Is there really a difference between a weapon light and a regular light

Is there really a difference between a weapon light and a regular light say a fenix etc. And if so what is the difference?

All lights that pretend to be a weapon one have a remote tail switch accessory Or have integrated rail mount on them (Olight VL-1 Valkyrie, for example).

Others can add info but to start with a weapon light is made to absorb shock...frequently and repeatedly.

It's kinda like this...
Say a Streamlight stylus pro and a Malkoff MD2 are rated to still work after being dropped from 6' onto concrete. (I refer to lights I own)
But....how many times over it's lifespan will said stylus be dropped onto concrete? 10, 20?
Well being strapped to say an AR...each time the trigger is pulled is like dropping the light from say...eh, 3-4'. No biggy, except by the end of a single 30 round clip it has received more shock than the average life span of an ordinary light.

A weapon light should be able to withstand thousands of drops and still function without fail.

That is one reason dedicated weapon lights cost a lot more. The 'good' ones are designed to provide life or death reliability for years from stem to stern....
Lens, emitter (or bulb), head, body, tail and switch.... and everything in between.

The biggest difference between what truly is a "Weapon Light" Vs those who claim it is most well designed weapon lights meet some form of contractual conformance requirements. Like something the military would require. It would include things like meeting quality control measures as well a performance criteria like Environmental testing such as salt and fog/shock and vibration/temperature and humidity/pressure. Most folks have very little insight as to what all that means but put in simpler terms and a good analogy would be it will not/should not fail you under the harshest conditions you may subject it to.

Yeah, its about features and construction.

The recoil and banging around a weapon light might have to be able to deal with, plus the typical need to mount a remote to it...change what a light might look like.

A large issue is the cell chamber, as with some, the slamming of the recoil can get the battery rocking back and forth like a jackhammer...which can break the cell or what its whacking into over and over again...or just make the light go on/off as the cell loses contact at one end or the other...etc.

Most weapon lights come on at their highest output...as a default. A lot of people demand that of a tactical light, and, a lot of people absolutely HATE if a light can't come on in moonlight/low so as to avoid blinding them when they want to find the loo on a camping trip/find dropped keys at the theatre, etc....but not for a weapon light.

You typically want a weapon light to be able to go off quickly, to prevent return fire attraction, etc....so you can pop and move, etc...and not accidentally reveal where you ducked to in an emergency maneuver, etc. That can mean a momentary action, so if you let go, it goes off for example.

The thread overlaps and types can be an issue. In testing, some lights literally were shaken apart by recoil, especially on pump guns (Machine gun lights are in another category as well...), because the overlap of the threads was so small or course, that the metal strip involved either broke or backed off, etc.

If the electronics are not potted/ruggedized, and the wires adequately sized and secured, the recoil can cause solder joints or wires to break, grounds to be lost, boards to crack or come loose, etc.


So, sure, they DO make black non-weapon lights and call them tactical/tacticool, etc...but, its what inside that counts.


An inexpensive example is an old Klarus XT11...comes with remote weapon light attachment, the barrel is a standard weapon mount size, the electronics are potted, the cell chamber is double sprung and the spring rates don't let the cell jackhammer or lose contact in rapid fire, you can throw it against the ground and it stays lit/keeps on ticking, etc. Its Chinese, but well made.

Some other Chinese lights literally fell apart at the firing ranges, and, well, that's essentially the difference.

My Klarus P1 says "military rated" on the package. It's a pretty nice light. But sometimes you have to push the switch just right to get it to turn on. Or push it a couple of times.
Not a weapon light in my view, regardless of what the package says.
Matter of fact on the second incident (while putting out the trash can) it went from a sorta reliable pocket light to dust collector...
Could be a fluke. I dunno. But it was replaced by an Elzetta Alpha soon after.

Hopefully if I'm in combat my enemy has a P1.

I dare to do a wild guess that all those "weapon" lights in real are not better than an ordinary, but well done light. See how gun public react to the bloated prices of these pieces of... You know what

Finally, do we have anyone with a "weapon" light here to see some images of its internals?

