Tactical flashlights for civilians

Popular Mechanics



"If it were a nightmare, you could wake up and it would be over. But this is worse. It's real and it's just beginning. That noise that startled you from a sound sleep can mean only one thing. There's an intruder in your home. If you're smart, you have a plan for this kind of situation, like picking up the cellphone by your bed and calling the coppers. They're trained to handle this sort of thing.

Even so, with your family's well-being at stake, you feel an urgency to act--now. You reach for your trusty 12-ga. shotgun or .357 Magnum. But, there's another piece of defensive gear that's just as important--a tactical flashlight. Developed initially for special forces in the military and law enforcement, these lights, with their intensely bright beams, are also available to civilians. They offer protection by temporarily blinding an intruder. Unlike a room light or a conventional flashlight, which shows the bad guys where you are, tactical lights are designed to identify a target without turning you into one...."

Very true. Thanks for the link.

-Mike

How do you indentify a target with a flashlight without turning into a target yourself? Yes, I would agree that most 2x123 lights are bright as heck, but aren't you telling the bad guy where you are when you turn on that flashlight?

they know where you are anyway, their eyes are nightvision adapted, they can likely hear you too.

shining a bright light in their eyes will stun/disorient them enough to take appropriate action.

Now to do it fast enough that it functions as a strobe.

light and MOVE!

my apartment is just too small.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Most can't fight if they can't see. None can fight if they can't breathe.

[ QUOTE ]
fivebyfive said:
How do you indentify a target with a flashlight without turning into a target yourself? Yes, I would agree that most 2x123 lights are bright as heck, but aren't you telling the bad guy where you are when you turn on that flashlight?

[/ QUOTE ]

This is where technique and training comes into play.

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Allen
aka DumboRAT

What if you have no training and no authorization to own a weapon?

I usually keep a 1MCP spotlight under my bed, together with other lights...

I think keeping a 6D or bigger flashlight with you (or a baton) would be a good non-lethal solution. You know, blind the target and then get on him like a tornado /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twakfl.gif. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I admit the best way would be a Megaray on strobe setting, but it is too expensive and you would get blinded by the sidespill /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif!

Richard

I thought it was like this:

A tactical flashlight by itself is a poor defense strategy against an armed opponent bent on doing you harm. However a tactical flashlight can momentarily blind or disorient the opponent and allow you to get in a quicker or more accurate shot.

Blinded or not, when that light hits him he's likely to start popping rounds off in your direction while he turns and covers. If theres going to be any gunfire I'd as soon be the one who starts it. Close quarter combat rule #1-Never reveal your postiion. Popular Mechanics aside, the purpose of a Tac Light is to illuminate a tactical area, hopefully containing a tactical target. Said target then either complies by laying down or gets a body piercing.

Did anyone else catch a mistake made by the author?

On page two, fourth paragraph....

"Power comes from a pair of 3-volt AA lithium batteries instead of conventional 1.5-volt cells. These batteries typically will give about an hour of continuous run time, and bulbs typically last 25 hours."

He called the 123 cells, AA's.

I recommend http://strategosforum.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi if you're going to be going into the pro and cons of light fighting tactics.

Geoff