Grizzlyb: Thank you for taking the time to make the video. You obviously have strong opinions on what is or is not "tactical".
I am wrestling with some of your logic here.
I see several fallacies in your overall reasoning including incomplete comparison, mind projection fallacy, Nirvana fallacy and suppressed correlative. You have basically defined "tactical flashlight" in your own terms and excluded other possibilities.
You've driven the argument to one place; a single purpose flashlight that meets your particular operational requirements based on your methods of operation.
Fine, what works for you (and others) is what works for you (and others).
What I have is in no uncertain terms in the indisputable fact based on first-hand experience and the direct testimony of many, many others (including a wide swath of police officers in performing in many capacities) of a long period of time, stating that other approaches also yield excellent, consistent results as well in the exact same set of circumstances you are describing.
Whew…what a run-on….
Your perfect flashlight, it's akin to stating the only true definition of a car is one that has 10,000 hp, goes in straight line and goes from 0 to 340 mph in under 4 secs. Yes that is a car and the one most suited for winning drag races, however comma, that particular sport application does not in fact encompass the entire spectrum of vehicle operation.
When you toss out the word "tactical" it might be nice to start with the actual definition:
1 : of or relating to combat
tactics: as
a (1)
: of or occurring at the battlefront <a
tactical defense> <a
tactical first strike> (2)
: using or being weapons or forces employed at the battlefront <
tactical missiles>
b of an air force : of, relating to, or designed for air attack in close support of friendly ground forces
2 a : of or relating to tactics: as (1)
: of or relating to small-scale actions serving a larger purpose (2)
: made or carried out with only a limited or immediate end in view
b : adroit in planning or maneuvering to accomplish a purpose
Therefore unless you actual believe you have encircled the ENTIRE spectrum of combat with a single purpose flashlight (which you have not), you are going to have to open your aperture a bit wider.
Yes Police Officers spend most of their time not shooting people. We are in perfect agreement there.
I see illumination tools as a series of calculated compromises.
At this point, I believe one cannot have it all in one tool. The fundamental laws of physics, ergonomics, human factors, pricing dictate otherwise.
What is right for one; may be wrong for another.
When we first rolled out the Gladius, people were telling me, all I need is a button that turns the light ON and OFF. My response: That is awesome; you can obtain that in a wide variety of packages. You are set.
People resist change, it's that simple.
I did not the come up with the Gladius as a result of pleasing a manufacturer or even for the potential commercial value as insinuated earlier in your comments.
It was the direct result of years of slinging rounds against shoot-back adversaries. It was dark, dynamic, and highly chaotic at times. Interspersed with that was and remains a serious study of close quarter combatives (hand-to-hand) while armed and wearing armor. I did not get paid more or less as result of my keen interest in this particular area.
We modified flashlights, brought multiple tools into the environment and fought it out. It was long-term trial and error in a semi-controlled training situation without any previous guidance, as doctrine simply did not exist.
I remember as child play fighting with my older brother in a darkened room while we had a strobe light on….Talk about some blindside takeouts!
As a corollary to this story, me and my older brother (4
th and 5
th grade), used to bring the old disposable Kodak Flash cubes with us on school field trips. We would sneak into other peoples sleeping spaces and "Flash" them just as we would wake them up….Yes we were little *******s, but I almost lost a kidney laughing so hard at people's total disorientation.
Anyway, years later, while looking to make some improvised devices for students to locate during bomb searches, I noted a strobe light on the shelf and purchased it. I brought this plug into the wall variant onto our training platform. The downrange results to the opponents were highly debilitating to them in terms of situational awareness. The phrase "Win the Light Fight and you will probably Win the Gunfight" was born out of these experiences. If fact, my fellow instructors started telling me I could not bring that particular light setup into the training environment because it was basically impossible for the students to accomplish their tasking while subjected to the effects of strobing light.
Only after was I was fully convinced that the practical operational benefits of strobing outweighed the potential downsides, did I lobby any manufacturer for it's inclusion.
At the time, I happened to be working for Surefire as the Director of the Surefire Institute. I tabled the concept multiple times and it was outright rejected and considered nonsensical by those sitting behind a computer desk.
Again, people resist change.
From that point forward, I kept it under my proverbial hat and decided that somehow, someway I was going to bring this forward. It was born of passion, not monetary gain.
