[VaughnT]

A lot of people talk about using the small Surefires as a weapon because, well, it's there in your hand. It's a good idea, in my mind, because, like punching someone with a roll of quarters in your hand, it just adds to the hurtin' you put on somebody. And I certainly wouldn't want to suffer a hammer-strike from the bezel edge of my 6P!

Well, one of the tricks Gabe showed us in his CRG class some time back, was to use the Surefire lanyard ring to fasten a 1" keyring to the Surefire body in lieu of a wrist cord.

I've since installed said finger ring on my 6P and my Pelican M6 LED lights to great effect and highly recommend you give it a try. The benefits are many but I'll just highlight here for the sake of brevity.

1: it is very easy to "attach" the light to your hand, but you aren't as tightly attached as with a wrist thong. If you need to get that light off of you, or it's ripped off, you don't have to worry about losing body parts. Having worked around machinery all of my life, the one lesson that has been drilled into me countless times is that you just don't want oddities on your hands that might get caught in the lathe.... In a fight, the badguy might grab that hand/light and you don't want to get tied to the badguy. While the light is very secure in your grip when you want it to be, it's also easy to get out of as the ring isn't snug around your finger. Use either the 1" ring or the 1.25" ring, depending on finger size.

2: being attached to your weakhand trigger finger, it is very easy to flip the light around to the back of your hand so you can access a fresh mag, manipulate the pistol, or grapple with a doorknob. A simple flick of the wrist and the light is right back where it started. Literally a tenth of a second to go from light to no light and back again.

Gabe was using grenade (smoke or flashbang) rings, but I couldn't find any around here and had to settle for the key ring. It's kinda cheesy looking, but it clips right on to my belt hook and comes off just as easy. Just not as cool as having a grenade's pulltab on there, though.

Gotta give Gabe credit for thinking outside of the box. This is just one of many tricks he showed us and we are all better off for having taken his class.

Try it out and report back in the morning.

[El Tejon]

Is this like that rubber/space age polymer "figure 8" thingy that everyone was using about 10 years ago?:confused:

[Smoke]

Soundslike a good way to get your finger broken.:scrutiny: ... Or I don't understand the concept.

Smoke

[El Tejon]

Smoke, it's like a lanyard or single point slingfor your torch which allows to manipulate tac reloads, mal drills, etc. without anything in your paws (the torch is flipped over to the back of the hand).

Back in the old days when all this was orchard, we used to tie onions to our belts and make the ring thingies with 100 mph tape. Finally a tactical use for origami!:D

[Kobun]

Wouldn't a rubber washer be better?
If you find one that isn't too thick, it will break if the light gets caught up.

[Smoke]

So what happens if I'm the bad guy and grab the light and yank on it?

I have a very good friend that jumped off a cattle trailer and got his wedding ring caught on the side. He doesn't wear the ring anymore. He doesn't have that finger anymore either.

Smoke

[JShirley]

John

"I don't wear rings."

[El Tejon]

Smoke, well, it's sort of what happens when the bad guys grabs a single point slung shoulder weapon.:D Of course, the tape thingies I used way back when (you kids, get off my lawn) would snap.

Never said that it's Tejon-proof or anything or that counters are not necessary to learn. Darn that double-edged sword called life anywho.:D

[VaughnT]

Believe me, gentlemen, the idea of getting my finger ripped off is always foremost in my mind. That is why I said to use the larger key rings, not one that fits even remotely snug. In testing, I have been able to shed the light with minimal skinning of the finger. Of course, Mr. Murphy is omnipresent and one cannot rule out all eventualities. The bigger the ring, the better.

The downside to using the ring is that it precludes the use of the belt case that the M6 came with. I'll be looking around for something different, maybe kydex, and will report in when I've found a solution.

One thing Gabe brought up, and that I hadn't really thought about, is that a 'quick-draw' light holder really isn't that necessary. Most times that you need your light, you know well in advance and will have it in your hand before you get there. If you do need that light for a defensive implement, it should be the last thing you reach for as it really isn't that good for that role.

On the side: I'm glad I had my light the other day because I walked into a customer's money room only to find out that the light in my secure closet was dead and I was standing in the dark as soon as the door closed behind me. A quick drop to my duty belt and the light was in hand so I could search for spiders in the corners. If I hadn't had that light, shots might have been fired. I really, really don't like spiders.