Night lights in your home.

[Reborn]

Has anyone ever thought out the pros and cons of leaving a night light on in your house? I talking about a small 7 1/2 watt light or smaller. In one since you can see shadows of someone moving about but it also lights up enough so the BG doesn't need a flash light. My grandkids live with us right now, 11 and 13. If they are up and it wakes me I can usually spot them and they never know I saw them. One the other hand because they wake me once in a while I disregard the noise and go back to sleep.........not always a good thing to do. OK everybody give we your nickels worth.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[matiki]

Has anyone ever thought out the pros and cons of leaving a night light on in your house? I talking about a small 7 1/2 watt light or smaller. In one since you can see shadows of someone moving about but it also lights up enough so the BG doesn't need a flash light. My grandkids live with us right now, 11 and 13. If they are up and it wakes me I can usually spot them and they never know I saw them. One the other hand because they wake me once in a while I disregard the noise and go back to sleep.........not always a good thing to do. OK everybody give we your nickels worth.

I've only got two pennies on me, but I'll share anyways.

Tonight, turn all your lights off in and around your room. Close the shutters/blinds/curtains tight. Make sure it's pitch black in there. Put a towel over your alarm, etc. Set the alarm for o'dark-thirty.

When you get up... can you see?

The next night, go outside your house at o'dark-thirty for about twenty minutes and walk around the block, etc.

Immediately head back into your room, which you've already prepped to be pitch black.

Can you see?

Who has the advantage... the person in scenario one or scenario two? Would having ambient light via a nightlight take any advantage away?

Just my $.02.

[tennvol]

You do have either a flashlight close by or a flashlight mounted on your pistol right?

[Reborn]

You do have either a flashlight close by or a flashlight mounted on your pistol right?

Yep

[BlackPR]

I handle things a bit differently. I have lots of X10 control in my house, with a push of a button I can light up the house like a christmas tree. In two areas of the house, the lights are run by motion sensors which are controlled by computer. When someone walks into those areas, the lights come on. I keep an audit trail and can review exactly when these motion sensors were tripped, although their primary purpose is to turn off lights that are oft-neglected by lazy teenagers. By the same token, I can turn off all lights with a single button, or send them wildly flashing off and on in random patterns. Or turn them off and on room by room.

In other words, I have complete control of the lighting environment (including outside lights) throughout the house in the palm of my hand. I never liked the idea of searching my house with a flashlight, since that just always seemed like a good way of telegraphing that you're coming. Folks talk alot about having a flashlight, but you can see one coming even through a closed door in the dark.

This was all very inexpensive to set up. I don't use the X-10 plug-in modules, I use either inline modules or replace switches and outlets with X-10 controllable ones. In the event of someone in the house... *I* want to be the guy with complete control over the environment.

[Lakerunner]

Dumb question, but does a flashlite mounted on the gun show the perp where to shoot?

[Reborn]

Dumb question, but does a flashlite mounted on the gun show the perp where to shoot?

That is not a dumb question but no one here is necessarily talking about mounted to the gun. You need someway to light up where you are looking; you don't want to shoot some family member. I agree that a flashlight is not the perfect way but if and I repeat if you have to search a place in the dark.........you need some kind of light. That is the reason one should be trained on how to do a search.......you have to cut the odds as much as possible.

[BlackPR]

I agree that a flashlight is not the perfect way but if and I repeat if you have to search a place in the dark.........you need some kind of light. That is the reason one should be trained on how to do a search.......you have to cut the odds as much as possible.

And I should point out that it's great to have the control over my lights and stuff that I do... it doesn't do a bit of good if there's no power. So a good light is still needed.

[matiki]

And I should point out that it's great to have the control over my lights and stuff that I do... it doesn't do a bit of good if there's no power. So a good light is still needed.

Indeed. You must have some way to visually identify your target. That said, I wait to turn mine on until the last possible moment.

