INFORCE Blog — flashlights

The modern tactical flashlight, a five-inch-long tube of rubber and glass-reinforced nylon, is very similar to the kubotan, an unassuming stick of similar length made of wood or aluminum built for self-defense. However, if you had to choose between the flashlight and the kubotan, the flashlight is the infinitely more useful option. 

Not only is using a kubotan difficult but using it without training could also get you into legal trouble. In a court of law, you may have to prove that you have been trained in the weapon you used to defend yourself to justify its use. A self-defense case in court will swing in your assailant’s favor if it can be proved that you used excessive force. 

Despite its size, the kubotan should not be treated as a gimmick weapon. In 2018, an Air China flight was hijacked by a man who threatened a flight attendant with a fountain pen. This lone terrorist was able to force the plane to land simply by pressing the fountain pen to the flight attendant’s jugular, and 90 Chinese paramilitary troops had to be dispatched to capture him. 

This is one man with a pen: a short stick with a pointy end, just like a kubotan. 

A well trained kubotan user can perform takedowns or even use the little stick as a restraint. This, however, requires years of training and constant practice, time that many average citizens do not have.

Grappling with a kubotan

A flashlight is a far simpler self-defense tool. If a threat is approaching you with malicious intent, shining a high-powered flashlight directly in your assailant’s eyes sometimes works just as well as pepper spray. 

Pepper spray may be more intense than a flashlight, but it has shorter range and can still potentially blind your assailant long enough for you to escape. You need a 300-lumen light in broad daylight to cause temporary flash blindness, while only 100 is needed at night. At full power, an INFORCE TFx boasts 700 lumens of power. 

To use it effectively against an aggressive opponent, simply shine a steady beam of light at your opponent’s face from a distance as he’s coming towards you and “step off the X,” moving either left or right out of your opponent’s way. It doesn’t matter if he shields his eyes or if he still keeps coming at you. He’ll be charging blindly in a straight line. Any horizontal movement you make gets you far enough out of his reach for you to make a getaway. 

In police academies, 21 feet is known as the danger zone. If an assailant with a knife can get within 21 feet of an officer with a holstered firearm, it’s generally assumed that the man with a knife will be able to stab the officer before his firearm can be drawn, aimed, and fired. The same rule should be applied to a flashlight. If your tactical flashlight of choice is normally either tucked away in your pant pocket or stashed in a purse, you may want to consider keeping it drawn and ready whenever you enter an area like a dark parking lot or when you walk your dog at night. 

If you remember nothing else, remember this: your objective is to get away from your assailant, not to destroy him. The flashlight can be used as a weapon but should only be done so as a last resort, and only with the appropriate training. 

Here at INFORCE, we have talked extensively about the advantages of tactical flashlights. They’re great for quick target acquisition, low-light visibility, and for distracting opponents. However, there are some nuances to consider when buying and using tactical lights for the first time.

While weapon-mounted flashlights like the INFORCE WML are excellent for fighting with shotguns and rifles, they do not always provide a perfectly round beam like one would expect with a handheld light or a pistol-mounted light.

This is because pistol-mounted lights and handhelds almost always have the head of a flashlight either clear or flush with the muzzle of the weapon. This is rarely the case with a rifle-mounted light. If you’ve never used one before, you should be aware of the silhouette caused by mounting a light on your rifle’s picatinny rail. Depending on the length of your barrel and where your flashlight is mounted, your beam will have some kind of distortion. The more “gun” there is forward of your beam, the more shadow you will have. Knowing this, it’s best to mount your flashlight as close to the tip of your weapon as possible.

This shadow of your barrel can be used as a reference point for your point of impact. It’s good to train on a low light range to determine where exactly that point would be. If you memorize that sweet spot, you can fire from the hip at short ranges with your light instead of a red dot, which would be especially useful since low light fights indoors are fought at close range anyway.

It’s also great to train in the darkness since it could lead to potential setbacks or advantages unique to your own weapon light setup. For example, in my own setup, I mounted my weapon light on the right side of my rifle, illuminating the iron sights for a close-range kill. Some first-time users might realize that using a tactical flashlight as a grip might not be a good idea since they tend to heat up rather quickly.

