Hey everyone, I'd like to ask your input on an old topic/new solution.  This is the scenario: you wake up in the middle of the night and there's a threat downstairs.  You've got to gear up immediately but you're in your boxers.  What do you grab and how do you carry it?  

Like I said, not a new subject but I think I've got a new solution.  I made a prototype shoulder rig I call The Bump In The Night Bag that you can quickly throw over your shoulder and keep a pistol, magazines, phone, and light all right on your hip.  You can see pictures at BITNbag.com.

I'd love to get your feedback on the idea.  Is this something that would be useful to you guys?  Could you see it fitting into your home invasion response plan?  And if not, is there anything that you would suggest changing or tweaking to make it more useful?

Thanks a bunch.

Kinda like it but in the middle of the night scenario there is likely no time for gear.  You should have a loaded weapon ready to go, with a light (be cautious on use) and enough ammo to take care of the issue all in one package.  Between the disorientation of just waking up, the dark, etc. you need to have one thing and one thing only to grab.  Now I say this as a rifle for home defense guy, not a pistol for home defense guy so your rig probably makes a lot more sense for the pistol folks.

^^ What he said. There is simply no time to "gear up" or grab a bag and sort through it.

THREAD IS USLESS WITHOUT PICS OF SAID BAG

Agreed.

I have a maxpedition bag for this purpose with a spare light, pistol mag, leather man, AR mag, and first aid kit in it. The back pocket is large enough to hold my M&P w/ TLR-1s.

If I hear something I have my M&P loaded and ready to go and a light right next to it not including the one mounted to it. I have the bad under my bed and could quickly grab it and throw it over my shoulder having everything l need but if I don't have time for it I'm still well prepared. The bag is more so I am not the guy walking around with a gun when the SO shows up than anything else.

I think if you found a way to keep it nearly as compact as it currently is, and add at least 2 but preferably 3-4 rifle mag locations it could be a hit alternative to the standard chest rig assuming the weight distribution was comfortable.  For your current marketing model, I don't think there is much of a demand.  Like other posters have said, in a basic BITN/home invasion situation there is generally no time or need for a rifle home defense owner to put on any rig unless it has armor.  If I did have time to rig up, I would choose something that can handle mags for my rifle, so would go for a standard chest rig over the BITN bag.

Count me as interested if you can incorporate some AR mag pouches .

Some kind of chest rig, such as plate carrier. armor, and/or vest would work.  MOLLE on the front so you can add pouches for pistol, rifle/pistol mags, light, knife, first aid kit, phone, or whatever else you need.

every bump in the night ive had i just grabbed my my pistol (x300 mounted).  i figure if i cant get back to my cell phone or one of the two wall phones when the action stops, i'm screwed anyways.  i also figure 18 rounds is enough to either scare off/eliminate the threat or get back to the bedroom where my rifle is, so i'm not terribly worried about having extra mags.  Its just not practical to me to grab a bunch of crap everytime the neighborhood kids are out knocking over mailboxes.

i gotta be honest with you on the design though.  i dont understand why you'd have the extra flashlight and magazine on a right handed shooters strong side hip.  this would make it very difficult to grab those items with the left hand under normal circumstances much less an adernaline fueled high in the dark.  rather than putting shotgun shell holders on the chest strap, you should put some molle straps there and horizontally mount the flashlight and magazine to the shoulder strap.  this would be much quicker and smoother.

i think its a decent idea though.  i'd be interested if you could fix the layout.  the whole selling point here is "you can carry extra stuff"....but none of that stuff is easily accessible so whats the point of carrying it?

I really like that idea.  That's a great point that I hadn't thought of.  So far I've been able to pull the bag over to centerline so that I can easily get into it with my left hand, but maybe I'll play with moving that gear up on the strap, or just putting MOLLE straps there, so things can be more easily accessed with the left hand.  Thanks a bunch for the suggestion.

I like the idea of using a vest too; I've got a couple also.  The reason I made this bag as well is because it's small enough to fit in my pistol safe by my bed so I can keep it geared up and throw it on just as fast as if I were to only grab the handgun.  It's less Rambo-ish than the vest and a lot faster too.  

Here are some pictures of the prototype:

http://www.bitnbag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/image-12-e1372198170581-180x300.jpeg

http://www.bitnbag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/image-11-e1372198138319-260x300.jpeg

http://www.bitnbag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/image-14-e1372198022389-220x300.jpeg

AR + 30 round mag loaded
Maybe a second mag if I have a pocket or something.

Light on the rail

I use a Shellback Go Time chest rig for a bedpost rig. It carries two AR mags, a pistol mag and a flashlight and has a neck strap for easy deployment.  

OP, your idea looks to be a good one.

Bump-in-the-night check list:

weapon (rifle, pistol, or shotgun...anything is fine, as long as it is loaded and works)

light (attached or unattached)

ear-pro (not necessary...but your ears will thank you later)


Outside of the above, do you really think you'll have time to get jocked-up for a threat?

Let's be honest and realistic...here is the common scenario:

Her: Honey! Honey! wake up! I hear something downstairs...

you: (dead asleep and groggy) wha? What? Where?

Her: downstairs....I hear something or someone down there....

you: yeah, yeah...ok. I'll check it out.

At least 10 to 20 seconds have now passed. This is more than enough time for an assailant (or assailants) to
move upstairs towards your room (or your kids' rooms). You don't have time to do anything but tell the Mrs to call 911 and for you to
grab a weapon (and light) and move towards the threat to secure your kids.

Don't believe me?

My wife woke me at 4:15 am from a dead sleep. She "heard something."

By the time I jumped outta bed (pistol and light are on night stand) and opened my bedroom door, at least 30 seconds (or more) had passed.
I was still not at full alertness. In my house, that is enough time for some one to make it upstairs and confront you right outside my room.

Turns out it was high winds bumping stuff on my deck (just below my bedroom windows).

My point is, unless you get ample warning (dog, alarm, etc) AND you have a couple of minutes, you are going to go into harms way pretty much
the way you woke up.

OP

Keep the pistol on the right side, but figure out a way to have phone, flashlight and pistol mag mounted to strap at centerline of chest.

This way you can access pistol with right hand, and then use left hand to get phone / light / magazine.  

Maybe mag and light pouches can be mounted in upside down, in pouches with velcro flap (but items would be inserted right side up).

So, if doing a pistol reload,  left hand goes to chest center and tears velcro flap, tugs magazine bottom out of upside down pouch and then reload as normal.

I have the same thing on a "go bag" backpack - molled up 2 upside down velcro flap rifle mag carriers (side by side) to the weak side of backpack so I can reach back to left side and rip out a rifle mag correctly oriented for reload.  It's just a little slower than going off a belt but I wanted to use what I had and didnt want to go the chest rig / war belt route.  Just easy access to one or 2 mags.

ETA:  Just timed it.  Not blazing fast but rifle reload via backpack barely ~ 3.25 seconds.  My avg slide lock pistol reload in IDPA is 2 seconds, for reference

Ah man...time for some Blackhawk Pajamas! :-)

 

This. Sling, light, red-dot, and a loaded pmag of Mk262, all ready to go.    

Don't see the need for the bag, etc.  Although, the phone holster seems like it could be useful.