Need help with weapon light for home defense

[Guest The Itis]

Looking for a light for my HD PT92, and as I'm reading through people talking about their Surefires and Streamlights with 150+ lumen ratings, I just get this impression those are extremely bright lights, maybe too bright.

 

I have a 3D Maglite LED that's 131 lumens and that is plenty bright for inside the home use, maybe even a bit much. Catching a reflection off a TV or window or mirror has the potential to daze.

 

Is it possible that 150+ lumens are excessive for identifying a target at in-home ranges? Or are these used solely because they're supposed to disorient the target as well?

 

I have a headlamp that is 45 lumens and that seems more reasonable and plenty sufficient for a weapon light, and is still disorienting while viewed directly.

I was looking at the 25 lumen Stingray SRX light and looks very attractive, but for the price why wouldn't I go with one of the high lumen options, right?

 

What am I missing here? Are the high lumen lights just marketing getting ahead of necessity and prudence? Is it actually the case that it's not possible to have too bright a weapon light?

 

 

[mikegideon]

You want it to daze. 

[scoutfsu]

Don't over think this.....  you can't go too bright.  You can go not bright enough. 

 

Anecdotal evidence and experience has shown that bright lights equal situational/target awareness.

 

I won't use anything under a SureFire x300 or Scout C.....If I had the money, I'd have more U's.

[Guest The Itis]

X300 at 500 lumens :stunned:

[peejman]

You want it to daze. 

 

Agreed.  The bright light combined with the strobe function is very disorienting.  The person on the other end will be "flash blinded" for at least a few seconds.  Plenty of time to get the upper hand. 

 

You want a light that's easy to turn on/off quickly.  I would never wear a headlamp.  I've read that people will shoot at the light when they can't see anything else.  That's why I prefer a hand-held light.  I hold it away from my body.

[Spurholder]

X300 at 500 lumens :stunned:

 

Yep.  Also, it's virtually the same price as the lower lumen model.

 

http://www.lapolicegear.com/surefire-x300-ultra-light.html

[Schadenfreude]

Take a good handgun 101 class after that take a reputable class that has night / low light shooting you will figure out what works pretty quick

[mikegideon]

X300 at 500 lumens :stunned:

 

That's a great light. I have one. It will snap onto the rail of one of my Glocks, or one of my AR's. If you hit somebody in the face with the beam in a dark room, they're going to be blinded for a few seconds. Warning... don't shine it into a mirror :)

[gjohnsoniv]

That's a great light. I have one. It will snap onto the rail of one of my Glocks, or one of my AR's. If you hit somebody in the face with the beam in a dark room, they're going to be blinded for a few seconds. Warning... don't shine it into a mirror :)

Just had to try it didn't you?

[Ray Z]

Humm, let's see, if my house is getting broken into, and I'm home in bed, I grab my trusty gun with flash light on it and go after the burglar. What do you thing that dude is going to line up his sights on? Probably the same kind of light you're going to line up your sights on. If I'm going to use a flash light it's going to be separate from the gun. I'm going to be laying on my belly on the floor in the bedroom with the flash light an arms reach over my head. The BG is going to be shooting at the flash light while I'm going to be shooting at the flash from his gun.   

[mikegideon]

Humm, let's see, if my house is getting broken into, and I'm home in bed, I grab my trusty gun with flash light on it and go after the burglar. What do you thing that dude is going to line up his sights on? Probably the same kind of light you're going to line up your sights on. If I'm going to use a flash light it's going to be separate from the gun. I'm going to be laying on my belly on the floor in the bedroom with the flash light an arms reach over my head. The BG is going to be shooting at the flash light while I'm going to be shooting at the flash from his gun.   

 

Pretty hard to line up your sights on anything when you're blinded. Fortunately, we don't have to invent it here. CQB tactics are well established, and have been tested way more than we will ever be able to do.

[Guest The Itis]

Agreed.  The bright light combined with the strobe function is very disorienting.  The person on the other end will be "flash blinded" for at least a few seconds.  Plenty of time to get the upper hand. 

 

You want a light that's easy to turn on/off quickly.  I would never wear a headlamp.  I've read that people will shoot at the light when they can't see anything else.  That's why I prefer a hand-held light.  I hold it away from my body.

 

Sorry, I might've been unclear. I wasn't suggesting using a headlamp, I was only mentioning it as a lumen number reference point that I have on hand. Meaning, if I had a weapon light of equal brightness/throw/lumen/etc, it would seem sufficient for me.

[Guest The Itis]

Even if the x300 was in my budget, it would stick out past the barrel of my 92. Muzzle burn adds character? lol

[tnguy]

You guys don't sleep with a flashbang under your pillow?

[mikegideon]

Even if the x300 was in my budget, it would stick out past the barrel of my 92. Muzzle burn adds character? lol

 

You should call Surefire and bring that to their attention :). Does the same on a glock.

 

BTW: Here's a good option if you can't pop for a Surefire...

 

http://www.streamlight.com/product/product.aspx?pid=80

Edited August 13, 2013 by mikegideon

[gjohnsoniv]

Even if the x300 was in my budget, it would stick out past the barrel of my 92. Muzzle burn adds character? lol

Makes a nice standoff to keep the gun from getting pushed out of battery.

