WML
Flashlight light for power outage.

Another "just the WML", but I do have a handheld (often just another WML that's been dismounted) in the room as well.

I'm very much in agreement with the "if I don't run around muzzling people when the lights are on, why would I start when the lights are off" camp.

You can navigate and identify using a WML without muzzling anything but the ground or the ceiling. (And that's just using a "meager" 300 lumen light.)

Finally, the context of my home situation (ambient lighting, size and the other people in the home) means I can pretty easily navigate without a light and the only other person in the house would be easily located in the middle of the night.

quote:

Originally posted by Oat_Action_Man:
You can navigate and identify using a WML without muzzling anything but the ground or the ceiling. (And that's just using a "meager" 300 lumen light.)

Yes, and also another factor in my case; only me, my wife, and dog occupy the house, all in the same room during sleep, no children, no other pets. If I hear another human inside the house, they are guaranteed up to no good.

quote:

Originally posted by 2PAK:
I keep a Katana underneath the bed in case of Ninja's.

Where do you mount the WML, above or below the Tsuba?

Since the title of the OP is 'Light on bedside gun?' my answer is, yes! I have a light on my bedside gun and my reasoning is this. My house is my sanctuary and the only people who enter my house do so only with my permission. So if someone is in my house in the middle of the night without my permission, they are an intruder into my sanctuary and any concerns about covering them is nonexistent.

I have a hand held light on the nightstand for non threatening events and a WML on my nightstand pistol for anything else. We used turning targets under time at work and I found I was much faster and accurate with a WML, even though I had trained for years using a handheld light.

Yes.
TLR-1s on a G-17 and a SureFire XC-1 on the G-19.

There's also 2 or 3 flashlights on top of the dresser.

Whatever you decide to do; flashlight or WML, take the time to learn how to use it, and practice every once and a while.

I don't think this is viable in most HD situations.

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:
Handheld light only.

Set up an ambush and watch their progress toward you through seeing their flashlight beam.

quote:

Originally posted by Oat_Action_Man:
You can navigate and identify using a WML without muzzling anything but the ground or the ceiling. (And that's just using a "meager" 300 lumen light.)

Yes, there was time, early on in the development of pistol WMLs, when it was true that you could illuminate only a small portion of an average-sized room in a home. The original Surefire X-series light- the X200 (later called the X200A) puts out a mere 60 lumens, and that's in a small square spot. The 200B was more of a flood, and on paper, it was brighter than the 200A but, uhh, not really.

The original 110 lumen X300 could illuminate an object inside a room without pointing the light right at it. I used a 110 lumen X300 for many years on my house gun and only recently replaced it with the second version of the X300 which puts out 170 lumens. I wouldn't want to go any brighter than that indoors. Keep in mind that you may be using a WML when you've just woken from sleep, in which case your eyes will be fully accommodated to the dark. Go into your bathroom at 3 in the morning and switch on the light. You get the idea.

I've got an X300A which puts out a thousand lumens (initially) and that's too much for inside a house at night IMO. What a great woods light, though.

I just realized that my G17 house gun has made the progression though the first of the Surefire X-series lights- 200A, 200B, X300 110 lumen, X300 170 lumen.

Here it is in a pic from late 2006 wearing an X200B.

Ah! I love that pic.

My carry gun has a WML, and it's also the "bedside gun".

I have various handhelds throughout the house, and a couple on the desk next to the bed, but are used for random tasks.

If shit went down, I'll skip the handheld and grab the gun and cell phone.

When the discussions of WML vs handheld lights started, and the idea of using both was brought up, I thought about the issue of how to handle the transition. There's always just drop the handheld before drawing the gun, or trying to stuff it in a pocket or such (which would slow down the process.) I figured someone had to have thought about this before.

Someone had. Our old friend Aaron Cowen...

I lack the coordination. I'd probably end up with an ND if I tried to go all operator with a separate flashlight.

I have a handheld Surefire on the nightstand, and a Glock 17 with TLR-1 in the drawer underneath. I like a simple WML, without the laser and/or strobe switches. When I really need the WML I don't want to be thinking if I have the switch in the correct position or not. I know, more training would remedy that, but I still like the KISS principle.

I guess I think it’s a good idea to have both, but I don’t just because my daily carry is my bedside gun once I go to bed and I don’t have a light on my Glock 26. I’m no tactical super operator guy but I figure, bump in the night I turn on house lights and have my handheld light if needed with gun in my other hand. Once there is a known threat then it’d be useful to have the WML so I could potentially light up the threat and have a hand free for other things, if in the course of lighting up the house shit goes sideways. In a home defense situation I hope to just hunker down in a lot room with family behind. I very much get the idea of a WML for LEO and Military who have to proactively clear rooms, that just ain’t me.

quote:

Originally posted by kgray01:
I too keep a light on my P226 with the extended 21 rd magazine.

A handheld is also available if needed to get around, but if I hear someone in my home, I'm grabbing only one thing...

This! Surefire X400 on my HK USPc45 along with my Surefire E2D Defender Ultra for more mundane things.

Light on my shotgun, no light on handgun. Two flashlights on nightstand.

In my home (reasonably bright at night due to streetlights); WML. At my parents' home; both.

I know we're all supposed to barricade in the bedroom and call 911 if we hear a bump in the night but, no. I have "cleared" my house many times because I've heard something. You can't call 911 every time you hear a noise. Have you actually gotten up and rounded up all the other family members and gotten them into one room? Secured the dogs? It's not as easy as it sounds. I have 32 yrs in LE and I know response times. There's a good chance everything will be over and done by the time responders get there. Now take a low light course or set up a low light course of fire for yourself and go through it with a handheld light and then again with a WML. I don't think you'll be using the Harries technique after you've shot a course of fire with a WML. Be prepared, train and dominate your surroundings.