INFORCE Blog — weapon light

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.

On April 30, 1980, at 11:25am, six Arab-Iranian terrorists broke into the Iranian Embassy at 16 Princes Gate in London and took 26 Iranian Embassy employees hostage. The terrorists demanded the release of 91 prisoners being held by Iran in their home region of Khuzestan. If their demands were not met by the afternoon of May 1^st, they threatened to blow up the embassy and everyone inside it.

Not many governments at the time had a dedicated counter-terrorist force, but the British government was an exception, and they responded by sending in the venerable Special Air Service. The pride of the British Army, this black op unit specializes in covert reconnaissance, hostage rescue, and unconventional warfare.

SAS operators were divided into two teams: Red and Blue. While Blue Team breached the ground floor of the building, Red Team would abseil from the roof, and it was important that both teams would enter the building at the same time so the terrorists wouldn’t have time to respond. Speed and aggression were essential components of SAS doctrine. One of the unit’s founders, Lt. Col. Paddy Mayne, said “When you enter a room full of armed men, shoot the first person who makes a move, hostile or otherwise. He has started to think and is therefore dangerous.”

While this sort of “guns blazing” approach to room clearing is no longer considered popular (or sane) in modern tactical shooting, it might help explain SAS’s interesting choice of gear. In the 1980s, weapon modifications such as red dot optics and weapon mounted flashlights were barely considered by conventional armies. SAS was, for the most part, trained to fight in enclosed spaces in the dark, and their weapons highlighted their mission.

Unlike the rest of the British Army, which at the time was using the L1A1 SLR service rifle, SAS utilized the MP5 submachine gun for its size and accuracy. Specifically modified for low light operations, SAS modified its MP5s to include a top-mounted flashlight, which conveniently doubled as an aiming device.

Notice how the flashlight sits in place of an optic on the submachine gun’s mount. This might seem counterintuitive at first, but there is, in fact, a method behind the madness. SAS operators were mostly trained to shoot with gas masks, and utilizing the iron sights on any weapon while wearing a mask is far from optimal. Since there were no truly convenient red dots or reflex scopes at the time, SAS commandos would use the variable beam focus on their lights to double as both a light source as well as an aiming reference point. On these old “Laser Products” flashlights, the adjustable bezel could adjust the throw on the beam, making it suitable for either a wide area or a small, focused spot depending on the situation. This made it easier for SAS operators to shoot with reasonable accuracy from the hip while also maintaining spatial awareness, which was already difficult due to their gas masks.

The tactics and equipment used by the Special Air Service remain relevant in a modern home defense scenario. In a situation such as a home invasion, a homeowner will most likely be forced to engage threats in the dark and will have to maintain situational awareness while using his flashlight. With an Inforce WML and its 10,000 Candelas of beam intensity, a shooter is guaranteed to get a bright, solid illuminated area that can be used as a point of aim. In close quarters combat, pinpoint accuracy is not as important as it is when hunting or precision marksmanship, and if a shooter trains enough with his weapon and familiarizes himself with his shot placement when using the WML as an aiming point, shooting from the hip becomes a viable tactic for close quarters engagements.

For those who use night vision, the WML White/IR comes equipped with an invisible infrared beam perfect for illuminating pitch black areas while also providing the same targeting benefits as its white light brother. Aiming with a night vision device over one eye, especially in the dark, is difficult and awkward and the WML White/IR offers a solution.

The hostage crisis at the Iranian Embassy lasted for 6 days, but it took SAS just 17 minutes to take out the terrorists and secure the hostages. Suffering only one injury during the assault, the Iranian Embassy hostage crisis remains one of the most stellar examples for a well-conducted counterterrorist operation in the world today.

Simply put, a flashlight is a handheld portable lighting device.  It puts photons where you point and may even be mounted on a weapon.

A tactical flashlight, on the other hand, has a greater lumen and candela output than an ordinary flashlight. They are usually smaller and much more powerful than what you may think of as a traditional flashlight and are meant to take a fair amount of abuse.

