Unlike regular household or utility flashlights, a tactical flashlight is meant to be used in emergency situations which may or may not have an element of danger. With this in mind, many tactical flashlights have the ability to be used as a means of self-defense. This is why the lumen/candela count is usually high enough to cause flash blindness. It is also the reason why many of these lights have a strobe feature.
Strobe lighting, defined as very short, intense flashes of light, has been around since 1931, when Dr. Harold Eugene Edgerton, also known as “Papa Flash” employed a flashing lamp to help him photograph fast-moving objects like bullets and machine parts.
A few decades later, strobe lights became popular in the club scene to enhance the effects of LSD. However, those examples are of the rapid flashing of lights with normal intensity. A modern tactical flashlight’s strobe function involves rapidly flashing its high lumen/candela beam to disorient or blind aggressors.
The correlation between strobe lights and disorientation had been known for a long time. During World War II, the Allies mounted a searchlight with a strobe function to a tank chassis and called it the “Canal Defense Light” or CDL. This light could flash at speeds of two times a second and was used to prevent German troops from accurately returning fire. It was used to great effect when it blinded German frogmen who were attempting to destroy the Bridge at Remagen (of movie fame).
It was only in the 2000s that strobe lights on handheld flashlights became popular among law enforcement, thanks to the innovation of more intense LEDs. The Department of Homeland Security came up with a device called “the puke saber” in 2007, meant to disorient adversaries with a flashing array of colored LEDs. However, the device never went into production.
However, strobe lights did eventually find a home in the civilian self-defense market. The widespread availability of LED technology, which allowed for more compact, powerful, and energy-efficient light sources, played a significant role in this transition. Companies like INFORCE began incorporating strobe features into their tactical flashlights such as the WML series and the WILD2, making them accessible to a broader audience.
So, why do tactical flashlights have strobe functions? The primary reason is self-defense. The intense, rapidly flashing light can disorient and temporarily blind an aggressor, giving the user a critical advantage in a potentially dangerous situation. This disorienting effect can create a window of opportunity for escape or to gain control of the situation. The strobe function can also be used for signaling in emergency situations, making it a versatile tool for both personal safety and practical use.
In summary, the strobe feature in tactical flashlights is a direct response to the need for effective self-defense tools in emergency situations. Its ability to disorient and incapacitate aggressors, combined with the practical benefits of high-intensity LED technology, has made it a valuable addition to modern tactical flashlights.