Through a long convoluted chain of events, I finally had the opportunity to bring my vision to life. It was the Gladius. At the time, 3-watt LED emitters had just broken the 60-lumen threshold. I believe it was just enough to give it a shot. Together with the resources of Blackhawk Industries, the first light specifically designed to be used in so-called "tactical situations" with multi-function (including strobe) was released.
From THAT point forward others have attempted to create multi-function flashlights that may or may not be useful.
I would like to drop back and mention how we arrived at the strobe frequency of the Gladius. One of the engineers simply created a box with an LED emitter. The user could simply dial the frequency rate in and an evaluation could made as to the perceived disorientation downrange. That is, what the recipient was experiencing. It was sent around the country to folks we knew operating in the real-world in Law Enforcement or the Military. The #1 and #2 frequencies selected were 12 & 13.
So the Gladius was set accordingly.
What I am reading here is that higher frequency might be better for observation of the recipient.
I have never parsed that out too tightly as I never really noted any difficulty observing any and all movements of my opponents. I will however take your observations into account; I consider it good data.
Back to One function or Multi-function:
This is the question at hand in my view.
A strong argument can be made for 1 function and 1 function only. I see it. Given the total amount of exposure to stress, training and many of those attempting to use tool A, B, or C in any given situation. People make bad decisions under duress like reaching for a pistol instead of Taser and end up unintentionally killing subjects. They put their car in Reverse as opposed to Forward and reap the reward of said decision/action.
The case can be clearly made for need to remove as much complexity as possible. Agreed.
Therefore get yourself the appropriate tool.
Don't strap yourself into an F/A-18 when all you can fly is a Cessna 152.
Myself (and others), might have the where-with-all to see situations as they develop and easily switch my Gladius form factor (rotary dial) from one-function to another seamlessly, without friction or hesitation.
That is the general idea of prevailing in all combat; to ability to adapt to the situations as they unfold. Better operators can do more with more.
Back to the Basics:
It turns out, that if one not forced to shoot somebody to in a Law Enforcement capacity a series of critcal choices will have to be made anyway. One must select, to verbally engage only, baton, OC, Taser, K9, Less-lethal munitions, hands on, and Oh, I might have to roll my flashlight dial one-click to strobe as my partner is covering down on the subject with his or her firearm.
There are notable time gaps from which to work within. Things during this process don't happen instantaneously. They unfold, albeit, rapidly at times.
Bottom line is that most arrest and control situations are not an immediate life-threatening situation and choices must be cycled through and selected in a relatively calm, professional manner.
I am with you with respect to multiple pushes on a button to change modes. In my view, this is clearly a no-go. Hence the design of a fast-acting, simple rotary dial of a flashlight I designed quite some time ago.
Back to the modes. Too many; not good. In my view, 3 choices were enough, but no too much. It was calculated comprise of options and relative simplicity.
Why the inclusion of another mode (navigation) in the first place?
Keep in mind the inclusion of Strobe Mode was fraught with negative angst when it was first introduced. What's this Nav Mode?
Based on years of FoF training and real-world feedback, In my view it's always a good thing, not to get shot prior to arresting somebody while I am blasting my 300-800+ Lumens of steady or strobing flashlight all over the place during a navigation challenge in a low-light environment.
Flashlights are bullet-magnets, period. I have several documented Law Enforcement case studies clearly indicating this.
I have years and years of FoF simulations that also demonstrates this.
It's also good not to devastate your teammates night adaptation while you are trying to maneuver.
Stealth is a welcome friend in many "tactical" situations.
Would you then say, use a different tool to accomplish this tasking or just ignore it as reality?
If you state: Switch tools, my response then would be how much time/decision-making cycles and bio-mechanical movement would be required to switch from Navigation Mode back "tactical mode with an entire tool change?
If you state: Not a valid consideration, my response then would be, I believe you would be mistaken.
In conclusion:
I am not here to tell operator's which tools to use to accomplish their mission. I am here to tell them how to accomplish their mission.
I do believe it's to everyone's benefit to have an array of tools at your disposal that one can actually use under duress.
For some, it's one function. For others, they can leverage additional, usable options in the dynamic making them effective in a wider diversity of situations.
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