Materials and features

One of the requirements of a good flashlight is its ability to withstand harsh conditions. Most handhelds in use today are constructed of aluminum or Nylon 6, a knurling of some sort on the body, and have a rear click switch that offers constant on and momentary modes. A parabolic reflector allows for a beam pattern that produces a bright hotspot for distance and noticeable side spill to illuminate a large peripheral area.  Quality flashlights will use a white LED and measure their light emissions through Kelvin (K).  A rating of 5000K is equivalent to direct sunlight and is optimum when bright illumination is needed.  A more detailed explanation of the Kelvin color temperature can be found here.

Lumens and Candela

Lumens are a measurement that tells you the total amount of light emitting from the LED.  It is important to note that the lumen number does not correlate to what you may see at a distance from the focused beam once the LED is placed into a reflector or any other type of optic. Candela can be described as the amount of light that is emitted in a certain direction.  Typical modern flashlights use a parabolic reflector but there are many other types of optics that may be used such as Fresnel lens, convex lens, or Total Internal Reflection (TIR) lens. Modern high-performance flashlights usually have a lumen measurement from 500 to 1000 lumens and a candela from 25,000 all the way up to 60,000 or higher while utility flashlights have brightness levels anywhere from 25 to 100 lumens and very low candela.

Batteries and battery life

Lights producing a high number of lumens require CR 123a or rechargeable Lithium-Ion batteries, which are more efficient at delivering energy than a typical AA or other alkaline battery. However, because of the power consumption a high-powered flashlight uses they may only last up to 2 hours on its highest settings. In contrast, a regular flashlight which typically only has an on-off switch, can usually last ten hours or longer on regular alkaline batteries.

Ratings

Professional grade flashlights typically have IP (Ingress Protection) ratings, which indicate how well-protected a device is from water and in some cases, it defines how impervious it is to solid objects such as dust.  Ingress Protection ratings begin with the letters IP followed by one or two numbers.  The first number tells you the level of ingress of a solid object and the second letter dictates how impervious it is to water.  Some flashlights may even have an IP68, which is highest IP rating for both dust and water resistance. A more detailed explanation of IP ratings can be found here 

Users

Besides Law Enforcement, Military, and armed citizens, tactical flashlights are usually seen in the hands of search and rescue workers, survivalists, mechanics, outdoorsmen and others who value their high intensity beams and ruggedness. The once rare tactical light is so commonplace and affordable today that it has by and large taken the place of the regular flashlight for home use. This is especially true because most will not bother buying low-lumen flashlights simply because everyone has phones that do just as good of a job as a regular non-tactical flashlight from just a few years ago. Many tactical lights on the market today are equipped with the strobe function, which is meant for either signaling or self-defense, something the designers of typical flashlights are not concerned about.

Whether walking into a dark room, a poorly-lit alleyway, or an area with known threats in the dead of the night, if you value your life, you’ll need both your flashlight and your weapon. Enter with just your weapon, and you’ll be shooting blind. If you enter with just your flashlight, you’ll not only be unarmed but you’ll tell everyone in the room where you are.

Hence, being both armed and able to see is essential for dealing with threats in a low light environment. Over the decades, police, military, and self-defense professionals have developed several techniques for using flashlights with handguns. Some of them emphasize stability, while others emphasize light control or safety. In all these grips, it is important to ensure the flashlight does not obscure the firearm or vice-versa.

The most famous of these flashlight pistol grips is the Harries technique. Pioneered by Michael Harries, a US Marine veteran and prolific marksman, this technique was widely utilized by the LAPD SWAT before it caught on with the wider shooting community.

In the Harries technique, the flashlight is held in an icepick grip, with the shooter’s thumb on the tailcap. The hand with the weapon is set on the flashlight hand with the wrists nested together, which helps support the weapon. It’s important to note that the elbow of the flashlight hand should not be “chicken winged” out to the side and instead should be kept close to the body, without having the forearm completely vertical. If the elbow is flared too far out, you make yourself a bigger target and compromise your support of your weapon. If your elbow is in too close, you lose some of that support.

