Low and Reduced Light Training
Since 02-10-08
U.S. Concealed Carry
Weekly Newsletter
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February 8th, 2008
Dear James,
I'm writing this week's newsletter a little ahead
of time, and right now, it's "Super Tuesday". My
fingers are crossed for who
I
hope wins the nomination and election, but I just
hope that God's will is done!
May the best Republican win!
8^)
Okay... back to business. As you may have gathered
from the title of this newsletter, this week I'm
'unleashing' one HECK of a home-defense product that
you'll have absolutely no 'bones' about. Trust me,
when you see this thing, you're going to want to get
your 'paws' all over one!
But first, I've got a truly amazing article written
by one of the best trainers out there. Let's get to
it!
Low & Reduced Light Training
by Tom Perroni
When people hear the term "Low Light shooting", what they most often think of is shooting in the dark, while this is a bit misleading. At Perroni's Tactical Training Academy "Low Light shooting" is using a flashlight in conjunction with a handgun to fight when the area you are in while in the fight the light is low or reduced or non existent.
In the FBI's (UCR) Uniform Crime Report it tells us that 80% of all Law Enforcement shooting happen in low or reduced light. So as a Concealed Carry permit holder, do you carry a flashlight? Even if it is not dark outside could you be in an area of low or reduced light? EXAMPLES: Parking Garage, Stairwell, Hallway, Alleyway, closets, tunnels, etc. This report transfers to "citizen" CHP shootings as well. Perpetrators of street crimes are more active after sundown. So if you do carry a flashlight, do you know how to use it?
"The fear of the dark works both ways; you will be better prepared if you train in low and reduced light."
The first step is having the tools. You need a flashlight, but which one? Surefire, Mag Light, Min Mag, Asp Tactical LED, etc. Before you decide, you need to know this:
What is the purpose of the Tactical Flashlight?
-
1) As an aid in low light navigation and
movement.
-
2) Locate and identify and assess
threats and innocents.
-
3) As a non lethal tool for controlling
suspects and subjects.
The biggest question I get asked about
flashlights is:
What is the difference between
candlepower and lumens?
Lumens is what is used to specify the total amount
of light coming from any light producing device, and
candlepower refers to the highest value of the light
intensity to be found anywhere in the lights "beam".
Lumens tell you how "powerful" the light-producing
device is, be it a light bulb of any type, a
flashlight, or a car headlight. Candlepower tells
you how tightly focused the beam is, assuming the
light source has a lens or reflector to focus the
light into a beam.
Lumens can be measured quite accurately, using an
instrument called an integrating sphere, and
identical lights would all have similar lumen
values. It is an important quantity to know when
comparing different lighting products, as it tells
you how much light each one produces.
Candlepower can also be measured accurately, using a
light intensity meter to measure luminous intensity,
and then by applying the appropriate formula, which
takes into account how far the meter is from the
light source. The problem is that the value measured
depends on where in the beam you take the
measurement (the highest value found is what is
normally used), and on how well the beam is focused.
It is not unusual for candlepower values to vary
greatly from unit to unit on otherwise identical
lights due to small differences in focusing or
reflector tolerances.
Ken Good from Strategos, Intl.
www.strategosinternational.com put it this
way:
Lumens verse Candlepower
"Lumen - Measurement of a quantity of light as
perceived by the human eye. As a light source's
color temperature increases, less light is required
to achieve comparable brightness and visual acuity.
The international unit to describe the
quantity of light (also called luminous flux).
- That's why SureFire uses this as a standard
benchmark for all of our illumination tools.
Candle Power (Candelas) Used by lighting designers
to calculate the foot-candles illuminating a surface
(C.P./distance in feet squared) or Lux illuminating
a surface (C.P./distance in meters squared)
Foot-candles -Measurement of light output in candela
per square foot. It derives from the early English
unit of foot-candle defined as the illuminance on a
surface placed one foot from the standard candle.
