Tactical AR light suggestions

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After Tactical toilet paper, sunglasses and such, I am not even sure what the term means.

I can look it up.

tac·ti·cal
/ˈtaktək(ə)l/
Learn to pronounce

adjective
  1. relating to or constituting actions carefully planned to gain a specific military end.
    "as a tactical officer in the field he had no equal"
    • (of bombing or weapons) done or for use in immediate support of military or naval operations.
    • (of a person or their actions) showing adroit planning; aiming at an end beyond the immediate action.
Click to expand...

But what does that mean to you in light form?

Is that something so bright it will blind an airline pilot at 35,000 ft or just enough Infrared to light eyes at 50 yards?
 
jmorris said:
After Tactical toilet paper, sunglasses and such, I am not even sure what the term means.

I can look it up.



But what does that mean to you in light form?

Is that something so bright it will blind an airline pilot at 35,000 ft or just enough Infrared to light eyes at 50 yards?
Click to expand...
:rofl:I think the right word would be "surgical", but saying surgical glasses, lights, lasers, bacon, paint... gives the wrong idea. Maybe the industry will just start selling "strategic lasers, strategic can openers" (OP, this is not a joke on you, just the overuse of the term by the US small arms accessory industry.

I use a "1100 lumen" Harbor freight light. Its probably about 400 lumen, so its very bright. Enough to hurt eyes, and light up a room. I use if for my weekly power outages, but it would do the job of a defensive light. It does not have a tail switch, but it also cost $14. It will light up a road sign at 100 yards. Still works after a few years. Battery life sucks. Its about 3X as bright as the old big maglights. I think a typical 100 watt lightbulb runs around 1600 lumen, so you may find some value in comparison.
 
Ah, “tactical” might mean something different to people that want to “light up” an object to achieve a goal vs others that just want to identify a target to eliminate. As a surgeon that wants to remove a bunion from a foot vs a tumor from the brain.

Just a procedural difference in the same term.

We could follow that with the qualitative term “accuracy” but while a carpenter might talk in terms of fractions of an inch, a surgeon my talk in millimeters, a machinist would be in an entirely different scale of measurement, Like “thousandths” or “tenths” of them and they think are “real“ precision until you speak to a manufacturer if integrated circuits...
 
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Those are both great choices. I have 2 of the HL X's (without the laser) on my long guns and I use the TLR1 on my G17. I do think that if you want the pressure pad/switch for the TLR you have to buy the long gun kit separately. I know a guy that uses that setup and it works for him. The TLR is lighter if that matters to you.
 
I've got the Streamlight ProTac (single CR123A) as well as a ProTac2 (dual CR123A). On high power, the smaller is my preference indoors, but outdoors it's weak-sauce. The ProTac2 is IMO a good balance between indoors & out. Any more light inside & to my eyes it would be too much in terms of backsplash. Outdoors I'd rather have 'more' than the ProTac 2, but only if use indoors was out of the equation.

The reason I didn't include lumen numbers is because much depends on how lumens are measured, the beam shape, etc. It's quite likely you could find a lamp w/ identical numbers that performed completely different. So I'm only including what I know.

One thing I will say about the ProTac series is I really wish they had made 'low power' a little less low. IMO it's pointless... so low it's not really useful. So while you do have two powers, in practice, not so much.
 
I ended up buying this:

https://www.streamlight.com/products/detail/index/protac-rail-mount-hl-x-laser

I did it for a few reasons, high lumens, has a laser, even if I don’t need it. And I like the company...Stands behind their stuff....


Bad part is, it’s heavy, on a heavy rifle.

I’m still deciding if I choose to even include the pressure switch..... I can be fast to turn on and off without it, and it looks like I am able to do only laser and only light easier without it. It appears that with the the switch, I may not be able to be able to switch between light, laser, and both. I don’t need the added weight if it’s just going to be a pain.
 
HoosierHunter128 said:
I’m still deciding if I choose to even include the pressure switch..... I can be fast to turn on and off without it, and it looks like I am able to do only laser and only light easier without it. It appears that with the the switch, I may not be able to be able to switch between light, laser, and both. I don’t need the added weight if it’s just going to be a pain.
Click to expand...

Lots of legit reasons to avoid a pressure switch (wire routing, reliability, damage susceptibility, etc) if you can achieve the same usability and functionality w/o one. But sometimes it just makes the most sense (need for ambidextrous access, limited real-estate for mounting/actuation, ergonomic issues, etc). Also lots of the knocks on reliability aren't IMO applicable to the average Joe's use. Most of us aren't planning on assaulting enemy positions, so the chances of it failing in a self-defense scenario - which for most of us is a highly unlikely scenario - aren't nearly as much a concern as someone who uses a tool like this daily. I just want something that's easy & intuitive to actuate w/o sacrificing grip / control. Also important is to make sure the light switch (cap or pressure) isn't located so as to be accidentally actuated when you don't intend it to be.
 
I bought a 1" GG&G mount and put a mag lite XL200 in there and put it on my BCM. I've since moved the forward grip and light back a lil on the rail because I had it situated a lil too far forward as shown in pic but this set up works really well because my thumb can just sweep up to activate the light.

I dont know that I really need the light but it's there for now and this is like a $60 solution to a problem I'm not even sure needs to be addressed. It works. IMG_20200814_122755.jpg
 
I really like the HL-X with the integrated laser. I also really like the ProTac and ProTac 2. I have multiples of each. I'm also a recent convert from tailcaps to tape switches.

MandP15%2001.jpg


jmorris said:
But what does that mean to you in light form?
Click to expand...
It's a light that is purpose built to be mounted to and operated from a firearm. One that you might use when things go bump in the night. Rather than something to keep from tripping over coons walking to the outhouse on a camping trip.
 
CraigC said:
I really like the HL-X with the integrated laser. I also really like the ProTac and ProTac 2. I have multiples of each. I'm also a recent convert from tailcaps to tape switches.

View attachment 936004



It's a light that is purpose built to be mounted to and operated from a firearm. One that you might use when things go bump in the night. Rather than something to keep from tripping over coons walking to the outhouse on a camping trip.
Click to expand...
Very tastefully appointed rifle. I love my M&P. Nice look. What may I ask is on there for irons?
 
Thanks! Those are YHM's. Since that pic was taken I put a Magpul UBR stock on it and like it mucho better.
 
jerry beat me to it. the olightstore https://www.olightstore.com/ had some of their weapon lights for under $100 on black friday. it will happen again as we get closer to xmas. I have an s1 baton, and have been very impressed by olight so far.

Couple things to keep in mind about flashlights in general: don't chase lumens. lumens increase logorithmically, so you kind of have to double the lumens to see a big jump in brightness. For example, jumping 200 lumens from 200 to 400, you double your brightness. Going from 1200 to 1400, you probably won't be able to tell much of a difference. Also, and this is a bigger issue with general use lights that stay on a while rather than tactical lights, but most advertised lumens are the turbo or burst mode. You get that crazy high number for a couple minutes, then it steps down significantly to prevent overheating. For example, that olight odin pro advertises 2000 lumens, but after 2 minutes it drops to 1000, then a few minutes later to 750.
 
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