Guns: Handgun & Flashlight Techniques

While the following videos are more geared toward law enforcement, they're worth a view just for familiarity's sake. I should probably add that I don't agree with 100% of everything shown here, but on the whole, it's pretty sound advice:





Whole courses are taught about low light tactics, so it'd be sort of futile to cover that kind of thing in one blog post. I'll just talk about what I use, and what works for me, an average Joe geared up for self-defense and not serving high-risk warrants or kicking doors in Fallujah.

I must admit to rarely carrying a high-intensity flashlight around. This is probably mistake number one, but it's already hard enough to lug keys, cell phone, wallet, and gun around. There's a point where you start having a utility belt a la Batman instead of just normal clothes on. Thankfully, most urban areas are lit up like crazy, but it's still not ideal.

This is completely changed, however, at home, where a flashlight is within easy reach of the bedside. Most of my nighttime hours are spent at home anyway, so it seems sensible. In terms of form, for me, the Rogers/Surefire technique is fairly awkward, with the Harries and FBI techniques about equally natural. Unless you have a button to turn on all the lights in your home instantly (which also disadvantages you to anyone looking inside from outside), you'll need a flashlight.

A flashlight, aside from helping to ID potential attackers, makes seeing the sights incredibly easy. Once the area you're looking at is bathed in bright white light, your sights (even the default iron non-tritium type) are set in stark contrast. You can also use a flashlight as a hand weight (like a yawara or kubotan) to make offhand strikes at close-in threats.