Why you shouldn't search with a weapon-mounted light on a handgun - Massad Ayoob

[pmandayam]

No. Just… no. Please get some training from a professional.

I don't need to be trained by a professional to kick some home intruders from my home. The last thing I want to do is turn my home into some "tactical battleground". And the main goal isn't to kill the invaders; that's taking things too far. The main goal instead is to kick out the intruders.

[Rex G]

They used to say this about smart phone cameras too, that they are inadequate and you need to use a dedicated camera. But technology has come very far now that cell phone cameras are very, very good, and you would need a multi-thousand dollar dedicated camera to beat it.

Cell phone cameras keep getting better and better with every new release. In fact, that's one of their major selling points to upgrade your phone.

The modern smart phone has become a multi-media or multi-purpose tool. This also includes the flashlight. In time, the flashlight on the phone can be as powerful as most dedicated flashlights, and it's already getting there.

Regarding "tactical "use" of the cell phone flash light, well, in a home invasion, you can use it to dial 911 and talk to operators while at the same time use it as a flashlight to search your home! (while turning on the house lights of course). And it is bright enough that it will illuminate your entire room. Go into your basement or a dark room, turn off all the lights and close the door and window, and turn on your phone light, you will see how bright it is.

When the iPhone’s light can emerge from the phone body, on a flexible tentacle-like device, and move coaxially with my field of vision, then, it will be useful for searching and talking, at the same time, but only if I can use my mind to instantly activate and de-activate the illumination function. The tech is not there, just yet.

As it is, now, I hate using an iPhone to illuminate the task of Scoop-ee Doo, when out with the dogs, at night. A favored Surefire LX-series light is much less fumble-prone than a mobile phone designed to resemble a bar of much-used soap.

[blues]

What in the...

...I'll see myself out.

[WobblyPossum]

I don't need to be trained by a professional to kick some home intruders from my home. The last thing I want to do is turn my home into some "tactical battleground". And the main goal isn't to kill the invaders; that's taking things too far. The main goal instead is to kick out the intruders.

I would argue that the main goal when responding to a home invasion is to deal with the invaders without getting yourself or your loved ones hurt or killed. Using your iPhone as your primary illumination tool doesn’t really make the “without getting hurt or killed” part easier compared to using a dedicated handheld flashlight. The controls of using the iPhone as a flashlight suck for anything where the stakes are higher than “I dropped something and it rolled under the table.” The phone would also make it really hard to employ handheld flashlight techniques other than the FBI hold or neck index. Just get a real flashlight. It’s not like a handled flashlight is prohibitively expensive for most people. If you can afford an iPhone, you sure as hell can afford a decent flashlight.

[Clusterfrack]

[okie john]

What in the...

...I'll see myself out.

Yeah, no shit.


Okie John

[MickAK]

My home is so scattered with handheld flashlights I would knock them all on the floor and wait for intruders to trip on them before I tried to use my phone.

People that used lights before LEDs were ubiquitous tend to be the same in my experience. We don't appreciate how good we have it.

[TCinVA]

I have had a cell phone with a flash on it for more than a decade now.

I would never reach for one over a flashlight if it was at all practical to have the flashlight. They suck at the kind of tasks we would need a light to perform if we're potentially dealing with threats.

I have considerable experience training in low light with handguns and lights of various stripes and I have watched all sorts of really cool lights with neat features come to class and get jettisoned immediately thereafter because the unfortunate owner found out that under stress getting the exact function they wanted out of the light when they wanted it was almost impossible. It's not going to get any prettier if the thing we're trying to get light out of can make phone calls, stalk exes on social media, access your bank accounts, and stream porn.

Using a light in conjunction with a handgun while trying to assess a problem and make decisions is far more complicated than most realize if they've never actually been put in the position to combine all of those things at the same time.

I've been using some form of smart phone (defined as phone with a camera and internet capacity) for close to two decades now. I have found myself unable to bring up the camera app in a hurry on lots of occasions. (Oddly enough my first Samsung smart-ish phone was the easiest as it had a dedicated exterior button that could activate the camera) Right now my iPhone is set up to engage the light when I double tap the back and the camera when I triple tap the back, but I cannot make either function show up reliably. I have recovered lost data on phones and used them to perform administrative functions on servers through an ssh shell...so it's not just that I'm some boomer who doesn't know how technology works.

I'll be happy if the thing can actually get through to 911.

I'm not depending on it for my light if I have any other option whatsoever.

I'm pretty adamant about not relying on a cell phone's flash...to the point that I have multiple lights on my person unless I'm literally in my boxers. (Surefire E2E with Malkoff head, Streamlight Microstream in a pocket organizer) I keep two spare lights in my briefcase because I've experienced power outages due to transformers getting taken out, somebody ditch-witching through wires, or because there's an active fire and the building's power is gone to include making the emergency exit signs not work.

[NH Shooter]

Need to get JMCK to make an IWB for this cutting-edge-technology rig;

[Ichiban]

Need to get JMCK to make an IWB for this cutting-edge-technology rig;

I have no words.