For folks using a revolver for your "bump in the night" gun: Flashlight Strategies?

[RAM Engineer]

Title says it all: What are you folks who use a round gun for your "bump-in-the-night" gun doing about flashlights?

Techniques?
Brand?
Grip rings, loops, etc?
Switch Location?
Hyscore grips?

[03RN]

Same as any other gun when using a handheld.

I hold my light at my neck.

Reloading is trickier because im holding the light and revolver in one hand. You need to be aware or when you slap the ejector rod you can also smack the end on the light which kinda hurts.

[Rick R]

I’m old and have used and taught the Harries light technique among others for years. It’s probably what I’ll default to under stress.

Bedside I have a Surefire 6Z with a Malkoff LED head and a lanyard that I used to carry on duty. It’s only @600 lumens but produces a wall of white light. In my pocket when out and about I have a PowerTac E5 that I bought before they decided that the front bezel needed razor sharp points. Both use rechargeable NiMH batteries. Both lights are small enough diameter that I can palm them with the revolver while doing a strong hand reload.

[snow white]

Same as 03RN on the neck hold with my hand held . For my home, my policy is to always use a hand held for identification in conjunction with my pistol even if pistol has a light. I have the switchback on my shurfire EDCL2-T and on my modlite. I found that the little flippy technique that people do with the switchback for the pseudo two handed grip is just not repeatable enough for me to use it that way. But its fantastic for retaining the light on my hand as I preform other tasks. This feature is used almost every time I pull my light out.

[Totem Polar]

Bump in the night? I use light switches—the ones on the wall. Beyond that, what 03RN said.

[BehindBlueI's]

Bump in the night? I use light switches—the ones on the wall. Beyond that, what 03RN said.

I've installed several of those trim plates for electrical outlets that have built in LED lights. They are pretty cheap and even a semi-Amish guy like me can install them. There's no wiring, they have clips that contact the innards (technical term) to get their power from the wires to the outlet. A sensor turns them on when it's dark. It's my space, I figure I might as well prep it to repel boarders as well as to not brake my damned neck trying to go to the bathroom when my wife decided to leave a pair of shoes in my normal path. Hypothetically.

Unless the power is out, none of my halls or common areas are ever too dark to make an identification on someone in the house. But, yes, I still have a flashlight at the ready.

[Pepper]

I've installed several of those trim plates for electrical outlets that have built in LED lights. They are pretty cheap and even a semi-Amish guy like me can install them. There's no wiring, they have clips that contact the innards (technical term) to get their power from the wires to the outlet. A sensor turns them on when it's dark. It's my space, I figure I might as well prep it to repel boarders as well as to not brake my damned neck trying to go to the bathroom when my wife decided to leave a pair of shoes in my normal path. Hypothetically.

Unless the power is out, none of my halls or common areas are ever too dark to make an identification on someone in the house. But, yes, I still have a flashlight at the ready.

We have them in every room: https://www.snappower.com/ They don't wreck your night vision on those after hours potty runs.:D

[Crazy Dane]

My house isn't totally dark. The light above the kitchen sink gets left on and I have a power company provided security light on their pole that illuminates our parking area. I get some spill off of that and I can navigate with out extra lighting. I also have 3 Great Danes and if anyone is dumb enough to come in on them there will be an entanglement problem and I will be flipping light switches. If the bump is outside, light in left hand searching for whatever made the bump, gun holstered, clipped to pants or stuffed into pants pocket.

[FrankB]

Our bedroom door has an exterior door lock. I used to keep a railed pistol next to my bed, along with several flashlights. Now I keep my carry gun, which is a revolver or 1911. In the event of a break in, my wife and I would stay put in the bedroom. I’d rather have the police shoot it out. If we had to venture out, it would only take 10 seconds to open the gun safe door, and grab and AR or railed pistol.

[Rex G]

Surefire LX2, or similar. I normally hold it in a way that some have termed the “Cigar hold,” but might use a neck index hold, situationally.

There is nothing revolver-specific about this, in my case.

[That Guy]

Surefire LX2, or similar. I normally hold it in a way that some have termed the “Cigar hold,” but might use a neck index hold, situationally.

I admit that I have perhaps not worked on this topic as hard as I should have, but any time I've tried the cigar hold with a revolver I've been unable to make it work. I would be interested to see how you do it, if that would be possible.

[SCCY Marshal]

I still like Mag-Lite and maintain a small stable both incandescent and LED. I pre-focus the throw, paint an index mark, and wad rubber bands at the joint to discourage it rotating out of focus. While I don't believe in marrying one technique, neck index is my most common hold so I can rest the tail on my shoulder. I find them reliable, appreciate the American manufacture, note that they hold stably on target, can hit things with them like reseating hinge pins in doors or clearing dead branches out of my way, and they are relatively inexpensive.

That said, my bedside light is a PepperBall unit since my issue is often shooing a snippy dog out of the yard or reminding the local junkies that my car is not their piggybank. Thankfully, both events have stopped since getting the thing without need to deploy any expensive PAVA balls. I still like that it is rechargeable, the triangular body making index to the button intuitive, and ranged less-lethal capability.

Being awake well into the night and commuting in the depths of it, my strategies vary. From my pocket torch often temple indexed to spin around and light up a sound to grabbing a Mag-Lite for real use around the house/yard/back forty, PepperBall launcher for things that stir me out of bed, random cheapies scattered here there and everywhere if i need something quick to hand without draining my pocket torch, or even a Ryobi lantern. My house is ancient, poorly updated to the electric age, and switches are oddly placed.

