A big aspect of survival is centered around protection of your person, your family, your property, and in the case of an SHTF situation, your supplies and means of survival. Having a variety of self-defense weapons at your disposal will help mitigate any number of threats, from small-time thieves looking to make off with your gear to all out post-apocalyptic marauders looking to enslave your family.
Overall, the baton is well balanced and provides a solid and secure feeling, but a lanyard would certainly increase that feeling.
Deciding what level of force is necessary is a big question, one that sometimes must be answered quickly. Brite-Strike’s expandable baton with integrated flashlight is perfect for those situations: one moment you can be surveying the situation with the flashlight, and with a flick of the wrist, the baton is deployed and ready for non-lethal action.
The flashlight end houses a very bright 270-lumen light that, with Brite-Strike’s Tactical Touch Switch, can go from high to low (170 lumens) to strobe with just a light press of the button. The idea is to first disorient your attacker with the light, giving you time to decide your next move. A direct beam of 270 lumens in the eyes is uncomfortable to say the least, and it will cause anyone to pause in confusion. If more is necessary, with a slight press of your finger the light switches to strobe mode, which further confuses the subject and causes extreme eye fatigue and loss of coordination, even after the light has been turned off. The flashlight unit can be unscrewed and removed from the baton, and the battery allows for about two hours of continuous use on high, or nearly five hours on low.
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- To keep a smooth and congruent design similar to a normal baton, the light housing is rounded, unlike the scalloped crown of their tactical lights. Though the impact would still be effective, it might not be as effective as the other tactical lights.
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- All Brite-Strike products use the Tactical Touch Switch to toggle between the high, low, and strobe functions.
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- The grip provides a secure place to hold the baton and is not likely to slip, even if wet.
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- A small rounded guard at the top of the grip is flat on two sides to prevent the baton from rolling when set down.
The light has given you a brief moment to plan your next move. If the threat continues, the grace of this device is that you don’t have to set down the flashlight (or use your other hand) to grab a defensive weapon. Instead, rack out the extendable baton and go to work. The working end extends an additional eight inches beyond the overall 16.5 inches of the collapsed baton (the removable flashlight is 3.5 of those inches). One of the built-in deterrents of the baton is the noise that it makes when the baton is extended; the snap and click of the retention peg is similar to the audible warning of the racking of a shotgun.
Made from semi-rigid plastic (probably a colyene co-polymer), the striking end of this baton is hollow, meaning that, upon striking, it will not do permanent damage to the body, but will sting the nerve endings and muscles in the area of the strike enough to persuade compliance. The baton’s shaft is also flexible, which allows for some bending during striking. This means that no matter the magnitude of force applied, the end result is a non-lethal blow.
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- Extended, the baton and light combination is a full 24 inches, with 10 of those inches coming from the extended baton.
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- The retractor button is slightly recessed into the baton housing to keep it from being accidentally pressed. The direction of the divot makes pressing it with one hand while pushing in the baton with the other slightly awkward.
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- If there is ever a problem with the light, the flashlight end is removable, and you can even opt for a model without a flashlight.
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- Only by removing the flashlight can you access the cap to the battery.
The baton tips the scales at 18 ounces and has a length of 24 inches fully extended. The balance in the hand feels perfect, as the heaviest parts of the baton, the flashlight and battery, offset the weight of the end of the baton. The grip is molded into the plastic of the baton, and although this helps resist the tendency to slip, a lanyard would help prevent it from being taken away by the attacker. Above the grip is a small hand guard with two flat ends to keep the baton from rolling when set down, and the button to collapse the baton is slightly recessed in the shaft to keep it out of the way so it won’t be triggered accidentally.
MSRP: $149.99
