flashlight recommendations?

[j1]

The Shurefire Executive Defender is a very light, bright small flashlight.

 

[eddd7]

Since the rules for this section say "discussion of such things as how to make a home more secure and how to avoid being chosen as a crime victim are welcome" I think my below question is in the right place, but if not, feel free to move it.

I want a flashlight strong enough to sweep the front of my house from inside my car on the street, so if I see someone or something Not Good I can keep going and call 911. Obviously this is not going to be found at the 99¢ store. How many lumens do I need to see 50 feet clearly and does anyone have any particular brand/model they would recommend for my purpose?

I must have 5-6 of these. A stunning bargain! Really puts out the light and has adjustable focus. Excellent quality too. http://tinyurl.com/paq4mpe

For serious power - I have one of these. The D cells last forever in this. I've changes them once in a year. http://tinyurl.com/papjewy

For inside your car, those cheap spotlights that plug into your cars cigarette lighter can't be beat.

Get the batteries at monoprice.com. The Delco hybrid rechargables are, by far, the best I've ever used.

 

[DP03]

I use THIS, and have no real need to use anything else.

I have a light in the Fenix TK line, the TK35. One of the best lights I've ever owned.

 

[herrwalther]

Streamlight Protac 2L fits your bill. Has been my EDC light for about 3 years now. 260 lumens on high and very easily fits in a pocket. I carry mine everyday next to my wallet since the pocket clip fell off somewhere about a year ago. I am not a fan of adjustable beam lights. Back in my early teen years I pocket carried a 2AA Maglight that was handy in shop classes etc. The head of the flashlight where it adjusts would often fall off in my pocket. One of the big benefits of the Protac light, is it has a very good mixture of beam and flood without needing adjustment.

 

[old lady new shooter]

You don't really have to learn much about it, just using a item in a hammer fist or as a fist load is quit useful

Pic is the general idea of a hammer fist I.e you use the metal thing in your first to hammer on the bg

Then a fist load is just the item in your fist supporting your fist for punching

She's standing right next to him. In real life he'd just swat her arm away.

 

[Lord Teapot]

She's standing right next to him. In real life he'd just swat her arm away.

yeah, i've been to women's self defense courses with my sister before, and they demonstrated some of these things. i never thought they'd be very effective in real life, better to have a gun or at-least some mace, than to try to kung fu someone or pull out a pointy stick.

 

[hso]

Derry,

No problems so far and I've used it half a dozen times since I got it. I like that the batteries came with it and that the price was right and that a pal recommended it after having bought one himself.

 

[old lady new shooter]

yeah, i've been to women's self defense courses with my sister before, and they demonstrated some of these things. i never thought they'd be very effective in real life, better to have a gun or at-least some mace, than to try to kung fu someone or pull out a pointy stick.

No guns here at present, hoping for a positive outcome of Peruta.

I saw advertised somewhere pepper spray in a form you could "shoot" with a gun-like device, IIRC it's a sort of blob that opens either on "firing" or when it hits something... but those are illegal here in CA, you can only have pepper spray in a little can.

I did see a video showing a woman in a chokehold using her own knee to bang the outside of the BG's knee, supposedly this throws the assailant off balance, that looks at least feasible. Anything requiring a punching-type motion is IMO not going to work well for most women, our arms are shorter and we don't have the chest strength to do much damage.

 

[Derry 1946]

Derry,

No problems so far and I've used it half a dozen times since I got it. I like that the batteries came with it and that the price was right and that a pal recommended it after having bought one himself.

Thanks for the reply, hso. That's good enough for me. Meanwhile, the price went up. Arghh! He who hesitates lost a few bucks!

 

[geologist]

I did see a video showing a woman in a chokehold using her own knee to bang the outside of the BG's knee, supposedly this throws the assailant off balance, that looks at least feasible. Anything requiring a punching-type motion is IMO not going to work well for most women, our arms are shorter and we don't have the chest strength to do much damage.

If you can stomach it you (as a lady) are better off driving your thumbs into the attackers eye. It's best to get your hands as close as possible to his face before driving your thumbs in. Less chance that he'll block it.

No one can harden their eyes.

 

[ku4hx]

One of these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002ZG7WOE?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00

Makes my gun lights look like toys. Actually has a sealed rechargeable battery very similar to what you find on motorcycles and is therefore not position sensitive. You get both a flood and a spot with several colored filters.

This thing lights up the night! But it's essentially an investigative tool, not a shooting aid.

 

[old lady new shooter]

If you can stomach it you (as a lady) are better off driving your thumbs into the attackers eye. It's best to get your hands as close as possible to his face before driving your thumbs in. Less chance that he'll block it.

No one can harden their eyes.

Thanks for including the "if you can stomach it" part... not insignificant, probably even for a guy.

But ignoring that for purposes of discussion, not clear how he wouldn't be able to block it. The woman would have to be *very* fast.

Hard to even think about this stuff, but obviously necessary.

 

[geologist]

Thanks for including the "if you can stomach it" part... not insignificant, probably even for a guy.

But ignoring that for purposes of discussion, not clear how he wouldn't be able to block it. The woman would have to be *very* fast.

