No one ever said anything about walking around with your firearm pointed out in front of you. First, this is a bad way to clear a structure. The Sul position is the prefered method for moving with a firearms, regardless of type. The light illuminating the floor will give off plenty of light for you to navigate and investigate. The problem I have with having one hand tied up on a light is that it makes it extremely difficult to open doors, grab and secure bystanders, push innocents to the ground, or fight off an attack.
But something is missing. Being overlooked.......Trigger discipline.
I'm not condoning breaking any safety rules, but it happens. Everyone on this forum has broken a safety rule at sometime. And generally nothing bad happens. I know I'm gonna get flogged for this but I'm a big boy and I can take it.....it takes violation of 2 or more safety rules for something bad to happen. More to the point, it's all about trigger finger placement. For example, at a well-known and popular firearms training facility (quite popular on this forum) there is a drill where the instructor(s) are walking in front of students while they are practicing speed reloads. Violation of a safety rule? Perhaps. Maybe even 2 (Treat Every Firearm As If It Were Loaded and Never Point Your Firearm at Anything You Dont Want To Destroy). Guns are pointed at people. But trigger discipline rules the day. But before anyone starts pointing a finger at moi and saying I'm unsafe or advocating unsafe behavior, ask anyone who as ever shot a match with me, taken a class from me, or taken a class with me. I squad mom often. You don't get volunteered to squad mom if you are unsafe or put up with unsafe behavior.
I don't search buildings with the end of my muzzle. For me the benefits of having a hand available to be free outweigh the need to have a secondary light in my other hand. Look at it like this, when was the last time you saw any "real" footage of a Police Tactical Team or a military Special Ops Team clearing a structure with a light in their off-hand? What is the difference between them and the average Joe?
Go out, get some training. Try it both ways. Tell ya what....someone find me an empty structure that can be trashed (somewhat), and I'll bring the Simunition guns and ammo. I'll be happy to demonstrate the points I'm sure I'm stumbling over in this thread. Sims guns prove that what you SAY YOU WILL DO and WHAT YOU REALLY WILL DO are often two completely different things.
If you choose either method, that is up to you. But I would be remiss if I didn't speak as to what I think (from my experience and training). As a professional instructor, I feel obliged to share what I believe to be the best, most relevant, and current training methods and tactics available.
Having said that..........
This is my last post concerning anything of a "tactical nature". I'm tired of being second guessed by people who haven't been there, haven't done that, and are speaking in theory of which they have no real world experience.
Peace.
