I have several flashlights with a strobe function and consider that feature more useful for marking my location than for self defense. Any disorientation caused by a strobing flashlight is going to be very brief, and I would not count on it to provide much protection. It is probably better than nothing, but not by much! Also the Lifesaver Mini-Blitzer flashlight uses a, "3 Watt Super Bright Luxeon" bulb delivering an advertised 70 lumens. The 3 watt Luxeon is an older technology that is far surpassed by newer flashlights that deliver a lot more light from two CR123 batteries. There are much better buys on the market IMHO.