In addition to your light, there may be other attachments on your rifle like optics, bipods, slings, canted mounts and lasers. Of these attachments, the sling might be the most problematic. Picture this: You heard something in the dark and you grab your rifle from its rack. You know that if you turn on your light prematurely, you might reveal your own position. You know the layout of your own home, so you creep out into the hallway where you heard the sound, and then you turn on your rifle and see nothing but a faint white ring where your flashlight head should be.

You realize that in your haste to arm yourself and respond to a potential threat, your sling has wrapped around your flashlight. Not only are you still blind but whoever is in the room can see the ring illuminating you.

The solution to this problem is simple: use a one-point sling. This modern design is unobstructive and allows for quick transitions between your rifle and sidearm, especially valuable for competition shooters and law enforcement professionals.

Firing your weapon from behind cover with a flashlight might prove to be another challenge. A well-trained shooter will know that the less exposed you are, the less chance the enemy will have of hitting you. This is common sense. Knowing this, shooters who engage from behind cover only expose the muzzles of their rifles and not much else. When most of this training is done in the daylight, there is a tendency to forget the flashlight. If only the muzzle of a rifle is exposed from behind cover, then the flashlight’s beam is still hitting your cover and shining right back at you. This is especially problematic when taking cover behind cylindrical objects such as columns one sees in parking lots. When using a rifle-mounted light, it’s best to extend your barrel further than normal to accommodate your attachment. Also, it would be good to remember that right-mounted lights are at a disadvantage when leaning out of cover on the left, while the opposite is true for lights mounted on the left.

When using a pistol with a handheld light, the FBI technique is best used for shooting from behind cover. Not only does it direct threats to a point of light far away from your own body, but the light will be clear of any obstructions and shadows, giving you a clear line of sight.

For more information on tactical flashlights, consider reading about the practical uses of flashlights for self-defense.

“Crime and vice generally require darkness for prowling,” said Mahatma Gandhi. “They disappear when light plays on them.” These words have always been true for criminals since the dawn of civilization. Even though Gandhi was shot with a Beretta M1934 in broad daylight, most shootings tend to occur under the cover of darkness. 

Therefore, it should follow that after the invention of the flashlight, people who carried every day would have the forethought to strap a light onto their pistols. However, we cannot discuss how the modern pistol light rose in popularity without discussing how its predecessors failed. In 1911, George A. Seely invented the first hand-held battery-operated pistol/light combo. It was given the practical but unimaginative name “Night Sight for Firearms.” A technological marvel for its time, its recoil dampening system allowed a flashlight to be mounted to the frame of a revolver without breaking when it was fired. 

Regardless of how practical Mr. Seely thought this was, his invention was not widely adopted by the general public. This was probably because the light was never mass produced and would have been made by hand for every order, making it expensive and impractical. 

Flashlights eventually came into mass production, becoming sturdier and brighter. Certain people once again saw the practicality of using them with pistols. This especially became true during the Vietnam War, when American GIs and Marines had to play a deadly game of cat and mouse with the Viet Cong in their deep, dark tunnel networks with low ceilings. The Americans deployed tunnel rats to smoke the VC out of their hidey holes. These men, typically 5’5” or shorter, were trained to crawl into the darkness of enemy tunnels and engage the enemy with only a knife, pistol and flashlight.

Most times, the M1911 was used in tandem with an angle-headed flashlight for these underground operations. Unfortunately, not only did this loadout leave the tunnel rat with no free hands, but the M1911’s high caliber round was ear-shattering in the confined spaces of a VC tunnel.

When a unit had the resources, it could use a purpose-built .38 special revolver with a suppressor and flashlight. The idea was sound, but the execution was sloppy. This “tunnel rat special” revolver had its light mounted on the top of the weapon, eliminating its iron sights. While this was fine for the job it was meant to do, since tunnel rats would engage VC at arms-length distance, it would be absolutely useless outside of this one specific task. Once again – not something the civilian market would need.

