Ever used crenellated strike bezel?

[chillinn]

I hope this doesn't violate site rules regarding weapon lights.

The near-ubiquitous crenellated bezel!!! Some like it, some prefer the near-extinct smooth bezel. Feel free to say which camp you're in for non-professionally related wireless portable lighting tasks (it is assumed the Batman prefers the crenellated bezel). But this has been asked and answered before elsewhere on the forums.

The new question is: have you ever used it?
Let's not be too graphic. Please just tag your use generically,
e.g. "defense;" or "escape;" or "fingernails now clean of debis;" or "carved his/her initials in tree/old picnic table/forearm/whathaveyou," or "accidental tooth extraction," or specify any other uses that make it essential to you.

Feel free to answer "why so many crenellated?" And "why not a threaded and removable crenellated ring?" Anyone here that must add crenellation to all their smooth bezels?

 

[bykfixer]

Smooth bezel camp here. But I do own lights with so-called strike bezels. I prefer glass breaker tail caps to those. More likely to be useful than a bezel.

I also own PK lights. Now those are something I'd not want to be on the wrong end of.

I feel better protected with a lanyard on my light than a bezel. I'll leave it there.

 

[Str8stroke]

Popped a few beer caps with it. Turned a few screws. Opened some boxes too. Stand the light bezel down and enjoy the side lighting at night.

 

[novice]

I prefer smooth bezels, or just barely scalloped bezels, mainly for the visual aesthetics, but also because they are easier on the inside of pockets.

 

[1DaveN]

To be honest, I don't even understand the point - I'm not sure why one bezel would be better than another for any purpose, unless you consider the ones that let you see you've put your light down without turning it off. While I get the potential benefit of something like a 3xD Mag in certain circumstances, all my lights are quite small. And I hope never to find myself in the situation of trying to defend myself with something like a flashlight or pocket knife, neither of which seem like very effective defenses.

 

[redvalkyrie]

Smooth bezel because if it's come down to me using my flashlight as a weapon, things are serious. And honestly, being in the martial arts for 30 years, and knowing about law, I would not recommend you hit someone with a strike bezel. More than likely, the person will survive and you'll be charged with a crime-- probably assault with a dangerous weapon. The first real rule of Fight Club is terminate the threat so they can't testify against you. This is why walking away is the best option.

A flat bezel makes a better blunt impact tool and is simply a bezel you happened to have on the flashlight you simply had while out walking the dog.

 

[Going_Supernova]

Smooth bezel because if it's come down to me using my flashlight as a weapon, things are serious. And honestly, being in the martial arts for 30 years, and knowing about law, I would not recommend you hit someone with a strike bezel. More than likely, the person will survive and you'll be charged with a crime-- probably assault with a dangerous weapon. The first real rule of Fight Club is terminate the threat so they can't testify against you. This is why walking away is the best option.

A flat bezel makes a better blunt impact tool and is simply a bezel you happened to have on the flashlight you simply had while out walking the dog.

That will likely depend on where you are located and their laws there. If you are in New England or the Left Coast, yeah, you might get charged. :hairpull:

If you were in Texas, Oklahoma or Kansas, you might get a heroic citizen award for being prepared to fight evil. :twothumbs

 

[chillinn]

To be honest, I don't even understand the point - I'm not sure why one bezel would be better than another for any purpose...

At the risk of exposing my OP as a friendly troll, you have nearly pinpointed my own unmentioned grievance with crenellated bezel flashlights. My problem with it is not exactly so much that they exist for purposes that are arguably only useful in extremely unlikely circumstances, and even then will only be of marginal utility, if any at all, but that considering this (opinion of mine and others) that it seems insane of flashlight manufacturers to nearly ubiquitously include this feature. Not "why?," per se, but "why is this so damn common??!" Similarly, why do multitool designers ALWAYS include the bottle opener? Even if opening bottle caps is a common task, a bottle opener is really only necessary and very useful if sequentially opening many many bottle caps. Is it really so important every single multitool needs to include a bottle opener simply because the occupation of "bartender" exists, and must be catered to to avoid losing sales? No... its just nutty, almost compulsively so. IMO. Why does (nearly) every flashlight maker want nearly every single model they offer to compete in all possible spaces of flashlight utility simultaneously? Why don't they then also include a bottle opener on all flashlight heads next to the crenellation? Go home, major flashlight manufacturers... you're drunk!!

