Triangle Tactical Podcast and Blog on Guns, Gear, and Competition Shooting
You’ve probably heard the argument that some flashlights are too bright to use indoors at night. That some lights are so bright that if you wake up from a dead sleep and turn them on they’ll blind you and cause you to not be able to see anything for a period of time.
I’ve made the argument in the past that some flashlights can be too bright for certain situations, especially after shooting the Day-Night-Day match a couple years ago with a 600 lumen Streamlight ProTac HL, however I’ve never really bought into the assumption that getting out of bed and turning it on would immediately blind me to the point that I wouldn’t be able to see anything.
Yesterday morning I got up when my alarm went off at 4:55am to get ready for work. It was still pitch black in the house so I grabbed the afore mentioned Streamlight ProTac HL and clicked it right on to the 600 lumen mode. My eyes squinted for a second, but after that they adjusted quickly and I used the flashlight to navigate downstairs to make a cup of coffee without issue. After I started the coffee, I clicked the light off, and navigated back upstairs with my somewhat diminished night vision.
At no point was I blinded. Yes, the light was bright, and yes, when I turned it off my night vision was somewhat diminished, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as some internet experts would have you believe.
The fact that it took me literally years of hearing people spout their opinion about this before I tested it is sad. The fact is, you need to test your gear and make sure it works for you.
I did the same thing with my Surefire X300U, except at night. I had been in bed for 30-45 min, and thought that I could give the internet myth a try. I shot it right at the white wall about 5 feet in front of me, and it was about what you experienced. Yes it was bright, yes when I turned it off it took a few seconds to readjust, but I had a flashlight so I could see in the dark! Another myth proved irrelevant by actually trying it out.