A review of the characteristic features found in fully energy-damped, binary decay yields from light heavy-ion reactions with 20≤ A target+ A projectile≤80 is presented. The different aspects of these yields that have been used to support models of compound-nucleus (CN) fission and deep-inelastic dinucleus orbiting are highlighted. Cross-section calculations based on the statistical phase space at different stages of the reaction are presented and compared to the experimental results. Although the statistical models are found to reproduce most of the observed experimental behaviors, an additional reaction component corresponding to a heavy-ion resonance or orbiting mechanism is also evident in certain systems. The system dependence of this second component is discussed. The extent to which the binary yields in very light systems ( A CN≤32) can be viewed as resulting from a fusion–fission mechanism is explored. A number of unresolved questions, such as whether the different observed behaviors reflect characteristically different reaction times, are discussed.