I have personally on several separate occasions had to use a rifle ane pistol to clear my home and property to defend my family from the nad guys.
I will say in MY circumstances the weapon mounted lights i had attached were of absolute importance. Im not saying everyone here might need or want them but where i live and the environments i find my self in on a daily basis i consider them a must. I carry a handheld for searching and PID but the mounted lights are there as a backup to the handheld and if i need both hands on the gun.
The other big thing for me was many years ago training at Gunsite Academy we were taught multiple ways of light manipulation with a longgun but having one mounted is the easiest.
My father who was a LEO for many years when i was young also taught me at a young age that if things can go wrong they will and ALWAYS have a backup and plan for failures. His knowledge passed on to me has saved my life and my families on a few different occasions along with my training from several other well known schools and instructors.
Its better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. We carry firearms for that what if moment, why not have them set up for most circumstances? I remember not long ago people discussed whether red dots and compensators were going to get you killed in the real world and how they were for gamer guns now they are standard on most all new handguns used by law enforcement and civilians and instructors.
Sorry for the long rant just giving some perspective from my point of view. I want all odds stacked in my favor should the need arise again to defend myself or family.
Not long ago those people must have never shot with a red dot. Or, technology advanced since then and red dots then are not the same thing as red dots nowâŠbecause nobody who has shot with a modern red dot should be saying those things.
Iâm not sure a WML on an EDC pistol fits âmostâ circumstances though, Iâve watched a hell of a lot of videos/read accounts of EDC firearm use and havenât seen one yet with a WML being used/useful.
I suppose itâs possible and will happen to someone eventually thoughâŠkind of like using a spare magazine. Someone, somewhere, sometime, will use it.
I personally have used a WML on a rifle and a pistol on separate occasions to defend myself and family so i guess my situations are SUPER unique.
I still dont understand the comments against WML use. I look at as such, how many armed confrontations have you personally been in? 1? 2? More?
Most civilians and even law enforcement will never fire there firearm to defend themselves and most civilians will never even draw there firearm to defend themselves, it is a rarity.
I have close friend who retired from our local sheriffâs office after 28 years and never once had to fire his weapon.
I prefer to use EVERY advantage i can get to defend MY family. I have sought out the best instruction i could over many years. I have taken classes from Gunsite,Frontsite, Gabe Suarez and several others. I have done force on force, rifle, pistol, shotgun and subgun. In all thes classes i NEVER ONCE heard a student or instructor say that in our scenarios of training or talking of real world incidents someone there had been in they wish they DIDNâT have a WML.
I carry daily with a WML and i put the time in on the range to test my WMLâs capabilites and use.
If most on this forum dont like them or use them i respect that, to each their own. Im just giving examples of my preference and reasons.
You mentioned thatâŠhome defense situations, yes? You said you cleared your home and property in the above post, and Iâm guessing you arenât EDCâing a WML on a rifle. Would be cool if you could though (maybe every day vehicle carry that could be done)
I doubt there are many situations to clear a building in an EDC context like the proverbial âbump in the nightâ at home that people go looking for with their gun
This is probably the fundamental divide in our ways of thinking. I donât consider (based on my experience and training and competitions) adding a WML to a carry pistol to be 100% advantage. As with most things, some pro, some con.
I do edc a rifle with a WML everyday. I rotate rifles or pccâs depending on what im doing or where im going but the thing ALL have in common is they are equipped with a red dot sight, sling and of course a WML. When at home i always have a rifle fully equipped in the same room im in. My pistol is ALWAYS within hands reach but depending on circumstances at hand i want quick access to a long gun.
I too used to compete at a high level and frequency, 4-6 matches a month along with personal training. I hold a GM rating in USPSA. Im curious as to what matches you shoot? I always love to hear others match experiences and journeys.
Just local IDPA and IDPA-copy club level matches and various trainings across the years, some in low light.
In the competitions where you used a WML in an EDC context, what was the scenario setup that allowed justified drawing of a pistol where you needed the WML? Like, did you have to scan and find the threat/target (because you were unable to flee in that scenario?) with a handheld in low/no light, then drop the hand held and transition to a WML on the pistol to continue to be able to see the threat to engage it? Just curious as to the nuts and bolts of it, I always get held up at the âhow am I drawing my gun if I have not already positively identified the deadly threat?â
Edit: And I ask particulars and nuts and bolts of the competition scenarios only, for obvious reasons. Yes/No at home or elsewhere plenty of detail for anything more real
2 of my incidents did take place at my home on my property and i had a couple others that were not at my home or property. One incident actually occurred on a camping trip with my kids out in the woods in the middle of the night.
Yes that is one of the ways taught. I am a firm believer that every single person who carries for protection should carry a handheld light. I also believe serious carries should carry a tourniquet on there person daily, not in your vehicle or in your bag you set down somewhere but ON YOUR PERSON. I dont get locked in on handheld vs WML, I carry and use both and each and every incident is unique and unknown, if we knew what trouble was coming and under what circumstance we wouldnât go.
In most things i do at night i always try and have my handheld in my hand already when im out at night depending of course on what im doing. It alleviates the need to go digging for it if needed in a hurry and 99.9% of most people dont take notice or care of someone walking around with a flashlight.
One of the scenarios i was given was this, your coming home from a trip in town and your on the phone with your significant other when they start screaming someone is trying to get into the house. The phone call is interrupted and they are not answering the phone. Your 2 minutes out and the police are 15min out. You arrive at the front door and it is broken in and there are an unknown number of intruders present but it seemed like possibly 1 or two. We ran this scenario in daytime and nightime.
For me this is where the WML shined(pun intended). Some did not have WMLâs and after we debriefed those that used strictly handhelds had a much lower hit ratio than those with the WML.
Now i also now there can be any number of scenarios made up to present strengths and weaknesses for both handheld and wmls alike. This is why i carry and train with both.
Another thing to consider and another way taught is to either have a retention lanyard on your handheld light or have a retention ring like those made by Thyrm. So essentially you would have your handheld in hand and given time and opportunity you simply let go with the lanyard setup or flip the light out of the way with the ring setup, and then there is of course the old just drop it method.
The drop method is the absolute least desirable to me as i want full control and retention of the light. Ymmv
Yes. Iâve been trained in how to, just wondering what the scenario was that would involve doing so in an EDC context. The âtalking on the phone to family member at home in a dark house who is attacked while you are around the cornerâ is a good example, not one I had thought of, but possible.
At the moment my EDC hand held is an MCH high candela with the Thyrm ring thing. But generally my philosophy is just drop the handheld to give myself every possible advantage to protect myself and my family with the best possible two handed grip on the pistol instead of trying to retain something else in my hand(s) at the same timeâŠthe Thrym ring makes drawing the light more reliable, though, and makes dropping it more of a conscious choice than an accident.
Thank you community! Made me think about WML in a different way. I love to learn form others that is the one-way , I can improve on my firearms knowledge.
EDC means Everyday Carry. Itâs the one thing you carry with you everywhere you go, all the time.
What happens when you get home and you still have your gun on you, you havenât taken out your home defense guns out yet and youâre chilling in the back of the house watching TV.
Your EDC is your ride and die, and will be the firearm you will most likely use to defend yourself.
Or, technology advanced since then and red dots then are not the same thing as red dots nowâŠbecause nobody who has shot with a modern red dot should be saying those things. 