Using lights for searches; keep it relevant!

[Rexster]

I have seen several recent discussions in various sub-forums here on THR, and on other forums, regarding the use of lights during searches at night. Rather than try to post this umpteen times, I thought it best to start a new topic. I am not here to debate the merits of whether a light should be mounted on your pistol! The issue is using a light technique appropriate to the environment. Folks, when a light comes on inside the average room, EVERYTHING is illuminated, including the guy holding the light, due to reflection from walls and ceiling, so it does not matter at that moment if the light is on or near the pistol, or held away from the pistol. The FBI Technique, of holding the light well off to the side and high, is great for outdoors, or inside huge structures such as warehouses and factories, where the moon or artificial lighting is not illuminating everything, anyway. Don't take my word for it! Get a friend or family member to help, and test what I have said. Too many armchair building searchers have pontificated on these forums, for me to say nothing. I do not claim to be an expert, but have worked night shift police patrol in a big city for over two decades, and am still doing it. Y'all stay safe out here!

 

[wcwhitey]

Rexter, I am not sure if you are advocating the searches or against them, or using a steady beam or flash illumination. It makes a difference. Just need some clarification before I comment. Bill

 

[Rob Pincus]

Well Said, Rex... too often these conversations can digress far beyond the context of likely incidents to the imagined importance of a choreographed scenario or extreme exceptions to the rules of probability... sometimes this is part of the quest for the "end all be all" solution, unfortunately, that quest often results in delusional feelings of complacency and a less than progressive approach to developing good concepts that apply to the real world.

-RJP

 

[Rexster]

wcwhitey, I am neither advocating nor discouraging searches here, nor getting into the steady beam-versus-quick-flash argument. Searching a dark building or area is very dangerous, but sometimes there is no choice, and the better way to avoid drawing fire is to not use a steady beam, but some (few!)situations may call for a steady beam. (Best is to use no light and make no sound, but how many of use have NVGs?) Those arguments have received ample coverage in other threads, anyway. I am concerned here with the almost religious fervor some people seem to have for the FBI flashlight technique and other methods of holding the light away from the body, seeming to think the bad guy will shoot at the light because the good guy wielding the light is invisible, when in fact he is well-illuminated by reflected light, if he is among light-colored walls and ceilings. This is true whether the good guy is using a steady beam or a quick flash. Moreover, once a good guy has used a couple of quick flashes with his favorite technique, the bad guy will have a pretty good idea of where to shoot when the next flash of light occurs, unless the good guy also varies the way he holds his light each time he emits a flash of light. (I do vary my technique while searching buildings for this very reason; it is easier to ambush a predictable adversary.) Of course, all of this assumes there is zero ambient light. If there is ambient light, all bets are off; the bad guys sees the good guy, and vice versa, unless one or the other is hidden, and the purpose of the flashlight is target identification and/or to see if the target is holding a weapon.

 

[Rexster]

The best flashlight technique is to let your rookie or partner use his flashlight, while you stay blacked out yourself!

 

[Rexster]

Another aspect of the quick-flash-of-light-and-move: Don't make so much noise while moving that you betray your position the whole time.

 

[Jim K]

I agree that a flashlight will illuminate a room IF the room is reasonably small and the walls and ceiling are light colored and the light has a diffused beam like a standard flashlight. But I have entered dark warehouses and fairly large storerooms and can assure you that a flashlight beam does not illuminate a half acre of very dark room with a roof 30 feet up. Even if it did, an intruder who remains still or hides behind something can easily remain unseen. A bright spotlight type, like those used to create an aim point for the gun, can be used to scan a room and may eventually pick out the opponent, but that may be too late if the intruder is armed and desperate.

(As I am sure you know, doing that kind of search even with backup is a very a*s tightening situation. FWIW, I want the light as far from my tender flesh as I can get it, not right in front of my face.)

I still vote for just turning on the lights if you can. You have the advantage, as you know you are going to do it and he doesn't.

Jim

 

[Houston Tom]

The only place I would be forced to go and have to clear in the dark anymore is my home. Fortunatly my partner (110 lbs rhodesian ridgeback) will most likly get to them first and I have home field advantage. So most likly I will be using a light.