Tactical Flashlights

[austinjking]

I've drunk the Surefire kool-aid three times, two flashlights, and a weapon light for my XD. If its anything to ya, one of my instructors from Marine Combat Training (a former scout/sniper) complimented me on my C2 LED for its brightness at dark and its battery life. Alot of military, law enforcement, and civilians like using super-bright lights in general for their handiness and deterrent options.
You might enjoy the lights with crenelated bezels- what looks like a cookie cutter on top.
I bring a light with when I walk the dog at night, honestly much more handy than a pistol.

[clown714]

I carry a flashlight everywhere.well if I have pants on

just like a knife or a gun.

I've been carrying a surefire L2 for the last 2 yrs.

also heard good things about fenix,but never tried any(I'll stick w\surefire).

clown

[armsmaster270]

I use the Streamlight Polystinger DS LED
•Light output: High – up to 24,000 candela (peak beam intensity), 185 lumens; Medium – up to 12,000 candela (peak beam intensity), 95 lumens; Low – 6,000 candela (peak beam intensity), 50 lumens
•Runtime: High – up to 2 hrs.; Medium – up to 3.75 hrs.; Low – up to 7.5 hrs.; Strobe – up to 5.5 hrs.
•C4® LED Technology. Shock-proof with a 50,000 hr. lifetime

I also have a Surefire 6P and a S&W Surefire clone as well as my old Streamlight ultrastinger and 2 SL-20's

[Bill DeShivs]

If you just want a super bright flashlight for home/defensive use, my DeLights work great. They aren't waterproof, and shouldn't be weapon-mounted-but they are darned bright (brighter than most Surefires,) have a focusable beam, and run forever on 3 AAA batteries. Small, easy to operate, and will blind anyone that comes in your house. They only cost $43.00 shipped, and are all the flashlight most people will ever need.

[verti89]

Bat, pepper spray, tazer... or...


when friends come over:



when BG shows up:



In other words, a big loud dog is a very good deterrent, and in some breeds if necessary their bark can be followed up with devastating effects for the BG, with that said I would never suggest a pit bull (or any other big aggressive breed) for someone who wasn't properly prepared for the responsibilities. I recommend big dogs for single women especially for a couple reasons. First breeds like labs and shephards are big and loud and will usually protect if they have to but are also very obedient (assuming proper owner). They cannot be turned against you in a struggle (at least not as easily as a gun could), it doesn't require practice on your part (obedience training and a good relationship with the dog help though), and if you are scared out of your mind your dog is still going to do its job.

I know that not everyone can or will own these big breed dogs but I thought I would throw it out as an alternative. This might be a bit off topic but we were discussing other alternatives to the gun.

[Kyo]

seriously unless you are swat or something you don't need a 200 dollar flashlight...
http://www.amazon.com/Super-Bright-H.../dp/B000LIOPTS
this is what I have at my house. I bought it at a gun show for 6 bucks. I really don't need anything else. Its bright enough and will blind anyone who looks at it.

[rickyjames]

lots of tactical flashlites are "brite" how many can withstand a regular pounding mounted to a 12 ga shotgun. what are best brands and what cost?

[Evan Thomas]

There may be such a thing as "too much flashlight: the very powerful ones can blind you as well as an attacker, even from behind the light. See the post by Glenn E. Meyer in the "When would a shotgun..." thread in this forum. Just because something can be manufactured and marketed doesn't mean it's actually going to work well in practice...

[FM12]

The magcharger system is hard to beat. I have two, in fact. REALLY bright, rechargable and heavy enough to be used as an impact weapon. Won't work well as a purse light, though, too heavy! I aslo have a streamlight Stinger for when I need a smaller light. Might make a good purse light, too.

[skydiver3346]

I would recommend a Streamlight tactical flashlight for your pistol, fair price.
85 Lumens would be the least to start out with in my opinion. By the way, my eyes hurt for awhile after looking directly at this light (at night in my bedroom) just to see how bright it was, (when I first mounted it on my Glock 21). Stupid I know, but wanted to make sure it was bright enough!
IT SURE WAS........