Hard to even think about this stuff, but obviously necessary.

I am suggesting this for those unfortunate times when in a life or death situation the BG has laid one or both of his hands on you. Reach up with open vertical hands palms inwards on either side of his temples, like you're going to kiss him. Rotate your thumbs inwards so that they will go into his eyes, make them stiff then thrust them into and through his eyes as many times as you can.

If you make contact with his eye(s) he will move his head backwards and probably release you. Hit him in the groin and throat then run.

I have tried to teach this to women in a Woman's self defense course and the vast majority of women did not think that they could do it in real life. I guess it's a matter of personal values. Do you value his eyes more than your body or possibly your life?

Training wise I thought that a styrofoam mannequin head with grapes inserted in the hollowed out eye sockets would be a good training setup.

 

[bikerdoc]

You mentioned an umbrella, how about a cane.
I have had to use one for a few yrs now and with a few hours of training you disable and disengage an attacker quickly.

 

[Lord Teapot]

I am suggesting this for those unfortunate times when in a life or death situation the BG has laid one or both of his hands on you. Reach up with open vertical hands palms inwards on either side of his temples, like you're going to kiss him. Rotate your thumbs inwards so that they will go into his eyes, make them stiff then thrust them into and through his eyes as many times as you can.

If you make contact with his eye(s) he will move his head backwards and probably release you. Hit him in the groin and throat then run.

I have tried to teach this to women in a Woman's self defense course and the vast majority of women did not think that they could do it in real life. I guess it's a matter of personal values. Do you value his eyes more than your body or possibly your life?

Training wise I thought that a styrofoam mannequin head with grapes inserted in the hollowed out eye sockets would be a good training setup.

that's a great idea for a practice dummy

 

[old lady new shooter]

I am suggesting this for those unfortunate times when in a life or death situation the BG has laid one or both of his hands on you. Reach up with open vertical hands palms inwards on either side of his temples, like you're going to kiss him. Rotate your thumbs inwards so that they will go into his eyes, make them stiff then thrust them into and through his eyes as many times as you can.

If you make contact with his eye(s) he will move his head backwards and probably release you. Hit him in the groin and throat then run.

I have tried to teach this to women in a Woman's self defense course and the vast majority of women did not think that they could do it in real life. I guess it's a matter of personal values. Do you value his eyes more than your body or possibly your life?

Training wise I thought that a styrofoam mannequin head with grapes inserted in the hollowed out eye sockets would be a good training setup.

You're absolutely right that the question should be whether I value his eyes more than my life. I have to work on myself to internalize this idea to the point of being able to act on it without hesitation if G-d forbid necessary. My whole life I never thought about any of this stuff but the way things are going now I know I have to. Thank you, also for the detailed description of how to do it.

The grapes idea is excellent too, have to find the giant ones for this purpose.

 

[old lady new shooter]

You mentioned an umbrella, how about a cane.
I have had to use one for a few yrs now and with a few hours of training you disable and disengage an attacker quickly.

Actually since posting about the umbrella I also thought of a cane -- given my age and the way I move it would look completely normal. Where did you do the training?

 

[DP03]

One of these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002ZG7WOE?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00

Makes my gun lights look like toys. Actually has a sealed rechargeable battery very similar to what you find on motorcycles and is therefore not position sensitive. You get both a flood and a spot with several colored filters.

This thing lights up the night! But it's essentially an investigative tool, not a shooting aid.

The only problem with this type of light is it uses a lead acid battery and the fact that the light becomes worthless as soon as the battery dies (and they do). Even on models that have replaceable batteries, they are hard to find.

I am currently using this spotlight, which uses the same lithium batteries that any of the Ryobi One tools use. It also uses an HID xenon bulb instead of the halogen. This is the best spotlight I've found. The only downside would be the cost if you don't already have the Ryobi One battery. And the Ryobi batteries charge in about 1/2 hour compared to 10 hours on the lead acids. Because I had the batteries already, a charged battery can be swapped just like a drill. Available at Amazon or any of the big box hardware stores. Highly recommended.

http://www.amazon.com/Ryobi-P716-Co...433273958&sr=8-1&keywords=ryobi+one+spotlight

 

[mfcmb]

If you don't like tail switches (like me) this flashlight is very good. Hold it like a can of spray paint and use your index finger to press the button. It's very compact and very bright. Has a nice, even beam, gives excellent illumination up to about 90 feet, and gives some degree of useful illumination out to about 400 feet.

Uses 2 CR123 batteries, is shock resistant, and waterproof to 1 meter depth.

170 lumens on high, 17 lumens on low. Low is nice for inside the house.

 

[BIGRETIC]

Check out this.... http://customlites.com/Solarforce-Black-L2-Flashlight-Body-Sol-L2-BLK.htm

And add this..... http://www.malkoffdevices.com/drop-...e-malkoff/m61-mod-to-fit-surefire-and-malkoff

That's a good combo.

 

[Bentonville]

BIGRETIC, I have the drop in in my Surefire 6Z and it is really great. Great company with a great product at a decent price and personal service.