To expand...
Did anyone here say lights were useless? No. It helps to read what's written and not make assumptions, or to put words in peoples mouths.
The same might be advised of you. Lightrails were said to be overrated (okay, "might be overrated"). I said they were not.
See the Surefire next to my handgun on my night stand? Do you know why it's there? So I may see in the dark. Do you know why it's not mounted to my handgun? Because 99.99% of the time when I reach for my gun to go check something out downstairs it's a cat that's knocked something over, or the dog doing something goofy. If I go outside it's either a raccoon or a neighbor kid playing in my pond... or something similar. I don't need to go from room to room pointing my handgun at everything in the house including pets or even the wife who comes home late every once in a while...
If you saw a shot of my night stand, you would see a flashlight there as well, for exactly the reasons you mentioned. If you saw a picture of my bedside gun, you'd notice a flashlight on it, too. I have yet to read any rule that says that if you attach a flashlight to your gun you must divest yourself of all other forms of portable illumination.
Using your handgun as a flashlight in your own home with family members present is dangerous. Do you see a need to cover family members, neighbors or even pets with loaded handguns just so you can see in the dark when other less dangerous options are available?
This assumes you only have one light.
I mean, I know it looks tacti-cool to have gadgets hanging off your handgun, but is it really the most practical thing to do?
Yes, it absolutely is.
With proper training having a light in your weak hand is just as good as having it mounted under your pistol, plus it affords you more possibilities in safely using it whereas you're quite restricted once you mount it to your handgun.
Again, this assumes one light. And I assure you that if you do some timed work with your handgun, you'll find that a light attached to the weapon is a lot better than one held in a surefire or harries grip. Is a handheld light a workable solution? Absolutely. Is it the best solution? Absolutely not.
There are plenty of times I mount a light to a handgun, but I don't see any benefit to doing it with your home protection handgun when other more viable options are available, hence my picture above.
What could be a better use of a rail-mounted light than home defense, for 99% of the people on this board?
1. You don't
need to find a holster for it.
2. If you're pulling out the gun, it is almost certainly at night.
3. You're probably just waking up, and might have to grab stuff quickly.
4. The light is attached. If you find the gun, you've found
a light. For the reasons you mention, you might want to find both, but worst case scenario is a person actually entering your BR. You might only have time to grab your gun...sure would be nice if it could illuminate the threat, too.
5. Redundancy. If your main light is dead or otherwise inoperable, having one on your gun adds a backup (left on the weapon or removed).
Mike