 

[light-modder]

If you were in Texas, Oklahoma or Kansas, you might get a heroic citizen award for being prepared to fight evil. :twothumbs

True story

 

[scout24]

I fear the only direction this can go is down hill. We're five hours in, seven or so posts, and tiptoeing so far. I think perhaps stories related to utilitarian uses. The nail cleaning, mood lighting, wood carving type would be appropriate. Anything else from here on in will result in rather quick thread closing...

 

[nbp]

If you guys want to talk about alternative non-violent uses for strike bezels go ahead but I will be watching this thread closely. If we have additional posts on using the flashlight as a weapon the thread will be closed. Thanks all.

 

[nbp]

Haha! Simultaneous post with scout. I think we're on the same page. Lol

 

[bykfixer]

I fear the only direction this can go is down hill. We're five hours in, seven or so posts, and tiptoeing so far. I think perhaps stories related to utilitarian uses. The nail cleaning, mood lighting, wood carving type would be appropriate. Anything else from here on in will result in rather quick thread closing...

Glad I edited mine. lol.
Really wasn't a policy issue, but was more of a why you should wear safety shoes when carrying a PK light...
Otherwise you might end up the 9 toe have'n-est so n so on the block...

 

[ingineer]

I abhor crenellations on a flashlight. only good for ripping up pockets. Screams cheap junk made for adolescences

 

[Tre_Asay]

I like the bezel on the HDS, it is crenulated but only slightly and it is well smoothed and rounded. I agree it is not really necessary and only adds length and weight to small flashlights. On a bigger main edc it is not detrimental but I have never used it.

I guess if I was in a car that drove into a deep lake I might use the bezel to try and break the glass, if I could even get the flashlight unclipped in time
but the bottle opener in my multi tool is more useful because it serves also as a prying tool and flathead screwdriver.

 

[Sambob]

I like the bezel on the HDS, it is crenulated but only slightly and it is well smoothed and rounded. I agree it is not really necessary and only adds length and weight to small flashlights. On a bigger main edc it is not detrimental but I have never used it.



I guess if I was in a car that drove into a deep lake I might use the bezel to try and break the glass, if I could even get the flashlight unclipped in time
but the bottle opener in my multi tool is more useful because it serves also as a prying tool and flathead screwdriver.

I agree with the car In the lake scenario about the only "real" use for this thing...by the way what were the Idiots In marketing thinking when they decided to add this "doesn't that look COOL..doesn't do a damn thing but look at It...Isn't It COOL" bonus feature to our flashlight's?

 

[nbp]

One post deleted. We're also not going to use this thread to talk about using guns on people vs. strike bezels.

 

[Tre_Asay]

Believe me, I agree especially on flimsy aluminum bezels. But I don't buy flashlights that I think are a tacticool joke.
It goes along the same line as all cheap led flashlights that include sos or strobe as modes that I HAVE to cycle through to use the flashlight.
The worst example was a zoomie with an electronic switch that you had to cycle through medium (50% pwm), high, strobe, and then you can turn it off.
There are more classy flashlights without these things but they tend to be more expensive then your typical ultrafire.

 

[1DaveN]

I agree with the car In the lake scenario about the only "real" use for this thing...by the way what were the Idiots In marketing thinking when they decided to add this "doesn't that look COOL..doesn't do a damn thing but look at It...Isn't It COOL" bonus feature to our flashlight's?

You can get those glass breaker/seatbelt cutter tools for under $5, and almost all under $15. Or a pocket knife with one built in.

 

[Tac Gunner]

The only real use I have had for the crenalations on my Solarforce L2 was to break the ice in the dogs water bucket during the winter. We have a heated bucket but it had gotten unplugged and the L2 was what I happened to have handy, worked fine and didn't damage the light. Besides that I have used it to open a few packages and tighten a few screws until I could get a real screwdriver. I figured if the cost is the same between a smooth bezel and a crenalsted bezel, I might as well go with the crenelated as it might get used for something every now and then.