Flashlight Techniques

[Lomshek]

GJM makes some great points especially WRT the idea of a “best” method (like so many other things) there is no “best”; there is only what works better for you with your equipment and training.

Byron’s description of the how and why Southnarc teaches the methods he does is the best logic I’ve heard for a hands-apart method. It also reminds me again I need to make some Southnarc training a priority.

Not to pick on cclaxton but I’ll use his post to point this out.

Lots of folks say this
Weapons Mounted Lights: ... And, it allows BGs to shoot right at the flashlight/handgun so higher risk. No to WML.

And directly contradict it with this
Neck Index and Temple Index are great for seeing my sights and the target and are more comfortable to hold and easy to operate the ON/OFF button when needed. Only bad thing is that BG’s shoot the light, which is near my head. But I can turn ON/OFF easily and move more easily. I like this the best.

A WML allows the fastest most accurate hits but should not be used because a bad guy might shoot at the light.

A light held against my head is best because it can be turned on and off easily. (If you have a pressure switch for your WML you can turn it on and off pretty easily too)

Wouldn’t faster more accurate fire be a better way of winning the gunfight than trying to make the BG play hit-the-7-foot-tall-NBA-player? Separate from the idea of using misdirection during a search as Byron pointed out.

My travels so far have led me to the decision that if I have the option (as a civilian in HD or CCW) a WML is my first choice and for just about everything the Graham method is next in line. As discussed previously everyone should try different methods and see what works why.

[JAD]

I think it's a great example of how difficult and worthy of effort some of the 'peripheral' areas of our pursuit can be. Marksmanship, Cooper said, is the easy part. Movement, illumination, the use of cover -- 'tactics' -- is much more squishy, much more difficult to measure, much more difficult to get trained in, and really important.

Todd's point illustrates this well. Leaving the light on is good advice for some. With the amount of work that people on this forum put into skill development, it shouldn't be something any of us would do.

[ToddG]

Is it really a level playing field? If you don't have them illuminated they can see you and you can't see them. Wouldn't turning all the lights on be more of a true level playing field?

If it's bright outside and someone is hiding behind a bush, he has an advantage but not one created by illumination. If you've got your flashlight on but you're not illuminating where the guy is, that's no different. And that assumes a reasonably large area and/or fairly weak light given that most of the 100+ lumen lights do a decent job of providing at least shape/silhouette recognition in a typical room these days.

Also, I should probably clarify what I meant by "just leave the light on." I'm not talking about walking through a dark office building with a flashlight in your hand. Searching can be done with flashes and strobes. Ken Good (one of the original Surefire Institute instructors) is the first guy I saw teaching that technique and I immediately adopted it because it's easy and straightforward with just a little practice. Craig Douglas (Southnarc) has further refined it and it's one of the things he covers in his AMIS class.

By "leave the light on," I meant once the decision to shoot has been made, until the decision to stop shooting has been made. Juggling the light switch, light position, gun, and trigger simultaneously is just far more than most people can handle. A lot of techniques work great when you're fighting against static targets that aren't threatening you in any way, but every time you turn the light off you completely lose the threat's position and you have to start from scratch with searching.

Todd's point illustrates this well. Leaving the light on is good advice for some. With the amount of work that people on this forum put into skill development, it shouldn't be something any of us would do.

I still think that's too absolute. There are absolutely times when keeping the light on from the start of contact until the end is going to be the safest, most effective, most direct way of dealing with danger.

[JAD]

I still think that's too absolute. There are absolutely times when keeping the light on from the start of contact until the end is going to be the safest, most effective, most direct way of dealing with danger.

I see your point and agree. I need to take AMIS for many reasons, but one of them is to understand the identify-light off-move-light on-shoot thing (if I even did that right). It sounds contrary to teaching I've had against 'giving ground,' but I bet there's a nuance.

[phil_in_cs]

I see your point and agree. I need to take AMIS for many reasons, but one of them is to understand the identify-light off-move-light on-shoot thing (if I even did that right). It sounds contrary to teaching I've had against 'giving ground,' but I bet there's a nuance.

I'm not sure what's meant by 'giving ground' in an indoors context. When the fights are across a hallway or within a bedroom or kitchen, you are moving from one location at point blank distance to another at point blank distance. You are choosing a location for tactical reasons.

[JAD]

This can be executed in a number of ways, but one example that immediately comes to mind is gaining visual information past a threshold. Before entering a new room, the student is shown a method of crouching low, but then holding the flashlight high. Give a brief flash, then quickly disappear back behind the threshold. It's critical that the student practices taking "snapshots" of this visual information. After all, if you flash the room, then duck back without actually taking in that visual information, you're only worse off than before.

To be really clear, because the internet can be so full of snark that it's hard to ask a legitimate question sometimes:
- I'm talking about something Byron, who is not SouthNarc, said about SN's class.
- I am of the 100% full faith and conviction that AMIS is something I need to do
- I am of the 100% full faith and conviction that there's a good reason for what I'm asking about /if/ I'm perceiving it correctly.

I was taught, most particularly by Clint Smith, that once you flip that light on as you enter the room you engage or don't. Either way, you're going to get off the light and move if at all possible, once that engagement is concluded; but you're not going to lose visual command of the area until you have dealt with whatever you saw. The assumption being, I guess, that what you saw is likely to have changed by the time you come back out from cover.

I doubt that what SN teaches truly conflicts with that, and I bet that after AMIS I'll understand a lot better. To Todd's point, I was taught to leave the light on until that engagement is over and I have a new, better place to hide.

