beezaur said:
P.S. My take on the Gladius strobe is that it is really only "disorienting" in the sense that it can be difficult for the "flashee" to orient himself to the movements of the "flasher." It might make you dizzy if you are drunk or something, but it won't affect anyone who is all ramped up for action; it just conceals the movements of the flashlight user. Obviously you need some sort of training to take advantage of the situation.
From where I'm sitting I'd guess that relative light levels and the focus of the beam would have a pretty huge effect on strobe results;
In full darkness a strobe is at it's best, it's the only light around. As ambient light increases your strobe needs to get MUCH brighter to have the same effect.
A light with a broad hotspot makes it much harder to pinpoint its source (the "wall of light" effect again!) and ought to therefore also enhance the effects of a strobe (and make it harder to avoid).
I'm with beezaur on doubting a strobes utility for self defence. Anything small enough for you to carry around all the time won't be bright enough to be that great if you have much in the way of ambient light. If it's pitch black you could probably do about as well flashing your light manually.
Just my 2p worth, there are many threads on this forum discussing the use of lights for self defence. I tend to agree with "the best defensive tool you have is sitting behind your eyes, not in your hands" whichever way you like to phrase it.
Don