100 foot-candles is generally considered enough
light to perform most tasks. Lux - Measurement of
light output in candelas per square meter. One lumen
per square. 10 lux is generally considered enough
light to perform most tasks.
These terms are useful to assist in determining the
"signature" of the illumination tool you are
speaking about. No one term will fully describe the
overall usefulness or quality of the emission. For
instance, you can have a light with a tremendous
candlepower rating at one point in the pattern, but
the rest of the pattern in not useful. I.E. dark
spots, splotchy, and/or weak."
The standard in the industry and the light used at Perroni's Tactical Training Academy is the Surefire G2. For about $30.00 you have a solid flashlight with about 65 lumens.
The next question I get asked is what about night sights? Or what kind do you use. In my opinion night sight are good in reduced light situations because they give you a visual reference of the front and rear sight and this can be helpful. I teach my students not to shoot until they have identified the target. For this in a reduced light situation you need a flashlight, otherwise you are just shooting off into the dark. My (2) key night sight points:
-
1) Excellent tool to locate the main
aiming point of your handgun.
-
2) The sight is not the total answer to
the problem; you must see and identify the
threat first.
Remember: Night Sights assist you in aiming! However they do not assist you in:
-
1) Identifying targets
-
2) Navigating
-
3) Searching
The flashlight is also useful for searching for subjects, as well as blinding them with light to shut down the OODA loop. As well as like we said earlier, target identification.
However there are (3) things one must learn before the refinement of techniques and tactics they are;
-
1) Reduce Telegraphing.
-
2) Be acutely aware of being in or
creating a Backlit condition for you or your
team.
-
3) Avoid blinding yourself or others.
Also realize that if you are in a gunfight in low or reduced light and you are using a flashlight that if the Bad Guy is armed and committed, they will fire directly into the source of light.
At that point you must distort your opponents perception of what is actually happening and where you are actual located. This is done by using the following:
-
1) Displacement
-
2) Angel of the Beam
-
3) Rhythm and duration
The reason this is so important is that you need to conceal your movement from your attacker. You need to train so that you can deploy both your flashlight and your handgun simultaneously and accurately. The shooter must be proficient with moving and shooting before they move on to moving and shooting in low light. Also remember running with a handgun or handgun and flashlight is bad.
I also stress one handed shooting and training with one hand and yes, also working with the weak hand (Support Hand) as well. Because after all, when you are shooting with a flashlight in your hand you are shooting one handed.
So with all that information let's talk about Hand Gun Shooting Techniques in Low or Reduced Light. What follows are some examples of shooting Techniques that can be employed with a flashlight. However remember, the Tactical Golden Rule that I am sharing with you is 'A' way to do the technique not 'THE' way to do the technique. Review the following with an open mind, try each technique on the range, but keep the one or ones that work best for you.
Rogers Technique: Light is
held between the fingers and activated by pressing
against palm of hand see picture below.
Harries Technique: Similar to Weaver stance, except the back of the support hand is pressed firmly against the back of the shooting hand. This enables the support hand to operate the flashlight while providing isometric stability to the shooting hand. See picture below.
Ayoob Technique: Simply thrust both the light and the gun out to approximate an isosceles position, with both thumbs touching. Ayoob teaches that if you place both thumbs together in horizontal alignment out to about seven yards the light will shine in the assailant's eyes while the handgun is indexed on his chest. See picture below.
FBI Technique: In the FBI technique, the flashlight is held away but much higher than the modified technique from the body with the non-weapon hand. The technique is simple but takes support away from the firing hand. See picture below.
Weapon Mounted Lights: I am
not a huge fan of weapon mounted lights the
advantages are Support hand can be free. It's always
there on the gun. The
Disadvantage in my opinion are Searches- If you have
a suspect at gunpoint how can you search for more
suspects without taking the gun off the suspect?
