Tactical Flashlights and Self-Defense: Why You Need a Flashlight

While processing through a security checkpoint, I was asked, “Why do you have a flashlight?” In fact, it wasn’t really a question but more of a demand.

“So I can see in the dark,” was my unhesitating reply. The questioner was taken aback by my answer and blinked a few times as he tried to process my response. Evidently, it took him off guard, which amused me.

I really was carrying the light so I could see in the dark, along with a few other reasons, which I’ll get into shortly.

Our Vision

As the light fades, so does our vision. This statement is kind of a no-brainer, but when we take a closer look, we can see how significant our vision loss becomes. Consider that “normal” vision is 20/20, or what a normal person sees at 20 feet.

Under street lights at night, vision is generally reduced to about 20/60, which means a person must be at 20 feet to see what a normal person would see at 60 feet during daylight. In nearly total darkness, visual acuity drops to around 20/200. These are scientific facts, not opinions. To put it bluntly, we need some help if we’re going to see in low light. Notice that I didn’t necessarily state that this means solely at night.

Important Factors

For police, there are a couple of factors, including being able to identify an object being held in a person’s hand. Is it a cell phone? A hairbrush? A knife? A gun? If an officer is going to use force, especially deadly force, he or she must be able to articulate why he or she perceived a threat. Beyond that, he or she may have to be able to identify a specific subject.

For self-defense, we, as citizens, might not have to identify a specific subject, as we’re not likely to be hunting certain people down. However, we have a similar requirement to identify a threat if we have to use force. We’ll have to articulate why we felt threatened, and the presence of a weapon will be a major indicator of feeling threatened. But we have to be able to see that weapon to know whether or not it’s there. What’s more, being able to identify a specific person could come into play if that person made threats against us in the past. We see that, in some instances, the needs of a citizen can almost match those of a police officer in regard to using force.

Statistics

Data taken between 2005 and 2014 from the FBI indicates that 238 of the 505 killed and 251 of the 533 officers assaulted were attacked between the hours of 8PM and 6AM. Generally, these are hours of low light.

The NYPD has indicated that approximately 77% of their officer-involved shootings took place in diminished lighting.

There is a ton of data out there to sift through, and a person could go blind trying to take it all in. At the end of the day (no pun intended), it seems that close to 50% of police or self-defense shootings take place in diminished light. Some departments suggest the numbers could even approach 90%.

The truth is that bad guys frequently operate under the cover of darkness. Armed with this information, we can reason that it’s important to do some low-light training and have a light with us at all times. Just in case.

Low-Light Training

How many regular citizens have access to a shooting range where we can conduct low-light training? Most shooting ranges welcome such a prospect about as enthusiastically as Dracula would take to sunbathing on the beach (liabilities make it a nightmare for them). Low-light training can be hazardous and needs to be carefully conducted to eliminate injuries.

Because of this, people very rarely train for low-light scenarios. But it’s not just civilians — even many law enforcement agencies conduct either insufficient or no training in low light. My particular agency’s idea of low-light training for annual line staff qualifications amounted to having officers put on goggles that were about as dark as sunglasses to simulate “low light.” This was woefully inadequate for any real training!

During my time on our tactical unit and sniper team, we did conduct quite a bit of low-light training that was in the actual dark. I guess the department felt that we were more competent than a typical line officer, and so they allowed us to train more dangerously.

Indoor Environments

Nighttime isn’t the only instance where we can operate under darkened conditions. Buildings are frequently dark inside, as I found when operating inside the prisons where I used to work. Cops often find themselves in darkened buildings, too. In fact, they could chase a suspect from the bright, sunny street and, within a second or two, be inside a dark building where their eyes have no time to adjust to the darkness. During such times, a flashlight is absolutely vital.

One must be prepared for any environment at any time, and this doesn’t just apply to cops. Suppose you’re in your favorite grocery store or outlet, and the electricity goes out. They might not have backup power generators. Aside from tactical considerations, this will simply be a good time to have a light so you can see your way out.

Maybe you work in an office building or similar place (many people work indoors). Again, having a light available simply makes sense, whether it’s for tactical reasons or simply so you can find your way.

Impact Weapon

One of the reasons I’m never without a flashlight—aside from seeing in the dark—is that they make stellar impact weapons. Most lights these days are compact, unlike the ones that were popular back in the ’70s and ’80s (those huge, multi-D-cell monstrosities). Those old lights could double as batons.

Nowadays, they’re far shorter, lighter, and more compact. However, when held in the hand, they can still make a spectacular impact weapon. Let the end of the light protrude out of the grip slightly, and use the exposed portion as a striking surface, and you can make things happen.

