Strobe light on home defense gun?

[SPUSCG]

I saw at shot a company (i think it was blackhawk) used strobe lights on a pistol's rail and said it took away a bad guys depth perception and ability to sense movement, making you less of a target. Im wondering, does this really work and if it messes with the bad gys perception does it mess with yours, could you aquire a target thats being hit with a strobe?

[JohnKSa]

I guess that you could do some practice to see if you could acclimatize to it. I used to have a flashlight with a strobe feature that would occasionally engage inadvertently and I found it extremely irritating. I could see how it would be somewhat disorienting for someone who wasn't expecting it.

The key would be figuring out if you could get used to it.

[jhenry]

I have no doubt a good strobe will disorient a guy, my fear is two fold. It is also going to disorient the shooter, and just as importantly, the intended target will be illuminated by strobe. If you have never seen that, it is a little disconcerting. The bad guy will be herking and jerking like a zombie, and the available light will be effected by the strobe. I would hate to be in a position of life and death, trying to use my sights in that kind of white hot mess.

I predict a quick and merciful death for this tactical widget.

[bamiller]

I agree with jhenry. This sounds like something the company is spending a lot of marketing money to convince you you need it.

[Double Naught Spy]

Based on my testing in the field, the strobe light did not disorient the deer I lit up. More seemed spooked by it than being lit up with a regular light, but some just continued feeding on the corn as well. None ran in circles, crashed into one another, or fell over.

In playing with the strobe feature at home and moving around, I found that it gave the impression of movement of things that weren't there. For example, the shadows cast off an object or as I went around a corner would move in a jerky fashion, almost like somebody was popping out from around a corner, versus seeing the shadows smoothly change shape with the non-strobe feature as I walked from room to room.

Disorienting? It made my daughters want to dance.

[fisherman66]

Anyone remember "Tactical Balls"? Aside from the goofy name, those seem like a marginally better idea.

[Old Grump]

I'm old and light sensitive. strobes bug the heck out of me where they might not bother a younger person nearly as much. If I was really needing to disorient a guy and I was more worried about HD/SD than I was the carpet I'd toss a flash bang at him then hit him with the most powerful flashlight you can afford. $50 dollars will get you a reasonably powered light or you could go all the way up to $4,000+ but not really needed unless you want it to start campfires and fry eggs. Shooting might not be necessary after that and except for his pants, (not your problem), there won't be any blood mess to clean up.

[claymore1500]

I just think it is a bad idea on several levels,

first, a strobe light gives the impression of stop action, even though the bad guy may be moving, In one flash he may appear to be on the other side of the room, the next flash and he could be right in your face.

Second, The strobe, being brighter than ambeient light will make the room seem darker to you, possibly hiding another person in the room with the bad guy (apprentis bad guy).

Third, If you did need to shoot, you would have only a fraction of a second to aquire your target.

[The Tourist]

I'm glad someone addressed this issue. Many of the modern buys I have made come with equipment rails. I've wondered about the necessity and the actual performance, myself.

When lasers first came out I wondered about the old adage, "If you can see the enemy, he can also see you."

Then I wondered about "playing on an even field." I saw the SureFirer lights advertisement where the LEO lights up a perp who is immediately blinded. My question is that if the perp's eyes were adjusted to the dark, wouldn't this condition also pertain to every LEO in that same room?

Finally, I bought nothing. In the long run I figured if that if the light was so poor that I needed some form of appliance to shoot safely, then I had no business discharging a weapon.

[SPUSCG]

Also, the light seemed to have 2 lights, a solid light that stayed on and a secondary strobe going at the same time.

[S&W Kinda Guy]

i think it would work, when i was 13, i was at a friends b-day party and there was a strobe light and the table looked farther away then it really was due to the strobe, and i tripped and hit my eye on the table had to get 6 stitches

[w_houle]

It depends: Does that strobe light come with speakers and disco music?
Hold off on flashlight use until you are close to whomever and flash a your light into their eyes for a fraction of a second, and it will take their night vision for a few seconds.

[kilimanjaro]

Better yet, just get disco ball chandeliers and strobe your hall lights, that should do the trick.

There's a reason why this hasn't been used before....if strobe lights worked on the opponet, the army would have them on everything.

[w_houle]

Yes, because if you can't dazzle them with style, riddle them with bullets!

[Bill DeShivs]

Being in the flashlight business (among other things) I get requests for strobes often. I try not to even sell strobes. They do nothing you can't do by simply wiggling a good light across the bad guy's eyes. You need a light with a beam, not one that lights up the entire room-and if you have a very bright light with a good beam you can just put it in the guy's face. He will be blinded for all practical purposes.

[jhenry]

Yes it will. It also takes their night sight for more than just a few secoonds too. It will take about 20 minutes to get it back near where it was after whacking those purple rods with a nice bright light.

[AcridSaint]

I liked what Clint Smith has to say on lights - they exist to illuminate your target. Until they come out with one that vaporizes your target, don't rely on the light to protect you. Remember, even disoriented or blind people can pull a trigger pretty fast.

[zukiphile]

I had to exercise my imagination only a bit to see why I disliked the idea.

