Strobe lights are more useful as a signaling device rather than simple illumination. Unnecessary light functions also complicate the operation, which can slow response. Do you want a strobe or alternate lighting feature?Ī strobe function is a personal choice, but there’s little evidence that it gives you many advantages outside of anecdotes or idle conjecture. A WML that integrates controls you can easily activate with one hand means you can use your off-hand to do tasks deal with doors, windows, animals, or guiding others (like kids or elderly folks). Look for controls you can easily activate or deactivate with your draw hand. Many self-defense shootings occur at contact distance, and your support hand may be occupied. If you have to draw your gun in self-defense you may not have use of both hands. It’s recommended that you try the light out in person BEFORE buying, or be ready to send one back if you can’t. It’s also a good idea to pick a light that can be activated by your trigger finger.

What you’re looking for is a light that you can easily turn on when you mean to, but isn’t easy to turn on by accident, such as when drawing or inserting your pistol and light into a holster. Look for controls that can be easily activated or deactivated but offer some initial resistance. The spill is useful for situational awareness and for illuminating a wider area, but if the light is too bright, it can wash out the hotspot too diffuse, and it’ll impact your ability to see outside of the hotspot altogether. It provides a wide field of illumination but is less intense than the hotspot. The spill, on the other hand, is the outer area of the beam that is less focused. With a clear enough hotspot cone, in many self defense encounters, you don’t even need to aim - you just fire into the center of the light cone. It’s the part of the beam that provides the most illumination and allows for effective target identification. The hotspot is the central area of the beam where the light is brightest and the most focused.

You don’t need a 1,000-lumen model to get usefully bright light provided the candela rating is sufficient.Īlso, consider hotspot and spill quality. In other words, more a 500-lumen light outputs more light than an 800-lumen option, but more candela means brighter light. Lumens are a measurement of the volume of light, but candela are a measurement of the intensity of light. Whenever possible, look for candela rating instead. Believe it or not, lumens are not the best measurement of output but are, unfortunately, the most frequently used measurement of output.

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