When it comes to training to shoot with a light, I very often shift my hold when the gun comes into play. Whatever lets me best use my sights in the current lighting conditions. May be Harries, neck index, or F.B.I. if I'm behind some cover or obstacle. And I don't even think about reloading a handgun with a light while home. In bed, I won't be donning spare ammo so native capacity is the beginning and end of it. While dressed, I can reload in the dark so can kill the light, ditch it in the pocket while going for the speedloader, and then get the light back online. That may not be an industry best practice but is currently mine.

[Caballoflaco]

I still like Mag-Lite and maintain a small stable both incandescent and LED. I pre-focus the throw, paint an index mark, and wad rubber bands at the joint to discourage it rotating out of focus. While I don't believe in marrying one technique, neck index is my most common hold so I can rest the tail on my shoulder. I find them reliable, appreciate the American manufacture, note that they hold stably on target, can hit things with them like reseating hinge pins in doors or clearing dead branches out of my way, and they are relatively inexpensive.

That said, my bedside light is a PepperBall unit since my issue is often shooing a snippy dog out of the yard or reminding the local junkies that my car is not their piggybank. Thankfully, both events have stopped since getting the thing without need to deploy any expensive PAVA balls. I still like that it is rechargeable, the triangular body making index to the button intuitive, and ranged less-lethal capability.

Being awake well into the night and commuting in the depths of it, my strategies vary. From my pocket torch often temple indexed to spin around and light up a sound to grabbing a Mag-Lite for real use around the house/yard/back forty, PepperBall launcher for things that stir me out of bed, random cheapies scattered here there and everywhere if i need something quick to hand without draining my pocket torch, or even a Ryobi lantern. My house is ancient, poorly updated to the electric age, and switches are oddly placed.

When it comes to training to shoot with a light, I very often shift my hold when the gun comes into play. Whatever lets me best use my sights in the current lighting conditions. May be Harries, neck index, or F.B.I. if I'm behind some cover or obstacle. And I don't even think about reloading a handgun with a light while home. In bed, I won't be donning spare ammo so native capacity is the beginning and end of it. While dressed, I can reload in the dark so can kill the light, ditch it in the pocket while going for the speedloader, and then get the light back online. That may not be an industry best practice but is currently mine.

Just fyi we’ve had a couple of incidents where people breaking into cars killed people in the last couple of years. Because dumbasses leave guns in their cars to be stolen I assume all car burglars armed. I would not be going outside to dissuade car burglars unless I was looking for a gunfight, and I don’t look for gunfights.

https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2016/01/hoover_husband_father_shot_to.html

https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2019/01/2-birmingham-police-officers-and-suspect-shot-outside-downtown-club.html

[FrankB]

I forgot this! A few weeks ago, someone was knocking on my patio door at 5:30am. Our bedroom is on the second floor, and I shined a flashlight down onto the patio. A very cute woman was bleeding from her foot, and screaming “Help!” A guy came onto the patio, and I asked if she needed help from him. They both said “No”, and I called 911. While I did have a revolver in my right hand, that was quickly set back down. I never left the bedroom, and told them an ambulance was on the way. They said they couldn’t wait, even though the bleeding wasn’t that bad. When the police and ambulance arrived, the couple was gone. They brought a K9 to track the blood trail, and I went back to bed. We have an awesome police department (Middletown Township, PA), and they drive FAST. We moved here from Valley Forge, and police response there was never known to me. When our township’s budget is discussed, the PD is not up for debate.

[Caballoflaco]

I forgot this! A few weeks ago, someone was knocking on my patio door at 5:30am. Our bedroom is on the second floor, and I shined a flashlight down onto the patio. A very cute woman was bleeding from her foot, and screaming “Help!” A guy came onto the patio, and I asked if she needed help from him. They both said “No”, and I called 911. While I did have a revolver in my right hand, that was quickly set back down. I never left the bedroom, and told them an ambulance was on the way. They said they couldn’t wait, even though the bleeding wasn’t that bad. When the police and ambulance arrived, the couple was gone. They brought a K9 to track the blood trail, and I went back to bed. We have an awesome police department (Middletown Township, PA), and they drive FAST. We moved here from Valley Forge, and police response there was never known to me. When our township’s budget is discussed, the PD is not up for debate.

Good on you for not opening the door.

I had a group of friends who were the victims of a home invasion robbery that involved a similar set up. They were having a small gathering at a duplex apartment in a nicer part of the downtown area when a young woman comes to the front door screaming bloody murder and that she needs help. As soon as they open the door her two male partners rushed in behind her with guns and proned everybody out. They then went around collecting wallets and phones and got a couple of laptops. Thankfully nobody was hurt.

[Inspector71]

I’m old and have used and taught the Harries light technique among others for years. It’s probably what I’ll default to under stress.

Bedside I have a Surefire 6Z with a Malkoff LED head and a lanyard that I used to carry on duty. It’s only @600 lumens but produces a wall of white light. In my pocket when out and about I have a PowerTac E5 that I bought before they decided that the front bezel needed razor sharp points. Both use rechargeable NiMH batteries. Both lights are small enough diameter that I can palm them with the revolver while doing a strong hand reload.
This is what I use. Harries & Mag Lite go together like peanut butter & jelly. Toss in a modified Weaver stance and you are retro 80’s as far as low-light engagements go.

[SCCY Marshal]

...I would not be going outside to dissuade car burglars...

My justification for the PepperBall light. I can yell and lob pain through an open window from the comfort of my own home.