Sunday, January 1, 2017

Run What You Brung

A potentially violent incident took place in my driveway a few nights ago.  A young man who had decided to dislike my son showed up with the intention of starting a fight.  My son urgently texted me requesting that I come outside.  As I went out the door, not knowing what the issue was, only that it was urgent I had two small flashlights, one a penlight style with a 90 lumen output and the other a compact 'tactical' style with a 180 lumen output.  A J frame sized .38 in my front pocket with a five round speed strip, a pocket knife of the one handed open variety, and my cell phone.

As I stepped outside i could see multiple figures at the end of my driveway, which is about fifty feet from my front door.  I had the penlight in my hand which provided enough illumination to verify one of the figures was my son along with two other young men.  I could tell things weren't quite right as I approached so I began my interview process to determine what exactly was going on and why my son urgently requested my presence.  After a brief bit of verbal byplay, questions, over played politeness on the part of the instigator, I finally came to a rough conclusion of what his intentions were and then proceeded to explain to him why his actions were poorly thought out, some of the consequences of his actions should he proceed, and eventually saw him and the third young man on their way home.

During the interview process I noticed the instigator was jittery.  He moved around a lot, his hands were busy, lots of grooming motions and so forth.  I had kept the 90 lumen penlight in my hand and it was still on, aimed at roughly waist level to keep all the players illuminated.  Every time the instigator would twitch I'd flash him in the eyes, it would distract him long enough to maintain control of the conversation and redirect whatever his intent might have been.

I found this particular interaction interesting when I was doing my mental After Action Report the following day.  I decided to do some research and have yet to find any conclusive findings about using a bright light as a Situation Management Tool, to borrow a term from Claude Werner, The Tactical Professor.  I do feel as if the idea has merit and will continue to look into the concept.

The other item of note that came up in my Post Incident Review was the equipment I had to work with.  I walked into a situation that might of had the potential to turn violent.  I had a pocket pistol, a very slow method of reload, two small lights, a pocket knife and a cell phone.  I waked out of my house with all sorts of defensive gear because why?  The situation was urgent and I didn't feel as if I had the time to gear up.  This forcefully reminded me that we will have to deal with situations with what we have at hand, not in the EDC bag, the truck, the safe, even in the next room.

I'm not going to try and convince folks to carry more gear.  If you want to do so, more power to you.  If you carry less, again more power to you.  What I am going to suggest is 1. Get involved in some sort of conflict management training.  2. Practice with your actual Every Day Carry gear.  Learn to incorporate that with the training you've received in conflict management.

Before I got around to editing and posting this, another incident came up in which a bright flashlight resolved a situation.

I live in the cul-de-sac of a single road subdivision.  Late on New Year's Eve my wife and I stepped out in the garage to chat and have a smoke.  We noticed a vehicle idling in the cul-de-sac as we talked.   When we lit up the truck pulled out and proceeded towards the entrance/exit of our neighborhood.  I thought that was suspicious and resolved to stay up a bit later to keep an eye on things.

A few minutes later the truck returned.  This time I had a bit more flashlight with me, one with a 320 lumen output.  In this case the light lit up the entire vehicle and the interior as they drove by.  The driver accelerated through the turn-around of the cul-de-sac and left to not return, leaving no doubt in my mind that the driver and passenger were up to No Good.

At this point I'm convinced that a good flashlight with decent output is a viable tool to resolve potential conflicts.  Like most tools, it has a specialized niche in which it's effective and should be used prudently.

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