a flashlight isnt really “for” self defense… it can be a useful tool IN ADDITION TO other self defense.
instantly whipping out a really bright STROBE, at night… is meant to give you time to…
1) get M-O-V-I-N-G
2) get your real weapon out and ready to use it… knife, gun, stun gun, clubbing weapon… etc etc
once you have temporarily disoriented and blinded your opponent? you instantly attack them or flee.
myself, i would think of “attack bezel” on a flashlight as a last resort, not a primary thing.
cops do some interesting training with flashlights, though… approaching a possible threat? the light is held OUT and AWAY form the body? studies have shown that almost anyone, even not familiar with a gun? can naturally “point” in the area of a flashlight and get hits on the body… thats why you always see cops holding the light out and away, when approaching something to inspect the area.
really broght strobes have a temporary blinding effect, sometimes even during the day. I think we all understand this, you walk the bright light across your eyes close by, and you see just a green blob for a while? The effect is pronounced at night if the person has night adjusted sight… you can flash them, then instantly “move position” and then train your gun on them.
if they were going to fire? its going to be blind panic fire at the “old position” of the cop, not his new position.
=
most of us carried guns at work at my last job… i was making jokes about my “tactical” flashlight… honestly joking about it, not thinking it was tactical in any way. One guy made fun of my flashlight… i set my flashlight mode (next mode memory, lol) so when i flicked it on it came on in strobe…
…in a well lit room? i FLASHED HIM… then took 2 steps right over to him, and grabbed his 380 out of his holster… everypone laughed, they thought it was funny…
he was seeing a bright green flashing green blob in the center of his vision…
“crackheads” slinking around in alleys? do NOT like being illuminated, lol… they ooze away like cockroaches form the light…
heck… recently? my headlight, working on the house job i am on? i find myself sitting and talking with the property owner who is working with me… when we take a break, he has to remind me to turn my headlight off… it blinds him when we sit andtalk and take a break…
anytime i turn around and look at him? he throws his hands up to keep from being blinded.
flashlights are… interesting, and useful… i dont think of them as self defense in and of themselves, except for the idea of clubbing some crackhead down with a maglite…