LED flashlights: worth a darn?

On Sat, 08 Oct 2005 09:49:52 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, Gunner quickly quoth:

Ah, more good info re: back scatter.

Yeah, a Chiwanese tactical w/ butt button is what I ended up with from Big 5.

Can do. Plus I'm left handed and my doorway exits on the left, so I'm covered. Right hand over my head with the tactical light to blind them and the left hand with a pistola pointing out the door toward the fireplace and perps.

Very good. I'd be using the button with my right thumb, overhanded. That seems better than physically coming all the way out into the hallway. Too much exposure.

Yeah, I was thinking it might be better to kneel with the gun at knee height and the light at chest height. They'd be shooting over me if the were one of the armed fidiots.

Amen to that, bruddah.

-- Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. ---- --Unknown

On Sat, 08 Oct 2005 09:55:35 -0700, Larry Jaques wrote:

Its far far better to be shooting from behind something that gives cover. Even the refrigerator is better than a couch...but even the couch is better than standing up like a man and keeping your center of mass open and inviting.

Perhaps I should post theses again......

Pay particular attention to #1, 4, 7, 11.

1. Bring a gun. Preferably, bring at least two guns. Bring all of your friends who have guns. 2. Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammo is cheap-life is expensive. 3. Only hits count. The only thing worse then a miss is a slow miss. 4. If your shooting stance is good, you're probably not moving fast enough or using cover correctly. 5. Move away from your attacker. Distance is your friend. (Lateral and Diagonal movement are preferred.) 6. If you can choose what to bring to a gunfight, bring a long gun and a friend with a long gun. 7. In ten years nobody will remember the details of caliber, stance, or tactics. They will only remember who lived. 8. If you are not shooting, you should be communicating, reloading, and running. 9. Accuracy is relative: most combat shooting standards will be dependent on "pucker factor" then the inherent accuracy of the gun. Use a gun that works EVERY TIME. "All skill is in vain when an Angel blows the powder from the flintlock of your musket." 10. Someday someone may kill you with your own gun, but they should have to beat you to death with it because it is empty. 11. Always cheat, always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose. 12. Have a plan. 13. Have a back-up plan, because the first one won't work. 14. Use cover or concealment as much as possible. 15. Flank your adversary when possible. Protect yours. 16. Don't drop your guard. 17. Always tactical load and threat scan 360 degrees. 18. Watch their hands. Hands kill. (In God we trust. Everyone else, keep your hands where I can see them.) 19. Decide to be aggressive ENOUGH, quickly ENOUGH. 20. The faster you finish the fight, the less shot you will get. 21. Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet. 22. Be courteous to everyone, friendly to no one. 23. Your number one option for personal security is a lifelong commitment to avoidance, deterrence, and de-escalation. 24. Do not attend a gun fight with a handgun, the caliber of which does not start with anything smaller then "4". 25. Your can't miss fast enough to win.

And always remember..if you find yourself in a fair fight..your tactics really suck.

Gunner

Confronting Liberals with the facts of reality is very much akin to clubbing baby seals. It gets boring after a while, but because Liberals are so stupid it is easy work." Steven M. Barry

Gunner, you know a disturbing about about gunfights, but it was an interesting read :-).

Chris

Even more disturbing: all 25 are excellent advice for anyone expecting to attend a gunfight. I particularly like #s 6, 11, and 20.

On Sat, 08 Oct 2005 19:56:07 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, Gunner quickly quoth:

My plan was to stay in my room, peek around the doorway from a kneeling position with the flashlight above my head, read to blind them. I also have wireless, remotely-controlled lighting which could surprise them from wherever I chose to position myself.

Oh, yeah.

As always/still, excellent advice.

Don Foreman wrote: > The threads can't be anodized because an anodize film is > non-conductive. Non-anodized aluminum threads still oxidize and > sometimes gall though a bit of lube helps a lot. Neither oxidation > nor lube helps conduction of low voltage a bit.

Last week I bought my father a black 2-D Maglite for his birthday. I have the natural aluminium colour Maglite myself, because it doesn't look ugly if it gets scratched, but I remembered your comment and looked at the tailcap thread on my father's new Maglite. It is anodised. Or at least it's black...

Chris

You're right! I see a little black left on the threads of one of my tailcaps too, and the ohmmeter verifies that it's anodize.

Look at the end of the barrel. On mine, that part is not anodized. There is a mating non-anodized flat on the tailcap. The conduction path is still from cap to barrel thru an aluminum-to-aluminum interface. These surfaces can and will oxidize, though there is some wiping action when you change batteries, if you change them often enough. This interface is not protected from moisture; it's outside the O-rings.

The anodize will eventually wear off the threads. If not lubricated, they will eventually gall. Mine did, anyway.

That's what I assumed. That little non-anodised ring was the only conduction path I could see. Do the non-anodised, natural aluminium Maglites have fewer problems with poor connections? Or are they actually anodised the same colour as natural aluminium? I was never quite sure. I'll put some Vaseline on the threads of my Maglite, anyway.

Best wishes,

Chris

Maybe some copper-based anti-seize will address the galling and the conductivity ?

Penetrox is the answer. Miracle stuff. I think it's grease with copper filings, and maybe some other secret ingredients. I put up a 20m beam, made of aluminum tubes, twenty years back. The exposed parts were all grotty and corroded when we took it down to move five years ago, but the connections were still shiny and clean when I unbolted it.

Clear anodize is what you are seeing. It's easy to tell if you've seen lots of clear anodizing. But if you are wondering just check for conductivity with a meter. The color in anodizing isn't what makes it an insulator. ERS

How about trying one of the conductive carbon filled greases? That should maximize conduction while minimizing galling.

Dan Mitchell ============