Low Light Flashlight Techniques
How often have you prepared to fight with your firearm at night? If you were attacked at night, would you have a way to illuminate and identify your attacker(s) so that you could engage them? If you did have a means of doing so, would you know how to operate your handgun and the light at the same time? As you have probably concluded from our previous rant, we believe that All Handguns Should Come with Lights as a weapon mounted light is by far more manageable than any off-hand lighting technique. With that said, sometimes you will need to be able to implement off-hand lighting techniques no matter how well prepared you were. Whether your weapon mounted light failed or you just weren't carrying one, you should be well-versed in how to utilize a flashlight with your other hand to be able to effectively identify threats and engage them at night.
There are a number of common flashlight techniques that can be utilized in combination with a handgun. The technique(s) that you utilize will depend largely on a number of variables such as:
- Size of the flashlight / handgun / shooters hands
- Operation of flashlight (is the button on the side of the light, or is it activated at the tail-cap?)
- Environmental limitations
- Direction of travel / navigation around barricades
With that being said, let's take a look at some of the common techniques and try to understand the advantages and disadvantages of each.
One of the most common techniques used by both civilians and law enforcement, and often portrayed in the movies, is the Harries Technique. The Harries Technique can be used with almost any size handheld flashlight and relies on a counter-pressure sense of securing the firearm's sight alignment in place. In this technique, the backs of the hands are pressed against each other which provides a stabilizing effect for the shooting hand. Though recoil management will be accomplished with just the primary shooting hand, this technique does allow for more control over the weapon during sight alignment and sight picture. Note that although the Harries Technique can be utilized by almost any flashlight, shooters might find it easier with a flashlight that has a tail-cap activated button and while utilizing an "ice pick" grip. One major advantage of the Harries Technique is that the beam of the light will virtually always be directly in line with the sight picture, which can dramatically improve target acquisition and shot times. One major disadvantage is that the shooter must handle the firearm with one hand, which can be difficult during rapid fire. Also note that due to the contouring of the body, the Harries Technique is often preferred by shooters that use the Weaver Stance as opposed to an Isosceles Stance. Also note that this grip can be utilized very well while navigating a barricade (corner or other cover) so long as it is on the same side of the clear route. For instance, in the provide image, the Harries Technique would work well to maneuver around the right side of a barricade, but not the left as the light would be blocked by the object directly in front of it. Advantages of the Harries Technique: Disadvantages of the Harries Technique:
Another common technique is known as the Rogers Grip or the Surefire Grip. Though many people know it as the Surefire Grip because of the rings that Surefire created in order make this grip more manageable, we will refer to it as the Rogers Grip for the purpose of this demonstration. The Rogers Grip utilizes a similar counter-pressure for stabilization as the Harries technique, but it does so in more of a traditional grip on the handgun. The bore of the handgun and the barrel of the light run parallel to each other, with the flashlight lining up about halfway up the length of the grip frame. The light is secured in place by being held between the index and middle finger on the non-shooting hand, with the tail-cap activator pressed up against the "meaty part" of the hand. To activate the light, the barrel of the light is pulled inward by squeezing the fingers of the non-shooting hand so that the tail-cap activator is pressed into the hand, thereby activating the light. If the non-shooting hand is big enough, the fingers of that hand can grip around the shooting hand's fingers similar to the way they would in a natural shooting grip. This is most easily accomplished with smaller flashlights and sub-compact handguns as it reduces the size of the objects that your hands are having to control. While it can be difficult to hold the light in correct alignment with the handgun's sights, this grip does allow for a more natural shooting grip as it allows the hands to be placed relatively similar to the way they are gripped if there isn't a light present. Advantages of the Rogers Grip: Disadvantages of the Rogers Grip:
The Ayoob Technique is very similar to the Rogers Grip, and provides many of the same advantages. It's primary difference is that the Ayoob Technique (developed by Massad Ayoob) utilizes a flashlight that is activated by a button on the barrel of the light. With this grip, the shooter will rotate their non-shooting hand outward away from the grip frame of the gun while maintaining the "sword style" grip on the barrel of the light. Note that this technique originated before the evolution of a lot of the newer flashlights, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't understand it. If a larger MagLite is all that's available to you, this might be a great grip to understand. Another interesting variation of this grip is when the light is tilted slightly up, allowing the direction of the light to go up and in front of the shooter. In a small room or hallway, this can be advantageous to prevent "washing out" the target which can occur due to reflection or glares in small areas. Advantages of the Ayoob Technique: Disadvantages of the Ayoob Technique:
In my opinion, the Chapman Technique could be loosely described as a combination of the Rogers Grip and the Ayoob Technique. Instead of the light being gripped between the index and middle finger as they are on the Rogers Grip, the barrel of the light is placed in between the thumb and the index finger similar to the Ayoob Technique. This allows for the activation of the light from the side barrel position. Assuming that the shooters hands are large enough (or that the flashlight and handgun are small enough), the rest of the fingers on the non-shooting hand can wrap around the shooting hand similar to how they would be gripped if there were no flashlight present (much like the Rogers Grip). As should be expected, this grip method offers many of the same advantages and disadvantages of the two grips that it so closely resembles. Advantages of the Chapman Technique: Disadvantages of the Chapman Technique:
The Neck-Index Technique is different than the first set of grips and techniques that we have looked at because it separates the flashlight from the firearm. Because this technique does not attempt to join the hands together, it basically removes the restraint of size or type of the flashlight being used. It can be utilized with tail-cap activated or side button flashlights of virtually any size comfortably and consistently. Because it is basic in nature, pinning the flashlight to the side of the face/neck of the shooter, it can be mastered within seconds by inexperienced users. The purpose of pinning the flashlight to the shooters head area is to make sure that the beam of the flashlight is always aligned with the sight picture of the shooter. This can also help to illuminate the sights on the handgun in the event that the firearm is not equipped with night sights. This method can also be deployed very quickly and from virtually any position. That's not to say that this technique is without any drawbacks... Obviously the shooter is left to manipulate and operate the handgun completely one-handed, without any support or counter-balancing pressure from the other hand. Another potential drawback of this technique is that there is a theory that the attacker will shoot at the source of light. Unfortunately, in this situation, that source of light is pinned to your head or neck, which obviously isn't a place you want an attacker shooting. There is also a chance of "washing out" your sight picture depending on the strength and concentration of the light's beam. Advantages of the Neck-Index Technique: Disadvantages of the Neck-Index Technique:
The Modified FBI Technique has evolved from multiple "schools of thought" during the training progression of the FBI. Using this technique, the shooter holds the flashlight in their non-shooting hand and extends their arm out to full extension in multiple angles. For instance, they might use their first burst of light at a 11:00 position, and then their next might be at a 9:00 position. The theory behind this technique is that many times a threat will shoot at the light, or where they believe the light to originate from. Therefore, if you are utilizing a Neck-Index Technique and the attacker shoots at your light, their shot is likely to hit you in the face. By extending the arm out and away from the body, it is believed that if the attacker shoots at your light that they stand much less of a chance at hitting you. Their is a counter argument to this theory... The counter-argument is that most shooters are right-handed, and most untrained shooters (such as the attacker) have a tendency to slap the trigger. If a right-handed shooter slaps the trigger, their shots tend to miss low and left. Therefore, if you are utilizing this technique and the attacker slaps the trigger while shooting at you, their miss might actually hit you! This technique provides you with a different set of advantages and disadvantages from most of the other methods. This technique provides the most "freedom" in the relationship between the light and the gun, which is both a good and a bad thing... It's good that you can scan freely and that you can use the light to move with your eyes at a more rapid pace, but bad in that your sight picture can have a very difficult time keeping up with that pace. In that event, it is very common to see shooters focusing their light somewhere other than their target, or aiming their gun somewhere other than their light. It is more difficult for a person to line up three things (sight picture, eyes, and flashlight) than two things (sight picture and eyes). Since the light is not locked on either your eyes or your sight picture, this can be more difficult to manage, especially for newer shooters. Advantages of the FBI Technique: Disadvantages of the FBI Technique:
By far our favorite lighting method is the weapon mounted light. This provides an incredible advantage in virtually every way possible. For starters, having a weapon-mounted light means that you have both your weapon and your light readily available during one draw stroke. Because they are attached to each other, that draw stroke is the exact same draw stroke that you have practiced tens of thousands of times. Your grip is literally unchanged from your normal proper grip of a semi-automatic handgun that you are very familiar with. Most weapon mounted lights come are ambidextrous, meaning that you can operate them with either hand. This becomes increasingly important if you have to fight one-handed for any number of reasons such as injury or holding a by-stander. Remember that you are carrying a light that is mounted to your weapon and that you should never point your weapon at anything you aren't willing to destroy. Therefore, when carrying a weapon mounted light, make sure to not ever use it as an administrative or utility light. It should be used to identify and illuminate threats that you are aiming your weapon at, and nothing else. Also, weapon mounted lights, just like any other light, operate off of a battery. When that battery dies, so does your light. Therefore, we recommend that you be in the habit of carrying both a weapon mounted light as well as a utility light such as the StreamLight ProTac 2L. This eliminates the urge to ever use your weapon mounted light for administrative/utility purposes and also eliminates the single point of failure of solely having a weapon mounted light. Advantages of a weapon-mounted light: Disadvantages of a weapon-mounted light:Harries Technique
Harries Technique
Rogers Grip / Surefire Grip
Rogers Grip / SureFire Grip
Ayoob Technique
Ayoob Technique
Chapman Technique
Chapman Technique
Neck-Index Technique
Neck-Index Technique
Modified FBI Technique
Modified FBI Technique
Weapon Mounted Light
Weapon Mounted Light