Prosecutor: Did you use a strobe light on Mr.X?
Defendant: Yes
Prosecutor: Why?
Defendant: To disorient him
Prosecutor: So you were so in fear of your life that you though you should subject Mr X to a strobe light?
Defendant: It was supposed to neutralise him as a threat, disorient him, keep him from being able to spot me and hurt me.
Prosecutor: Did you then shoot Mr. X?
Defendant: Yes, but I was defending myself. X was going to kill me!
Prosecutor: So, you were sure that Mr. X was going to kill you, but you took the time to shine this little strobe light (takes light turns it on and off) which you thought would neutralise the threat, then you shot him?

[Double Naught Spy]

I think you need more exercise for your imagination. The same argument could be used for the notion of blinding the bad guy before you shoot him. Remember that many companies promote their lights with this sort of advertisement, that the lights will blind the bad guys.

Prosecutor: Did you use a bright flashlight on Mr.X?
Defendant: Yes
Prosecutor: Why?
Defendant: To blind him
Prosecutor: So you were so in fear of your life that you though you should subject Mr X to a very bright light?
Defendant: It was supposed to neutralise him as a threat, disorient him, keep him from being able to spot me and hurt me.
Prosecutor: Did you then shoot Mr. X?
Defendant: Yes, but I was defending myself. X was going to kill me!
Prosecutor: So, you were sure that Mr. X was going to kill you, but you took the time to shine this little bright light (takes light turns it on and off) which you thought would neutralise the threat, then you shot him?

However, let's look at the end of the strobe scenario with the prosecutor again. Why would the exchange have to go badly? Changed parts are in bold now. Now our defendent hero sounds like a good guy only wanting to result to lethal force when no other option was available.

Defendant: It was supposed to neutralise him as a threat, disorient him, keep him from being able to spot me and hurt me.
Prosecutor: Did you then shoot Mr. X?
Defendant: Yes, because the strobe did not disorient him as advertised and he charged toward the light, trying to chop me up with his ax. I was defending myself. X was going to kill me!
Prosecutor: So, you were sure that Mr. X was going to kill you, but you took the time to shine this little strobe light (takes light turns it on and off) which you thought would neutralise the threat, then you shot him?
Defendent: Yes, because I didn't want to have to shoot him, but he left me not other choice when he charged me.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Not having done formal testing - I'm not impressed with strobes. I've read magazine reports of folks who can't walk a straight line when looking into them, etc.

I've tried it with a Gladius and with some other folks. Doesn't bother us. Of course, we could use precise testing but that's just a quick opinion.

It seems to me that the use is more for law enforcement less that lethal use as compared to civilian HD.

[black bear 84]

I think that they are a bad idea for a pistol light.
I can tolerate them as a function in a flashlight with multiple modes I have several with strobe, and the only reason for using the strobe will be for calling attention to your position if you need help and are unable to cry out.

I tested the strobe function on me and it does nothing (it supposes to nauseate some people), it most be all my disco dancing in the 70's.

I am a proponent of very powerful lights for home defense, when I have to reach for my HD pistol, I do that with my right hand and with the left I grab a Borealis 1050 lumens flashlight, so is no question if the BG will be blinded or not.

One other thing I will not be without is a Crimson Trace laser grip in my HD pistol.
It can give me the advantage of shooting from a covered position, and I don't have to put my face in front of the pistol to hit what I am shooting at.

MY COVERED POSITION



MY COLT GOV'T WITH LASER GRIP AND MY BOREALIS 1050 LUMENS LIGHT



So, my recommendation, is to forget about a light in the pistol, forget about the strobe and get a powerful light and a laser grip.

Cheers
Black Bear

[TUFF99]

I found in both Iraq and Afghan, a bright tac light in someones face is more than enough. It works more on the guilty. Immagine being a kid and having your hand caught in the cookie jar. That is the same look a BG has when hes been busted. A surprise bright light in the face causes some kind of brain fart.

That being said, I cant do squat with a strobe. It messes with me just as much as with a BG

[zukiphile]

However, let's look at the end of the strobe scenario with the prosecutor again. Why would the exchange have to go badly?

It wouldn't have to, but it is hard to see how a strobe light figures into a reaction to an immediate and lethal threat. Deploying something like this may suggest that the threat was either not immediate or lethal because you had time for this gizmo.

I believe it is distinguishable from the use of an ordinary flashlight you would use in order to be able to assess the threat.

[Double Naught Spy]

You can use a strobe to assess the threat just fine.

With that said, all reactions to lethal threats do not themselves have to be lethal. Many people responding to a lethal threat will do so in ways that are not lethal, often because they don't actually wish to harm or kill the other person. Their actions are just as justifiable and just as valid

[zukiphile]

You can use a strobe to assess the threat just fine.

I believe some in this thread who have used it do not agree. I'e never used one, though I have seen them mounted on the backs of cars.

With that said, all reactions to lethal threats do not themselves have to be lethal. Many people responding to a lethal threat will do so in ways that are not lethal, often because they don't actually wish to harm or kill the other person.

It isn't the lack lethality that makes the strobe problemmatic. It is the lack of efficacy as a defensive measure against an immediate and lethal threat, i.e. the sort of threat that calls for the use of deadly force.

If I end up shooting someone, but decided I would try tickling him first just to see if that diffuses the situation, I think there would be some questions about the nature of the threat and my judgement in assessing it. Both of those would be important parts of a public authority decided I had not murdered someone.