LED weapon lights (what to get?)

LEDBE
I have no expertise in this area so you may want to ignore what I say but...

Do you really want to cut corners on a weapon light? I mean, there's probably plenty of times when you wouldn't mind something failing. In fact, I carry two EDC lights if one fails or the batteries die at a bad time. However, I can see not wanting a weapon light to fail when it's being used as in, actually activated and the weapon hot and pointed at a bad person. That would probably be the time when you wish you spent the extra money on a name-brand weapon light that has hopefully had Q&A and proper engineering behind it.

That said, does anybody have any idea how well a cheapo light would do when mounted on a weapon? Would a $25 DX light be fine barrel mounted to a shotgun?
 
If you believe the "my lumen count is higher than your lumen count" hype, buy brand-X.
If you don't mind inconsistent rail fit, buy brand-X.
If you don't mind parts randomly popping off, buy brand-X
If you don't mind going dark without warning, buy brand-X.
If you don't mind buying another weaponlight because you've missed the 3-day warrantee (yes, that's all they give), buy brand-X.
If you value low price over life, buy brand-X.
If the worst that can happen is your buddy pops you with plastic BBs, buy brand-X.

But if you depend on this item for your well-being and safety, if this hunk of metal, plastic, and glass is critical to the preservation of your life or the life of your family, spend the extra money and buy a proven item from a trusted company that stands behind its products.
 
Last edited:
I'm pretty excited about Surefire's X400. That said, I've owned and practiced with several Insight M3/6 for years.

The Streamlight TLR-1 is supposed to be a great light and I don't know that you have any need to upgrade.

They are all plenty bright for indoor use and for outdoor you're going to need a turbo filter or much brighter light anyways.


I agree that I'd stay away from Brand-X though, same goes for Brand-X batteries.
 
Well a quick google search found a couple mentions of it...among the airsoft crowd. Here's a comment from someone who really liked it:

"t doesn't have as nice of a mount, the switch probably can't take a beating, and the lense assembly isn't shock mounted to deal with real recoil"

That's from someone who was excited about it. It's probably brighter than your current light, although I think we all know the 295 lumen mark claim is overstated. Compared to the Streamlight it's probably a downgrade.
 
kato337 said:
If you believe the "my lumen count is higher than your lumen count" hype, buy brand-X.
If you don't mind inconsistent rail fit, buy brand-X.
If you don't mind parts randomly popping off, buy brand-X
If you don't mind going dark without warning, buy brand-X.
If you don't mind buying another weaponlight because you've missed the 3-day warrantee (yes, that's all they give), buy brand-X.
If you value low price over life, buy brand-X.
If the worst that can happen is your buddy pops you with plastic BBs, buy brand-X.

But if you depend on this item for your well-being and safety, if this hunk of metal, plastic, and glass is critical to the preservation of your life or the life of your family, spend the extra money and buy a proven item from a trusted company that stands behind its products.
Click to expand...

+10000000000000000000000000
 
Buy a real engineered product, or sent your Streamlight TLR-1 to be modded.

IIRC a Seoul swap for the LED version isn't that hard.
 
Gunner12 said:
Buy a real engineered product, or sent your Streamlight TLR-1 to be modded.
Click to expand...

Is there a company that modify TLRs? If so, do they have a link, I would be curious as to what they would do with our lights.

I have compared the TLR2s to the M series lights...all I can say is I'm not a fan of incadescent lamps...I'd much rather have LEDs.

I find it funny that the OP said he had at TLR1 and wants to upgrade to a cheaper light. Sometimes you can find a good deal, but most of the time you get what you pay for in life. That light says it will fit weaver rails...weaver and picatinny are not the same specs.

Buy once...cry once.
 
I'd be hard pressed to pass up a Streamlight. $700 pistol with a $30 light is too much for me to worry about.
 
aubie515 said:
Is there a company that modify TLRs? If so, do they have a link, I would be curious as to what they would do with our lights.
Click to expand...

Milkyspit and a few others here might be able to modify the light for you. No companies that I know of.
 
When I say weapon mounted I mean for pistols:
Insight SSl-1 is a LED weapon mounted light.
Streamlight has the M3 and M3X which are incan weapon mounted lights.
Streamlight also has the TLR series which are weapon mounted LED lights.
Surefire weapon mounted lights are all LED I believe.
Also if you can find the LEDWAVE Z-5 shines at 80 lumens and retails around 60-70 dollars.

Personally I have the M3X on my firearms (Glock 17 and Springfield XD 9mm) but you want an LED, so I recomend LEDWAVE if you're going for price and Surefire if you're going for proven reliability. Also make sure that the light you do end up getting fits in whatever holster you have. Some holsters are made to accomodate more than one brand of light and others aren't.
 
from the link on brand x-

"Brand new Model G&P® M3 Tactical R2 CREE 295Lumens Softair Military Weaponlight"

Softair !!??

"Suitable for Hunting, Shooting game, War game and demo military activities."

Any of these activities involve risk to your life??
 
DCP117 said:
Streamlight has the M3 and M3X which are incan weapon mounted lights.
Streamlight also has the TLR series which are weapon mounted LED lights.
Click to expand...

True Statement
Streamlight also has the TLR series which are weapon mounted LED lights.

Fales Statement
Streamlight has the M3 and M3X which are incan weapon mounted lights.


At no time did Streamlight ever make the M series lights. We had them made by Insight. We discontinued offering the M series lights back in 2005 when we released our TLR series.

I'm sure the new Insight LED rail light is great...I just am not impressed with the plastic incadescent lights that were offered under our name.
 
I really want a P60 host handgun light - that'd be my perfect suggestion, when combined with a Malkoff M60. Would make a decent substitute for a laser sight from bad-breath range out to minimum effective iron-sight range, I'd wager.
 
I'm working on getting a P60 module into my Surefire P111. The light is setup for a shock-isolated module narrower than my Malkoff or Dereelight modules. I'm going to try trimming one of the modules with the dremel to see if I can get it to fit. If so, it should be the heat. However, I'd be more inclined to take a TLR or X300 to the fight. Not sure I would trust one of the P60 modules without extensive testing. Does SF bill their P60L module as shock-isolated/capable?

Be Safe, Grill Tactical.

-Nick
TacticalGrilling.com
 
aubie515 said:
True Statement
Streamlight also has the TLR series which are weapon mounted LED lights.

Fales Statement
Streamlight has the M3 and M3X which are incan weapon mounted lights.


At no time did Streamlight ever make the M series lights. We had them made by Insight. Wediscontinued offering the M series lights back in 2005 when we released our TLR series.

I'm sure the new Insight LED rail light is great...I just am not impressed with the plastic incadescent lights that were offered under our name.
Click to expand...

You work for Streamlight?
 
TacticalGrilling said:
I'm working on getting a P60 module into my Surefire P111. The light is setup for a shock-isolated module narrower than my Malkoff or Dereelight modules. I'm going to try trimming one of the modules with the dremel to see if I can get it to fit. If so, it should be the heat. However, I'd be more inclined to take a TLR or X300 to the fight. Not sure I would trust one of the P60 modules without extensive testing. Does SF bill their P60L module as shock-isolated/capable?

Be Safe, Grill Tactical.

-Nick
TacticalGrilling.com
Click to expand...
Another CPF member found that the P60L does not function in the P-Series Nitrolon WeaponLights because the battery polarity is reversed.
 
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