Minimum Luems on a Home Defense Pistol Light

[sirdutch]

Okay! I'm curious if a 125 luem light is adequate on my pistol. I'd rather spend more only if I need to. I imagine 125 is better than nothing. I want to know what others recommend and most importantly, why. (I don't need a laser, by the way.) It's for a HK USB .45 Compact.

Thanks!

[k1dude]

125 fine unless you live in a huge mansion.

I've had much more powerful lights that have temporarily blinded me when I fired them up after waking up due to a bump in the night.

Normally I use between 100 to 300 on my HD pistols. For a carry pistol I use more.

[rodralig]

Originally Posted by sirdutch

Okay! I'm curious if a 125 luem light is adequate on my pistol. I'd rather spend more only if I need to. I imagine 125 is better than nothing. I want to know what others recommend and most importantly, why. (I don't need a laser, by the way.) It's for a HK USB .45 Compact.

Thanks!

WML with high lumens are really not that expensive. A 1K lumen TLR-1HL is around $150 at Amazon.

That said, the number of lumens really depends on your home setup. For me, I find that for my HD - 500 lumens is the choice.

The best advice? Take a low light weapons class so you’ll be able to figure out what would work for you best - again, what may work for me may not work for you… I actually am attending another low light class this Friday with TFTT-DAG - “Advanced Pistol Workshop - Nightshoot” with Max Joseph (room clearing is part of the lesson plan).


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[Carcassonne]

I think 80 lums will work in a small house with a small yard or apartment. Anything over 300 lums is not recommended for small houses because you might blind yourself as the light reflects off of windows, mirrors, or white painted walls.
I have an 800 lums light. It is too bright for a small house. I use it for camping when I need to light up the hillside.
If you get awoken at night, your eyes are not accustomed to bright lights. If you flick your light switch on and off as you search your house a bright light can cause you problems. Your iris wont close fast enough when you turn your light on, and won't open fast enough when you turn your light off. You might walk around blind which is worse than not having a light at all.

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[Vinnie Boombatz]

OP, just buy what you want. Whenever threads like this get started two things happen. Those who recommend less lumens will get criticized by the crowd who prefers more lumens, and the the crowd that prefers more lumens gets criticized by the crowd that recommends less lumens.