Yeah…I’ll probably get laughed outta the room but my HD shotgun doesn’t have a light on it. This is how my room looks if the door got kicked open by someone, and I have my lights on, with my shotgun aimed at the door. More on this later…
This is a class photo from the, “lights out,” portion of the class…”sarcasm,” is on the gear list for this course!

When I look back at the ~11 years I have been writing for my own site, and for the previous ten or so years I wrote for print publications and for Tactical Response, I would write AAR’s and reviews for classes that were comprehensive. They were more of a, “notes from class,” summary. As I’ve been in the training lane for about 30 plus years now, and in the higher education field as a student and as a Medical University Professor for about half of that 30, I have a pretty good grasp of education. It isn’t novel for me to take additional continuing education in a variety of fields, whether those have been related to firearms training, surgery, medicine, dentistry, pharmacology, forensics or philosophy classes these days that are more geared towards my vocation. So now, instead of vomiting up a list of, “First we did this, then we did that, then they said this, then they said that,” I thought it would be more interesting for both of us (me writing this, and you, the one person who will read this far) to hear about what Steve’s teachings illuminated for me or inspired me to do, STOP doing or think more about. And then relate it all back to my professional experience as a shotgun messenger, reserve peace officer AND professional second responder in the fire service/EMS AND in my current capacity as an average schmuck who has taken many hours worth of civilian sector disaster preparedness, self defense and martial arts training.

Steve is an engaging lecturer. I enjoy hearing people speak who have done this for a long time, and have taught so many classes that they can tell you what they are conveying from the level of their unconsciousness…it is much more exciting for the student to hear than a monotone speaker who is humorless and boring. I’ve sat through a few lowlight classes over the past three decades, and this is a good one.
Years ago, circa 2007 I was working for James Yeager and we were revising Tactical Response’s lowlight curriculum, I first heard the phrase, “using light as concealment.” Meaning, “a cone of light,” so bright, it can act as temporary concealment for the caster and that it causes the recipient of the beam to be blinded, disoriented and hopefully rendered ineffective even if only for a short interval of time, to allow the defender to either deter the attacker, scram in a safe direction, or give the defender time to either draw their weapon or refine their sight movie/press shots. At the time, we had what felt like the LIGHT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT itself, but it was probably 300 lumens, and maybe about 7000 candela. Not very bright, nor powerful…the idea had potential, the gear, at the time did not. This is Steve’s primary light, which I believe is some iteration of the MODLITE handheld. It is BRIGHT!
BUT NOW? NOW, WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY. This looks like it was taken in bright sunlight…it was not. It was taken in a lights off, indoor range. Yes…the range, 25 yards up-range of where we are is lit up with indoor florescent lights, but their impact WAY down here was minimal. This was painful to look at with adapted vision. My buddy Rick Remington, the class host, was smart enough to look away! This was from a NITECORE flashlight, which many of the LEO’s in attendance used as a backup light, attached to their vest or mounted in a carrier in some fashion. This isn’t necessarily to be used as a personal light, meaning one you’d use for general utility use, but in a LEO context, more like a MOBILE TAKEDOWN LIGHT or a LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE LIGHT for the Civilian Defender. I bought one, and when I am walking on the sidewalk at night for recreation/exercise, I have it clipped to my shoulder on a short lanyard, so that it is available rain or shine, and can go right in to the neck index. Interestingly, it is so bright, the secondary beam when you use it in the neck index position causes the transition lenses in my eyeglasses to transition…even though I am technically, “in the dark”.
My hallway when lit only by the nightlight and the red light from the bathroom…I’m backlit by the reflection of my big screen television.
And the light from the NITECORE EDC 37 which is 8000 lumens and SO BRIGHT that it looks like the light in the head and the nightlight are off, which they are not!!! Yes…the 8000 lumen setting gets hot, and yes…it isn’t sustainable indefinitely. It sucks a lot of juice and if the heat sinks in the light get oversaturated, it will need a moment to cool before it can activate at 8000 lumens, again. It isn’t cheap, but for my backup flashlight to my Surefire Stilletto PRO, it is useful.
The NITECORE EDC 37 is slightly larger than the Surefire Stiletto Pro, but a bit thicker. The clip is fixed though, and because of arrangement of the electronics, it cannot be reversed like the Surefire product.
Yes…we are still using the Harries Flashlight technique 50 years later. Why? Because it works! Although weapon mounted lights were used in the class, the handheld was required and after awhile, you can understand why. More on that later. We also went over the modified FBI technique and the neck index. They all serve different purposes and have differing applications.
I used a STEALTH ARMS PLATYPUS 2011 pattern 9mm pistol, that uses Glock 17 magazines. I ran Magpul magazines (the neutered 10 rounders) without issue. This gun took 6 months to be delivered, as they are made one at a time. It has been utterly reliable, and I feed it High Desert Cartridge Company 147 grain TMJ and also the 147 grain XTP that it shoots very accurately and controllably with. The High Desert Cartridge Company ammo has consistently chronographed from my guns with amazing consistency, even box to box and round to round. More on HDCC and Stealth Arms another day. The holster is DARK STAR GEAR’s excellent ORION for the 2011 pattern pistols. It works with Platypus’ that have a standard 1911 type dust cover, as well as the extended and the railed dust covers. Having a holster that conceals AND affords a full firing grip is a slippery slope. I’m not a small man, and getting my knobby knuckles onto the front strap of the gun and not knocking into my belt is challenging with some guns and some holsters. I have THREE copies of the DSG Orion for 2011 and 1911’s so you could say that I am a fan!