[c.a.willard]

Couple things. First just to get it out of the way clearing your house is a bad idea. There are times when its necessary but not often. If you do have to, clear just far enough to ensure your families behind you.

On to lighting itself. You want a bright light with a really wide throw. The light itself should not be used for actively searching it should be used once you believe you know where the badguy is. Ideally its use should be for final target is. Shoot/don't shoot decision as well as for target control. If your using one properly reflections become a non issue.

[jgradyc]

You need to think how you will use this light.  Will you be using it to look around and then turning it off? If so, a bright light will destroy your night vision indoors.  Will you be using it to look around your house? If so, you will be pointing a loaded weapon at whatever is there... the wife, a kid, the dog. Do you want to be doing that when you're half asleep? I don't.

 

I live in the country, so there is a chance I might go outside to see what made a sound. I don't want to be pointing a loaded weapon around at every bump in the night, especially after being awakened in the middle of the night. There's too much risk of an AD, if you're suddenly startled by something.  (Yeah, I know everyone else here is so well trained that would never happen... )

 

Instead of a weapons mount, I use the Harries Technique with a pressure switch that allows me to turn the light on briefly in my left hand while supporting the weapon in my right hand. I keep this light set in the fast strobe mode. I've had my wife flash it at me outside from 20 feet and it is extremely distracting.

 

In a true tactical situation... clearing a building... I'd want a mounted light. I can't convince myself that it's a good idea for my situation. I also keep about 5 LED lights at bedside for various uses.

 

Anyway, do what works for you. I just wanted to give you some things to think about.

[mikegideon]

I never keep a light on my guns. The 300 pretty much stays in the safe in case it's ever needed. I have a hand held that's pretty much as bright as the Surefire, only cheaper.

[jeff43]

Anybody tried a light from Monsterflashlights.com?They have some powerful lights ,they may be junk I don't know.They do have good prices though.

[ted]

This is what I have on one of my pistols that I keep in my night stand http://www.sigsauer.com/SigStore/stl-900-tactical-light-and-laser-489.aspx and I got mine off of eBay about 6 months ago for $130.00 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sig-Sauer-SigTac-STL900-WLL-STL-900-Weapon-Light-Laser-for-Railed-Firearms-OEM-/330974452659?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d0f9d5bb3 and here is a sure fire x300 going for about 135.00 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Surefire-X300-weapon-light-/321183999438?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ac80ee5ce Edited August 13, 2013 by ted

[Guest ThePunisher]

This is what I have on one of my pistols that I keep in my night stand http://www.sigsauer.com/SigStore/stl-900-tactical-light-and-laser-489.aspx and I got mine off of eBay about 6 months ago for $130.00 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sig-Sauer-SigTac-STL900-WLL-STL-900-Weapon-Light-Laser-for-Railed-Firearms-OEM-/330974452659?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d0f9d5bb3 and here is a sure fire x300 going for about 135.00 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Surefire-X300-weapon-light-/321183999438?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ac80ee5ce

I've got the vertical grip/ light laser combo version of the sigsauer light on my AR 15, and it is a really good light/ laser with blinding strobe capability.

[Guest The Itis]

I'm not sold on the strobe thing. I'd rather be able to see the target clearly, see their movements, etc. instead of also disorienting myself. Also add in that there's just more to go wrong with a light with more features, and the extra work it has to do for strobe.

Maybe on the off chance your intruder has light triggered epilepsy tuned in to the frequency of your strobe, you'd come out on top lol

Edited August 13, 2013 by The Itis

[c.a.willard]

Strobe functions are nice for certain things, especially outside of home defense. A strobe enabled light is no more likely to fail than any other.

A good light is a defensive tool itself. You can carry a flashlight in places you would never be able to take a gun.

The one is none theory comes into play big time with flashlights, myself I typically carry 3 lights with me. Two that are suitable for defensive purposes and a keychain light for utility.

For home defense I run a tlr 1s on my defensive gun and a tlr2 on the wife's gun. Along with seperate hand heald lights stored next to each.

A good hd plan will have failure built in and redundancies to overcome it.

[scoutfsu]

You need to think how you will use this light.  Will you be using it to look around and then turning it off? If so, a bright light will destroy your night vision indoors.  Will you be using it to look around your house? If so, you will be pointing a loaded weapon at whatever is there... the wife, a kid, the dog. Do you want to be doing that when you're half asleep? I don't.

 

I live in the country, so there is a chance I might go outside to see what made a sound. I don't want to be pointing a loaded weapon around at every bump in the night, especially after being awakened in the middle of the night. There's too much risk of an AD, if you're suddenly startled by something.  (Yeah, I know everyone else here is so well trained that would never happen... )

 

Instead of a weapons mount, I use the Harries Technique with a pressure switch that allows me to turn the light on briefly in my left hand while supporting the weapon in my right hand. I keep this light set in the fast strobe mode.

 

You realize your statements are completely at odds with each other right?  If you're using the Harris technique, then you ARE pointing your weapon at everything you're flashing...

 

WML simply cannot be beaten.  It is a good idea to train for other styles/methods but the simple, modern method of attaching a weapon light is sound and has been proven time and time again.