Are Strobe Flashlights Effective?

I live in a very safe small-ish city in a very safe country. I'm a big-ish dude, I know how to fight (boxing) and I know enough about fighting to avoid it at all cost. In a word - I feel confident, I don't need any tools for self-defense in the place I currently live in (I'd be ready to reconsider if I moved somewhere else) and in case I somehow get unlucky in that regard, I know that 99% of the time I should just run (and/or overhand right than run, though probably just run :) ). This is not a humble brag, but explanation why I ask the question here (I don't know much about self-defense tools).

I have a friend who is not a big dude and she doesn't know how to fight. She lives is a safe part of the same city, and her apartment is like 10-15 min from the office-building she works in, so she's relatively unlikely to ever need to defend herself. That said, life is delightfully unpredictable and she is a bit neurotic when it comes to this (her own diagnosis).

I did some research and I thought about getting her a strobe flashlight. Just to ease her mind a bit (it really adds a non-negligible amount of stress to her life). On the surface it looks like a really good idea. It's not a weapon (so no legal issues) and - what's more important because I want to get it mostly for the placebo effect - since it's not a weapon it won't add to her neurosis. It's a very functional tool she can actually use and get comfortable with, even if she never has to use it for self defense. Whereas carrying a pepper-spray or a paralyzer might make her even more nervous.

The only issue is... I have no idea how effective strobe-light really is for self defense. How much time can it really buy you if any? It theory it sounds like a great supplement for the 'just run' approach to self-defense. Also, how credible are the claims that you can use it to deal with aggressive dogs etc. I'd really appreciate your input as well as some tips on what to get. Advice on stats like lumens, other considerations etc. Probably on a budget side because, again, it's mostly for placebo effect. I just don't want to buy something useless.

Submitted February 20, 2020 at 03:08PM by SubstantialBiscuit https://ift.tt/38GUaM6