Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Still confused about weaponlights

Okay, so I'm still confused about whether I want / need a weapon light. Im not an LEO, not an operator of any kind. I carry consistently and live in a rural environment where I need to be able to deal with threats to my home and family.

I don't see myself hanging a light on my CCW, but I can definitely see the advantage of having a free hand available when responding to things that go bump in the night. For all of the usually-quoted reasons (weapon manipulation, opening doors, easier to get hits on the target, etc) a light on the pistol seems a big step ahead of a light in my left hand.

What I don't understand is what some posters said in a previous thread: "A handheld light is for searching, a weapon light is for shooting." That might be paraphrased, not exact. I certainly understand the reason behind that delineation, that bump in the night might turn out to be my child!

But how exactly is this done? Do you carry your pistol in your right hand and a light in your left? If so, what happens when you encounter a threat? Drop the handheld and activate your weaponlight? Also, how do you open doors with both hands full? Or do you put on your pants, belt, and holster so you can have a light in one hand and still have a free hand?

Thanks in advance for your help.

I have a small Surefire for a handheld and it's no problem to open a door while holding the flashlight.
Personally I figure if anything happens while sleeping I will grab 1. pistol 2. handheld light 3. pants/holster in that order as time permits.

I agree that for most of us the weapon light would be most useful on our bedside gun.
I don't see the problem with having both lights activated as you clear the house. Sweep with the handheld and only bring the weapon up if a threat is encountered.
That way you don't need to fumble to activate the weapon light when panic strikes.

As dodgefan stated, with the right light and grip you can manipulate doorknobs, etc.

By an old Streamlight trade in from J&G surplus and try it out!!

They are less than $40 I believe, if available!

Send me an addy by PM and I will mail you one to try out and when you've tried it can mail it back.

Mike

J&G sales

They appear to be sold out!

Seriously send me an addy I have two of the old non-led types that were surplused when all the agencies went to the new LED's they are quite sufficient for us avg Joes

Mike

Friends don't let friends buy overpriced bogus lights. You're in Middle Tennessee. Go to a Sam's Club and get a two pack of whatever they're selling at the moment. It will be about $30 and you'll even get batteries with it. The other part of the suggestion to try it out was sound.

Btw...unless you're willing to try out cutting edge flashlight technology as found on Amazon and the like, then skip the rechargeables and especially skip the 3v systems. Get either one of the lights that take three AAA batteries or one AA. The latter will be the most compact. The more claimed lumens the better. Don't get less than 100 lumens.

You just have to remember that when you're searching with a weapon light, you're pointing your gun at everything you look at; which can be a rule 2 violation. If you have kids in your home, that's probably undesirable.

If you and your spouse are the only one's who should be in your house, then its probably less of a problem.

I've carried a handheld light in my pocket since Surefire and Streamlight first developed the CR123 battery series of lights back in the early 1990s. Currently I carry the TerraLux TT-4 that puts out 600 lumens and uses a rechargeable 18650 battery and can use two CR123 for backup.

Just bought my first handgun mounted light as the 10mm Glock 40 I ordered came in on Wednesday. It is a Streamlight TLR-2 that has a green laser and a 700 lumen flashlight...have to say I'm impressed.

Not planning on carrying the gun as it is pretty big but will be used as a house gun and travel gun in the vehicle. It will also now be my designated "camping" gun taking the place of the S&W 357PD .41 Magnum with night sights I have been using. The Glock 40 now has TruGlo TFO nights sights which makes it easy to find in a dark tent.

Tactics wise the beam spread on the weapons light is such that the beam will light up an area big enough that it isn't necessary to be pointing the muzzle at whatever you don't want to point at and still be able to identify the target...depending of course on the confines and situation... Primary seach light however will remain the handheld light with a very light lanyard so I can just let go of the light and transition to the weapon light...













Bob

Go set up a small stage and shoot it in the day and again at night. I do not use a mounted light but I do carry a Fenix 1A pocket clip flashlight every day. I have nothing against a mounted light but I dont want to buy a special holster or mess with taking it on and off every evening/morning. I do practice with a handheld and do quite well, but I can tell you it does take some practice. My first night match in the pitch black (indoor range so 0 light) was tough. I got a lot better with some practice.