FOR THE NORMAL FOLKS…

As my mentor Tom Givens is fond of saying, “Many lethal force encounters take place during the hours of darkness…NOT necessarily in low light conditions. I have seen the sights of my pistol better at 11pm under the lights of a filling station than I have on some sunny days.” As I’ve learned doing this writing thing over the years, if Tom Givens said it before, just quote it and move on! I can’t say it any more succinctly than Tom can! The Surefire Stiletto Pro that I carry as my EDC utility light CAN be used in any of the techniques we used in class (in fact, that IS what I used for the class, along with my old police issue Streamlight STINGER and my Streamlight SL20, which I left in my range bag because I was embarrassed for anyone to see it in its 300 lumen glory AND because it was older than most of the LEO’s in the class!

So, building on Tom’s case of the hypothetical gas station robbery, that may take place on the fueling pad by the gas pumps, why do you need a light? If it’s nighttime and there is plenty of ambient light to be seen by the badguys, but can also see them. Outside the penumbra of fueling pad cover, you may need a direct beam flashlight to see what’s out there. But why are you worried about what’s out there? The dude trying to rob you is in front of you or to the side/rear of you. Again, no light required. Many of the EDC crowd that advocate weapon mounted lights (WML) for regular folks (I am NOT talking about on-duty LEO’s or military folks here) say that they need a WML to be able to ID a target. How much more positive identification of a target do you need? If the dude is going to rob you or carjack you, he is going to be close enough to touch you or close enough to verbally communicate with you. Again, no light required for that…you’ll know who is speaking to you or attacking you.

When I worked in the armored truck industry, there were guys that started carrying Glock lights (the old incandescent models) and the USP light. WML holsters were nylon, very crude and almost completely lacked retention. They sure thought they looked cool though! One overlooked thing about openly carried duty guns most lay people don’t think about is that hip carried duty guns get beat up. Our proprioception doesn’t work well for something that is carried on our hip, outside of our peripheral vision, that sticks out 3-4” further than the rest of the side of our body. So that duty gun is constantly getting whacked into door frames, steering wheels, cargo, etc. One of my coworkers actually LOST his Glock 22 from one of these low quality holsters and didn’t even realize it was gone, until the gun had been spotted on the street by some bystander who called the Seattle PD to report that it was missing. The culprit? A crappy holster. The point? Carrying a WML in the rig at the time, didn’t help him. WML utilization for an armored truck guard is the exact same as it is for a normal citizen. They do not have any enforcement powers, so a light, outside of a handheld, isn’t necessary nor prudent.

My argument is that WML don’t have utility for normal civilians outside of a dedicated home defense gun, and even then, I’d say there is nothing a handheld can’t do that a WML can OTHER THAN BE OPERATED with one hand. If you have a baby or a loved one who is immobile and you have only one hand to spare, a pistol with a WML and a pressure switch would be useful. The only other application that MAY hold water for the civilian is from my buddy Greg Ellifritz who uses a pistol with a WML when he goes to the movie. For him, that makes sense. I’m a movie snob…I like sitting in the back row, right under the projection window, dead center, and I will often buy the seats next to me so I don’t have to sit next to anyone else. I personally would be more concerned with the prospect of making a 100% accurate long range shot from the back row of the theater than I would be worried about positively ID the person shooting. But Greg is much more fun than I am, and he probably wouldn’t walk out of the movie theatre like I would if he couldn’t get the seat he liked, so for that, I support the big man’s choice to use a WML for that purpose! In most theaters, if the screen is on, even in dark scenes, anyone who is low (around the screen and fire exits underneath/behind the screen) will be backlit.

