I was looking at flashlights and portable spotlights the other day and a question occurred to me. Would you be able to use a high-powered spotlight, say 10 million candlepower, as a protective device against bears and cougar? Obviously we are talking night use here. I would think that shining such a device into the eyes of an intruder would have a deterrent effect. Those of you familiar with these animals, what do you think? Logically, this line of thought could be followed to BF defense. One would have only limited use of these before the battery ran down, but might make an effective first line of defense and allow an individual to take other measures to protect themselves (firearms, tactical retreat, etc.).

To me this suggests a pain threshold and the inability to properly see surroundings once the light is not there due to still seeing spots in my eyes. If I can't see properly I can't fight effectively.

However, I'm not sure I want to be the litmus test for this with a pissed off Grizzy or large cat.

I'm pretty sure either can devour you with their eyes closed.


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Yes, I think it would blind your aggressor temporarily, would also cause you to lose your dark adaptation too. As an offensive/defensive weapon, you can only shine a light on what is not sneaking down your collar. My understanding is that a large cat would stalk you from behind, and if in a wet period such as we have in the southern Appalachians at this time, you would not have much time to respond by hearing leaf crunching. That said, it could give you that extra split second to wield a hunting knife or firearm either way. It might be better used from a distance though and then say bear spray or a stream of mace for example. Better have the firearm and hunting knife too though.

My original idea was to use this as a standoff weapon from 10 yards or further. I agree that inside that range, it may not be very effective other than trying to lodge it in their mouths...

It would definitely depend on having enough time to locate the threat and use the light correctly. Agreed that this method would be rather useless against a large cat stalking from behind. Anyway, I wanted to throw this out there and see what folks thought.

Hi

I have always liked the idea of using a powerful light as both a weapon and a good way to surprise anything thats out in the dark
I have a few around my house, One for the old boat and one on my night stand in case i happen to get an intruder, A good powerful light can even give ya the blue fuzz in the day time if your close enough.

Peace
Tim

A good laser pointer will do the trick.

A good laser pointer mounted on a rifle will do the trick better.


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The world's best defense against woodland prowlers is a Mickey Mouse cap with a red LED installed in the middle of each ear.

G. canadensis

And it's one I and those who go out with me have talked about using as a defensive weapon on more than one occasion should the need arise.

Not sure how well it would work against BF, but the assumption on my part ( somewhat logical) is that it's eyesight is slightly better suited to the dark time than ours. If nothing else the shock factor would likely deter one going from dark to very bright light.

And I haven't had the opportunity(?) yet to test it on the black bear in our area, but I'm betting based on the reaction of the cougar that came upon me in the dark a few years ago, the better deterrent in that case is simply making noise, lots and lots of noise. Chasing them with a flashlight and a camera also seems to scare the bejeebers out of them. ( not quite as much as Mr. Kitty sneaking up on you in the dark will scare you though. )

If you shine a bright spotlight into their eyes, it will blind them temporarily but their eyes will adjust rapidly and they'll soon see quite well in the bright light. It would be better if you used something that would emit a bright flash then turn off immediately. Then while their eyes are trying to adjust back to the dark, they still have to deal with the latent image of the flash which continues to blind them in the darkness until it goes away naturally after several minutes.

Bright lights don't seem to bother some animals in the dark. There have been several shows where someone is filming lions or something like that. These are huge lights that enable them to film an entire pack catching a buffalo. It doesn't seem to bother cats much at all. They even chased zebra through through the trees and the zebra didn't get blinded either. It would have totally made me lose my night vision. 10 million candles is a very bright light and it probably would be a huge deterrent to a bigfoot. I would assume their eyes are rather like ours and they would probably be smart enough to realize that the light isn't a natural light source and they are being illuminated. People who call predators often spotlight them and it doesn't seem to bother them. Most animals don't seem to get the connection between bright light and something dangerous.. Headlights don't seem to bother most animals.

I've heard of more than one account of a BF shielding their eyes from flashlights and car headlights. The latest account was from the boat crew in CA on the Big Ape Island episode of MQ, reporting that when they shined the boats spot light at the shore the creature crouched and lifted on arm across it's face.

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Like Jim, I'm not sure how it would work against BF. Better than if used on the other two examples is my guess.
If a large cat wants to attack you, then it will most likely happen. Again I'm thinking Jim knows more about "Mr Kitty"
However when it comes to bears, surprising one with a bright light is not a very good idea IMO. A loud noise being a better choice.
It is a fact that people have been attack and killed by a bear after using a light at close range. That's all I know for sure.

This was about the biggest commercial one I found:

http://www.thisnext.com/item/93C76F88/25-M...Candlepower-Hid


But I think I would like to play around with this baby for a night or two:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=125819


Rumor has it that he is up to a 52 mil CP version now...

I find this pretty good...



In regards to the 25 Million Candlepower Light linked above.

I think mine is only 3 Million and running it from my truck without the engine running killed the battery in less than 30 minutes at full power. Well it didn't totally kill it, just caused the voltage to drop so low the light would no longer shine. Another good reason to have a manual transmission and always park on a hill when doing something silly.

Edited to add:

Was just looking around online and see that many of these HID Spotlights are all running the same 35 watt HID lamp and claiming from 15 to 40 Million Candlepower. What would make that much of a difference between ratings if all the bulbs are the same? More voltage to make the bulb burn brighter but shorten it's life?

Anyway I found an even bigger HID Bulb being used in a spotlight, 50 Watt HID bulb. This one also includes an IR Filter so you can use it with your Night Vision equipment. A bit pricey but man oh man I bet it would beat pretty much any IR Illuminator I've come across so far.

Selling Price is $621.00

Full Info

Doesn't look like it's designed to be handheld, but see no reason why a handle couldn't be fabricated.

Wow!! That is quite a find. I would think fabricating a carrying case would be the easy part. It only weighs 4.5 pounds. It is the power supply that will give you fits.

Hi

Found this one, 10 Million is very impressive and if it can get an hours worth of light thats pretty good, And for 75.00 bucks it's a decent deal

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?...000000006840330


Peace
Tim

I've had one for a few years now and used it last weekend to see what was making that strange noise in the woods. It's a great torch, works good and last a long time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D99NHb6B03s

Not a whole lot of candlepower, but there is some firepower there. Legality will vary from state to state.

If you need an hours worth of defense, I fear you have deeper issues to resolve than a flashlight can handle.


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Hi

Since i don't have any firearms and do not care to let a large animal get close enough to use a knife, If the light didn't work,
I think i'd have about 52 / 53 minutes to spare on the lights battery right about the time i was starting my car.

Peace
Tim

There's the old story of a tenderfoot hunter proudly displaying the large bear he'd taken to the game warden. The warden speaks up and says "Excellent shooting. Quite the head shot. But how'd he get the bullet hole through his paw?"

The tenderfoot explains, "Well, he was shielding his eyes from my spotlight."