[cclaxton]

I just shot a IDPA COF inside a darkened indoor range. The scenario is this: You are having dinner in a candlelit restaurant and are seated at your table with your partner across from you when six mobsters draw guns. Your table ranges between 21-30 feet away from the targets and are spread across a 40 foot horizontal area interspersed with nonthreats in darkened areas of the room. They range in height between 4-6 feet. You must make all shots while seated.

There were about 3 different flashlights available, including my Surefire Z2X 200 Lumen CombatLight. After the house lights were turned off and it was only candlelight, No one's flashlight lit up the entire area to allow sufficient targeting. My flashlight, which has a relatively narrow beam with "peripheral illumination" would barely cover two targets. It was definitely necessary to put the main part of the beam on the target to see it and to shoot it. If I had a diffferent type of wide-angle flashlight I still don't think the illumination would have been sufficient. Sitting a flashlight on the table and attempting to identify and hit the targets would have been difficult and inaccurate.

On the other hand, when I turn the Z2X on in my large bedroom and set it down, it is sufficient to identify and acquire the target in a 14x14 room. So, I learned a valuable lesson....it depends on the room, the location of the targets and the situation.
mal
Seems to me I need to train using various scenaios and then knowing when to set the light down and when to hold on to it and when to hold it away from the body. I could get used to the idea of a WML, but I don't normally carry that kind of weapon...I carry a Z2X flashlight and a Kimber Ultra CDP II in 9mm...not a gun that will even handle a WML. I would rather be trained on something I will always have available to me.

Just my opinion, others may vary, I am not an expert, use at your own risk, don't take offense, no offense taken, etc.
CC

[Byron]

To be really clear, because the internet can be so full of snark that it's hard to ask a legitimate question sometimes...

Ha, I hear you -- sometimes people mistake genuine questions as bait in a trap.

I was taught, most particularly by Clint Smith, that once you flip that light on as you enter the room you engage or don't. Either way, you're going to get off the light and move if at all possible, once that engagement is concluded; but you're not going to lose visual command of the area until you have dealt with whatever you saw. The assumption being, I guess, that what you saw is likely to have changed by the time you come back out from cover.

I doubt that what SN teaches truly conflicts with that, and I bet that after AMIS I'll understand a lot better. To Todd's point, I was taught to leave the light on until that engagement is over and I have a new, better place to hide.

The described technique was shown as an option, but was never espoused as the only way to cross a threshold. It is meant for stealthily moving through a structure, not for actual engagement in a firefight. That is to say, if a shooting problem arises, the light goes on and stays on until the problem is solved (hence my appreciation of a WML in addition to the hand-held).

Equally free of snark, my question would be: when are you "flip[ping] that light on as you enter the room"?

On one extreme end of the spectrum, you could position yourself outside the threshold with your light switched to constant-on, and slowly pie the space as if you were doing a daylight visual scan. The benefits of this approach might be less exposure to ambush, increased mobility, and just general caution. The drawbacks would include fully identifying your position, as well as your range of visibility.

From the perspective of a "bad guy" role-player, when people lay heavy on the light, it's not only easy to see where they are, it's easy to see what they're observing. I know that they can only see what it's their beam of light, and since the beam is constant, I can easily track what they see.

On the other extreme end of the spectrum, you could penetrate the room, turning your light on once you are inside. The benefits of this approach might be surprise, aggression, violence of action, etc. The drawbacks would include the potential to run right into a threat (figuratively and literally), compromising your mobility, smacking into a wall, or tripping over a table.

Looking at it again from the role-player's perspective, this can really be a surprising move. If you weren't actively watching the threshold for the incoming good guy, he could be on top of you as soon as you realize he's there.

The peek-and-move maneuver sort of hedges your bet. If there is someone in the room who is focused on the threshold, you can spot him and get back out of his line of fire before he even starts pulling the trigger. Again, this takes practice and timing to pull off, but is very repeatable once those reps are in. It also allows you to see where in the room you're going to move once you cross that threshold.

Once enough visual information is gathered from outside the threshold, the actual entry is very aggressive. Again, from the perspective of the role-player, this entire sequence really throws a wrench in your OODA loop. You're sitting there thinking, "I know he has to come through this door. I know he has to come through this door." Suddenly you see a flash in the corner of the doorway, your brain says, "HERE WE GO!" and you pop off some shots. But the light has mysteriously disappeared and the threshold is empty. You start wondering whether he already made it into your room or whether he's still outside of it. Did you hit him? Is he still there? Suddenly, something is aggressively moving through your room.

The AMIS curriculum places heavy stress on pacing up and pacing down, often changing on a dime. This applies both to physical movement (moving at a snail's pace one second, running the next, and then back to anywhere on the spectrum) as well as light use (sometimes using brief strobes, sometimes using constant-on). There's definitely no always/never solution. As such, trying to verbalize some of this comes across as wishy-washy... "sometimes do this... sometimes do that..." but there really is a huge decision-making component to the coursework.

Sorry... that was longer than I expected and I'm not sure I even addressed your question.

[JHC]

Byron - don't know if you addressed his question but I found that a VERY helpful explanation!

[Coyotesfan97]

From the perspective of a "bad guy" role-player, when people lay heavy on the light, it's not only easy to see where they are, it's easy to see what they're observing. I know that they can only see what it's their beam of light, and since the beam is constant, I can easily track what they see.

As an actor in FoF I agree. I have actually stayed just outside the beam of a flashlight moving back deeper into cover as the role player attempts to clear objects in a room and have been missed. In a small room I was hiding behind circular cover and moved around it both ways. Then moved out and engaged the role player.