Flashlights as an addition to weapon mounted lights?

[Coach Z]

I've gone to staging a number of firearms around the house and have invested in viridian C5L lights for the pistols and Stramlight HD lights for the long guns. My question is if anyone with a similar setup has flashlights nearby to be used in conjunction with a gun. I've read some online about sltreamlight, Fenix, and Surefire lights.

The flashlight offerings from weapon light companies seem to be staggeringly expensive but then again if I only buy it once and it lasts forever then it's not so expensive.

If anyone here can share some insight on lights they like it would be greatly appreciated.

[southjk]

I've been very happy with the Fenix line. I've currently got an LD22 and a couple of E11's. They are AA lights and have served my purpose well.

[Joe_Pike]

I have a Fenix LD20 next to my XD9 but no light on the gun itself. I really like the Fenix line for bang for the buck.

[ClydeFrog]

For my $, Id suggest the popular design Streamlight HD with the 600lum.
It's compact, powerful & has ideal settings(low/medium/high/strobe).
Streamlights come with lifetime warrantys & the Li batteries are long lasting.

I owned a Fenix 32 series HD with 347lum. I had no complaints about it but I would have spent the extra $10.00 for the Streamlight(twice the lum power) if I had to do it over.
I lost the Fenix 32 white light on a trip to PA last month, .
It's not the way I wanted to get a new Streamlight.

SureFire & 5.11 Tactical also market decent flash lights & tactical lights.
For sales & prices see: www.policehq.com www.galls.com www.natchezss.com www.qmuniforms.com www.uscav.com www.cabelas.com www.gandermountain.com .
Most have holiday specials & free S/H offers.

Take Care:
Clyde

[Coach Z]

Thanks clyde appreciate the links, thats a number of sites I've never been to and certainly didm't come up in google

[Sure shot wv]

For me there are only 2 options in the lighting field. Surefire and streamlight. Side by side surefire blows away everybody including streamlight BUT it comes at a huge price. A good friend of mine is sponsored by surefire and has just about every lighting product they've made in the last 6 years and I've played with them all. I LOVE them all. I'd LOVE to have them all lol. I've yet to see a surefire product break. I've thrown them into concrete walls, thrown them as high as I can in the air and let them nail the ground and not one broke.

When it comes to their brightness or lumens surefire is true to what they say period. If they say its 300 lumens it is. That is another big plus for surefire to me.

Now for streamlight. I like them. I've personally used them since 2006. BUT every streamlight I've owned I've broken at some point in time. I have 1 streamlight flashlight left and don't use it because it EATS batteries like a fat kid on chocolate cake. Every streamlight I've broken has broken from a fall. Usually rolling off a table or out of my pocket etc. 3-4 foot max. Now a big plus for streamlight which I've never tested on surefire is their ability to hold up against chemicals. I used a lot of streamlight flashlights at my job. They were constantly getting covered in oils, diesel, gas, mud, gunk and everything else you could imagine. I never had one fail from that. Over time the color would fade out, logos would wear off etc but never fail to light.

Now in regards to lumens I've never felt streamlight was accurate. Especially if you put it side by side to a surefire of equal ratings. Surefire would drown out the streamlight. But on their own they're decent. Much better than a maglight persay.

Overall I've spent probably over a grand on streamlight products over the years. Ill never buy one again. But I'm rather hard on lights. For the average person I don't think streamlight would let you down. It's a quality product overall but not as good as surefire in my eyes. For me surefire will be my next purchase. Yes the price sucks but buy once cry once. To bad it took me so long to learn that lesson!!

[lmccrock]

Coach, I am not sure what "staggering expensive" means to you, but there are some handheld Surefires (G2 Nitrolon) at $45 or so. This sounds like a backup to the weapon light or for a situation where you do not want to point a weapon at something to light it up. I have used a G2 Nitrolon as a weapon light on a shotgun at night matches and it still works. Not real bright but fine for indoors. Oh, surefire.com sells at MSRP; there are substantial discounts from many retailers.

Be aware that if you light up a wall inside with one of the high output lights (500-600 lumens), your night vision is destroyed by reflecting light and you may as well turn on the room lights. I used a Streamlight TLR-2-HL on a rifle at a night match and confirmed that it works great outside but is quite bright indoors.

