I know this has nothing to do with light painting itself, but as most of the people on this board get a hard on (or equivalent reaction) for flashlights and torches, I feel that this is a good enough topic to discuss.

What is the deal with assault crowns? A lot of the new torches I see coming out have them, in varying degrees of how big they are, how deep the bevels go, or how wide they are. Is there any practical purpose to them or are they mainly just there for show? I love my radical gear as much as the next explorer, but as cool as it may look at times, it can just seem useless as well. Case in point I just bought a new torch off of DX that has an assault crown. I bought it for the brightness and the fact that it has two light setting (high and low, I like to keep it simple), but not only does it have an assault crown, but the lense is glass. What is the point of having an assault crown on something that if you strike with it you have a good chance of breaking your lense and potentially ruining your torch?

Well, opinions on this subject would be very appreciated. Maybe one of you out there have come up with a good use for these things!

The practical purpose is self-defense. If you happen to break the glass it's secondary to defending yourself.

And yes, law enforcement folks aside, it is mostly for show.

Assault crowns annoy me! My solarforce L2s have them because I couldn't source flat-ended ones at the time, and they just got in the way, scratched things, caught on pockets, and so on. It also makes it that much harder to attach something to diffuse the light. Of course, after a little while, the crown points/edges wore down and it ceased to be an issue.

That's another thing - unless it's a steel crown, it won't stay assault-y anyway!

I have two new L2s on order (18650 models for bike lights), and I thankfully found a source for flat-bezel versions.

Posted by metawaffle Assault crowns annoy me!

I am disappointed in your lack of appreciation for the tactical benefits. 1337--

Posted by dsankt I am disappointed in your lack of appreciation for the tactical benefits. 1337--

I compensate by adopting a really cold ninja expression and ducking into the shadows.

The shelf stackers in Coles look at me funny when I do that, though.

Posted by rob666 The practical purpose is self-defence.

Yes I imagine it would be, but how practical would that really be? Now I've seen assault crowns with 1 inch deep bevels, but mine is roughly 10mm deep. That is not much different than just bashing someone with a flashlight. And in the case of law enforcement, I would sure hope they have something better for self defence than a slightly sharpened edge of a flashlight!

Posted by metawaffle I compensate by adopting a really cold ninja expression and ducking into the shadows. The shelf stackers in Coles look at me funny when I do that, though.

From memory the lighting in coles with quite decent so the only shadows one might find would lie in the space between the shelves towards the back. Given this, I'm not surprised you get funny looks. Nobody looks at the back of the shelves except the stackers... right?

Posted by s.l.o.t.h Yes I imagine it would be, but how practical would that really be? Now I've seen assault crowns with 1 inch deep bevels, but mine is roughly 10mm deep. That is not much different than just bashing someone with a flashlight. And in the case of law enforcement, I would sure hope they have something better for self defence than a slightly sharpened edge of a flashlight!

Think of them like a spoiler on a car. On a race car they're indispensable; on your mom's Honda they're plastic baubles.

Come to think of it, in a pinch you could smash someone in the face with a plastic spoiler...

Posted by dsankt From memory the lighting in coles with quite decent so the only shadows one might find would lie in the space between the shelves towards the back. Given this, I'm not surprised you get funny looks. Nobody looks at the back of the shelves except the stackers... right?

Exactly right. Sometimes, you need to prepare in advance, and move all the boxes of Nutri-Grain towards the front of the shelf. Always pick the lower shelf, though - waving your legs in the air while you try to shuffle past the boxes at head height just completely kills any chance at stealth.

There's also the danger of hitting your head on the shelf supports. A balaclava helps a little, but I've been asked not to wear that in the store anymore.

Once secreted amongst the breakfast cereals is one afforded the mobility required to apply tiger stripes? Not ideal but nothing goes right during a mission so second best is still pretty damn good IMO.

There have been a million discussion's on these from the flashlight forum I frequent but the general consensus is yes, assault crowns CAN be a method of self defense. BUT chances are unless your really skilled and know all the bodys pressure points or main artery's, if you have a persistent attacker all you are going to do is severely piss him off and end up with whatever blood bourne pathogens the said attacker probably has.

So, talking lights, assault crowns are stupid and only steal lumens, cast unwanted shadows, and tear up your pants pocket.

Talking self defense, assault crowns are stupid and may work to fend off an attacker 10% (not scientific, sorry) of the time and you'll likely end up with some type of blood bourne illness. If your really that worried either get a gun or take some actual self defense classes.

Now put those two things together and we have decided that they are insanely stupid and pointless

They look cool! But then you try to use a flashlight with them.

Posted by AnAppleSnail They look cool! But then you try to use a flashlight with them.

And then you get HIV. Bah dum.

Posted by metawaffle I have two new L2s on order (18650 models for bike lights), and I thankfully found a source for flat-bezel versions.

If you want to make your last pointy one less pointy you can pick up one of these

http://cgi.ebay.co...rksid=p3286.c0.m14

Posted by lanceeman If you want to make your last pointy one less pointy you can pick up one of these http://cgi.ebay.co...rksid=p3286.c0.m14

That's the very seller from whom I've ordered new flat-bezel models