The differences between hand held flashlights, weapon mounted and lasers and applications
I got a good course in flashlight uses yesterday when a very well known Police instructor showed me how washouts and white outs occur when entering a room, there is such a thing now as too much power candle power. Everyone is getting shocked when they see the output from some of these new Surefire and Streamlight flashlights and probable 350 Lumens is about what the average Surefire or Streamlight flashlight can put out. I got a good review of some of the Pelican flashlights and it’s pretty obvious that the technology has greatly advanced. Having high output is useful outdoors but indoors it can be liability. Having a light that has adjustable output with a high and low is a good idea. Also, there are big differences between having a search light vs a point light on your firearm. Now go back to thinking about how much light you really need.
I have an LWRC M6A2 that I’ve had around for several years and recently had to make some changes due to my angled foregrip cracking. I have been looking over the Crimson Trace Laser grips and thinking about putting a laser on it. Using night vision in outdoor environments is a real possibility for me and I’ve learned to use lasers as pointing devices when working in team situations. Its much easier to put a laser on a door in a building to identify the threat rather than to yell out which color and how many doors down the threat is sitting in. Clearing rooms in a house after a domestic call or an alarm goes off is probable one of the most dangerous things police deal with and knowing how to use lights and lasers in those environment is very important.
Man in the training in the self defense school will argue about the use of lasers on firearms. Lasers are used for as many diverse reasons as any tool. You can use a laser to direct someone to a target, highlight a threat, targetting a threat and using the laser dot to give you an approximate point of impact. When lasers first came out, there was evidence that operators were using them to aim and for close quarters fighting, sometimes aiming is not necessary and will slow you down in getting the first hits in. Hits count and the first hits usually go to the winner.