Why am I asking? I had to deal with Tempest rated computers that were priced 5 times more than an ordinary ones. When I opened one of those, all the difference I have found was... aluminum foil glued inside the case. The kind is being used to wrap a piece of chocolate High tech, you know...

vadimax said:

I dare to do a wild guess that all those "weapon" lights in real are not better than an ordinary, but well done light. See how gun public react to the bloated prices of these pieces of... You know what

Click to expand...

HAHHAHA 😂😂😂

vadimax said:

Finally, do we have anyone with a "weapon" light here to see some images of its internals?

Click to expand...

I doubt you'll be seeing any photos. If a light can be easily disassembled to show the "internals", it won't be durable enough to be fully weapon rated.

What's the difference? Weapon lights are designed to withstand a lifetime of being installed on a weapon (not just a low recoiling 5.56 NATO AR-15). A weapon light has been tested by the manufacturer to confirm without doubt that it meets this requirement.

In some cases, yes there is a difference. Also keep in mind different weapons or situations may require different lighting tools.

I have some experience in weapon optics, that should transfer to flashlights. Thing is, it's all about a speed of recoil. For example, shotguns have a lot slower recoil than assault rifle, therefore it doesn't require heavy duty optics. All of the modern middle to upper class flashlights that have options for mounting to rifles should withstand abuse of repeated recoils. With pistols and revolvers I would use only brands known for their weapond lights. If mine poor english language confuses you, I consider handguns pistols and revolvers.

Typically a WML or weapon-rated light will be sprung on both ends of the battery compartment. Lights that aren't rated for recoil will often have a spring on one end of the battery with the other end resting against the circuit board. Note that this occurs even with some pretty expensive lights (I have $140 Surefires that aren't sprung on both ends of the battery). No matter how well made a light otherwise is you can't expect it to survive having the battery beat on bare circuit board under heavy recoil for very long. This maybe isn't a huge deal for lights mounted to M4-type rifles in 5.56/.223 as they don't generate much recoil. But it would be a big issue on a fighting shotgun.

That's a bigger deal than beam pattern, light output, etc. Opinions will vary as to the best quality and quantity of light but the torch has to be able to physically survive being used on a firearm.

Another hallmark of a dedicated weapon light is the size of the inner barrel. And reason for many to grumble these days regarding some manufacturers who will not oversize their lights for using rechargeables.

It's pretty safe to say the 123 size battery is the most widely used platform the typical weapon light is fueled by. A couple of manufacturers (much to the chigrin of many) refuse to oversize the chamber for using 18mm batteries.
The idea there is the battery doesn't bounce around and thereby briefly lose connection of the circuit path.

But it's not only that. The modern 18mm battery that is protected can have it's protection circuitry engaged from repeated vibrations of recoil...couple that with rapid decline in light output when voltage is below a certain point. A 'primary' battery typically has a much longer decline in output as in no sudden lights out.

I like what Streamlight has done with the ProTac HL4 where you can adjust the size of the barrel to fit 16 or 18mm batteries.

I also like the way a Malkoff and a PowerTac can hold an 18mm cell. But I use a 'magazine' in them to act as a sorta splint between two primaries and to fill the space between the body and the cells.
Then when my cells are depleted I can insert a pre-filled magazine like you would a 5/10+ shot clip into a rifle.


I wonder how many national geographic photographers in 1977 wouldv'e ever considered the modern day weapon light was designed around the lowly camera battery.

Here are some inside photos of a surefire weapon light, In the head there is a small fabric covered foam ring that compresses just behind the lens and above the bulb you can push on it and feel it slide . Just behind where the bulb is there is an aluminum barricade that's milled into the body to keep the battery from impacting the bulb. The only spring is in the tail cap. This light has been on an ar15 sense 2000 and never had to replace a bulb or had any failure. I know at least 6000 rounds down range.

A timely thread indeed. I was looking for a "cost effective" Weapon light for a Carbine. After MANY hours of research, I went with the KLARUS XT11. I am hoping it will prove to be solid choice for a (more or less) budget Weapons light.
That being said, I will have to save my Pennies for an ELZETTA to go on a 12 Gauge.

Regards,
SixCats!