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How many lumens for an indoor weapon light?

babygorilla said:
Low. Reflected light blinds you. Lots of reflective surfaces in a house.

Why not just turn on the lights? It will likely scare them off and I doubt some hitman is coming after you, it's most likely a random crackhead breaking in. A little resistance and they will jackrabbit.
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Why not use a pellet gun, right? The look of the gun will scare them off. :rolleyes:

Don't take this the wrong way, but your advice s*cks.

OP, get a light with as many lumens as you can afford, it makes a huge difference.

Stand in a dark room for 3-5minutes, let your eyes adjust then ask someone on the other side of the room to turn on the flashlight and point it At the floor near you for a couple of seconds. It will blind the f*ck out of you, and in strobe mode, you won't be able to do sh*t.

If you can, order 3 or 4 lights from several websites that have free return, maybe even Amazon and try them all.

Better, go to d*cks, buy one of each (if they still sell flashlights) try them all, then return them all the following day and buy from a dealer or online.

Don't go cheap on something that could save your life one day.
 
Broccoli Iglesias said:
Why not use a pellet gun, right? The look of the gun will scare them off. :rolleyes:

Don't take this the wrong way, but your advice s*cks.
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Nope, I just live in Massholia. And a pellet gun is stupid. And I also have a wired home....I can remotely turn on every light in the house. Better to not shoot the cat with, since that a**h*** makes a lot of "bump in the night" noises.

And your advice sucks too, becasue when you turn on the weapons mounted bright light suddenly at the floor to blind the perp, it also blinds the shooter. :rolleyes: Lower the lumens the better. In your situation an off weapons mounted light held away from your body pointed at the perp in strobe mode works better. At least ou will recover from the momentary blindness quicker. Hence why I have one in my pistol safe.....
 
babygorilla said:
Nope, I just live in Massholia. And a pellet gun is stupid. And I also have a wired home....I can remotely turn on every light in the house. Better to not shoot the cat with, since that a**h*** makes a lot of "bump in the night" noises.

And your advice sucks too, becasue when you turn on the weapons mounted bright light suddenly at the floor to blind the perp, it also blinds the shooter. :rolleyes: Lower the lumens the better. In your situation an off weapons mounted light held away from your body pointed at the perp in strobe mode works better. At least ou will recover from the momentary blindness quicker. Hence why I have one in my pistol safe.....
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I am not sure how you use flashlights, but you are supposed to point them at the bad guy, not at your face.
 
not going back and forth.

OP, when you decide, please let us know what you purchase and why you purchased it.

I am also in the market for a new light and take my time researching, this thread will help.
 
Christ...no one is "blinding" themselves with bright lights. The splash of a really really bright light more than enough to navigate and identify most things pointing the gun at the floor or the ceiling.
Don't even start with strobe modes.

I carry 800 lumen surefire flashlight in my pocket that I use every damn day. I point it at everything. I have never been blinded.
I regularly larp around my house and other buildings with 1000-1500 lumen weapon lights in the middle of the night. I have never been blinded.
Have you every shot a pistol indoors without ventilation? There's a lot of smoke, that creates light barriers.
Have you even shot your gun and discovered that the lens of your light gets covered in carbon-crap? That stuff will cut down your candela like crazy.

A really bright light is your friend. Brighter the better.
 
My argument is this:
With lights out, you know the layout of your home better than any intruder. Night sights or NVG would be the ultimate go to.
With a weapons mounted light constantly on, you are just announcing your location.
With a weapons mounted light turning on intermittently, then you are losing any night vision you may have had and announcing your location.
Turning on all the lights may give the intruder an opportunity to see the layout, but does not announce your location. Granted you lose night vision, but now you don't shoot the a**h*** cat.
Turning on all the lights also gives the rando crackhead an opportunity to nope his ass out of there.

