Street robber/mugger blinding torch needed.

[Paul Baldwin]

I have read this entire thread. It disturbs me. Am I to believe that in the UK and most of Europe, if someone attempts to assault you, you can get into trouble for defending yourself? For injuring them? That is very sad. Has common sense gone out the window for political correctness?

You can indeed get in trouble I believe if you go further than using reasonable force. If someone breaks into your home and you defend yourselves and they flee you'd very probably not be prosecuted. However like the asian family in the news a couple of weeks ago you can end up in jail if you go too far. They chased an assailant down the street and broke a cricket bat over his head, supposedly giving him a brain injury, even tho he's continued to get in trouble with the law after the event!
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6956044.ece
He was however released early due mainly to public pressure iirc

In another case two lads who were attacked on a night out didn't get in trouble for defending themselves. The whole thing was caught on CCTV, however I bet if it wasn't the outcome may have been very different? The video is in the link.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8296190.stm
They made the mistake of attacking two cage fighters dressed as women!!!!!

As for a torch to possibly distract an attacker to give a woman a few yards head start I reckon my Ultrafire A10 on 14500's is a good alternative. Reasonable size, weight, durable and very bright with not too narrow a hotspot.

 

[DM51]

2 further posts have been deleted as off-topic, discussing the use of firearms.

Paul Baldwin's post above is also off-topic, but it may remain as it is explanatory and may help non-UK residents to understand the situation there.

 

[peterkin101]

Best off in this situation in the UK at least is to RUN.

If this fails then a torch such as a LED Lenser P7 or P14 IMHO will do a good job at blinding an attacker.

I would avoid torches like the Surefire E2c Defender-again IMHO you could be set up for possession of an offensive weapon.

The Law is MAD in the UK but that's the way it is.

 

[Monocrom]

Hi. As per title. What small handbag friendly torch would you suggest? Got to be able to blind them for 30 seconds, easy to use, maybe strobe effect? Want to buy one for my now wife for when I can't pick her up from the train station.

Oh God, not this again!

Okay, as someone who owns several lights capable of over 400+ lumens out the front, that can fit inside a pocket; and as someone with self-defense training, I can tell you this . . .

Such a light doesn't exist. You're not going to blind anyone with a flashlight for 30 seconds. Not happening! Not even if you have several like I do that put out 400+ lumens out the front. Best you can hope for is literally 1 second. No one can effectively defend themselves without having to get physical with their attacker or hurting their attacker. If anyone tells you otherwise, they are lying or have themselves been horribly misinformed!

 

[Paul Baldwin]

2 further posts have been deleted as off-topic, discussing the use of firearms.

Paul Baldwin's post above is also off-topic, but it may remain as it is explanatory and may help non-UK residents to understand the situation there.

Thankyou DM51, that was the intention of my post

Paul.

 

[pm91]

How soon do you think the laws in the US will be like the ones in the UK?

 

[DM51]

How soon do you think the laws in the US will be like the ones in the UK?

We'll refrain from that type of speculation, please.

 

[bogside]

Best Self Defense Flashlight?

Ok, I am looking for the hands down, best self defense flashlight. Minimum requirements would be enough light to disorient an attacker and a strike bezel.
I have checked out:
1. SureFire Defender
2. SOG Torch
3. Bright Strike Blue Dot
I like the push button tailcap also.

I know these probably all come from China for pennies, does anyone have an inside scoop on an off brand that is less expensive. I could care less about the brand, I just want a top performing light.

Please Help!!! Any advice or direction would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[DM51]

Re: Best Self Defense Flashlight?

Welcome to CPF, bogside.

We have a current thread on this topic, so I'm merging yours into it. It will help you to read the whole thread from the start.

 

[Fusion_m8]

Re: Best Self Defense Flashlight?

Solarforce L2 Cree R2 with A001 Tactical head.

Ok, I am looking for the hands down, best self defense flashlight. Minimum requirements would be enough light to disorient an attacker and a strike bezel.
I have checked out:
1. SureFire Defender
2. SOG Torch
3. Bright Strike Blue Dot
I like the push button tailcap also.

I know these probably all come from China for pennies, does anyone have an inside scoop on an off brand that is less expensive. I could care less about the brand, I just want a top performing light.

Please Help!!! Any advice or direction would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[e-ville]

im not sure if this has been suggested yet, but maybe some self defense training rather than adding weapons to the fight start with the weapons attatched to her arms

i would absolutely not allow my wife to carry a knife, gun, pepper spray or any type of tool that can be taken away from her and used against her until she learned to fight with her hands and feet first.

it makes things more interesting at home too now that she realizes she can be more rough :naughty:

 

[DM51]

im not sure if this has been suggested yet, but maybe some self defense training rather than adding weapons to the fight start with the weapons attatched to her arms

i would absolutely not allow my wife to carry a knife, gun, pepper spray or any type of tool that can be taken away from her and used against her until she learned to fight with her hands and feet first.

