Can’t Get To The Range? Practice Tactical Training At Home

  Aug 12th 2019

In order to become skilled and effective with a firearm, hours of dedicated firearms training at a local firing range is a must. Unfortunately, bad weather, long drives, or simply lack of time may keep you from improving your tactical training skills. If you can’t make it out to the range, it doesn’t mean your firearm practice has to suffer. Training at home can be just as beneficial as time at a range, and it can prepare a homeowner for a situation involving an active intruder. Understanding how to strategically move around your home will ensure you’re prepared to protect yourself and your family in the event of a break-in. Follow this Six Maritime guide on clearing your home from intruders, and add another versatile tool to your maritime training skillset.

How To Safely Clear Your Home

Clearing your home involves sweeping through the house for possible intruders. Late-night noises, such as creaking doors, or the sound of glass breaking, might be cause for alarm, and could require you to sweep your home. Visualizing what to do in an intruder situation ensures you’re prepared in the event of an actual dangerous situation, and allows you to have a deeper understanding of how to maneuver around your home safely and efficiently. Clearing your home can be done at any time, and is a great supplement to any gun training course. Incorporating these tips into your weekly gun training can help provide a proper base to work off of in the event of a home intruder, and allow you to be properly trained and prepared if a break-in ever occurs.

Use The Right Firearm

In the event of a home intruder, it’s best to use the right firearm for the situation. Before you go grabbing your carbine or 12 gauge shotgun, consider the reduced maneuverability associated with those weapons. Instead, using a pistol can allow for a better range of motion, and reduce the likelihood of the intruder knocking your weapon away in the event of a confrontation. You’ll also want handy a tactical light to properly identify targets. While ambient light usually allows for decent visibility inside of a home, it’s always best to know exactly what you’re aiming at before pulling the trigger. It’s best to incorporate this tactical handgun training in multiple ways and forms, such as starting in a different room than your preferred firearm, or attempting to navigate your home with at least one, or even both hands full. 

Understand The Situation

Before leaving the room you’re in when a break-in occurs, it’s best to have a plan in place. If it’s apparent your loved ones are in immediate danger, doing a hasty and quick search may be necessary to ensure their safety. This, of course, isn’t preferred as you’ll be moving more recklessly, and have the potential to skip over rooms that may host an intruder. If no one is in immediate danger, a slower pace should be employed, as this limits errors and can prevent any intruders sneaking up on you. We recommend trying out both techniques, as it’s impossible to know what the situation will be if a home intruder situation ever occurs.

Slice The Pie

Slicing the pie is a technique used for clearing corners and doorway entrances in small slices. Exposing yourself to an open doorway is a good way to get hurt if an intruder is waiting on the other side, and you’re no help to your loved ones if an intruder takes you out first. In order to have a full view of the room you’re about to enter, slicing the pie should be employed. To slice the pie, you’ll want to take small steps in a semi-circle starting from one side of the doorway entrance and moving to the other. Picture yourself as being the ‘crust’ of the pie, and your field of vision being the ‘pie’ itself. So, for example, if you start on the right side of the doorway (your right shoulder touching the wall), you’ll want to take small steps to your left, gradually making your way to the left wall in a semi-circular pattern. As you step, make sure to scan as much of the room as possible for intruders before moving on to the next ‘slice’ of the pie. You’ll also want to minimize your time spent in the middle of a doorway, as this is where you’re most vulnerable to attack. This can be a tricky process, and can take some getting used to, so make sure to practice this in various rooms and hallways in your home.

Clear A Doorway

Doors can be a tactical nightmare, and should be approached with caution. Before opening a door, hold your pistol close to your body with your elbows at a 90-degree angle. This reduces the likelihood of an intruder knocking away the firearm as you enter through the doorway. It can also prevent a situation in which you accidentally aim the gun at your hand. When opening a door, you’ll want to place your body against the nearest wall and reach across the doorway to open it. Regardless of whether the door opens towards or away from you, you’ll want to open the door swiftly and take a step back. Once a door is open, you’ll want to slice the pie and look for intruders. Consider doing your handgun self-defense training with a loved one or close friend. Practice slicing the pie in doorways and other parts of the home, and have each party identify when they have a visible sight on the other. This training method will help give a deeper understanding of where the proper sightlines are for each room, as well as providing a great opportunity to get used to the motions in slicing the pie.

Clear A Room

While maneuvering the chokepoint caused by doorways can be tricky, they’re a much different beast than rooms. Rooms provide various cover options and hiding spots for intruders, and understanding how to clear a bedroom or living room is a key component to have in your tactical gun training arsenal. After slicing the pie in the doorway, you’ll want to approach the room you’re entering at an angle, moving towards the opposite corner you entered from. If you started on the right and moved to the left while slicing the pie, enter from the left and make your way to the right corner of the room. Don’t forget to check your corners as you enter, as an intruder could be hiding just out of view. Now that you’re in the room, search all the places that an intruder may be able to hide, such as behind couches, under beds, or in closets. In the case of a real break-in, it’s best to forgo this sweep, and instead make your way as swiftly and safely as possible to any loved ones in danger. Don’t forget to slice the pie on your way back out of the room!

Clear The Stairs

Clearing stairs may be a requirement to ensure the safety of any family members on a different floor of the house. As with hallways, slicing the pie should be employed before you make your way up or down the stairs; slowly stepping in a semi-circle around the entrance to the stairs, making sure no one is waiting at the other end. Once on the stairs, push your way against one wall and slowly make your way up or down, using the same small step motion you would when slicing the pie. Make sure to slice the pie one more time once you’ve reached the end of the stairs, as there is likely a corner or hallway at the end of the staircase. Stairs can be the most difficult place to clear in a home, so make sure to practice going up and down frequently to ensure you’re comfortable with the angles. 

Clear Your Home Often

In an ideal world, the skills learned with tactical firearms training would never be needed. Unfortunately, dangerous situations do arise, and it’s better to have done thorough at home tactical training than to find yourself underprepared in the event of an intruder situation.Understanding the various blindspots throughout your home, being able to properly slice the pie, and being comfortable moving around with your firearm can be a great way to maintain your tactical skills at home when you’re unable to make it to the range.Of course, any practice should be done while employing proper gun safety, such as ensuring your firearm is empty, or better yet, using a fake firearm.

As a final note, if you ever find yourself in an intruder situation, clearing your home should only be done if it is entirely necessary. Clearing your home is incredibly dangerous, especially when done alone, as there are many blind spots and various hiding places that an intruder could attack from. It is much better to have a plan in place in the event of a home invasion, and to stick to it. But, in the event that your plan falls through, or a loved one is in danger, you now have a basic understanding of the steps needed to protect your family.