I vote for having Alexa turn on all the lights, fire up the Clayore roomba and cranking "Welcome to the Jungle"!
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babygorilla said:
My argument is this:
With lights out, you know the layout of your home better than any intruder. Night sights or NVG would be the ultimate go to.
With a weapons mounted light constantly on, you are just announcing your location.
With a weapons mounted light turning on intermittently, then you are losing any night vision you may have had and announcing your location.
Turning on all the lights may give the intruder an opportunity to see the layout, but does not announce your location. Granted you lose night vision, but now you don't shoot the a**h*** cat.
Turning on all the lights also gives the rando crackhead an opportunity to nope his ass out of there.

I vote for having Alexa turn on all the lights, fire up the Clayore roomba and cranking "Welcome to the Jungle"!
Click to expand...

I have the feeling that your argument is not based in experience or reality.
You are saying that "night sights" (presumably without any light) is the "ultimate" go to?
Or really NODs? Ok it's 3am lets fire up my quad-tubes start hunting intruders Silence of the Lambs style. Cool story.
Vaya con Dios.

Here's a ultimate hypothetical:

Prosecutor: So you shot the your neighbor in the dark without turning on a single light or announcing your presence?

You: Yes, but it's OK, there are glow-in-the-dark-dots on my pistol so I could see them very clearly with my night vision.

Prosecutor: Waoww you have night vision goggles?

You: No, I meant the night vision where you can see really good in the dark because your eyes have adjusted fully to the darkness and there a zero sources of light other light.

Prosecutor: Why didn't you turn on the lights?

You: The Alexa didn't hear me right and started playing "Turn On The Bright Lights" by Interpol. Which is a modern classic album.

Prosecutor: "Cool. Prepare your butthole for Supermax, I rest my case."
 
Bonesinium said:
Anyone with experience with any of the the Olight Valkyrie’s?
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Yes. I have PL-1 II mounted on my primary pistol for 7 months. I like it, I'm going to buy more of them (now the PL-2). They use a CR123 which is also nice.

TRL-1s (non HL) are also reasonably priced and great lights.

I'm using. WMLx on my primary rifle.
 
ReluctantDecoy said:
Been wondering about these grip activated light switches. Ever get any false positives from just gripping the gun while shooting?
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They briefly cover DG switches in the P&S Modcast above at 1:05:00.
Conclusion: OK if you aren't concerned with accidental light discharge. Which is generally not a civilian problem. It's a good home defense option.
 
I'd think 400 is ideal.

At least for me. If your walls are painted flat black, then more. Ha.

Also, how long are your sight lines??

My house at about 3000 sq ft is not huge, but not tiny. Anything more than 400 Lumens is too much. I'd say the sweet spot is 200 to 400.

I have a TLR1 with 600 lumens and its too much.
I also have a TLR1-HL with 1000 lumens and its MUCH too bright.

But then again if you know how to actually use a flashlight in the home, you would know that you do short bursts. You would also know that darkness is your friend. You know the way around your house much better in the dark.

You aren't actually clearing the house, are you?? Gathering family members to one location can in most cases can and should be done in total darkness.
Clearing a house alone is a dumb thing to do.

For what its worth, I trained my lab to clear rooms in the dark. He would go out ahead of me and bark at anyone in the room. It was more of a training exercise than anything else. My situation is such that it is nearly impossible for someone to be in my home without me knowing and it would give me plenty of time to grab the kids and go to a safe place which is in a very defensible location.
 
One question for the experts.

Have you ever done a night shooting class where you used flashlights?
Have you ever shot a flashlight match in a darkened indoor range?

I have. And 600 was way too bright.
 
dcmdon said:
One question for the experts.

Have you ever done a night shooting class where you used flashlights?
Have you ever shot a flashlight match in a darkened indoor range?

I have. And 600 was way too bright.
Click to expand...
The experts are in the video above.
I've shot a class, in a shoot house, in the dark and 1000 was not too much.
Also who says this only is applying to indoor/home situations?
Because the too-much-lumens argument goes to shit as soon as you step outside. Take almost any of the pistol lights mentioned outdoors and see how they start falling short with any sort of distance or photonic barriers. All of this is easily testable.
 
