Flashlights as a tactic?

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J

JMusic

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I have a confession, I'm a flashlight junkie. Today we have a smorgassboard of lights to choose from and I have purchased quite a few high end models. Question I have is how many members here have used a flashlight as a means of protection? Does your tactics include the use of a light (other than a means of illumination), and if so is it a weapon that you plan on using as you escalate up the ladder to ultimately deadly force? I have "stopped" attacks on my person by the proper use of a light and some verbal judo. Does anyone else see a light as part of their arsenal?

Jim
 
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I carry a light.

Streamlight TL-2. I wanted to be all tacticool, so I got the Thunder Ranch Illumination System. For all you non-ninja types, that means it came with a Clint Smith DVD and a small keychain light.

If I can use a light as a standoff weapon, great. Holding the light between my first and middle finger, pushing the tail switch with the base of my thumb, allows me to use the light and still have a two handed handgun grip if I can't talk, run or generally weasel my way out of whatever I'm shining a light at.

I don't use mine as an impact weapon, I carry a kubotan. However, that doesn't mean I'd drop the light if I had to whack somebody with something hard RIGHT NOW.
 
2, 3 , 4 cell Maglights.

D cell fits my hands very well.
C cell size fits smaller hand and bigger hands quite well.

A bigger person can use something smaller, where a smaller person may not use a bigger something effectively.
Explains why a number of families added 3 "C" cell Maglights to vehicles and home use.

The new LED version , or upgrade is nice.

Hold in weak hand where one can access button near the front and if the trash can needs assistance getting a tight fit, rotate wrist and whack it with rear of Mag-light to get the lid down. ;)
 
I also collect flashlights and lanterns, and about anything else that lights up (have you heard of the candlepower forums?)

So I have plenty of "tactical" and "tactikoool" lights to choose from. Tried a mounted weapon light but found that I don't like them except on long guns. Mostly my go-to lights for this purpose are...

Surefire 6P (An old dog that still serves well)

Surefire L2 ("Wall O' Light" generator)

Night-Ops Gladius (high tech gee-whiz gadget)

Magcharger (the ultimate tough-old-beast)

Any of which I would feel comfortable using for light or striking if necessary.
 
I want the borealis (crazy how much that thing puts out!) and the surefire executive...
I have a friend who is a felong because of DUI's and he is now unable to protect himself via any type of "weapon"... I think a bright flashlight with a strike bezel is good a good compramise.
I think that because of law enforcement use a flashlight brings an air of LAW with it...and if bright enough it blinds the heck out of a person at night.
 
Jmusic

Maglights are a gateway drug. They lead to the hard stuff, like StreamLights and Surefires. :)

A weapon? It can't hurt to shine a light in an attacker's eyes, and a light's handy for all sorts of things that a gun or knife isn't, so the light's worth carrying regardless. If you've got one, might was welll use it. I'd definitely want to have a step B after that, though.
 
Does anyone else see a light as part of their arsenal?
Click to expand...

I've only got 2 hands, so if I want to have a lethal option on one side, and a non-lethal option on the other, then I'd rather have OC spray as my non-lethal option. If I'm in an environment where I can't carry a lethal option, then I'm probably indoors so the flashlight isn't as valuable as it would be outdoors.

I pretty much always carry a small flashlight. I just don't consider it a weapon because it's usually not in a place where I can immediately access it.
 
JJE thanks for the comment. What would everyone think if I was to say in 99% of the confrontations I have been involved in I was able to diffuse the situation with just a flashlight and some creative language? I, like you JJE, realized I had but 2 hands. I decided on a flashlight instead of OC spray.

lesjones you are correct in your statements. I have a Borealis which is a supercharged 3 d cell Maglight. I would consider this light capable of blinding a person to the extent that you could "walk" away from the situation. I really have not seen any light quite like it.

My everyday carry light is an E1L Outdoorsman. In my opinion the light is a first line defense item. It will mark your bounderies, put the adversary at a physical disadvantage, but more importantly put them at a phycological disadvantage. Some here no doubt think I'm nuts but a light properly used is hard to beat.

Jim
 
A flashlight is a tool. I guess it can be used as a weapon . . . to strike with. Light really isn't a weapon. At best, its a distraction. We've done the drills in Study Group, and the NTI's with them. At typical fighting distances, the spaces at which bad people do bad things to others, one can still fight with degraded vision. We can even fight with our eyes completely closed. We've done that drill, too.