You should have read the whole thread... then you would have seen that on several occasions I have explicitly warned against any discussion of such items.

 

[e-ville]

i didnt suggest any kind of weapons, he asked about a flashlight for her to defend herself. and learning with your hands first is paramount over anything else

and sorry but...im not going to read through 7 pages just to make a 3 sentence post

 

[DM51]

... learning with your hands first is paramount over anything else

and sorry but...im not going to read through 7 pages just to make a 3 sentence post

Your disinclination to read input from other members, including instruction and guidance from CPF staff, is precisely what led to you make your off-topic post.

If everyone behaved like that, this forum would consist solely of people determined to read nothing and learn nothing, who instead think they know everything and just visit to make lofty posts that are in turn ignored and left unread by everyone else.

Fortunately, most people do not share your attitude. If you persist with it, sooner or later you will be very likely to overlook a moderator's directive on some matter that will lead to your being suspended - and if you remain reluctant even then to read an explanatory post, you will be left in puzzled ignorance of why it has happened.

 

[JNewell]

Re: Best Self Defense Flashlight?

Without getting into any of the very relevant related issues, I'd recommend (still) the Gladius and its clones. Pure lumens alone is not equivalent to a properly-timed strobe (and most strobes are not properly timed). I would never choose to rely solely on a flashlight, but if I did, this would still be the one.

Ok, I am looking for the hands down, best self defense flashlight. Minimum requirements would be enough light to disorient an attacker and a strike bezel.
I have checked out:
1. SureFire Defender
2. SOG Torch
3. Bright Strike Blue Dot
I like the push button tailcap also.

I know these probably all come from China for pennies, does anyone have an inside scoop on an off brand that is less expensive. I could care less about the brand, I just want a top performing light.

Please Help!!! Any advice or direction would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[Justin Case]

I think the Gladius is a great light and have one myself. But I also think that multimode lights in general are more trouble than they are worth.

Is the Gladius in lockout mode? Whoops, that's not good. Or did I leave it in strobe? Hmm, not sure. Or did I leave it in variable brightness, and also programmed the light to start in dim mod? At least if it is in Max mode, I can use the wrist wobble method to simulate a strobe, if that's the effect I want.

The Gladius also draws a small amount of power even when off. 2x123A cells last a long time regardless -- on the order of 2 years is my experience -- before you get the low batt warning. So the parasitic drain is probably a non-issue, but one should be aware of it IMO.

But because I can simulate a strobe, I'd suggest getting a single mode, tail button actuated, momentary-on light. No lockout tailcap. No multimodes.

If you need a strobe, either manually cycle the tailcap rapidly, or else oscillate the beam across the person's eyes, flickering the light between the hot spot and the spill (bright, dim, bright, dim, etc -- voila, a strobe).

 

[gcbryan]

Flashlights and self-defense?

I'm fairly new to being a "flashaholic" if I can even be consider that now, so when did flashlights become about self-defense other than perhaps for cops?

Many lights have crenelated bezels for self-defense. Why? When I think of self-defense the last thing that comes to mind is a flashlight. I also don't spend much time thinking about self-defense.

Also, why does almost every light today have one or more strobe modes? Is there any history at all of this feature being useful or successful in a rescue situation? Are there numerous stories of people being rescued due to their strobe?

These two features are more or less in the irritating category for me and I see posts every now and then where people are trying to program with away. Who was asking for strobe modes in the first place?

 

[the.Mtn.Man]

Re: Flashlights and self-defense?

There was recently a large thread on this very same topic:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/259371

General consensus was that in the best of circumstances, stunning an assailant with a bright will only buy you a couple of seconds at most and so you'd need a good follow-up plan to take advantage of it. A flashlight by itself isn't going to protect you from anything except darkness.

 

[Buckley]

Re: Flashlights and self-defense?

It is my considered opinion that a flashlight has only one role in self defense: To ensure that the sights of your firearm are aligned on a hostile rather than a friendly.

 

[johnny3073]

Re: Flashlights and self-defense?

Although I don't have a scientific study to quote at this time, it is my personal belief that the strobe effect from a well trained muzzle flash has a much better chance to deter/subdue an attacker than a hand torch.

A flashlight is a tool used to illuminate a threat, not eliminate a threat.

Could a flashlight be used effectively as a self-defense tool? Sure, but the same could be said for flinging an angry cat at your opponent.