[besafe2]

For me Surefire 6P, 65 lumens of blinding light. IMO you will never go wrong with a Surefire.
www.surefire.com

[45Gunner]

Surefire Executive Defender. This was recommended to me years ago while doing some covert ops. Not only a very bright light, but the bezel can be used as a weapon and will do serious damage to a scalp or face. Two uses for the price of one. I now carry it with me practically all the time as I bought a flashlight holster to wear on my belt. Be prepared to shell out some pesos. Well worth the investment.

[Delta1067]

Feniz TK 10: https://www.4sevens.com/product_info...roducts_id=517

Jet Beam JetIII Milatary/Law Enforcement: http://www.bugoutgearusa.com/jemi.html

[Hank15]

Any "tactical" flashlight you buy should be nearly 100% reliable and you should have complete control of it. Depending on your frequency of use, you may want extended runtime on it as well.

That being said, you'd want a tailcap like this: http://www.surefire.com/Click-On-Lock-out-Tailcap-Z59 . The purpose of that is to be able to turn your light on or off with ease at a moment's notice. Twist tailcaps can be manipulated quickly with enough practice but chances are you'll always be faster with a push tailcap. If you've paired a handgun with a flashlight, you'll know exactly what I am talking about.

Tactical flashlights should be 60+ lumens; I find 80~120 to be just about right for searching rooms and blinding someone. Depending on your task, there are instances where you want 200+ lumens or 40- lumens. But 80~120 is fine for most tasks.

If this is your first tactical flashlight, I would go with a surefire 6P LED defender. It comes with everything mentioned above (80 lumens, 11 hour runtime, push tail cap, and as a bonus, a bezel that can be used as an impact tool). Also, it is a good base for a customized flashlight.

$100 may sound expensive, but many people that buy the regular 6P end up spend more than $100 because they want the tailcap and bezel found on the 6P LED defender.

If you really don't want to spend that much, you can look around for other alternatives such as jetbeam, fenix, streamlight, etc.

Wolfammoman offers great deals often, so visit the buy, sell, and trade section and see if you can find what you want.

[rjrivero]

The one on the left is my "newest" light. It's made by Olight. I like it because of the multiple power cell configurations. Without the extender, it uses 3 x CR123, 2 x 18500 or with the extender you get 4 x CR123 2 x 18650's. The 18500 and 18650 batteries are LI-Ion Rechargeables.

It is not a TIGHT thrower, but it will light up a room. On Low (moonlight) it puts out some 8 Lumens, then Medium 120 Lumens, and then HIGH 700 Lumens. It also has a strobe function for disorientation purposes also at 700 Lumens.

I leave it on 120 Lumens for inside the house work, and reserve the 700 Lumen setting for outdoor work.

It also has a removable clip, lanyard hole, Strike bezel, tactical tail switch, as well as 1" body that is weapons mountable.

This is Water Proof to the IP68 Standard. It's a pretty good design and the price is nowhere near what the Surefire Family of lights goes for. The machining is every bit as good, and unlike the single o-ring design of the surefire, this one has dual o-rings on the tail cap as well as on the extender tube.



Did I mention it comes with a Diffuser for utility work, as well as a really neat case to keep it all in?



Anyway, I was so impressed, I bought one for my dad and brother as well.

[27Veer]

My neighborhood does this. We have a phone tree and many dogs.

[Phoebe]

Phone tree?

To the dog people -- I have a great dane and a lab/pit/whatever/x and they were both pretty worthless. The only dog that has been helpful is the 10lb wonderdog terrier mutt who is scared to death of everything. And his name is Skippy. And when a BG tries to come in, little Skippy knows something is seriously wrong and will bark his head off!

Go Skippy!!