I recall a story posted on the Insights Forum a few years back. A man was out walking in the park at night with his girlfriend. He brought his Surefire with him. Her incessant moaning about "putting that gun and all that crap on just to go out" had wore him down, and he left it behind. They were confronted by a group of young men, and he knew bad things were seconds away from happening to them. He took out his light, and shined it at them. They took a step back . . . evaluated the situation . . . and continued their attack. He found out that shining the light in their eyes didn't do anything but further enrage them. They even began taunting him, "what are you gonna do with that light . . . " They had figured out he was a one trick pony, and their aggressiveness wasn't intimidated by a man with a bright light. They corrected concluded, that had he any means of doing anything else, or even the will to, he would have by then.


The ads and hype about lights doing things to another's ability to fight are just so much fantasy as tales of magic. Their use is far better suited to target identification and letting us see into dark places.
 
Bullfrog a light has many uses most of them good. The example of a light enciting violence doesn't surprise me. What do you think happens if you hit someone with OC spray or shoot them? I think you are missing the point. The best way to survive an attack is to avoid it. What ever you carry on your tool belt you need to know how to use to full advantage. I can assure you sir I've used them all and for me a light is much more handy. Obviously your experiences are different. Don't make the mistake that your experiences are all encompassing. Drills are just that, they do not add that extra edge of the unknown that can be used to your advantage if you are aware, and take advantage of the attackers reactions.

Jim
 
I haven't gotten artound to one yet, but I plan on switching to one spare mag and a serious flashlight. I think a light is all around more useful than a gun, especially the ones with conventional levels of illumination as well as 'burn a hole in the wall' mode.

Think about it this way. If pulling a gun changes a confrontation because suddenly you are an ARMED victim, a good light makes you an armed victim and the bad guy sin't sure what's going on. If the situation isn't appropriate for a light, you don't have to use it.

As far as using one as a weapon, it's certainly better than nothing in your hand at all. Ever hear of keeping a roll of dimes in your hand? Imagine a roll of dimes with a scalloped sharp leading edge.
 
Against multiple attackers, I do think a light is fairly pointless... How many eyeballs can you shine your light into at once....
On the flipside, a single attacker with a strong light (like the borealis) would almost blind them completely allowing you to GET AWAY- NOT TO FIGHT - which is what I would rather do.

ALSO - The surefire EXECUTIVE AND THE BOREALIS both have STRIKE BEZELS-- A WEAPON FOR STRIKING....hard, sharp and ive seen an surefire executive splinter up a 2X4 purty good (not break it but really mess it up with a few hits).

At night I would rather carry a nice bright flashlight than spray...lets it was a firehose of it ;)
 
AA Mag-Light, dimly lit warehouse setting, noises and a back door - access gained.

Not knowing how many of them versus the two of us, LEO some distance away, best to observe and report. One we have to leave and we had been "discovered" - just a fluke, we happened to walk in folks had broken in, they heard the door we entered in - shut.

Toss something "that direction" and leave a AA Mag-light on "over there" and we eased back out using another exit.

Now we were armed, we did not know if they were, how many or with what. Trouble showed up, we left and waited for LEO. We could observe , report what we knew.

Name of the game is to survive, to evade if can, and mdse is insured.

Strategy & Tactic worked, and not the first time similar has.
Even tossing a el-cheapo key ring light, left on in one direction, has/ may again distract so I / one can evade another direction.
$1 plastic flashlight , with regular duty batteries will do the same.

No tool is any better than user of said tool.

Heck even a old radio used in a warehouse, turned on and volume turned up has scattered punks that had gained access to a warehouse or similar.

Hi-tech and newer tools are great, suggest one focus on Strategy & Tactics more than the tools themselves.
 
Zespector, I have many 6P's. I gave my brother the 2cell model of the E1L and he lost it in a week. He looses everything!!!:banghead: You should try the 9P with the 240 candlepower lens. You have a couple there I'm not familur with. I'll look them up. The Mag light is a classic and probably my favorite flashlight. I have a 4cell C with the LED upgrade. I like the durablility of the LED but more importantly if you have to slam the trash can lid hard the bulb is not damaged.:D My favorite light? Maglight 3D. When I go into town I carry an L4.

Jim
 
That cracks me up.

"Strike Bezel" flashlight - Puh-lease! :rolleyes:

Ladies and Gentlemen, from the School of the Mall Ninja, may I present:

opticsplanet_1930_54498794


"Hello, baby, is that an assault flashlight in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"

I can't wait until the liberals start using the term "Assault Flashlight". Serves whomever came up with the idea right. ***, over? "Yer honor, I pressed the attack with my trusty flashlight, it's got a strike bezel, ya know!"

When I'm not playing Mall Ninja, I pack OC, a good folding knife, My Officer's ACP or S&W 696, thank you very much. There's either an Inova X5 or Mini Maglite LED conversion in my pocket.