It took several decades until the pistol flashlight took the form we see today. In 1996, Heckler & Koch released the Mark 23 MOD 0 pistol, otherwise known as the SOCOM. This 9.6 inch long handgun was suppressor-ready and equipped with a flashlight/laser combo called the Laser Aiming Module or LAM. With all its attachments, however, it tipped the scales at 5 lbs. The LAM was a well-conceived idea, but its proprietary rail rendered it useless to any weapon but the Mark 23 itself.

Picatinny rails, standardized the year before the SOCOM pistol was released, eliminated the problem of proprietary attachments forever. When the rails hit the civilian market in the mid-2000s, every company that produced firearms or firearms attachments recognized the diversity the picatinny rail offered. Some of the top pistols of the 2010s were the Sig Sauer P320, the Smith & Wesson M&P, and the VP40 – all of which were designed with integrated rail systems for underbarrel attachments.

The Picatinny made it possible for a firearms owner to mount a weapon light or laser on any compatible firearm, remove it, and mount it to any other railed firearm regardless of manufacturer if he changed his mind. This had massive appeal to consumers worldwide.

Not only that, but companies like INFORCE have developed smaller, lighter, and more powerful tactical pistol lights than anything seen in the previous decades. The lights from the INFORCE Wild series are true modern pistol lights, the culmination of decades of development in the tactical flashlight world. The INFORCE Wild lights are more compact, lightweight and powerful than anything that came before them, and with Picatinny and Universal Rail mounting for maximum compatibility, they make the perfect accessories for any modern pistol and a must-have attachment for anyone who’s serious about self-defense against criminals who hide in the cover of darkness.

A flashlight can be used for more than just illumination. With enough candelas, they can be turned into viable self-defense tools. Notice how I use “candela” and not “lumen.” Lumens on a flashlight measure the amount of light, but candelas measure a light’s intensity. Take this into consideration: the average fluorescent light bulb has 2,000 lumens while an INFORCE Wild1 has 500. While anyone can stare up at a fluorescent lamp and daydream about getting out of work early, nobody would want to look directly into the lens of a Wild1, and not just because it would be attached to a pistol. A fluorescent lamp’s intensity hovers at around 130 – 140 candelas, while a Wild1 has 5,000 candelas of blinding power. 

Flashlights with high enough intensity can be used to deter any threat, including ferocious predators. For example, when hiker Jiji Oh went on what she thought was going to be a stress-relieving outdoor journey in the mountains of Steamboat Springs in Colorado, what started as a self-care journey ended up being a fight for her life. Lost in the wilderness for four days, she survived at night by scaring away predators with her flashlight. Thankfully for Jiji, she found a pair of fishermen at their “secret fishing spot” and was taken safely to civilization. 

Likewise, in Nederland, Colorado, a family dog let out of the house in the middle of the night on a bathroom break was attacked by a mountain lion. The dog’s owners were able to scare away the mountain lion by making loud noises and shining the strobe of a powerful flashlight on it. The confused mountain lion had never experienced anything like a strobe before and decided it would be better to release the dog and walk away. The dog suffered several lacerations from the attack but is otherwise fine. 

In an urban environment, your flashlight is more likely to be used against human threats rather than animal ones. Statistically speaking, the average person is more likely to find themselves knocking back a few cold ones at a bar than staring down a cougar in the wilderness. A tactical flashlight is not seen by many as a weapon, and bouncers will most likely let you pass as opposed to a guy with a pocketknife. In the same bar, you’re very likely to encounter someone drunk and belligerent. 

In a self-defense scenario, the objective is not necessarily to incapacitate your opponent, but to remove yourself from the scene as fast as you can. There is no such thing as dishonor in retreat if it means you stay alive. In the absence of pepper spray, a flashlight can be used to temporarily disorient a threat before running away. Not only would it blind your opponent, but unlike pepper spray you would not be in danger of hurting others around you – or yourself. 

Some argue that the flashlight can be used like a kubotan – a small stick, usually the size of a human palm – used by some as a self-defense keychain. The issue with this way of thinking is that many kubotan techniques require hours of training which ordinary people don’t usually have. 

According to its proponents, the kubotan is not a “gimmick” but a practical self-defense tool capable of doing everything from blocking kicks and punches to incapacitating threats by applying force to pressure points. While a trained kubotan user can execute these techniques thanks to repetition and muscle memory, an untrained man on the street would be highly likely to fumble in a life-or-death situation. In fact, the official kubotan technique manual specifically states that no one should carry a kubotan without training. 

