Strobe: is it really any good at incapaciting an attacker?

[pnwoutdoors]

Strobe: is it really any good at incapaciting an attacker?

Incapacitation? Absolutely not. Disorientation? At minimum, it'll depend on the susceptibility of the person, the brightness of the light, the proximity and whether the person was looking right into the light. I certainly wouldn't want to expect much more than very temporary disorientation, along with potential brief masking of my movements (ie, bringing a defensive weapon to bear). But I think it's naive to believe anyone would be more than mildly affected to the point where an attacker's victim was no longer in danger.

If you're looking for actual incapacitation, look for something a few steps up the use-of-force scale.

 

[TyJo]

Self defense is personal preference in my opinion. I prefer to avoid situations that put those I care about, and/or myself, in danger. I would not rely on a strobing flashlight for defense.

 

[DM51]

shane45_1911 is right (post #3). Self defense threads do not survive here, so let's not turn this into one. If there is any digression into self-defense, or any discussion of violence, the thread will be closed.

As for the idea of freaking out a bear (Chrisdm, post #11), I'm no expert on bears but I would have thought a strobe would be just as likely to annoy a bear sufficiently to make it decide to investigate further, lol.

 

[kabayashi]

IMHO, the strobe disorients the user. I think the max setting in the eyes is a better choice.

Just what I was about to say. I think snowblinding an attacker with the max you got is just as effective.... what, in the end, doesn't have to mean much.

 

[angelofwar]

Not really meant to be used by itself, but I could easily see it best used for dis-orienting an "aggressive overly drunk perp", etc. The 400+ lumen strobe on my M3LT-S seems to be VERY effective at triggering a reflex, and a "holy $*#t" reaction. and stopping people dead in there tracks, giving me that precious additional 2 seconds to get ensure my other "tool" is ready. The strobe on the M3LT-S is VERY easy to activate on purpose and hard to activate accidentally. Every other strobe I've seen is a PITA to activate, and would be hard to activate in a heat of the moment situation.

 

[subwoofer]

Have a funny story about the strobe on my Lumintop TD15!

I decided to take a walk at a local beach (West Mersea) and get my partner to strobe me and see if it would help her fight me off if I was attacking her.

Anyway we started the test and as I approched her the strobe seemed to go at a funny angle and I then realized the strobe was on the sand along with my pertner!I said what are you doing laying on the sand and got a mouthful back about how it had made her dizzy and she had lost her balance and fallen over!So in my test the strobe helped me (the attacker)!!

Excellent story

so the moral of this story is to try it out in a non-critical situation and see if it will backfire or not.

Personally I would think the MOST you get is a few seconds of disorientation from a strobe (depending on ambient light levels) and in this time you need to make your move of either counter attacking or running away.

 

[Monocrom]

Don't bet your life on it.

 

[Seraphim]

You had better be able to back-up any threat you make with the bright light. It might surprise a burglar (I did that once) and he might run away. But if he is military trained he will fight his way into your light attack. Better to avoid the situation unless absolutely necessary. There is an old saying, "Never take a knife to a gunfight!"

And what kind of burglars are these!? Renegade ex special forces!? What kind of a burglar is millitary trained!?

In regards to the strobe, it may or may not work on someone. Things affect people differently. I wouldnt rely on it. You want to be able to back up that strobe with something else, or at the very least shine it in his eyes and run immedietly, however I think just a normal high beam would be more suited for that.

 

[pnwoutdoors]

And what kind of burglars are these!? Renegade ex special forces!? What kind of a burglar is millitary trained!?

The kind friends of mine surprised when they came home early. He got captured by police, then was identified by my friends as the guy at their property. Turns out he had indeed been in the military, was absolutely capable of killing with his hands.

Unlikely? Sure, seemingly because "military" and "degenerate" doesn't go together. But ... impossible, as implied? Not at all. My friends had their young 3yr old in tow, when they returned from errands. Had this guy wanted to erase them all, it would have been the simplest thing in the world for him. As it was, he merely threatened them with violence and then left, at which point they called police and he was found/grabbed.

Back on topic: in full daylight when this guy was found, even a very bright light wouldn't have done anything more than briefly created minor disorientation (if that).

For those who would misconstrue: this is not about violence; it's about the limited practicality of light when used against those trained to skip feeling impacted by a little light.

 

[Throwjunkie]

Did some tests last night with a friend using a turned down paintball marker and strobe Using an SR90 While the light was extreamly bright in my face I was still able to function as normal, enough to put paint on him with every shot. Falling back to a line of thought that if you shoot using the light as a target you hit the person holding the light. Such was the case with soldiers smoking in the bush and being picked off from there cigerette cherry.

Our second test proved that under strobe effect you can still pick out an outline I fired 2 paintballs and I was able to put both shots directly on his mask.
I changed places and became the light holder he was able to paint me however he was not able to pain my mask with the last 2 shots. He said after a few min under the strobe he felt sick to his stomach. I didn't feel this effect. I will say that the strobe effect will have an effect on some folks and others it will not. I also think concentrating while under strobe will give you to the ability to evade the effect. Would this be the case with an unsuspecting attacker depends on how determined he is to attack you if he wants you bad enough your in trouble, if surprized by the light it may be enough to thwart the attack.

Joe

 

[MaxdOut]

It will work if they have epilepsy...

 

[Chrisdm]

It will work if they have epilepsy...

Like button.

 

[Budda]

To me? Not at all.
Use to disorient a guy? What the difference between blinding him for less then a second with 500 lumen or a strobe before hit him with the stainless steel bezel?
Instead, if I need a flashlight to work and I pick up the wrong mode, I'd like to have a different mode from a disco-strobe.