My assault flashlight with Strike Bezel is somewhere in the kit with the trauma plates duct-taped to my back as my partner assembles the NEF single-shot .300 Win Mag. The plan is that I shield us with my body and "catch the rounds" while she assembles the NEF. I lay down covering fire with my 23 (Bar-Sto .357 Sig barrel) and she makes the long shots. I will then throw smoke grenades to obscure the area while continuing to lay covering fire.
 
Look at the executive :neener: smaller, like a 2 AAA maglight...people carry those all the time, AND HAS A STRIKE BEZEL, Which I would rather have ANY DAY than nothing but my fist or just my gun.

http://www.surefire.com/maxexp/main/co_disp/displ/prrfnbr/1132/sesent/00

Yah, made out of aircraft grade aluminum....with the weight of the battery...
Ive seen this flashlight light up a persons window into their home (as to be able to see exactly what was inside) about 30-40 yards away! It has more power than the 3D maglight...
You keep carrying your "maglight".....
 
G-98
Yeah but does the Strike Bezel allow one to use the light like a candle? :D


I have key chain Inova light on key ring. Power has gone out and being the only light I had, and my lady friend also had one on hers, we were able to safely exit a public bldg using stairs while other fretted as to why the elevator would not work. *sigh*

Another time, fire alarm went off at 4am, AA maglight I had was used to safely assist older folks down the stairway , 10 floors down. Emergency lighting kicked in, still there are blind spots.
Risks for falls is a huge concern for everyone - especially the elderly.


AA maglight Candle feature is nice when the power goes out and using while getting oil lamps and candles lit.

Not every emergency is going to be Mutant Zombies and solved by a firearm.

Whole lot easier to trim a wick with a Case yellow handled CV bladed knife than a tackticke knife as well.

Fire in the fireplace, whittle shavings to start a fire...Case works better than the tricked out knife that opens "really fast".

Strategy & Tactics are often used out of context - or not the one I was raised with.

s
 
One point to consider and lets forget flashlights for a minute. How much practice do you do with your ancillary equipment? What have you used more often out in public, a knife, flashlight, or gun? Which one have you practiced with most and put forethought in how to use in a survival situation?

Jim
 
SM, don't get me wrong...

I will have a Borealis someday. They're just too damned powerful and neat not to get, but I have other uses for the $260.00 right now. Nor would I order one with the "sooper tactikull crenellated bezel", something intrinsically wrong about taking one of the world's most expensive flashlights, handcrafted one at a time, and using it as a crowbar or police baton to defend myself against bodily injury or death when there's a Caspian Officer's ACP or S&W 696 riding on my hip. In the words of George Carlin, "****, that broke pretty damned easy. Gimme another one of them, will ya?"

Flashlight technology has come a long way, I have the aforementioned 2-AA MiniMaglite LED conversion, the Inova X5, and a 3-AAA Garrity Luxeon unit. All three of them throw brighter light, for a longer time, than their incandescent predecessors, and they're just the pocket versions of the bigger models out there. Little-bitty dudes, per se.

In other words, they make darned good flashlights, when you need to see in dark places. Weapons, not so much. If you rely on your flashlight to meet force with force, you'd best have a really good Plan "B".

Now if you'll excuse me, the Gewehr98 Evil Lab beckons, I'm working on a patent for a tactical-strike purse, an assault Chapstick, and a survival Q-Tip. I think the market is out there for them, they would make a fine complement to one's Strike Bezel flashlight. ;)
 
we should start a club

well it all started when i was a cub scout and got my first one a cheap plastic model but imediately i was hooked. when i was a teenager my "friend"
showed me his maglight i was entranced. over the years i have owned every thing from the micro photon to a 6 d-cell maglight. then i found the "good stuff"
6p surefire now some people would laugh at spending 75 bucks(note i upgraded it to 110 lumen bulb) on a flashlight but it is as importaint in my opinon as ammo or weapon selection . so the addition goes on if u see me at the corner with the sign "will work for flashlights dont judge me just help me out with a couple buck" thax.
kevin:)
 
Other than whanging somebody upside the head with one of the larger Maglites I don't see shining lights in the face of an adversary that viable of a tactic. Stun him? Maybe. Piss him off? Probably.

Shine a big eff-off bright light in my eyes and the first thing I'm going to do is shoot at the light to make you stop.
 
"white lights" as a tactic/protection gear...

I think the high quality/powerful white lights have value but I would not trust them entirely. I could see how a bright light could "stun" a violent attacker but you'd need a pistol or taser to follow up with.

A pistol with a rail that you could slide the unit onto would be best, :D .

Happy New Year!

Stay safe!

Rusty
 
Zero, shinning a light in someone's eyes is justification for shooting? I don't think it is in Tennessee. You guys have all the luck.:D

Jim
 
I am purty darned sure that the "strike bezel" everybody makes fun of would crack a skull without too much trouble...
 
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