I have found that I use my pocket flashlight nearly every day, so a mounted light doesn't replace the pocket light. Unless you want to point your gun at everything you want to see, a mounted light doesn't replace a hand held light. So, you need a hand held and a mounted and a special holster and the cognitive ability to switch between the two lights depending on the task. Searching can become shooting awful quick. I prefer to keep it simple, but like you I am not an operator or an officer. If I were, I would run a mounted light 100% of the time. I suppose for a bedside bump in the night gun it would be nice, and I have threatened to go get one to play with. My current system works well for me. Also, leave a small, efficient light on in the main areas of your house. Then you can see without any flashlight needed.

Useful post RJM. Some personal thoughts:

I have trained not to point guns at unidentified targets.

Good beam spread allows navigation through obstacles and target ID w/out pointing the weapon at the subject.

My house has too many mirrors and reflective surfaces to use a 700 lumen light w/out blinding myself, learned that the hard way.

having a lanyard on the handheld light solves many problems.

I spent several years instructing in facilities using Simunitions often in the opfor role and learned that if I shot at the light I had about a 80% hit rate on the guy using the light. I prefer to hold the hand held at arms length and use the light intermittently.

If you use an handheld you should spend a lot of time practicing shooting w/ one hand.


mike r

No other way to say it Bob...

You just have really good taste in guns. The G40 isn't pretty, but it's a bad-azz pistol for sure.

There are some really good posts here, and I'm glad to say you're bringing up thoughts I hadn't considered before. Please keep it coming!

ROR: I really appreciate your very generous offer, but I have a friend here who has offered to loan me one, so that's not necessary. It sure is neighborly of you though!

One of my Springfield 1911-A1 pistols with a Surefire 300X. The light is bright enough, and the field off light is sufficient that I don't have to point the pistol right at the target, in order to see it well. You also don't have to have your finger on the trigger when lighting up the yard or hallway.

My ever-present Surefire LX2 has a lanyard made of a loop of no-stretch Kevlar Zing-It wrapped into groove where the plastic lanyard loop was (before it broke off). The loop is just barely long enough to pull the end of the loop back through itself. I then threaded a key ring through this loop, it is tight enough that it can't slip off the end of the light. The keyring hangs out of my left rear pocket as I carry the light. I've pulled it out of my pocket thousands of times by this loop, my support hand thumb instantly slides into the key ring without thinking about it. I can then flip the light into my palm. I can also release it and let it dangle and run a handgun two-handed if need be, or I can let the light dangle and change mags with it.

A Streamlight TLR3 is small enough for CC on something like a Glock 19, IMO. Surefire has a new tiny one out.

Bluemonday, can we see a pic of that? I'm sure a lot of us would be interested in seeing that arrangement.

Primary Arms has the Streamlight TLR-3 on sale right now for 69.99.

I have two strategically placed hardened points within my home. One is fixed in place, and the other is movable. These are supported by 3 sets of battery operated LED lights that can be operated from either hardened point.

My lights are now getting old, and the buddy who installed them for me has recommended replacing them with newer style LEDs.
Current lights and controls are hard wired. Buddy says he can easily improve on the lights and set up a wireless remote control.

This is my TLR3. I once shined it into a mirror down the hall to decide if I felt I could actually look into it and return fire effectively. I don't believe anyone could keep their eyes open and on the light beyond the absolute first eye contact. If they shot, they'd be shooting with their eyes closed. People, when you get this shined in your eyes, it's a surprise and I don't believe there's one in 10,000 who won't close their eyes and look away. We're talking about criminals here, not Spetznats commandos!

As for having the weapon pointed at family members. I don't see that as a big problem if the weapon works as it is supposed to, and my finger stays off the trigger. The finger and the trigger aren't supposed to meet until the target has been identified. Hollywood notwithstanding.

You do in life, what you do in training. I'd highly encourage people to properly train.

The light casts a 5 foot circle at about 30 feet and the sights are right in the middle of that circle. If I had to make a snap shot, it would be easy.

This is the night stand gun.

One option is spend about ten dollars at a hardware store and get a motion activated led light.
You can plug these in any outlet in your house.
As people move around they activate the lights.
If you have children in the house maybe a baseball bat is better than a gun.

How would a civilian get "properly trained?