fishing pole to put on the door as a cheap noise maker. Works for keeping track of sneaky little kids also.
FARMER: When the kids were little, I reversed ordered the sleeping positions. THEY slept as far away from the entry way door as possible while I slept closest. They were the reasons why I did the newspaper on the floor drill.
As for guns with kids, I used fanny packs and because I was sleeping next to the closet (at least usually) the gun in the fanny pack went on a closet shelf with the closet door open. the gun was never seen or discussed in the presence of the kids. Wouldn't have made any difference any way because they were so used to them anyhow.
All The Best,
Frank W. James
Frank,while I don't work at a motel,I do work at a higher end hotel,doing security work.
Neither motels,let alone hotels are safe for anybody. Theft behing the biggest threat,after that assault,usually on somebody who has had one too many at the bar.
There is also another issue. Many hotels,and some motels,are not gun friendly. This is something to take into concideration when traveling.
As for fire,one thing I always do when in a hotel or motel is find the fire exits,then keep the key attached to me at all times,as well as ID. You would be amazed how many people don't keep ID on them at hotels,but leave it in their rooms when attending meetings or such.
This one strikes me as a "no good solution" problem. But you've given me a lot of compromise options to think over. Thanks.
Good info, Frank. Missouri has had CCW only since 2004, I think, and I've not traveled much since that time. However, when I do, I try to duplicate my sleeping habits from home as much as I can. That is sleeping on the same side of the bed as I do at home. I also keep by .38 snubbie on the nightstand, within easy reach, just like I do at home. Keeps old habits working for you.
It's just keeping as much the same as I'm used to at home. I'll keep your points in mind too next time I'm on the road.
I have bought a couple of door wedges that have a 90-110 db alarm in them, even use them at home at times. I found them at Shopko and such stores in the home/garage aisle. I've seen them in "cheaper than dirt" flyers. Hope this helps. the mushroom
I carry along a night light [check the bulb!] and a wedge for the door. Don't take a room on the first floor [except when traveling with large dog] or on a floor that gives access directly to a roof. Wedges for the door can be a problem if there's a fire, but you're not supposed to throw open the door when the alarm goes off, anyway. had to take a ground floor room in a bad neighborhood once, and the bathroom window wouldn't lock; since it opened in, I put two empty soda cans on the window ledge. And left the light on! OldeForce
I'm inclined to believe that any respectable thief is going to slide something under the door first to move any wedges (alarmed or not) out of the way. I could be wrong, not being one with any real experience in breaking into motel rooms and all.
However, you can get little magnetically tripped battery operated stick-on alarms (the ones with two pieces- one for the door and the other for the door frame) from the dollar store. Sure, you have to remember to turn them off whenever you leave the room, and you'll have to throw it away after each motel stay since the sticky won't be very dependable once used, but they're only a buck and very small.
Just a thought...
I am a heavy sleeper, wake groggy, and have been known to sleep walk a lot.
So before I can respond to a threat while asleep I need a LOT of noise and some time.
Door wedge - two dollars of insurance that can stop an entry cold, while making a lot of noise from the pushing on the door.
I also noted that my wife has a "purse" in which she keeps all her valuables readily accessible and portable. I got a very manly tool bag of appropriate size. It has room for all my valuables and a holstered weapon. I keep it on the nightstand. It both locates all my needs in one place and can serve as a grab & go bag.
I leave some light on in the room to remove the unfamiliarity upon awakening. It also helps me find the bathroom.
Large knife. I feel comfortable leaving a sheathed Kabar on the nightstand in no-gun hotels (like Japan). The maids there thought it was way cool, and that I was a gangster or ex-military for even having it. Much giggling as I let them hold it and feel the edge.
And in motels I back the car into the space, leaving the trunk close to the room door, thus harder to access without notice by a local thief.
Leaving your gun on the nightstand MAY be ok at home, when most entry will occur in areas distant from the bedroom. Not so in motels/hotels. And, the nightstand will most likely be the first place a sneak thief will hit. Keep it in the bed.
I think it was Ayoob who mentioned using an ankle holster for night use in motels. You always know where your gun is, and if you visit the bathroom it automatically goes with you.
Will
Good post.
Thanks to Tam and others; this post has attracted a lot of 'traffic' and that's fine.
Many have mentioned door wedges and I failed to mention them in the initial article. I don't use them in motel/hotel rooms for a specific reason.
I've had them stick to the point where I've had to use a sledgehammer to remove them on doors on farm building where I use them to 'lock' the door and prevent unauthorized entry.
No system is perfect and it is up to each of us to determine what is acceptable, but my fear is in the event of a FIRE a stuck door wedge could prove extremely hazardous if not fatal if you can't remove it in a timely manner.
It was an oversight on my part not to mention this in the original post.
Use your own judgement on this matter.
All The Best,
Frank W. James
I used to travel around the west with a work crew. One of the guys slept with a pistol under his pillow and forgot to secure it before going to work. He remembered when we were stopping for coffee on the way to the field. The maid had already cleaned the room and nobody knew anything about a gun. The cops were called and like most people, all he could tell them was the make and caliber. As I recall, it was a snubnosed, nickle plate, 5 round, .38 Colt revolver. He never got it back. Lesson learned... Don't put it where you might forget it.
I don't travel nearly as much as I used to when I was younger - but back then I hitchhiked and camped like a tramp. I almost never travel armed or with guns - but back then I had a large boy-scout sheath knife, and a couple other things.
I hate to stay in hotels and motels and my biggest recent worries since becoming a gun-owner and shooter are the anxiety and insecurity issues I have felt while staying at the hotel for the Gunblogger Rendezvous - and leaving guns in the hotel room while I was elsewhere.
That has just bugged me big-time majorly - and that's my biggest gripe with the event, my own insecurity.
I didn't want to be *The Guy* who cause the inevitable delays - something that everyone mentioned and talked about - that involved keeping guns in the hotel safe and the hassles with the hotel staff - but I absolutely didn't trust or feel good about leaving them alone in the room. It's the one thing that gives me pause each year, whether to attend or not.
On the 20th Floor you're SOL for fire anyhow, except hoping the stairwells are still good to go - no ladder will reach there.
When we fly-off on vacation we don't bring any firearms, and we stay at a condo without room service - we do it (take out the garbage, cooking and laundry) ourselves. I really hate hotels and motels nowadays and won't stay in them, I don't like all the people around or the aspect of transient-ness that is so imbued...
Very thoughtful. I'll be linking to your article via my pro-gun blog.
To avoid forgetting the gun under my pillow, I put my car keys, wallet, or something else that I must have to be able to leave the motel. An empty holster sitting on top of your bag will do, also.
Why not just buy one of those portable battery powered door/window alarms.
Or even simpler, have a heavy weight with a wire that you attach to the door knob. If the door is opened, the wire is pulled out or broken triggering an alarm to sound.
Being a farmer, I'm sure you have some scrap 2X4 bits about the place. Cut a few door wedges in different sizes & leave 'em in the suitcase. Reason for different size/angles, to accomidate various door jams. Can be customized with a little inner-tube rubber to give it traction. Damn sure better than door chains....
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