This is a fantastic idea, I can think of a ton of defensive applications for this thing. But of course, I have a question. Phil, this light is going to get dropped. having a striking tool is great, but grappling range comes up pretty quick, and two hands in there are better than one, so, how sturdy is the light? Can it be dropped, stepped on, kicked around a bit, and continue normal operation?
Does the night cutter have a button to turn it on or do you rotate the head like a mini mag lite. And if a button is it easy to get to when held inverted like your pictures show.
Reason I ask is that at some point I remember seeing a video/article or something that brought up old lantern techniques techniques about shining the light in a person's eye as a distraction then hitting them.
I don't remember if it was from the video/article or whatever but I've used it as a pocket stick in a drill like hubud and then flashing the light as a distraction and striking the person. Generally I use the mini mag lite. However it is impractical because you have to rotate the head for this type of drill or purpose. (Makes a great pocket stick though )
Phil,
Your article did not seem to mention the reverse hammerfist application, which is the natural weapon you would use were your hands and flashlight below the waist. Burying that other end about an inch into the groin or pubic bone should change your attackers attitude. It would also be effective to the kidneys, spine, axilary hinge, or the back of the neck in an "in close" situation.
Sean
The light seems like it would be very effective as a striking tool. It seems a tad too short to be used as a kubaton <sic> like a mini-mag light would/could be, and that's an effective striking tool as well.
Ya, I have the same questions on it's durability as well.
My prototype NightCutter (which I've had the longest and replaced with a newer one) has been dropped repeatedly from waist height to asphalt. The aluminium body and no-roll head got scratched and chewed up (as you would expect from the meeting of aluminum and asphalt), but the light still functions just fine. The body is crushproof up to some ridiculous amount of weight and the whole assembly is water-resistant. It is a very durable tool.
A write-up of the light and its sibling product line is here. The 5PC and 5P (the "tactical" models) are directly comparable to the Inova X5 (a popular LED light of the same size) both have tailcap switches that can be turned to "always on" with a twist or backed off one quarter twist and pressed for "momentary on." It is easy to activate with a press of your thumb and can easily be set to "always off" for storage. That's what makes all "tactical lights" useful for tactical applications -- they all have some sort of tailcap pressure switch. I'm going to be publishing numerous reviews of tactical lights from Streamlight, SureFire, and possibly a few others in coming weeks. Some of my contributors are also tackling light reviews.
Not long ago I wrote an article detailing how to barrel-wrap a light like the Mini Maglight for use as a pocket stick:
Reverse hammerfists are of course possible -- any technique you can do with a pocket stick you can do with a light of these dimensions. I want to make it clear that my purpose is not to pimp these particular lights (though I do like them and am happy to have my publication's name laser-engraved on them -- it's cooler than a coffee mug or a mousepad) primarily, but to show using these lights as an example a fairly basic concept that I assume a lot of people here already know.