In summary I would like to reiterate a few key
points: (They are as follows)
Many flashlight techniques have been developed
throughout the years. The ability to accurately
engage targets in low-light conditions will always
depend on the individual's skill to shoot their
weapon with one hand. An operator should learn a
variety of flashlight techniques, and train on these
techniques regularly. However, the foundation of
low-light training will always be learning the skill
required to shoot their weapon with one hand.
I have attempted to provide you nothing more than a skeleton of knowledge of how Flashlights & Night Sights work and a few Handgun Shooting Techniques. I urge you to do a few things:
-
1) Practice Shooting with one hand (both
strong & support hand)
-
2) Practice shooting with your
flashlight.
-
3) Draw, Move, Shoot, Communicate!
-
4) Shoot to stop the threat... don't
stop shooting until there is no threat.
-
5) Get a quality flashlight and carry it
at all times.
We have a saying at my training school:
"Conflict is inevitable; Combat is an option.
Always stay in condition yellow and when all else
fails align the front sight and press the trigger
and the button on your flashlight!"
Stay Safe & Shoot Straight!
Tom Perroni
Tom Perroni is the owner, President
and Chief Instructor of Perroni's Tactical Training
Academy. Pulling on a five-year law enforcement
operational background, Tom has spent the last
fifteen years delivering training to government,
military, law enforcement and private security
companies. Tom is a NRA Certified Firearms
Instructor and NRA Range Safety Office, Maryland
State Police Handgun Instructor, Virginia DCJS
Handgun, Shotgun and Advanced Handgun Instructor
/Trainer for the PSS section. Tom is also a
Contract Instructor for Blackwater Training Center.
The Best Defense System... PERIOD
USCCA GEAR REVIEW
This week, I want to look at a VERY good
home-defense option and burglar alarm all rolled
into one cuddly package...
SPECIFCATIONS
------------------
Height: 27" at back-bone
Length: 36"
Weight: 110 lb.
Maybe you already have a dog, maybe you don't. Maybe
your living situation doesn't even allow you to have
a dog. If you've got one, I know you'll agree that a
dog is one of the best investments... period.
Whether you spend the big bucks for an AKC
registered breed, or you adopt a mutt from the local
dog pound, the amount of friendship you gain from a
dog is unparalleled, probably even to any human
you'll ever meet.
Not to mention, they usually have an instinct to
protect the property they live on. They make noise
when they see stuff, and if you get the right one,
they can even work as a pretty good deterrent to a
home-invader...
Warning: My friend who owns this particular dog wanted me to include a word of caution... Some dogs, like this one, are just too stinking cute and friendly for their own good. When I asked him if his Rotty was a good guard dog, he joked that his Rotty would probably help the robbers carry his possessions to their truck!
USCCA Members-Only Forum Highlights
Every Deluxe Member has complete access to the USCCA forum, which is constantly being accessed by members sharing information, knowledge, insight, and fun. With well over thirty-five-thousand posts and growing by the hour, this is one heck of a valuable resource!
Ammunition Storage?
Where is the best, and safest means of storing
ammunition in the house?
Thanks in advance!
Concealed Carry in Florida County Parks
Anyone know for sure if you can carry concealed in
all county parks in Florida....please show the
statute covering it.
Thanks
Glock or XD?
I presently just joined up with the USCCA. I own a
S&W sigma 9mm i am thinking of either a glock or a
XD for my carry gun any suggestions?
GREAT Song and Video...
"Letters from Home"
USCCA VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Note:
Some email programs do not allow me to show you the
Video of the Week directly within this newsletter.
If the video does not show up automatically, go to
our newsletter site to watch it, by visiting this
link:
http://www.uscca.us/news/newsletter/the-best-defense-system-period/
Quote of the Week
Sometimes a good quote will inspire or motivate you. Sometimes, they'll just put a smile on your face! Here is the quote for this week...
"Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them."-Albert Einstein
Closing Thoughts
Well friends, that's all for this week. I hope this
newsletter is capping off a great week for you and
your family.
Until next time!