Reloading from this position is easier than it might seem. Unlike some of the other grips, the index finger and thumb can still be used to manipulate magazines, and with practice, a reload with the flashlight hand can be just as fast as an empty-handed reload. In the case of other grips, it’s much harder to get a hold of one’s magazine and rack the slide with the middle and ring fingers (see photo), but it can still be done.

There’s only one thing wrong with the Harries method. If someone lacks training and is not used to the technique, there is a very real possibility that in the heat of the moment, if a shooter sees something out of the corner of his eye, he may break his stance, sweep his flashlight to the threat putting his hand in front of his weapon and fire, shooting himself.

The Chapman technique prevents this. The technique is named after Ray Chapman, whose long career in the Marines and law enforcement gave him the foundation he needed for sports shooting. It is probably the most comfortable flashlight grip for pistol shooters who utilize the weaver stance, where one’s shooting arm is nearly fully extended and pulling on the weapon while the support hand is bent at the elbow, pushing on it to provide support.

In this technique, the flashlight is held with only the thumb and index finger, while the rest of the supporting hand pulls on the weapon for stability just like a regular two handed grip. The downside of this grip, however, is that it makes reloading awkward since the thumb can’t be used to pick up a magazine. Racking the slide would be equally tedious for the same reason. Another downside to this technique is that it limits the shooter’s range of motion in the same way the weaver stance does.

The Ayoob technique, by contrast, allows for much greater movement. This particular method was invented by Massad Ayoob, a Syrian-American former police captain and martial arts expert. The technique involves holding the flashlight in a sword grip, with a finger on the on/off switch (on the body of the flashlight) for activation. The thumbs of both hands touch, and the flashlight is held in place by the fingers of the weapon hand and the palm of the support hand. This makes it possible for this grip to be used in either the weaver stance or with arms extended.

While the Ayoob technique allows users to hold their weapons in both the isosceles and weaver stances, it is purpose designed for flashlights with buttons on their bodies rather than on the endcaps of modern tactical lights. For those, the syringe grip is more appropriate.

With the Syringe Technique, the flashlight is held between the index and middle fingers with the middle or lower part of the thumb on the endcap switch. The weapon hand is braced by the lower fingers of the flashlight hand to steady it, giving this grip the stability and of the Ayoob technique.

The Neck Index, on the other hand, is something completely different. In this one-handed technique, the flashlight is held against the user’s jaw in such a way that the light moves together with the user’s head. If the flashlight is a large Maglite type light, the body can be rested on the user’s shoulder, in the optimal position to be swung at an assailant if necessary. This is one of the most common techniques for one-handed weapon grips.

The FBI technique, meanwhile, allows for more freedom of motion while at the same time offering a small degree of protection through deceit. In this stance, the flashlight is held far away from the body. This is done so that the user’s exact position is obscured. Any bad guy that sees the light will be less likely to hit the user. At the same time, the flashlight hand and weapon hand operate independently of each other. Just like the Neck Index, this also means that the user will be shooting one-handed.

Whatever flashlight technique you prefer, there are a few universal truths that anyone doing low-light shooting should consider. One should always bring any spare batteries, especially those who work in the dark often, since most high powered flashlights only work for a few hours at a time.

On the topic of room clearing with a flashlight, Sergeant Paul Sneck of the Finnish Defense Force, who served in a close protection role during a UN deployment in Lebanon with additional experience in maritime security in the Caribbean, states that since most ceilings are white, it would be sound to point your light directly upwards if you want to illuminate the entire room, since white reflects light. Furthermore, if your flashlight is the only source of light in the room, the strobe function can be useful for moving from cover to cover. Sneck likens a gunfight with a strobe light to “fighting in a disco” since the rapidly flashing lights make it hard for your opponent to see you.

Any potential dangers in low light environments need to be met with a firearm you’re familiar with and a dependable, versatile flashlight like the InForce TFx. With 700 lumens on its high setting and a peak beam intensity of 12,000 candelas, this flashlight can be used as a self-defense measure in its own right, since 200 lumens even in broad daylight is enough to cause temporary blindness. Combined with a good weapon and used with proper technique, you should have everything you need for a self-defense scenario in the dark.