FN Self-Defense Flashlight Techniques

Well, I'm out here on the range on a bright sunny day but I'm want to talk to you about flashlight technique with a defensive firearm. You know, seen a lot of things over the years, practiced a lot of things, and even taught a few different things. But for over a decade now, I've really stressed the importance of separating your flashlight and your handgun especially when it comes to personal defense. When you're trying to search your house for your family members, not search for the bad guys, that's not something you should be doing. Or maybe make sure the area is clear, if you're moving with your family members, or moving by yourself to a safer or more secure area.

Of course you may not be, right? It may not be a safer, more secure area. There may be a bad guy between you and there, and that's why you wanna have your flashlight. Now, the flashlight again, is used to find and identify targets, and this little compact flashlight with a lanyard and a clip both is exactly the kind of flashlight that I'm likely to be carrying. I'm not going to be carrying a giant flashlight with thousands and thousands of lumens.

This kind of flashlight is great for everyday tasks as well as finding and identifying threats in a worst case scenario This kind of compact firearm is FNS 9C. This is the kind of firearm that I might carry, maybe even something smaller, a single stack, but a small handgun, small flashlight, this is pretty typical. All right. So these two tools work together really, really well. Now I could have a weapon mounted light.

Of course, there's a rail on this FNS. I could put a flashlight on here. I could put a laser aiming device or a combo on here, but that to me would be a secondary light. I want my primary light to be handheld. And as far as all this stuff, all that kind of old school, you know, cigar techniques, and back of the hand, in the back of the hand I have honestly never seen those things make someone a better shooter, right.

So in terms of any extra stability, or any extra technique advantage, you know maybe something it's very extreme in terms of where the flashlight is held, just barely in the hand and you're basically getting your second hand on the gun and you're flying, shining that light down at the ground is usually what I see here. That might make you a better shooter, but this is rather cumbersome for actually operating the light. Remember if we're using a light to find and identify threats, then we want to be able to direct the light very specifically. And we also want to be able to use that light intermittently and indirectly, which means working that switch off and on as we're flashing the light and bouncing the light off the walls, the ceilings, or the floor. So I like to keep the gun up in the ready position, use the flashlight to find and identify those threats, and if I do happen to find a threat, of course under the vast majority of situations where I'm going to be using a handheld flashlight inside of any kind of enclosed space, any kind of building, maybe even around a building or a vehicle, under the circumstances I'm likely to find a threat here, I'm probably going to be just fine shooting one handed.

Of course, one of the reasons I like the lanyard on the flashlight is that if I do decide that I want to put two hands on the gun, or I need to put two hands on the gun for balance of speed and precision issues, then I'm just going to let go of the flashlight. And if I put it at constant on, of course this means I'm going to get that bounce from the light while it's hanging down off the lanyard, that, that light is going to bounce off the ground and still probably give me plenty of illumination to see what it is I need to see in order to get the hit I need to get. So the technique of using the flashlight and the handgun separately is very simple. I'm going to go ahead and put my eye protection on, again another advantage of the lanyard is that I can let go of that flashlight and very quickly and easily get it back into my hand. And I'm going to be here, simulating a search, bouncing light off the ground.

I see a threat. I can drive out and shoot one handed, or if I need to, I'd go constant on, drive out and shoot two handed. Either way what I'm dealing with here is a very different level of paying attention to what's going on with the gun and the flashlight at any given moment. This is what I use to find and identify threats or to find a family member and realize they're not a threat and not bring my gun up. When I find a threat, then I bring my gun into play.

I don't want to be running around doing this, pointing the gun at someone I don't need to point the gun at, I don't want to be tangling myself up with these complicated techniques. I don't need to learn a second or third or 15th way to hold the gun and the flashlight and use that as a grip modifier. What I really need to do is use my flashlight and use my gun separately to defend myself and to find and identify anyone in my environment whether they're a threat or not