Home Defense setup & TLR-1 diffuser....

For you non-weapon type, bear with me.

I really like the TLR-1 as a weapon light! It has a great 10% hotspot for throw and nice spill, is very "white" and seems to be built like a tank.

I like to have a weapon mounted light on my "house gun(s)" which are my EDC Glock17 and Remy 870 14" SBS that I keep in the house at night.

The G17 is next to my night stand and is what I grab when things go "bump" in the night to investigate. If things go "crash, bang, boom!" then the G17 is what the wife uses to take cover with and call cops while I get the 870 with Surefire 618 forend.

I recently made two changes to my setup though for the following reasons...

1. I found that trying to grab my EDC light (6P w/Malkoff M60W & McC2S) I have a knack for knocking it off the night stand which adds more stress than I need when I hear a "bump" in the night.

2. Having your gun and light mounted in a setup that is the same every night helps immensely at that moment.

3. A weapon mounted light is a much better option over a non-mounted light. (I know what rule #2 is so don't derail the topic with it.)

What I did was mount my Safariland 6004 leg holster to the side of the bed, add a happy stick (33rnds of 9mm) and the TLR-1 for night time use.

The light and mag sit in the holster during the day and I switch them out before bed with my normal setup.

So here are some pics of that setup.








Next I found out that the TLR-1 is very very very bright at 03:00AM when your eyes are completely dilated and you shine it off a white wall even 10 yards away.

Anyone using a light with more than 60lums should test the flashback factor on their setup after just waking up. You will be amazed at how easy it is to have TOO MUCH LIGHT for those conditions.

The 120lum TLR-1 is so bright that when I hit the wall with it at 03:00AM the other night from 10 yards down the hallway, my eyes SLAMMED shut and I felt pain for a good 10 minutes.

So tonight I made a simple beam diffuser from a piece of Delrin that is press fit over the 1-1/16th bezel of the TLR-1 (just happens to be an odd size!) and is holding a 1" plastic lens from a Surefire FM34 diffuser that had a broken latch. You can make the diffuser out of any plastic 1" lens though by sand blasting it lightly. You can also use electrical tape instead of something fancy like I did, but the end result is a nice flood with a slight reduction in lumens but not pain in the eyes.

Try the 03:00AM trick sometime with your light and see if maybe a diffuser is not a good idea for the house light.

My solution below....

Looks like a very good set up to me.

You are correct, a light on your handgun is a much better way to go.

I wonder how strapping tape would work as a poorman's solution to diffuse the beam?

I tried adding clear packing tape across the lens but it made no difference.

It might not fit in the holster but if you could find a flip open scope cover, you could install your filter, and then be able to go to "full bright" when necessary.

Or just train to place your weak hand over the light when you first turn it on for "the search". This way you can control the amount of light coming through your fingers, from very little to full bright.

I prefer this to a filter or diffuser, as when I confront I might want to go to full bright immediately.

That is why on a long gun I always have 2 lights.

One for that does not blind ME, has a wide flood, and then a brighter light, that will blind the bad guy.

I'm not comfortable with placing my hand over a light that extends past the barrel of my gun at 0-dark-thirty.

I've used that slit method on searching with an un-mounted light, but sounds too dangerous on a handgun mounted one to me.

Let me add that if you use your fingers, make sure that you palm the light in your week hand and cover the bulb from below.

Make sure you grip the light firm and that you fingers are not so long that they stick up in front of the bbl, at ANY TIME.

Most likely you would go to a 2 handed grip before shooting, but you never know.

I use a Sure Fire X200 on my bedside 1911. It has a wide flood and it does not seem to fash back and blind me.

I have a second SF 200 that has a different looking head and it throws a much smaller beam with a brighter hot spot.
In CPR jargon one is a flood, the other a throw, they are totally different.


I do have a couple of Streamlight TLR 2's and like them as well.
They do have a brighter denser spot than my "flood" X200, but not as much as my throw X200.
They have different part numbers ut I cannot remember what they are.
Nothing wrong with the Streamlight TR Series. I do like the built in Laser.

Lasers work great on moving/running targets.


Your set up look good to me.

I just checked a Glock, you are correct, on a 1911 the end of the light is behind the muzzle, not so on a Glock.

Try this instead, when you first turn you light on, point your gun down toward the floor out in front of you, not at the wall, it cuts way down on flash back, especially since you will not be looking down to the floor at the beam.

You could try the pirate trick. Something I figured out early on in my adolescence. Keep your weak eye closed. Turn lights on to use bathroom, or in this case weaponlight. Turn off light and use weak eye for night navigation.

I know what you mean. I've done dry runs with the 6PL on my 870. I find that just squinting as you hit the light helps, and after a second or 2 you can fully open your eyes. This allows you to see "enough" (ie, threat/no threat) and not back-blind yourself. Well, it worked for me; YMMV.