Night sites vs. flashlight

[double-dipper]

My home defense gun has a Crimson Trace laser. Bad guys move around too so its easy to stay on target.

 

[CB3]

My home defense gun has a Crimson Trace laser. Bad guys move around too so its easy to stay on target.

As long as you know where your target is. A laser or (any) night sights are aiming devices, not locating/identifying devices.

 

[ScaryWoody]

I have night sights on my bedside Glock. Honestly, the best advantage is being able to find it in the pitch black. As for shooting, I prefer my HiViz front on my carry Shield. I pick it up much better. In the dark when coupled with a flash light the spill from the light illuminates the sight.

 

[sodacan]

A flashligt held in the off-hand is my choice. A light on a rail makes a great target for the bad guy. With the light you get a silouette of the sight against the target. IMO, night sight are worthless. Target identification is all that matters.

 

[Walt Sherrill]

...But I personally do not care to use my handgun as a flashlight holder, which requires me to point a loaded gun any place I wish to illuminate. I can hold the light away from my body at arms length instead of directly in front of my body. I can quickly move the light to the same place as my gun is being held if necessary.

In some jurisdictions -- primarily municipalities -- I've heard that it's possible to be charged with assault if you use a weapon-mounted light on another -- perhaps an innocent neighbor who came into your yard (i.e., or any where outside your residence). That may be hearsay, but the threat to another person is implied even if not intended.

I have a TLR-4 (LASER/light combo)on my bedside gun, but I've given serious though to flipping the lever to LASER ONLY... since I also have a bright flashlight.

I don't think there's any easy answer to this question, but if I'm handling the gun INSIDE my home, I'm less worried about it. As was the case cited above by CB3, we have a fairly secure, dead-bolted home -- no kids at home any more, and an alarm system -- and like him I don't really plan to be doing much outside the home with a weapon in hand if I think there's some sort of risk of harm to me or mine... (My thinking is that if I'm out THERE, nobody has MY back. I'll probably stay inside while the police come.)

 

[Real Old Navy]

Strobe flashlight, CT green laser, and TFO sights.

 

[BAM-BAM]

Given we are homeowners not ninja's ........ target/thread identification is step one........ I have two sons age 18 & 21 who are known to come home well after the old man's gone to bed or fallen asleep in my chair!

We have night lights at or near the "choke points" in the house ..... bottom of the stairs, foyer and second floor hall........ these are very useful to the family on a daily basis; and are bright enough to help ID an otherwise "blob in the dark"!

By the bed I keep a;
My PHONE... along with a
1.handgun M&P 9mm with night sights with a Streamlight TLR-3 170 lumens weapons light; as well as a ............
2. Maglite XL50 200 lumen with strobe flashlight......
3. inexpensive Coleman 500 lumen CT-50 flashlight and.............
4. a set of electric earmuffs.

 

[nachogrande]

ANOTHER VOTE FOR BOTH.

You MAY NOT need the flashlight but it is good to have. IMO if you have ID'd the threat & REALLY NEED to shoot it, (AKA a real threat of LIFE, NOT PROPERTY) do so & don't waste time or worry about the flashlight. NOT TOO many lumens for me, as a super bright light reflecting from a wall while still 1/2 asleep will blind me as well as an intruder. LED lit electric outlets & light switches are better than night lights & allow me to see well enough to navigate my house when up @ 4am to hit the head. High lumens outside the house are an different topic.

 

[Smoke]

The only reason I would come out of my solid core deadbolted bedroom door would be to . . . Well, I wouldn't. Because my wife and I are going to be fine just staying in the bedroom.

I don't feel the need to shoot people if it's not necessary.

First, my motion sensor lights outdoors would light them up.
Then they would have to get through hardened exterior, deadbolted doors, or windows with safety film.
Then my alarm system would be blaring, clearly announced before they break in with window stickers.
At which point I would turn on the lights in my house from the safety of my bedroom while the dogs go crazy and the police get on their way. Our response time is about three minutes.
Only if they attempted to breach our bedroom door would I start sending 00 buck through the door, even without identifying who is on the other side.

I have straight eight night sights and a light mounted to my bedside pistol and a handheld light with three functions on my nightstand. My Saiga 12 has a 10-round drum and a light on it.

Really, I'm not worried. My layers of defense have so far (30 years) deterred any attempts at gaining entry to our home while we are there or away. There are other measures inside the house to make it difficult to get to anything valuable.

