Night Sight usefullness

[mizer67]

Same here. I even use a VG 2 frequently, no issues.

AND I use an adjustable rear, which seems to be a point of contention with some people.

I find tritium virtually worthless. Can't see the glow unless your eyes have adapted (like you just woke up), and then once you hit any significant amount of ambient light I can't see the glow anymore. When you can see the glow, you end up seeing the back one more than the front.

I've run the Dawson F/O front sight on one G17 and one M&P and lost the fiber both times in a training course on the third day each time. This is with the thinner F/O rod they offer. Thicker might be better in this case.

I finished the courses just fine, because as you note, once you lose the rod you basically have a black front with a hole in it. It's sort of distracting when you're not used to it to be staring through that hole in the sight blade, but you can hit targets just fine. That being said, speaking from my experience, the rod has fallen out eventually. When I still ran them, I took to carrying spare rod around in my range bag, just in case. That yours or Mr. Yam's experience is different, that's fine and perfectly probable, I'm speaking from mine.

Back on topic, I haven't found night sights useful at night per se, but rather of varying usefulness in low light from "not at all useful" to "nice to have but not critical".

[Guns-up.50]

Tritium in many cases, is not the aiming point. It is a mere reference of where the sights are. Yes in the day/or in enough light you cant see tritium, but you dont need it either, use the sights as if they're black. In a perfect world yes your light may light your sights enough to shoot well, however if you are in a gun fight at night, your world is far from perfect. So plan on shooting from off or awkward positions where your light may not help you as much.
Tritium is a tool in your box, if you need it use it, if not dont, but its good to have around.

[kevN]

Tritium is particularly useful for the transitional points in dusk and dawn I find.

The fiber rod fragility thing is silly as a few people have pointed out, when the rod breaks you fall back to rugged steal black sights.


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[MistWolf]

...It seems that simply lighting the slide and the target is more effective...

It's more effective to just light up the target. Against the pool of light, the sights become a black silhouette and very easy to see and use. Illuminating the sights and slide from behind them with a strong light will wash them out and with older eyes, glare will be a real problem. Illuminating them from the side or an angle can result in some strange shadowing.

Tritium dims over time. I know you said you've got new sights, but how long did the sights sit on the shelf after being made? How long did the vials sit in the parts bin before the sights were made? But you do make a good point about older eyes. My vision isn't as sharp and bright as it used to be either

[PLCedeno]

They are 2013 HD Trijicons. This is on two separate G17's. I guess I just didn't think in a dark room coming from a bright outdoor scenario they would become so useless to me. Had to just shoot using muscle memory the first time. Not good. The second time having thought it through I abandoned the palm on palm holding technique for what I was taught at Gunsite was the old FBI technique. With LAV and Ken the palm on palm which directs light like the Surefire/Harries technique seem to work out well. I believe what is going on here is that with LAV and Ken the light change from day to night was gradual. In IDPA you go from a bright outdoor environment to pitch dark in seconds. Re-learning holding techniques after decades of doing it one way is not easy. I am doing it by necessity. It may be time for another night class.

[Chameleox]

Tritium is particularly useful for the transitional points in dusk and dawn I find.

Me too. I just mocked this up a little, since I have the house to myself for a couple of days. I find that night sights do well when aiming into a darker space from a not so dark space. They also work fairly well in less that optimally illuminated areas, like darkened rooms, vs completely pitch dark ones.

Handheld or weapon mounted white light tends to mitigate this advantage, but those aren't options for everyone, and if working under a time constraint (be it clock or a sudden threat) grabbing and activating a light might not be possible.

[richiecotite]

In my house, I leave the hallway light on (6 yr old is afraid of the dark) but the lights in my bedroom are off. If someone broke in and came up the stairs in the hall, they wouldn't be able to see me, but I could see them. In that instance, I wouldn't need a white light to identify target, and the tritium works well.

[PLCedeno]

Haven't been in a situation yet where I said "jeez; I wish this tritium wasn't in my sights". To each their own though

The above quote works for me but I find having to re-evaluate what I thought were definitive ideas about Tritium. This is why practice, training and competition (IDPA) are essential. Finding out that the night sights don't work as I thought they would is easier to deal with after a match. In a SD situation the learning curve could be fatal.

As a side note, I once dropped my Surefire in a dark room during a match during a tactical reload. Finding it was impossible. Dealing with the targets without the light also impossible Another re-evaluation.

[C4IGrant]

Here are some random thoughts/conclusions.

1. If you are using a weapon mounted light, you will need to use a tritium dot to see your sights. With that said, if your eyes have not adjusted to the current lighting conditions, you won't see the tritium dots. Lasers are KING for any low light situations and trump all other options.

2. If you use a fiber front for your defensive HG, you will need to carry a handheld light and embrace the "temple hold" (shooting strong hand only) to get the MOST out of these sights in extreme low light/no light.

3. The green fiber is picked up MUCH better by the human eye in lower lighting conditions. So avoid the red fibers.


YMMV.


C4

[PLCedeno]

Here are some random thoughts/conclusions.

1. If you are using a weapon mounted light, you will need to use a tritium dot to see your sights. With that said, if your eyes have not adjusted to the current lighting conditions, you won't see the tritium dots. Lasers are KING for any low light situations and trump all other options.

2. If you use a fiber front for your defensive HG, you will need to carry a handheld light and embrace the "temple hold" (shooting strong hand only) to get the MOST out of these sights in extreme low light/no light.

3. The green fiber is picked up MUCH better by the human eye in lower lighting conditions. So avoid the red fibers.


YMMV.


C4

Thank you Grant. I believe I will be practicing the temple hold with and without tritium.