Pistol Lights: Some thoughts after 8 months of daily carry

My edc/ccw pistol is a Glock 17 gen 5. Back in July 2020 I added a streamlight tlr-1hl and since then I've carried it on my strong side hip in a Vedder LightTuck. I thought I'd share some lessons learned and thoughts that I've had rolling around in my head as a result of this experiment. These are more of a list of things, not a coherent narrative. For context, I live in a modest house in the suburbs on a small side street.Pistol lights make the gun shoot flatter and therefore faster. I had never thought about it before but given that they are basically a weight attached to the tip of the gun so it makes sense. At least in what I have been able to observe it's a good improvement but it doesn't turn me into Jerry Miculek or anything. Because of this I would assume, but do not know, that larger lights aid more than smaller lights. I found this to be the best reason for me to carry a light.The extra weight and holster footprint is noticeable. Every so often I'd carry my 17 without the light (ss hip, in a non-light bearing LightTuck) and it was a very noticeable difference in comfort.The increased holster footprint eliminated appendix b/c the foot print required more room than my body had and I'm a large framed guy. I want one carry position that works well for all day sitting and all day standing/walking. Perhaps a smaller light would work better? IDK.I cannot stress how important it is to take a low light class. If possible take one that involves room clearing. That will give context to my next points.In eight months, I never found myself in an area without ambient light. My street has street lights. The few places I go to all have parking lot lights. I can't think of a single instance where there wasn't enough light to positively identify a threat at 25 yards.A single light above my kitchen sink produces enough ambient light for my modest 1100 sqft house to give me enough light to identify a threat in all but one room on the main floor (that room has a night light now).After practicing room clearing on my house at night, I think a 1000 lumens light is way over kill. Most of my walls are white and most of my walls have shit on them. White walls reflect light and most shit we put on walls (posters, pictures) reflect light.I found my protac 1l-1aa flashlight running on a AA battery worked better b/c that puts out only 150 lumens and didn't cause the same reflection issues. And yes, room clearing with a pistol light is easy mode in comparison to a hand light.Even though I don't necessarily need a light in my immediate area for threat identification, I'd rather have one than not because it gives me more options. I'm generally positive about carrying a light but am starting to lean away from it mostly due to comfort because it's just not really needed for me. I was carrying a full size gun with a full size light so some of these points are all likely to be expected. I may experiment with a smaller and less powerful light and see what that changes, especially the comfort difference. Due to holster + light selection this might require me to switch up my pistol but that's just the excuse I needed to buy a Glock 19.Just some thoughts I wanted to share. via /r/CCW https://ift.tt/3dw2ALC