[Maverick68]

I read the earlier thread and it got me thinking. My house is long with our master bedroom on one end and the kid's rooms on the other end. I have those small 5 watt photo-sensitive night lights creating a path from one end of the house to the other.

Another poster said he keeps his house completely dark with only the outside light coming in. I kinda like the extra light inside so the kids can find me when they have a bad dream, but also I can look down the hall from my dark room and see in the lit hall who/what is coming down the hall. Obviously that reduces my stealth to check out bumps in the night.

Give me your thoughts on this. What do you prefer?

 

[varob]

This is an age old question. When does your home stop being a home and start becoming a fortress?

 

[tiwee]

As long as you have some dark spots to use for concealment, having night lights or outside light is good. The idea for me is to figure out what works best for us given our circumstances. I want to be in the shadows and I want the intruders to be silhouetted or visible. We have a dog, so that helps night security.

 

[Stevew]

Keep the lights. Do it for the kids.

 

[Goodtime Charlie]

Keep a moderate to high lumens strobing flashlight with you in the bedroom, so you can "flashbulb" any intruder. Supposedly, a strobing light cannot be seen through, as the eye can't adjust to the changes in light fast enough.

 

[OLDPUPPYMAX]

Pitch black might be great fro crawling around unseen, but in your own home remember you have the advantage anyhow because you know it, whereas outsiders do not. Also, if you should have to fire (or if you a fired upon) in total darkness, the flash will temporarily blind you. Low light might not make a whole lot of difference, but it could help a bit.

 

[pir8te]

+1 with kids in the house you are not in true stealth mode and target ID critical

key advantage you know the lay of the house

Pitch black might be great fro crawling around unseen, but in your own home remember you have the advantage anyhow because you know it, whereas outsiders do not. Also, if you should have to fire (or if you a fired upon) in total darkness, the flash will temporarily blind you. Low light might not make a whole lot of difference, but it could help a bit.

 

[jhh3rd]

When you stub one, the toes will guide you in your quest for light.

 

[automatic slim]

Definitely keep the lights. You don't want to shoot someone going for a glass of water.

 

[Ram Rod]

Use red lights.....or small night lights that plug into your home electrical outlets 16" off the floor down low like you say......they won't ruin your night vision like overhead white light will. I like things dark personally, even turned off the automatic exit lighting in my vehicles because I don't like being silhouetted anywhere. That's just me though.

Also, if you should have to fire (or if you a fired upon) in total darkness, the flash will temporarily blind you. Low light might not make a whole lot of difference, but it could help a bit.

You know.......I see this muzzle flash/temporary blindness issue come up every now and then. My thoughts on muzzle flash in total darkness pretty much indicate to me that if you stay behind the muzzle (best place to be when you have to shoot), there really shouldn't be much of an issue at all. If you have a ported firearm, that may change. Night sights on pistols are very good for darkness and target acquisition, and in my experience....while some of us insist on target acquisition in full light or outdoors during daylight with both eyes open, the night time/darkness scenario sighting/target acquisition scheme may be better off aligning the sights with the dominant eye only. Have I strayed too far off topic here? Just my 2¢

 

[RETSUPT99]

I use night lights in each room...my wife hates them. If I had my way, I'd never use any lighting other THAN night lights (except, of course, for reading, etc.).

Keep the night lights.:yup:

 

[SnubMan]

I would keep the night lights. In fact I need to buy a couple actually!

 

[SIXTO]

Its a non issue, keep the lights.

 

[Censored]

This is an age old question. When does your home stop being a home and start becoming a fortress?

Answer: the day I bought it!

 

[gottabkiddin]

+1 on the wall socket lights, I have um on both floors. A dark house would be no fun to navigate in a crisis.