BruiseLee
Member
Yes I'm serious. And no, I'm not talking about zapping someone with a high powered laser like in Star Wars or Star Trek.
Many people are carrying "tactical" flashlights from companies like Surefire or Streamlight these days as a weapon of deterence. The idea here is to shine the light into your assailant's eyes, temporarily blinding him, or at least dazzling him and making him uncomfortable.
I saw a show about non-lethal self defense devices on cable t.v. awhile ago. One thing the police used was a laser which the would illuminate the subject with. It would apparently make him uncomfortable and disorientated - much more likely to surrender without a fight.
I was thinking, with all the hand held laser pointers and aiming deives out there now, is there one available to the public that could be used in this respect? I would think if an ordinary flashlight beam is a viable defensive option, the coherent light beam from a laser would be much better.
Of course, you wouldn't want to permanently blind or cause someone permanent optical damage. Although blinding an attacker would be preferably to stopping him with a handgun or shotgun, I'm sure there is many a lawyer out there who would be too happy to sue you over his client's loss of vision, which would not be a good thing for him or you.
I'm pretty sure a laser is not a practical self defense weapon for us yet. Although I'm pretty sure shining one into an attackers eyes would have a pretty good chance of stopping an attack, I'm sure legally you would be on pretty shakey ground unless the guy was popping rounds off at you or charging you with a butcher knife.
I'm just curious about what you guys think. Comments?
Bruise
Many people are carrying "tactical" flashlights from companies like Surefire or Streamlight these days as a weapon of deterence. The idea here is to shine the light into your assailant's eyes, temporarily blinding him, or at least dazzling him and making him uncomfortable.
I saw a show about non-lethal self defense devices on cable t.v. awhile ago. One thing the police used was a laser which the would illuminate the subject with. It would apparently make him uncomfortable and disorientated - much more likely to surrender without a fight.
I was thinking, with all the hand held laser pointers and aiming deives out there now, is there one available to the public that could be used in this respect? I would think if an ordinary flashlight beam is a viable defensive option, the coherent light beam from a laser would be much better.
Of course, you wouldn't want to permanently blind or cause someone permanent optical damage. Although blinding an attacker would be preferably to stopping him with a handgun or shotgun, I'm sure there is many a lawyer out there who would be too happy to sue you over his client's loss of vision, which would not be a good thing for him or you.
I'm pretty sure a laser is not a practical self defense weapon for us yet. Although I'm pretty sure shining one into an attackers eyes would have a pretty good chance of stopping an attack, I'm sure legally you would be on pretty shakey ground unless the guy was popping rounds off at you or charging you with a butcher knife.
I'm just curious about what you guys think. Comments?
Bruise