[firingpinhead]

http://www.4sevens.com/product_info....oducts_id=1620

Quark AA²
My latest light in a drawer full of em. Goes from .2 to 170 lumens. Is programmable w/ 8 different choices of brightness, SOS, strobe, etc...
Uses 2 AA batteries (cheap to run). Great light, $59.

[stilettosixshooter]

On a different train of thought: if a BG is breaking into your home at night and you are trying to get OUT or sneak to your HD room-of-choice unnoticed, a red-gelled flashlight will give you minimal illumination without (1) drawing more attention to yourself by turning on lights or bumping into furniture, or (2) losing your own night-vision as your eyes adjust.

[wally626]

Probably not too practical, but on a Mythbusters show they used eye patches to retain night vision while outside in the sunshine before entering a dark room. The same principle can be used in home defense.

Go to bed with one eye covered, hear BG come in, switch on really really bright lights, then turn them off and remove your patch, the BG is now blind and you can see to evade or attack as needed.

[Yankee Traveler]

If you are truly distressed about your home/neighborhood and cannot afford a firearm, pepperspay is a good start. Beyond that, as verti89 stated, Dobermans, German Shepherd Dog, or Rottwiellers are very loyal and protective. And many more. There are also a number of rescue leagues that can help you out as well as your local spca. Most intruders will avoid a house with even a medium size dog out of fear of a bite, as well as a house with a small dog for fear of getting caught (That annoying YIP YIP YIP!!!).

And they make good freinds too...

[SoupieXX75]

Tac lights are a great. And since you mentioned you don't have a gun, and the downside of OC spray has already been mentioned, I think you could fair quite well with a reasonably priced tac light, and perhaps an expandable baton (of the ASP variety). Anyone can swing a stick! You can get a lot of force behind one of these... So, blind w/ light, hit with stick, get the H out!

[Doug308]

Kayla I bought a couple of different "tactical" lights recently. One from Cheaper Than Dirt for $30 that runs at 85 lumens, and a pair in the same pack from Sam's Club that are both 150 lumens. Both make my kids run for cover and my wife pretty mad when I light them up with them. My advice is to look for something above 85 lumens that you can hold comfortably and don't worry about words like "tactical" or what the brand name is. Both are just there to increase the retail price.

[Phoebe]

Might have already mentioned this elsewhere, but when I heard a noise the other night, I happily found my SureFire knock-off lights up my entire backyard! I was happily impressed.

Bedside has alarm keyfob, pepper spray, tactical flashlight, XD9 and stun gun. I can grab whatever I might think I need.

I am sleeping better these days.

BTW, have you all seen this?
http://www.lighthound.com/Solarforce...s-_p_2811.html

I wonder if it would fit my flashlight?

[MLeake]

... but they are very different.

One is a SureFire, which is normally in nightstand mode. I also carry it with me sometimes, when I think I might need a really bright light to look at something for a very short time (most uses) - SureFires will burn through batteries pretty quickly if left on - or when I think the ability to temporarily blind somebody might be a reasonable option (handy for looking at things that bump in the night).

One is a Mag-Lite, which isn't nearly as bright as a SureFire, but is pretty bright and compensates by being able to sustain its illumination for extended periods of time. Useful for conducting night-time external preflights and postflights, and for letting support equipment drivers see you and not run over you at night; also potentially useful as a makeshift club, in its D-Cell incarnations.

One is a little-bitty light I bought from REI, that has four color options (white, green, red and blue) and a pretty low intensity. It's great for use in the cockpit, either to read gauges and instruments in the event of an internal lighting failure or to read a checklist or map when the other guy is flying, and use of a brighter light would cost us both our night vision. (This one is also good for reading after lights out, when in a barracks type setting; it's also handy for avoiding trip hazards when trying to navigate to the latrine without tripping into a generator power line trench - while not putting out enough light to make one stand out to distant observers).

There are a staggering variety of lights out there; in some cases you can find a one-size fits all solution, but you may find that if you identify your specific needs, you may need more than one light so you can choose the right one for your purpose at any given time.