Tactical rail mounting light, why so expensive?

eyeeatingfish

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I have a glock 23 for off duty carry. It has rails and it seems more convenient to carry a flashlight on it rather than a seperate flaslight.

What i dont get is why they all cost $200.00.

You can get a real good 3 watt LED or zenon light for $60.00. Why does the price suddenly jump $100.00 because it has extra plastic that allows it to grip a tactical rail?
 

tadbik

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What we need is a small clamp for the Fenix P1D that then slides on the rail and you've got a pretty decent light for a fraction of the "tactical" models!
 

nzgunnie

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eyeeatingfish said:
I have a glock 23 for off duty carry. It has rails and it seems more convenient to carry a flashlight on it rather than a seperate flaslight.

Could you possibly want to light something up without pointing a gun at it? One disadvantage of having your light on your weapon, you have to point a loaded gun at whatever you are illuminating. Not always the most useful action.
 

JeffW

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I just saw where someone had the Insight M-3 light for 79.00. It fits right on my Glock 23 and I have both a Fobus and Blackhawk holster for it. A very slick way to go. I'll see if I can remember who had the light.

I remembered !!!! I saw it at

http://store.alamotactical.com/inm3tail.html

I have never ordered anything from them and found them when I was looking for Maxpedition stuff. However if I were buying one today, I would by the Insight mil-spec SSL. I found that on ebay for about 140.00 It is LED or wait just a little bit to see what comes in the future.
 
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dblagent

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Look at the Streamlight TLR-1 light, it can be had for around $90 to $110 it seems and it s very poupular light. Great reviews from almost everyone that I have read and I will be getting one soon myself.
 

CM

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+1 on the TLR-1. The TLR-1 and TLR-2 (with laser at ~$230) are a steal compared to the Surefire's X200's. You can get a TLR-1 for about $100. The other advantage to these is that they can be modified to use the SSC-P4 LED. Depending on what stock LED bin you have, you can realize an increase in output between 70% to over 120%. On the average you'll get about twice the output of the stock Luxeon. I highly recommend you take a look at Streamlight.
 

JeffW

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CM said:
+1 on the TLR-1. The TLR-1 and TLR-2 (with laser at ~$230) are a steal compared to the Surefire's X200's. You can get a TLR-1 for about $100. The other advantage to these is that they can be modified to use the SSC-P4 LED. Depending on what stock LED bin you have, you can realize an increase in output between 70% to over 120%. On the average you'll get about twice the output of the stock Luxeon. I highly recommend you take a look at Streamlight.


Also is anyone actually making these mods for those of us that usually set fire to ourselves with soldering irons? :lolsign:
 

adnj

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So after you unholster your pistol, how do you turn it on?
tadbik said:
What we need is a small clamp for the Fenix P1D that then slides on the rail and you've got a pretty decent light for a fraction of the "tactical" models!
 

JeffW

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adnj said:
So after you unholster your pistol, how do you turn it on?

The only way this light would work were to put on the light after you unholster it. I know some that do this with regular weapon mount lights, but I do not care them fumbling around (dangerous). If you'r gonna do something like this, then be prepared to NOT compromise safety and do it right. Get a dedicated weapon mount light AND the appropriate holster.
That being said, 99% of the time I carry my pistol in a regular holster and carry a spare light in pocket (palinclothes). Only when I am doing door entries/warrants do I gear up with all the other necessary gear.

just my 2 cents. worth just about 2 cents.
 
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Paladin

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nzgunnie said:
Could you possibly want to light something up without pointing a gun at it? One disadvantage of having your light on your weapon, you have to point a loaded gun at whatever you are illuminating. Not always the most useful action.

Side spill is your friend. And anyone who hangs around at CPF very long will soon "get" the concept of ceiling bounce. Try doorknobs, light handling, and weapon retension, perhaps while (temporarily) restraining an alerted, large and aggressive companion animal from entering the fray.

Paladin
 

Patriot

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nzgunnie said:
Could you possibly want to light something up without pointing a gun at it? One disadvantage of having your light on your weapon, you have to point a loaded gun at whatever you are illuminating. Not always the most useful action.

"Not always the most useful action"


Yes...to say the least! Not only is it not useful, it's not legal. If somebody uses a drawn, mounted weapon light to investigate a noise when their life wasn't threatened with imminent danger, they have a good chance of going to jail if the person you pointed it at presses charges. That's why most professional and responsible users of weapon lights use their primary light to investigate or even deture aggression before unholstering a light with lethal force attached to it.

The mounted weapon light is a huge advantage over even most perfectly executed Rodgers technique.