I have the equipment I need to give me options. Even a laser on the shotgun for shooting from the hip.

The possibilities are endless.

Are we answering the question or bragging about our home defense network?

 

[Smoke]

What's a good, not-too-expensive flashlight with a strobe?

I like the Fenix UC35 but apparently they don't make it any more. So I'd go with a PD35

 

[Dogfish357]

I think for home defense there is a big benefit to a weapon mounted light. It allows a good two handed grip on the pistol and positive target identification. Plus, what if your power is out?

 

[SoCalDep]

Are we answering the question or bragging about our home defense network?

At least we know where he's coming from, unlike a bunch of these posts that reflect personal opinion rooted in flawed logic and a lack of real understanding and experience in lethal force encounters in low light... the idea that a light is "too slow" if one has to shoot is suggestive of someone with little to no training and who lacks proper equipment... the suggestion to use strobe in conjunction with a firearm is B.S. marketing and an attempt to seem tactical rather than an understanding of what needs to be done.

I'd rather read more and get the background of the answer than one line snarky responses and suggestions with no explaination of why those suggestions (which are quite often BAD ADVISE) are given.

 

[Smoke]

At least we know where he's coming from, unlike a bunch of these posts that reflect personal opinion rooted in flawed logic and a lack of real understanding and experience in lethal force encounters in low light... the idea that a light is "too slow" if one has to shoot is suggestive of someone with little to no training and who lacks proper equipment... the suggestion to use strobe in conjunction with a firearm is B.S. marketing and an attempt to seem tactical rather than an understanding of what needs to be done.

I'd rather read more and get the background of the answer than one line snarky responses and suggestions with no explaination of why those suggestions (which are quite often BAD ADVISE) are given.

Thanks for your input

 

[zzclancy]

360 degrees

Anything you can see, you target can see as far as night sights are concerned. I had to carry a 4506 with tritium sights for a while - you could see exactly where all of our officers were even on the darkest nights. A flashlight should be held away from you body.

I don't use night sights. The battlefield is 360 degrees.

I won't use a weapons light mounted on a firearm. I'm not going to muzzle everything and everyone.

I use a flashlight with instant on off.

 

[Smoke]

What do you think of night sites for home defense?
Our bedrooms are upstairs in the pitch black, and I keep a main level light on, so I can see who is dowstairs from our stairway. This pitch black stairway is my defensive post, hopefully. My thought is that a flashlight to blind an intruder would take too much time between turning it on and pulling the trigger. Giving an intruder time to get the upper hand. So I am thinking night sites (Trillium or however you spell it) is probably the best option.

What are your thoughts?

Jeff Korhorn

It's been my experience that if you bright beam somebody with a thousand Lumen flashlight it will take them a couple seconds to recover. Since we're talking about your home you might even consider something similar to a rechargeable q-beam that would really blind them.

As far as night sights go I have done low-light qualifications with regular sides and didn't have a problem with it. I use ameriglo GL 101 on my Glocks and the thing that I like most about them is it Daylight that big white dot on the front sight what do you lie stands out and makes it much easier to focus on the front sight

 

[AlHunt]

Since OP is talking about a specific stairwell, I'd suggest a hall light switch near the anticipated defensive position would be the simpler solution.

 

[bigggbbruce]

Night sights are for gun alignment, flashlight is to see what you're aiming at.

 

[Well Armed]

Night sights are for gun alignment, flashlight is to see what you're aiming at.

At least you get it... It usually goes over other gun owners' heads.

You get those that think night sights are useless because if "it's too dark to see your sights, it's too dark to see your target." The latter can be true; however, they're not considering the other side of the coin. The fact that night sights are meant to help align and find the sights FASTER under low light conditions while your target is illuminated/identified, and not for simply finding your sights in pitch black darkness where you can't see anything but your sights..

IMHO, those whi think they're useless are confused about the proper application of night sights.

 

[BAM-BAM]

As I posted above in #27........ have as many "tools" available as you can (afford)..... have options available to respond to whatever/however a situation develops.

The other "use" for nightsights is to find your gun in the dark!!! Especially when traveling

 

[labloverva]

For my old eyes, I have never seen any advantage in night sights. The are too small and not bright enough for me!
A night lite in the proper place is much better in my house.