Crossbreed Light Defender Series IWB Holster

Think about how you’re going to use a light — a flashlight, a weapon-mounted light, or both — not just how you’re going to carry it, in a low-light defensive situation, especially in the public space. Here are some practical considerations.

Advantages of a Flashlight

Rob Pincus advocates always carrying a flashlight. Not only is it a great utility tool, but as one of your self-defense tools, it can be used as an improvised distraction device or an improvised striking device, and it can help you find and identify threats.

In an active-shooter situation, where you are trying to move away from a threat and to safety, if there is low or no light for any reason (think: dark movie theater or nightclub, store or mall with the electricity cut), you do not want to have drawn your gun out of its OWB or IWB holster and be using its weapon-mounted light as your primary illumination.

If you have a gun out and are pointing it at people as a means of using its weapon-mounted light, you do not look like a good guy. Other people trying to leave the scene and responding law enforcement officers may mistake you for a bad guy. This is why you should carry and use a flashlight in this situation.

Drawing the Firearm

The next issue to consider is, what do you do if you need to draw the firearm while you are using a flashlight? Options include dropping the flashlight, holding onto it and placing both hands on the firearm and flashlight together, or keeping the flashlight on a lanyard so that when you drop it, you don’t lose it. Alternately, if you do not have a weapon-mounted light on your firearm, you might want to use the flashlight in that role.

Crossbreed Light Defender Series IWB Holster

If you choose to carry a weapon-mounted light on your primary defensive firearm, the Crossbreed Light Defender Series IWB Holster lets you comfortably carry the handgun/light and even laser combo concealed all day long. For using gun holsters, Rob finds this holster incredibly comfortable and functional.

The issues of what kind of illumination devices to carry and how you’ll use them are topics you should consider and plan for now, so that you can practice with them and be ready if you do ever have a self-defense incident.