All posts tagged Streamlight Sidewinder

Putting flashlights on all of your firearms

Since we have been in the holster business, we’ve seen a lot of changes in the designs of holsters, many customers have unfortunately found out the hard way after buying a holster thinking it would work for their gun just because it says it is for a Sig 229.   Well there are many things that can change your holsters fit with a firearm, one of them is changing the sights, and the other is putting a light or laser on it.   There are plenty of good reasons to mount a flashlight on a firearms, but there are also reasons not to.    For Carbines and home defense weapons, yes, they can be helpful, but many people don’t realize that now that your firearm has a light, you better watch out that you are not violating an of the safety rules.

If you have to move through your home and you are using your gun mounted flashlight, you will be pointing the gun at everything your flashlight is.   Something like the Ultimate Retention Device from the now defunct Section 8 Tactical is a nice device and you can still get them from us.   These work very well with the Streamlight flashlights like the Streamlight Scorpion or Streamlight Polytac.   I’d give the edge to the Polytac or possible the Surefire G2 Flashlight.  The harder surfaces seem to grip the device a little better.

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Sometimes CCW can be as simple as simple can be

Trying to find the right kind of flashlight to carry while that won’t take up much pocket space and still allows me to wear the least amount of layers of clothing is what Summer CCW should be all about.   As the weather warms up around here, it becomes harder and harder to carry a firearms in any way other than IWB or pocket carry.     One issue that I run into when pocket carrying is that since I’m left handed, my keys go in the left pocket normally, but when I pocket carry, my gun goes in that same pocket, well not at the same time, but it can get confusing if I’m not consistent about which gun I am going to carry.   Jumping back and forth between modes of carry isn’t a good idea unless you do it enough to know that you constantly have to adapt.

I have been moving away from trying to mount all of my gear on the belt line because I’ve found that people do brush up against you and having knives and flashlights on you usually is a heads up that you are a cop.   I recently got that question from a friend I had not seen in a long time and I had to say no, I wasn’t and then was in the awkward position of trying to explain when I carry a flashlight like I do.    There are some really cool Streamlight flashlights that will fit into a pocket, but be warned, you better be careful that you aren’t turning them on unknowingly killing battery life and switch life.   Sometimes the best thing to do is do the simplest things, like put a small flashlight on a key chain and keep your gun in the other pocket.

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Deciding on putting a white light on a handgun

I have witnessed one too many times of people mounting things on firearms that fall off, get snagged or malfunction.  The more you put on a firearm that needs to be tightened or screwed on, the more you better pay attention to how it is mounted and verifying that it has been locked in every time you expect to use it.   I haven’t caught on to the handgun white light idea because considering the distance I would use a sidearm inside my home, holding a flashlight while shooting a Glock vs having it on a Glock doesn’t really mean much to me.   I’m not going to be taking 25yd shots where I need a better shooting grip to get good shots.

Mounting a white light on your gun may also mean  you can’t use your gun holsters anymore and you’ll have to run out and pick up a new one.   Keeping a gun in your bed side safe with a white light is very practical.  Streamlight flashlights make the TLR-1 and TLR-2 that gives you the option of a flashlight or flashlight and laser.  I’m a fan off certain types of firearms for me, but there are guns that I would issue to less trained loved ones with certain accessories because they are easier to manipulate or handle.   I’m a big fan of shotguns and battle rifles, but that is too much for a fragile person to handle inside the home.  I’d feel better issuing a Glock 19 with a white light than a 1911 with a manual safety for someone less trained to deal with recoil and stress.

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