The Right Light: Handgun Self-Defense Decisions

For most of the history, of our species humans have been active during daylight hours and sheltered during darkness. The reasoning behind this behavior is relatively simple: we navigate our world using our eyes. Night makes it more challenging for us to safely navigate our world and avoid predators.

Times have changed, but darkness still favors the predator. Violent criminals use darkness to their advantage, and that’s one reason having a tactical light is important. With the touch of a button, you can level the playing field and rob an attacker of the benefit of concealment. You may also rob an attacker of visual acuity since a bright light in the eyes can be disorienting and makes it more difficult to press home an attack, which is one reason law enforcement offers carry lights.

We’ve laid the groundwork for why tactical lights make sense, but the question is which light is best for you. Tactical lights broadly fall into two categories: handheld lights and weapon-mounted lights. Each design has advantages and disadvantages, so we’ll take a closer look at each of these designs to help select which one is best for you.

Understanding Tactical Light Terminology

There are plenty of articles and videos that discuss lights, but many use terms that may not be familiar to readers. Before we discuss the detail of each type of light, let’s familiarize ourselves with important terminology relating to tactical lights.

Most tactical light manufacturers list the lumens and candelas of their lights, but it’s important to understand what these terms mean. Lumens is a measure of light output (referred to as luminous flux), so higher lumens mean a brighter light. Candela, by contrast, describes the intensity of light that is emitted in a particular direction. A 500 lumen light with a low candela will illuminate a wider area, while a higher candela light will create a more concentrated beam and greater beam length. Understanding this, when you are selecting a tactical light, you can decide between one that illuminates a broad area (low candela) and one that has a more intense beam with a longer beam length and less “spill.” When you’re choosing a light, understanding this will help you select one that is designed for the intended application.

Handheld Lights

Handheld lights are, as the name suggests, held in your support hand while the firearm is in your strong hand. The light and firearm are separate, and you can move the light independent of the firearm.

This independence has advantages, the primary being the ability to quickly illuminate the scene in any direction without having the gun pointed in the direction of the light. You may have identified a potential threat that you want to keep covered with your firearm but need to assess the scene to the right or left. The other advantage is that you can illuminate an area without having a loaded firearm pointed in that direction. The disadvantages are that, since your light and firearm are separate, you may misplace your light or lose it during a confrontation.

There are several established techniques for using a handheld light. The FBI technique involves holding the firearm in the support hand with the bezel (front) of the light closest to your pinky finger and the thumb near the tail/activation switch. The light is held high on the support side (left for right-handed shooters) of the body. The beam is aimed at the target but the light itself is well away from the body. Another popular option is the Harries hold. The light is held in the same manner (pinky toward the bezel, thumb toward the tail switch) and the strong hand—which is holding the firearm—rests on top of the wrist of the support hand.

Also popular is the Neck index technique, where the light rests at the junction of the neck and shoulder on the support-hand side. There are other techniques, but clearly there’s a high level of versatility and freedom when using a handheld light.

Weapon-Mounted Lights

Many modern defensive pistols are equipped with an attachment point for weapon-mounted lights and there are a variety of quality weapon lights available from Streamlight, Surefire, Nightstick, and others. Since they remain attached to your firearm, weapon-mounted lights are always available when you have your gun, which is a major disadvantage. When things go bump in the night, you’ll always have a light when you grab your firearm.

The notion that weapon-mounted lights are inherently dangerous is, I believe, false. On Handguns TV, we have demonstrated time and again that a handgun with a light held in a compressed, low-ready position can illuminate an entire room. This is where candela plays an important role. For my weapon-mounted pistol lights I don’t need long beam distances and an intense center beam with little “spill”, so I may stay away from very high candela lights like those in the 60,000 range. Instead, I’ll look for a light with equal lumens but lower candela (perhaps 5,000) to flood an entire room. I want to see everything while keeping my pistol muzzle-down.

Weapon lights are not as versatile as handhelds. I use my Streamlight Wedge and Wedge XT virtually every day and they always ride in my pocket. For obvious reasons, you’re not going to draw your firearm and turn on a weapon-mounted light to find your keys so you’ll get more daily use out of a handheld light than a weapon light. Since quality lights are expensive this may matter.

There are more holsters available for firearms with weapon-mounted lights than ever, but your holster options will likely be more limited. Nevertheless, a holster that does fit your light properly is a benefit because you won’t have to access your light and gun separately in an emergency.

Why Not Both?

Despite what my wife may say, I don’t think you can have too many tactical lights. I have tactical lights on my bedside firearms in case something goes bump in the night, but I also have a handheld available that has been beneficial when the power goes out or when I need to find something I’ve dropped on the darkened floor. For daily carry I use a handheld light most often, but occasionally carry both a weapon light and a handheld.

The point is, there’s no right answer except perhaps that the more light options you have, the better. If you use a handheld light be sure to familiarize yourself with the common techniques for use. If you choose a weapon light for daily carry make certain that there are holster fits for the light you’re using and choose a light that won’t print. But whatever the case, make sure that you have the advantage of light on your side.

---