The issue that many people in the EDC community overlook and run off of the flawed reasoning of, “the DEVRGU use the blah blah WML and I do too!” Is that the military special operations community isn’t subject to following the laws of the United States, since they aren’t operating domestically. As my friend Lee Weems has said, “If you are not legally justified to be shooting someone, you aren’t legally justified to be pointing a firearm at someone.” Do you know what doesn’t require you to admittedly use deadly force (pointing a WML at someone) and in fact doesn’t even require a report to the police? Pointing a handheld flashlight at someone! With cameras being everywhere, do you want to end up on John Correia’s ACTIVE SELF PROTECTION YouTube channel showing his millions of viewers how NOT to do the right thing? My goal is to never be in a self defense situation of any kind!

An overlooked skill with a WML that many people just don’t grok, even LEO users who SHOULD know better is that just because it may be excusable in an on-duty context to muzzle someone who doesn’t need to be muzzled, you still shouldn’t do it. You CAN illuminate with the secondary spill of the light, depending on the head of the light/the light’s power and the distance to the person, while effectively keeping the gun pointed in a TRUE, “Low Ready,” position, where the muzzle is not covering the suspect. For laypeople, the argument stands though…with cameras everywhere, why not take action that removes any and all doubt? It would be hard to confuse a handheld flashlight for a WML equipped pistol and much easier to explain to a jury of your peers.

I HAVE personally pointed a powerful handheld light at many people on the street (mostly while innocuously walking my dog or hiking in the trails) in the city and said in a loud voice, “NO THANK YOU,” or, “GO AWAY.” And it makes them go away, look away and/or gives you, the user, the initiative and choice of what to do next. If they press an attack, you’re hopefully one step ahead…if they don’t, mission accomplished. Either way, your goal is to go home safely at the end of the day. Anything else is contrary to your mission as an everyday person.

BACK TO STEVE

Like I said earlier, I don’t want to give away Steve’s secret sauce recipe. If you haven’t had any lowlight training, you should catch Steve next time you can. If you are an LEO, Steve’s material would be beneficial. The main push of the class is to help the students understand that they can use light to control people, places and spaces and increase their effectiveness by using the light correctly. BUT ALSO remembering that if you are in the dark (and nobody is using night vision equipment) and you can’t see the bad guy, he probably can’t see you either! So again, use the light to control the interaction!

Lights are all the rage these days. People post their nightstand, pocket everyday carry item dumps, and they all have a light. Whether they carry that actually or if it’s just for the photo, that is a great question! I tend to carry a light whenever I have pants on, which is most days! I use my light far more often to check the mail at night, not fall down the stairs in my front walkway, find something on the floor/ground that has been dropped, or at work to look in someone’s mouth when I am not in the operatory. But like any kind of technology, they are an electronic item and they will fail. If you don’t have a handheld light that has at least a tactical level of light, you may need one! A handgun accompanying capable light should allow you to see someone’s face, hands and waistline to at least 25 yards…but 50 yards would be better! This is easily accomplished with most of the commonly carried EDC lights.

Depending on where you live in the world, you spend at least half of your day during hours of darkness…but you don’t have to be afraid of the dark. We have black bears, mountain lions, rumored Sasquatches, and orcas here (in the water). I worry far more about the humans that go bump in the night than I do about the creatures that go bump in the night! Luckily, most humans, who go about in the dark to carry out unsavory behavior, in some strange nearly religious significance, are afraid or at least apprehensive of bright light! And that’s a good thing! But like any kind of skill, the utilization of light for defensive purposes takes teaching and practice. And my very tall friend Steve Fisher is just the man to learn it all from! The greatest philosophical quote of Steve’s from this class I recorded was, “The GUN will save your life; the LIGHT will save someone else’s!”

Ooh scary! The bad guy is nicely backlit, and visible to me. Without the light, he can’t see me, but I can see the front bead of my shotgun, clearly!
With my Surefire E2 clicked on, thrown onto the bed, aimed at the door and clicked on, it is NEARLY as bright in my room as it was with the lights on, the bad guy would be a bit blinded, and if he were to shoot at the light, it would be at a place about six feet from my position, which is mostly concealed on the opposite end of the bed. HAVE A PLAN!

THANK YOU FOR READING! Please, like, share on your social media feeds, and subscribe to my RSS feed here so you don’t miss any of my posts. Social media and even google itself does a fantastic job of down throttling pro-gun media sources, so we have to get the message out somehow! -Dr. House