Tactical Light
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I bought an insight X2 for my Taurus PT145. Its a waste of money. Even though it looks cool, the light is not bright at all. If there were a LED version with a good lens then It would be worth the $150 I paid for it. Also the batteries dont last very long and they cost $6-$8 each.
Hmmmm...Thanks, maybe I will just save some cash and not get one. I think it was rated at 40 lumens, which is not very bright.
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I don't think i have posted about some low light experiments I did with a few friends. Basically if you have a light on your pistol be prepared to have your hand/body part shot by a armature with the first round.
Although shooting at night is difficult without a light having one on your weapon probably should be left to checking the dead body. A gentlemen by the name of Ken Good pretty much makes the point a light in the hand is worth 4 on the gun.
I know this is hard to understand but read some low light information from stratego and you will get the idea.
Plus like the above poster said the XML sucks.
Although shooting at night is difficult without a light having one on your weapon probably should be left to checking the dead body. A gentlemen by the name of Ken Good pretty much makes the point a light in the hand is worth 4 on the gun.
I know this is hard to understand but read some low light information from stratego and you will get the idea.
Plus like the above poster said the XML sucks.
I would like a little more info if you could provide it. What kind of experiments did you try. Did you keep moving, with the light turned on only intermittently?
If you are using the Harries method of holding your flashlight aren't you providing the same opportunity to your opponent to shoot at the light? The only difference will be that you have a one hand hold on your pistol instead of a two hand hold. If you are holding the flashlight way out to the side, doesn't that compromise your ability to shoot one handed while trying to do too many things at once? Like shine the light in the right direction, get a sight picture, or not, identify your target, and shoot or not shoot?
From what I got out of Inferno's response he was only speaking of a light mounted on the pistol and made no mention of a light in your hand... the light just makes you an easier target. In darkness you are lighting up yourself with a rail mounted light, making you easy to see... heck, the attacker doesn't even have to see you, just aim at the light and his odds are pretty good.
Honestly, what is the point of a light on a self-defense weapon? In my opinion lights, lasers or anything else you can slap onto a pistol's rail system are for tactical purposes, not self defense. When and where will you be in complete and total darkness that you will need a light on your self defense pistol? I can't think of any situation where I will be in total darkness so much so that I need a light on my self defense weapon... even laying in bed with all of the lights out there is enough low light for me to aim and shoot clearly.
With that said, I know people choose to add on lights and lasers for the "fun factor" and I completely get that... but to use either in a self-defense setting to me is a waste of time and resources. Maybe I just don't get it, but to me in self-defense situation you need to dumb everything down and make it as easy as you can for you to lock onto your target, and throwing in all that "extra stuff" just makes everything more difficult. In a high adrenaline situation I'll be happy just to point and shoot. I guess there are just some people out there with horrible night vision?
I realized that he was talking about a rail mounted light. I was curious as to what experiments he used when using a rail mounted light and how that would differ from using a hand held light. I made no mention of using no light whatsoever. Keep in mind you have to identify the target before you shoot. If you can't do that, you shouldn't be shooting. That might require a light whether it be rail mounted or hand held.
But will a brighter LED light give the bad guy a moment of blindness. Usually that gives you time to do a double tap or two. Like the X2 I have only shines 20 feet away and it is very dim at that. I have a single LED flashlight that uses a AA battery and it will make a perfect and very bright 2 foot circle on a target at that distance. For $150 they could have used that technology.
I was reading on a "how to" guide on the internet and the suggestions there were to have the brightest light possible to temporarily "blind" the attacker. A bright "focused" light would cause them to suffer a temporary blindness enough for you to either shoot and/or move and shoot. As long as the light is focused, your eyes should not be affected as much and you should still be able to see to a point.
The sight also had negative comments about a rail mounted light for home self defense. They kept on mentioning the ability to shine your light in a different direction of the gun muzzle especially when going around corners (a muzzle point of 11 o'clock with the flashlight at 1-2 o'clock). I also believe you only turn on the flashlight when you have identified the potential target. As soon as you turn on your light anywhere in the house, you have alerted to attacker to your position.
This is a really good article on Home Self Defense and they briefly talk about lights.
http://www.wikihow.com/Clear-a-Building-With-a-Firearm
Pretty good read ...
The sight also had negative comments about a rail mounted light for home self defense. They kept on mentioning the ability to shine your light in a different direction of the gun muzzle especially when going around corners (a muzzle point of 11 o'clock with the flashlight at 1-2 o'clock). I also believe you only turn on the flashlight when you have identified the potential target. As soon as you turn on your light anywhere in the house, you have alerted to attacker to your position.
This is a really good article on Home Self Defense and they briefly talk about lights.
http://www.wikihow.com/Clear-a-Building-With-a-Firearm
Pretty good read ...
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