I tend to avoid the lights with the sharpened, scalloped bezels because those are immediately deemed to be “weapons” when going through most security points. Instead, I opt for the blunt bezels, which certainly can get the job done just fine. Most lights these days are able to take the abuse of striking hard objects, so there’s little worry of the light breaking during impact. And if it does, oh well, I’ll buy another one. But at least it will get me out of trouble if I need it to.

LED or Incandescent?

At one point, all we had as an option were incandescent lights, and they could be prone to having the bulb burn out or otherwise be broken during impacts.

For me, LED is the way to go these days. LED stands for Light Emitting Diode, so there’s no filament to burn out or break like in incandescent models. LED lights normally have a longer battery life than incandescent lights, too. These days, many LEDs sport rechargeable batteries, making them even more convenient since we don’t have to keep buying batteries to feed them.

Even models that take CR123A batteries are more cost-efficient now because there are CR123A batteries that are rechargeable. I have a couple of sets of rechargeable batteries from Surefire, and they are the bees’ knees! Currently, there are a multitude of lights out there that take AA batteries, which are great because they are plentiful and not overly expensive.

How Many Lumens Should I Have?

For a tactical light, the more, the merrier. Being able to blind a potential threat is a nice option and could save you from having to use more force. More lumens are also better for identifying threats at longer distances. Remember, you want to be able to identify whether the person has weapons or is a threat.

Currently, lights can be had in under 100 lumens, going all the way up to a few thousand lumens. However, do consider that the lights with ultra-high output have some drawbacks:

• They use more power, which means battery life will be short.
• They generate a lot of heat, and some even are programmed to reduce light output if they get too hot.
• Excess light, especially in a building, can reflect back and temporarily blind the light’s user.

Many lights now have dual output, so we can have a setting with lower lumens for everyday tasks and a high-output mode for tactical use.

Some Choices

Streamlight ProTac 1L-1AA

One of my very favorite lights that I carry with me every single day (if I’m dressed, it’s in my pocket) is the Streamlight ProTac 1L-1AA EDC Light. It’s made of aluminum and accepts either a AA battery or a CR123A battery (it’s nice to have those options!). This light puts out up to 350 lumens, but it also has a strobe feature and a low-light feature. The low-light option will allow the light to run up to 14 hours. There is a rubber tail cap that allows the light to cycle through the light levels, and it can be programmed so that you get either high or low light levels with the first push of the tail cap. It has a built-in pocket clip, and it’s very compact and easy to carry, which is one reason why I love it. As of this writing, it retails for $43.99.

Streamlight MacroStream USB

Streamlight’s MacroStream USB has two LED light modes: 50 and 500 lumens, which can be chosen with the rubber tailcap switch easily. There’s a built-in pocket clip, allowing it to be easily carried in the pocket or clipped onto the bill of a ball cap for hands-free lighting. It is rechargeable, so you never have to worry about buying new batteries for this light. Using the low setting, this light will operate for up to eight hours.

Surefire G2X Pro

Surefire’s G2X Pro has 15-lumen and 600-lumen dual output modes for both EDC use and tactical use. Using the low setting greatly extends the run time of this LED light. The body is polymer, with the bezel being metal, and there’s a push-button tail cap that can be locked out or twisted on for continuous use. This light is powered by two CR123A batteries and retails for $80.99 as this is written. It’s hard to go wrong with a Surefire light!

Handheld or Weapon Mounted?

You’ve probably noticed that I haven’t included any weapon-mounted lights in this article. Frankly, it’s beyond the scope of what I wanted to cover for this particular subject.

Handheld lights are far more versatile. They can be taken virtually anywhere, providing the carrier with an improvised defensive weapon and a light source.

And we shouldn’t search with a weapon-mounted light since we’d be pointing the weapon wherever the light is aimed, which could very well include friendlies. That’s a huge no-no. It’s better to search with a handheld light and then bring the weapon light to bear once a threat has been detected. But that’s already been covered in a different article.

Final Thoughts

There are many viable lights to choose from these days, and at some great prices, too. Most are durable enough to tolerate the abuse that they’ll receive in a tactical environment, both on duty and for regular self-defense.

LED lights will last a very long time and are economical to use. In many cases, we can also have various light levels from the same light, ranging from low to high. Every time we turn around, manufacturers are improving the lights on the market, and it’s exciting to see what they come out with next. Regardless of whether we go out at night or not, we should always have a light on our person. Just in case. If nothing else, it can be used as an impact weapon to ensure that we never have to be unarmed.

We just covered a few lights here in this article, but there is a huge selection out there to choose from. Have fun finding one. Or several!

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