Originally Posted by
EMorr
...I think the advantages of a weapon mounted light greatly outweigh their undesirable characteristics such as pointing your weapon at something you do not want to destroy. Allow me to paint a hypothetical picture using words...
A major problem with hypothetical scenarios is that it is easy to create a hypothetical that will favor one technique or one skill set or one type of equipment. But if a hypothetical is not fairly representative of the type of situation one is likely to encounter in real life, it's pretty useless.
If we could know that we would be facing only one particular, well defined problem, we would have the luxury of being able to choose our equipment, training and techniques to be optimal for that particular problem. But that is not the case for us. We don't know what our problem will be, so we must choose training, techniques and equipment reasonably suitable for a wide range of possible problems.
Originally Posted by
EMorr
...You come home from a long day of work and it is pitch black outside, as you approach your front door you notice that it has been kicked in and is laying in splinters on the ground in front of you. The interior of your house has been trashed, none of the lights are working and worse yet you can hear something rummaging through the debris. Upon calling the police they tell you that they are extremely busy for whatever reason and it may be as much as 15 minutes before they can have a unit to your location, they recommend that you do not enter the residence but seek shelter at a neighbor’s house until they arrive and assess the situation. But you remember that you left your 50lbs of gold bullion sitting on your desk (Very Hypothetical at this point) and are not willing to wait for the police....
And that, of course, is a serious mistake. One might be forced to enter if he had good reason to believe a loved one might be there, but considering that going looking for a possible adversary puts you at a severe tactical disadvantage, it's a very bad choice to take the risk for property.
Originally Posted by
EMorr
...So the question is once your make your way to your gun safe do you grab your Mag Light and pistol with no light or do you grab for the pistol with a weapon light...
And why would you even consider entering if you weren't already armed?
Originally Posted by
EMorr
...If you grab for your pistol and the flash light because you are worried about pointing your weapon at something you are not willing to destroy, you have to admit that when you are clearing your house you main focus will be on the area illuminated by the flashlight and you will trying to keep your weapon in your peripheral vision or possibly in a close retention hold....
You're doing it wrong. We learned at Gunsite how to do it correctly with a separate flashlight. Get yourself some proper training, and you could learn how to do it right.
Originally Posted by
EMorr
...there are numerous disadvantages to malfunction clearing if you are only using one hand....
That's why it's a good idea to have a lanyard on your flashlight.
In any case, there are a number of reasons why I've concentrated my training on proper use of a separate flashlight. First, I always have at least a small Surefire on my person.
Second, although I can't legally carry a gun around where I live, and can and do legally carry a concealed gun in Arizona and Nevada and a number of other States. But carrying a concealed gun with a mounted light is something of a trick. So if I need my gun and a light, I will almost always have to use a separate flashlight. Therefore, I better learn how to manage it properly. So I've trained that way.
DVC
adapt, improvise, overcome
"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.", Carl Sagan
"One should shoot as quickly as one can -- but no quicker.", Jeff Cooper
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