[cdwolf]

I have a 120 lumen surefire mounted on my USP plus a 80 lumen handheld beside it! When that much light hits you you are blind!! I will know by then if i drop the hammer or not!! Always use cover!!

[LenS]

We have "lit switches" on many of our wall switches. That little neon light gives off a glow that is adequate for me (at night) to navigate around my house easily. It's amazing how much light it gives off all the time.

It's NOT enough to ID someone in a shoot/no-shoot situation, but plenty to tell you where someone is located . . . then you use the flashlight.

I do like the X-10 idea however.

Outside our house I have floodlights on motion/light sensors. They are always in the "on" position, so if someone (or a deer/dog) approaches, they go on. I just bought a solar panel operated floodlight to go on my shed, as I have no power out there and wanted something so that if I go to the shed at night, I can find my way without stumbling on anything. It was $30. at Costco's. Waiting for the mushy ground (from rain) to dry out so I can put a ladder out there and mount it without sinking in the mud.

[havegunjoe]

Dumb question, but does a flashlite mounted on the gun show the perp where to shoot?

And I think some recent research bears this out. Below is an excerpt from a source of mine that primarily conducts research for police departments. This particular bit of information dealt with a rumor that California street gangs were training members to shoot cops at night by aiming for the highly visible patch of white T-shirt exposed above the top of many officers’ vests. As you can see from the excerpt below that people indeed respond by “picking up noticeable elements of each person they scanned” including an “activated flashlight”. Envision yourself clearing your home in the dark with a finger of light pointing right at you for any bad guy to see and aim at.

"Our research on attention shows that when people are trying to understand what is happening in a stressful, uncertain situation, they scan the scene quickly and grasp little bits of available information," he explains. "This process is automatic, almost instinctive. For the most part, their attention is attracted to something first and then shortly after that they recognize why it caught their attention.

"This was verified in one Force Science study in which officers were thrust into a rapidly evolving, very complex and dynamic situation. Their immediate response was to scan the scene in an effort to understand it. In doing so, they reported picking up noticeable elements of each person they scanned. Something about that person attracted their attention to a particular body part, article of clothing or motion.

"The same phenomenon is at work with the 'Triangle of death' under low-light conditions. The brightest part of the officer's body is automatically drawing the attention and the gunfire of subjects intent on attacking."

Firearms expert Ron Avery, a technical advisor to the FSRC, notices the same low-light aiming tendency that Richards documented when he's training officers from a wide variety of agencies through his Practical Shooting Academy.

As he puts it: "People shoot at what they can see, what they can focus on, not at what you train them. In low-light conditions, movement, shine, contrast and outline (silhouette) all become target indicators to a potential attacker. Shooters tend impulsively to take the target of opportunity, and when time is not working in their favor the target of opportunity is whatever is most noticeable."

The problem is by no means limited just to white T-shirts under a dark uniform, Avery emphasizes. "Light-colored shoulder patches, shiny badges, bright metal on hats, an activated flashlight-anything that creates a contrast can be dangerous. In semi-darkness like ambient moonlight, even sweat on your face and hands can be reflective."

For safety, he says, "you want to minimize yourself as a target." This includes keeping your clothing low-contrast, staying in shadows as much as possible at night when you're moving or pausing to observe, and being aware of your background environment."


I just don't find flashlights to be a good thing to use while moving about a dark house. I know I will get a lot of arguments from this and perhaps I should move this to another thread.

[David in FL]

I had to chuckle......we have an 8-year-old daughter. There's gonna be a light on in the hall outside her bedroom, whether I want it there or not.

I seem to lose a lot of arguments like that.....

[retsupt99]

We have night lights all over the house. No one is coming in without the canines alerting us to the attempt. I prefer the 7 watt lights in each room...between that small amount of light and my night sights...we're good to go...

[atctimmy]

I like to have the bad guys back lit. A strategically placed night light or a light on downstairs will provide plenty of shooting light because your bedroom should be dark.