The comparison between a tactical flashlight and a kubotan is fair since both are approximately the same size and made of durable rigid material like hard impact plastic or aircraft grade aluminum. The only real difference is the tactical flashlight helps you see in the dark. 

In its simplest form, the kubotan can be used to strike at an aggressor’s face, chest, temple, or extremities. The problem is this would require the kubotan user to get up close enough to strike his or her assailant. Once again, if your objective is to run away, getting within grappling range of your assailant is generally a bad idea. 

On the other hand, someone following you in the dead of the night will be temporarily blinded with a 12,000-candela blast from an INFORCE TFx from as far away as eight to ten feet; especially if the light is shined directly into his face. A flashlight is also a great tool for identifying who might be sneaking into your room, especially if your first reaction is to reach for your nightstand weapon. 

If your room opens and you start blasting away in complete darkness, when you turn on the lights, there will be a chance you could kill a loved one. Reaching for a flashlight first allows you to both disorient an attack and see your opponent. 

Any gun owner who owns a pistol with a flashlight attachment will know the pain of looking for a compatible holster. Since weapons have to fit into their holsters like tailored suits, once an attachment like a laser or a light is added, whatever holster it once called home becomes a useless piece of kydex or leather. Fortunately, INFORCE has done the legwork and found several different holster companies that can accommodate your new pistol and flashlight combo.

1. Practicality: CrossBreed LDS 2.0 System ($99.95)

CrossBreed’s LDS 2.0 holster with Accomplice Magazine Carrier can accommodate a wide variety of firearm and flashlight combinations. Meant to be worn inside the waistband, CrossBreed touts this as a comfortable, adjustable EDC holster. The Accomplice Magazine Carrier can be attached to the holster piece and features adjustable retention, an ambidextrous design, and an adjustable cant angle.

2. Closed design OWB: Blackhawk Omnivore ($62.95)

The Omnivore is so-named for its ability to accommodate a wide variety of handguns with lights or lasers. It boasts compatibility with over 250 varieties of semi-automatic handguns with accessory rails and has a thumb-driven active retention mechanism for additional safety.

3. Variety: Safariland holsters (price varies)

The fact that Safariland sports not one but several holsters compatible with INFORCE lights says something about the versatility of their product line. Safariland holsters feature a variety of safety features unique to this brand such as the SLS (Self Locking System), which uses a rotating hood to protect the weapon from unwanted takeaways as well as the ALS (Automatic Locking System) which retains the firearm in the holster until it is released by the user’s thumb pushing a locking lever, allowing for a smooth, natural-feeling draw (see image). A complete list of all Safariland’s compatible holsters is located here.

4. Vehicle Carry: Hornady RAPiD Vehicle Safe (Available at Scheels for $249.99)

While not exactly a holster, Hornady’s RAPid is a side-console gun safe designed solely for your vehicle. Accessible only by a user with an RFID wristband, key fob or the correct PIN, the RAPiD is perfect for any parent who wants to carry in their vehicle. With the RAPiD’s security system, there’s no need to worry about a curious child reaching for the weapon and causing an accident.

5. Customizability: ANR Designs ($69.99 - $98.99)

INFORCE's holster of choice, ANR holsters are made from kydex to stand up to the rigors of intense activities like competition shooting. They come in a variety of custom molds and patterns for any style or model of semi-automatic firearm you need. INFORCE has an available holster for the Glock 19/17/34 and Wild2, but a wider array of options is available on the ANR website.

6. Modularity: Insane Kydex (price varies)

Offering an insane (pun intended) variety of holster types beyond ordinary IWB and OWB options, Insane Kydex caters to everyone from competition shooters and law enforcement to casual enthusiasts and collectors. Their holsters are tailored to every individual customer with a wide range of options for pistol, light and optic compatibility. Capable of housing any INFORCE light, Insane Kydex's holsters are known for their color options, which vary from the tacticool to the tacti-crazy.

We hope you find this selection of holsters for OWB and IWB carry helpful. What are your thoughts on your favorite pistol/light holster combo? Tell us in the comments below.