GoodWillHunting said:
I have the feeling that your argument is not based in experience or reality.
You are saying that "night sights" (presumably without any light) is the "ultimate" go to?
Or really NODs? Ok it's 3am lets fire up my quad-tubes start hunting intruders Silence of the Lambs style. Cool story.
Vaya con Dios.

Here's a ultimate hypothetical:

Prosecutor: So you shot the your neighbor in the dark without turning on a single light or announcing your presence?

You: Yes, but it's OK, there are glow-in-the-dark-dots on my pistol so I could see them very clearly with my night vision.

Prosecutor: Waoww you have night vision goggles?

You: No, I meant the night vision where you can see really good in the dark because your eyes have adjusted fully to the darkness and there a zero sources of light other light.

Prosecutor: Why didn't you turn on the lights?

You: The Alexa didn't hear me right and started playing "Turn On The Bright Lights" by Interpol. Which is a modern classic album.

Prosecutor: "Cool. Prepare your butthole for Supermax, I rest my case."
Click to expand...
Didn't read 100% of what I wrote, did you?

WTF is reading comprehension so difficult?
 
GoodWillHunting said:
The experts are in the video above.
I've shot a class, in a shoot house, in the dark and 1000 was not too much.
Also who says this only is applying to indoor/home situations?
Because the too-much-lumens argument goes to shit as soon as you step outside. Take almost any of the pistol lights mentioned outdoors and see how they start falling short with any sort of distance or photonic barriers. All of this is easily testable.
Click to expand...
Agreed.
 
DarkJoker33 said:
Fill your house with smart lights and voice command them onto red when you have a b&e and then have alexa say danger zone and rampage in archers voice.
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I actually created a few Alexa scripts for that purpose. Every bulb in the house is a Philips Hue and most rooms have an Echo Flex. In any room of the house I can say:
  • "Alexa, go dark."
    • All interior and exterior lights to 0% output.
  • "Alexa, intruder alert."
    • All interior and exterior lights to blood red, 100% output.
    • Intercom function played in every room with Alexa's voice
      • "Intruder alert. You are trespassing and presumed a lethal threat. Leave immediately or you will be shot on sight."
        • Repeats three times.
      • "This is your final warning."
    • All interior and exterior lights to 0% output.
  • Others like intercom scripts to tell everyone in the home of an emergency.
It's too cool. Unfortunately there's no IR output option with Hue lights, but red and 5% output is probably comparable. I'll test it when I get NODs.

ETA: I know the likelihood of using these functions or NODs in a home invasion is slim. Just covering every imaginable scenario, NODs primarily for ones other than home invasion.
 
Last edited:
Is red to preserve night vision better? Can you have them all go to 100% white briefly then to red?

First time seeing that RM20. Seems decent for $80!? I guess I need another long gun? Also my streamlight RM2 should be here tomorrow!
 
Soundwave said:
Is red to preserve night vision better? Can you have them all go to 100% white briefly then to red?
Click to expand...

No intervening white, just straight to 100% power and red, purely psychological effect rather than preserving night vision this time. I programmed and tested the script while home alone and then showed it to my wife. She found it damned terrifying, and she belongs in this house. Imagine the effect if you know you're an intruder. But in addition to intimidating, it makes anyone who observes it immediately stop in their tracks to evaluate something unexpected. Then remain stopped to hear what this intercom is telling you three times. Then comprehension of the end phrase, "This is your final warning," before the blood red light immediately fades to total darkness.

Ideally those surprises will cause an intruder to nope his way out. But the sheer surprise to evaluate gives me a few more seconds to grab my rifle and ear pro, then get into an ambush position blocking the only path to the family. Multiple IR security cameras document everything and I look around my house remotely while sitting in a dark corner.

No reason to have a fair fight on my turf. That only means I haven't seized the opportunity to stack the deck in my favor.
 

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