I am puzzled about tactical flashlights and what would work best for me. I see lumens from 200 to 2,000. For home defense or in town late at night, what would be best? I am on a budget so I don’t want to spend more than $100.
Gary, Oklahoma
The most important factor in selecting a flashlight is whether you will actually carry it with you. Inside the home, you can go with whatever you like size-wise; that light will spend most of its time sitting on a nightstand. A light for everyday carry can be a lot more difficult to choose since it can so quickly become so large that carrying it becomes unreasonable.
I’ve had wonderful luck with the Streamlight MacroStream and MicroStream. They retail for about $30 and $50, both offer more than enough light for self-defense use, they recharge like a cellphone, and — most importantly — they’re small enough that they drop very easily into a pocket.
I specifically like these models because they are operated with tailcap buttons, which means I can easily turn them on and off with my thumb. You can go with a larger unit for the nightstand, or you can simply keep either of these handy at bedtime.
Ed Combs Senior Editor
CARJACKING 101
If someone were to attempt to enter my vehicle while I am at a stoplight or in the parking garage, can you suggest what I should or should not do?
Steve, via internet
This is always a tough one, Steve.
Step 1 will be to keep all doors and hatches locked at all times. Do not open them for anyone other than uniformed law enforcement. This prevents a great deal of carjackings.
If someone does approach your vehicle, the best tactic is to concentrate on safely driving away. Most carjackers count on the doors being unlocked; even with someone trying to open your locked car door, you’ve almost always got time to make a safe right turn on red or otherwise get moving within the vehicles at the light. This is also why it’s important — especially in a traffic jam — to leave enough room between you and the vehicle in front of you to maneuver. About a half a vehicle length should be enough.
As for a firearm, all of the normal rules apply when you are behind the wheel: You’re only reaching for that sidearm if you are facing an imminent, unavoidable threat of death or great bodily harm. If you are attacked inside or outside of your vehicle and are forced to shoot or even just draw or display a firearm to stop an unavoidable, imminent threat of death or great bodily harm, you’ll want to call 911 as soon as you are in a safe location and then call the number on your USCCA Membership card to get the USCCA’s Critical Response Team involved.
Ed Combs Senior Editor
BULL SESSION
I read your answer about the .410 round and the Taurus Judge (Pages 12 to 13, February/March 2022) and want to add the following. I have a Judge, and — if [employed] as a multi-use weapon — it can be very reliable for home defense.
During the day when I am working outside, I carry the Judge loaded with No. 7 shot. It is an acceptable deterrent for snakes, skunks and even [dangerous] dogs. I also keep 00 buckshot and slugs handy [in case] a feral hog wanders my way. In the evening, I use it as a backup home-defense weapon, loaded with Critical Defense rounds from Hornady. The .45 Long Colt option is just that — an option. It is a fun round to shoot.
I do agree that as a primary home-defense weapon, the five-shot Judge is lacking. But do not dismiss the .410 round as not adequate.
Jerry, via email
Thank you for reaching out, Jerry. It sounds like you’ve got your combination yard/house gun arrangement pretty much nailed.
As to your request that no one “dismiss the .410 round as not adequate,” I would direct you to the second-to-last paragraph of my answer to which your email refers: “Fortunately, there exists a wide array of defense-specific .410 rounds put out by basically every major American ammunition manufacturer, and they are all more than up to the task of effectively stopping deadly threats. As long as you stay within the ‘defense-specific’ realm or opt for a few boxes of plain old slugs, I don’t think you’ll have any issues with lack of power.”
Ed Combs Senior Editor
CORRECTIONS
At Concealed Carry Magazine, we pride ourselves on not letting a single mistake — no matter how big or small — slip into our publication. Unfortunately, however, we recently did not live up to our own high standards. We misidentified a gun in both the February/March 2022 and April 2022 issues.
On Page 26 of the February/March 2022 issue, we mistakenly used an image of the FN 509 Tactical FDE instead of the FN 509 Compact MRD that the Bench Report department featured.
In About the Cover on Page 10 of the April 2022 issue, we misidentified the Kimber K6S DASA .357 Magnum on the cover as an Ithaca 1911. A previous version of the cover did feature the Ithaca 1911 as described, but last-minute design changes led to the revolver replacing the semi-auto, and we failed to reflect that change in the About the Cover information.
We apologize for these mistakes and promise to double-down on our efforts to ensure that everything in every issue of Concealed Carry Magazine meets our and our readers’ high standards.