If a light has multiple output powers, think about how it selects the power. When something goes bump in the night, you do not want to flip through the power settings to turn it on.

[ClydeFrog]

I can not say how long or what white light brands will or won't work best for you. Both Fenix & Streamlight offer lifetime service plans.
5.11 Tactical, www.5.11tactical.com is decent too. They marketed a flashlight line that could recharge in 2/3 minutes but I think it's been discontinued for some unknown reason.

I'd add that batteries(CR123s) can be a pain. The SureFire & Streamlight model Li type are 2 of the best IMO. Cheap Li batteries or some off-brands will wear out quickly.

I agree too that powerful whitelights(400-800lum) can bounce or reflex light.
Many of my jobs or white-light uses are outdoors or in larger spaces so a 600lum Streamlight LED light isn't going to be a issue. The model 32 Fenix I owned was okay for vehicles or most indoor/office type details. I would feel well equipped with it for most EP jobs too.

As noted, there are many vendors & choices. I'm sure you'll find a good brand.

Clyde

[papershotshells]

I'll add my vote for Surefire lights. I've owned several of them for quite a few years and they are simply the best flashlights available in my opinion. I've seen a couple of Streamlight flashlights, owned by co-workers, fail, normally from a fall. I've dropped my Surefires a number of times and they have suffered nothing worse than a nicked finish (on the metal tube ones, the polymer tubes don't even seem to scuff).

Bottom line for me, if your life may depend on a GOOD light (as mine may very well as I work armed security), then they are worth every dime.

Just my $0.02 worth.

Papershotshells

[Bigfatts]

For a while I was big into lights. Bought way more than I could afford, including customs and high end productions. Never did care much for Surefire as a base light, just not enough bang for the buck. I ended up selling all of my customs and most of my productions. One of the few that I kept is an Olight M20. Nothing fancy, but it's rugged, reliable and inexpensive. L/M/H settings along with a strobe setting. It sits on my night stand. Other decent brands are Sunwayman, Jetbeam, Fenix, Nitecore, Terralux, etc. Check out www.batteryjunction.com for a great selection of lights and brands.

[lefteye]

A flashlight using two CR123A is a nice size. I have a Streamlight Scorpion X and Surefire P2X. They are very similar but the Surefire is better - it just seems to be stronger, more durable, better built - but not low cost.

[gsg9.ca]

Being on a bit of a tight budget I decided to keep it simple. Rem 870 with a mini maglight and extended wire pressure switch for general illumination and an Elzetta Searcher with the Strobe tail cap. In Strobe mode you can totally dominate any encounter due to the disorienting effect of the light.

My next upgrade will be another Elzetta permanently mounted on the 870 just to keep bats and accessories simple.

[Bultaco]

If you are stashing guns w/mounted lights around the house I would think any simple flashlight would work. You obviously won't be checking on a noise without one of you light mounted guns anyway. If I needed to do all that to feel safe I would MOVE!

[Coach Z]

I actually live in a great neighborhood. I don't have any expectation that my house is going to come under siege but I'm also not good about carrying in the house so I chose to have a few guns at key points around the house.

My significant other is also definitely not going to carry around the house so it gives her (and me if I'm away) a little extra piece of mind.

I love the old quote:

"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you"

[armsmaster270]

I personally do not like a weapon mounted light. I prefer to have a handheld light than weapon mounted light as I prefer to not have to illuminate a person with a weapon mounted light and point my weapon at an innocent. Rely on my Sig to shoot and my Streamlight to illuminate.

This is my opinion only.

[Garycw]

I like & use the UltraFire on a couple rifles & one shotgun. All use a pressure pad for single mode activation. I have no lights mounted on pistols. I do have a hand held UltraFire next to nightstand pistol. A direct eye shot is blinding. It also has a strobe mode with a momentary tail switch

[redneck]

I like O-light and 4 sevens for flashlights. Much higher output and more features for a lot less money than surefire( I want to like surefire because they're made in the USA but they are way off on value). Both brands are built extremely tough, I carry either a 4 sevens quark tactical or olight maverick everywhere I go.