I think the extra cost is because of development and testing. Manufacturers usually don't produce dozens of weapon lights like they do personal lights. They invest a lot of time and thought into designing one or two models of pistol light and rely on that model to carry all their sales in that particular market segment. Most of them are special designs and have to fit and work ergonomically on a wide range of products. They have to remain tightly mounted and even zeroed in models where a laser is integrated in. A personal light just has to clip to your pants and some only have to fit in your hand.
 
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shinbone

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I can think of a couple reasons these rail mounted lights are more expensive.

First, it is a unique design that fills a niche, but not one with a lot of buyers in it. The design and production requirements for these specialized lights cause their costs to increase due to lower production and fewer buyers when compared to a traditional handheld.

Second is the recoil requirements needed in most weapon mounted light systems demand special designs to handle the abuse when compared to traditional handheld units.

Other factors could include more expensive components or cost of manufacture for those components, including bulbs, specialized bezels, specialized switch mechanisms, and LED/bulb technology.

If you want an inexpensive weapon light for a Glock or similar railed handgun I would seriously look at the Streamlight units, for around $100 you get an excellent light. Glock makes their own light for $100 and for rifles you can get some nice Surefire configurations with shock isolation, tape switch, and rail mount for ~$100 (Calvin at BrightFlashlights.com has many options in this dollar range). Considering a Surfire E2E is around that price too, these are actually great bargains for a high quality weapon light system.
 
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JeffW

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I think that you will find most professionals carry at least one personal light for routine inquires where lights are needed. Only when you truely believe you will need a weapon will you use the one with the light. Also you lill find that current training today has light carried in weak hand and often with a small lanyard you can loop around a finger to keep from dropping it when you draw your weapon.

As others have said it is a specialized light with actual use for a small limited group of people. I'll bet I don't hook mine up to my glock more that 10-15 times a year. And even then most of the time it stays holstered. Actually I can only think of twice this year when I actually used it. Most of the time I am towards the rear of the stack of people going in. Sometimes I am even left on perimeter. :xyxgun:
 
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wakibaki

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The reason is that the market has not yet reacted to the recent changes in technology and geopoliticoeconomics.

You can get a rail-mount laser from kaidomain for $6.99. How good a laser, I don't know. How long can it be for a weaponlight?

w
 

GarageBoy

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Yea, but for a laser, you need to be able to zero it and have it hold a zero..can a $6 unit do that?
 

Paladin

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Patriot36 said:
"Not always the most useful action"


Yes...to say the least! Not only is it not useful, it's not legal. If somebody uses a drawn, mounted weapon light to investigate a noise when their life wasn't threatened with imminent danger, they have a good chance of going to jail if the person you pointed it at presses charges.

In light of the "Castle Doctrine" laws now in place in Florida, Texas, and ARIZONA the above statement is quite frankly incorrect. Could you kindly provide a single verifiable example where a mounted light being shined on a suspect resulted in a criminal conviction? How, exactly, in a he said/she said scenario, would a prosecutor prove beyond reasonable doubt that your weapon was not pointed slightly to the side of the subject, as it should have been in reality.

Paladin
 

NotRegulated

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I have been using a Insight M3 Tactical Illuminator for several years now. It is ancient history compared to the new lights on the market now. Before I would buy it for $70 from the link above I would get the Streamlight TLR-1. It's LED is much brighter than the M3's incandescent, brightness doesn't drop off like the M3 and the TLR-1 is much more solidly built. I've already had the M3's plastic reflector and lens get a little distorted from an extended runtime application. I'm actually waiting for the TLR-1 to be offered with a Cree.
 

eyeeatingfish

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nzgunnie said:
Could you possibly want to light something up without pointing a gun at it? One disadvantage of having your light on your weapon, you have to point a loaded gun at whatever you are illuminating. Not always the most useful action.

I thought about that but the models i have seen are fairly easy to put on and off meaning they could even be carried on the belt or attached to the holster or something.
 

eyeeatingfish

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CM said:
+1 on the TLR-1. The TLR-1 and TLR-2 (with laser at ~$230) are a steal compared to the Surefire's X200's. You can get a TLR-1 for about $100. The other advantage to these is that they can be modified to use the SSC-P4 LED. Depending on what stock LED bin you have, you can realize an increase in output between 70% to over 120%. On the average you'll get about twice the output of the stock Luxeon. I highly recommend you take a look at Streamlight.

I did want to get the one with the laser, but go figure, my department doesnt allow it. Heaven forbid you blind the bad guy with your laser while shooting him! :huh2:
 
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