Why not just flip the light switch?

Glenn Dee, you make a good point. Just about everyone who has trained in house-clearing (and found out how difficult and dangerous it is--even for a team) counsel against going after an intruder. Stay in one room, armed of course and on the phone and let the pros clear the house. The only reason to leave your defensive position would be to gather kids or other dependents back to the position*. This puts the intruder at the disadvantage of moving through an unfamiliar building.

*This argues for a house design that groups all the bedrooms near each other; on the same hall and/or floor if possible.
 
Massad Ayoob gives a lecture on this topic. He has his place rigged, and recommends that others rig their places, so that he has a master lighting panel in the bedroom. He can turn on lights at will, without physically entering a room, while he keeps his defensive area dark.

I have X10 switches in my house and can turn on the living room, front and back lights at the touch of a button. Hallway stays dark and everything else is lit up. You can mount stick on wall switches anywhere you want. Very handy.
 
Let there be light?

Unless you live in a cavernous warehouse, turning on a high intensity rail light will provide sufficient reflected spill to illuminate the entire room you're in. Experienced, prison-trained thugs know to shoot once to the light and once to either side of it.

I don't use a rail light. Instead, I leave small lights on which provide sufficient light to eliminate total blackness and to allow me to differentiate friend from foe without a bullet magnet (flashlight) in my hand. I also practice low light shooting.

Also, conducting sweeps for that bump in the night is a surefire way to get yourself ambushed and shot in your own home. I feel that having a rail light will give you a false sense of security and cause you to use poor tactics. The companies that make them don't tell you that because they are in the business of selling lights, not tactics.
 
foxytwo said:
I have X10 switches in my house and can turn on the living room, front and back lights at the touch of a button.
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The x10 stuff looks interesting. I'm not quite sure how the remote works; I'll have to check into it. Thanks.
 
Experienced, prison-trained thugs know to shoot once to the light and once to either side of it. I don't use a rail light. Instead, I leave small lights on which provide sufficient light to eliminate total blackness and to allow me to differentiate friend from foe without a bullet magnet (flashlight) in my hand. I also practice low light shooting.
Also, conducting sweeps for that bump in the night is a surefire way to get yourself ambushed and shot in your own home. I feel that having a rail light will give you a false sense of security and cause you to use poor tactics. The companies that make them don't tell you that because they are in the business of selling lights, not tactics.
Click to expand...

Thanks, federali. That pretty much sums up the unease I mentioned earlier when I said that rail-mounted lights were a device I was wary of. Far better to have some night lights placed around the house, and a complete knowledge of every square inch of the place. I do a lot of low-light practice with my CT grips when I go to the range before sunup as well.
 
Sometimes I chuckle when I think about guys with their $150 tacticool flashlights.

For one thing, it leaves no doubt as to where YOUR location is, which is not a good thing when you are being watched by hostile eyes. I guess one solution would be to have night vision goggles on your nightstand. Overall, I prefer to have all the lights in the house on if some thug is creeping around inside. I wouldn't go hunting for him (waiting to be ambushed) if I could help it, that's for sure. If I did, I'd absolutely want a weapon mounted light, so by the he sees it, there can easily be a high lead delivery en route to him.
 
I'm a fan of back-lighting. So I keep a bag of roadside flares in the bedroom. As I move through the house I can strike them one at a time and toss them to the back of the room I'm checking....

Seriously, if I really think someone's in the house we will barricade ourselves and cover the door. We can wait for law enforcement to arrive and do any house clearing. The times I've gone out to check on the "things that go bump in the night", I turn on the lights as I go. I haven't bothered to pick up a firearm on any of those occasions. Call me crazy or call me lazy, just don't forget to call me for supper. :)
 
Flipping the light switch takes away one of my advantages. I know the layout and furniture locations and the criminal doesn't.
Plus it will blind my eyes just as much as the criminals.
Tacticals lights aren't without their negatives but on the balance they are an advantage.
 
If you post and your message doesn't appear, edit your post and write the same message; it will appear the second time.

Sorry to be off-topic, but those blank posts are frustrating. Perhaps the mods can post instructions somewhere until it's fixed?
 
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I dunno (I'm no expert and haven't trained for this--but I've had some real-world drills)--my dogs go off when the kids are doing a perimeter check of my house (happened more than once) so I grab what's available--usually my trusty XD--and do a quick survey of all rooms, my house is fairly small--so I figure I'm better off taking advantage of what I know of the house layout--rather than putting all my eggs in being cornered in one spot and waiting. Even in the dark I can see well enough from ambient street light's light--I'd never use any lights as that would screw my vision once acclimated to the dark but maybe a laser on a weapon. I know I'm giving them a potential target--but when they see me at the window they have always taken off--so far.
 
Not a thread change--the other day I edited a post and then when I hit submit it mysteriously vanished erasing all content--don't know if that's what might have happened to others.
 
A few things.

You knowing your house really isn't an advantage. If there is a intruder who is willing to engage you, he (or they -- there could be more than one) doesn't have to know your house -- only that you're coming.

As for a flashlight, the intruder(s) probably know(s) you're coming anyway. And if you think you need to shoot, you need to identify your target. You don't want to shoot your spouse, kid or house guest who got up for a drink of water.

We know about the missing posts and are trying to figure it out.
 
I know every situation is different.

The one time when people entered my home illegally, in the middle of the night (3 am actually). The first thing I did was get my shotgun. The second thing I did was turn on the hallway light.

Why turn on the light? I could have just shot them in the dark, right? There were two other people living with me and I wanted to know for sure that I was pointing that 12 gauge at the uninvited guests and not one of my roommates.

I challenge anyone in the "shoot them in the dark" side of this argument to show me two reputable defensive shooting schools that advocates against the use of tactical lights.
 
I'm not taking any sides or advocating lights or no lights--just what has actually happened in my case. I live by myself with my dogs and my area has a very high rate of break-ins, so while it's possible, it's statistically much more likely it's the bad guys who are crashing your house than a friend or a buzzed mistake--and it's almost never just one person. I'm not a Rambo or tough guy, but I find it easy to grab my weapon and as silently as possible quickly scan the home. The heightened adrenaline/awareness seems to contribute--somehow I feel the most compelling thing is to scan all the areas of entry points as quickly as possible--it's almost instinctive. I could be totally wrong and maybe it's totally the wrong thing to do. I appreciate input from the pros (and yes I will get training soon).
 
What if the BG cuts the power? It seems to me that any BG with half a brain cell would first snip telephone, cable, and LAN lines then pull the power meter. Then he'll know his victim's only form of COM will be cell phones.
 
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