Help picking a carbine light

[Hank6046]

The Streamlight I broke mounting it on the rifle was. I forget the model number because I threw it out, but it's the one that comes with its own integral mount and a tape switch if you want to use that instead of the standard tail cap. I broke the mount just tightening it about 1/4 turn past hand tight.

But, yes, the warranty problems I encountered were in the years before I took over the family ranch ten years ago.

The experience with the rifle-mounted light in just the last few months reminded me of their low quality I encountered years ago.

BTW: I think the TLR3 on my Glock looks a little fragile just handling it. I haven't broken it yet but I have heard anecdotes of people breaking the mount by overtightening it with a screwdriver.

Please allow me to play devils advocate. While I do agree that there are better lights out there, I have a Streamlight HLX (I think thats what it's called, 1000 lumen model) and it has been great. I've done classes with it, not low light specifically, but its seen its fare share of rounds and beatings over the last few years and I don't have an issue with it as of late. Having said that, I do have Surefire (on my home def rifle and pistol) and Inforce lights that also seem to work fine. I would just stay away from early Inforce as I had the case crack like everyone else apparently.

[D.O.A.F.S.]

DOAFS,

You bring light to the merit of having spares in a kit bag. Does nothing for you on target when your shit breaks, as both you and 1168 pointed out, and is why I’m huge on securing wires with zip ties to take slack out and keep everything low profile. The only times I’ve seen the switches dead lined has been from snags or direct impacts on the plug. In that regard, the SF plug design is significantly more robust than the one for the PEQ/LA-5. Of which I have personally broken maybe 5 or so over the years and seen it quite a lot. There’s definitely merit in the tailcap designs that have dual function for tape and click switch operation.

And I’m glad I’m not the only one who has gloriously eaten shit under NODs.

As well as carrying a DF Fury as a backup. 2 is 1, 1 is none. That said the only issue I ever had with the scout was the tape switch.

[Outlander Systems]

How’d it break?

As well as carrying a DF Fury as a backup. 2 is 1, 1 is none. That said the only issue I ever had with the scout was the tape switch.

[D.O.A.F.S.]

How’d it break?

The light started intermittently turning off, I reinstalled the clicky tail cap and have run it that way since with zero issues.

[davidjinks]

Surefire Scout lights are the only lights I own for my rifles. They work, they’re light, small profile and they have a good amount of light output.

[dperdue]

Do the shoot class at Alliance with Joe Weyer, his low light lecture will answer all your questions. Get the best light your budget will allow, I would recommend the Surefire DF Scout. I'll be traveling back to Alliance for a couple more times this year, the first of which is next weekend. If a date you pick for a class lines up with one of mine I'll give you my spare to use for the class, PM me. Guys will say and make all kinds of claims of how many lumens you need or this light is better then that, and I know I'm just some guy...right. Make your decision off of facts and "your" experience. "Doing work" with the light and "moving through your home" are 2 different animals. I can promise you if you take a FoF class at Alliance and have 2 lights available to use, use the DF Scout on your first run then the 600-1000 lumen light on your second, I promise you will only use the DF Scout the rest of the class. My first trip/class at Alliance I had a Surefire X300U mounted on my carbine, that changed as soon as I returned home. 2nd piece of advice, don't waste money on a pressure pad to activate the light, mount the light so it can be activated with your thumb from your normal firing grip.

I do appreciate the offer. I actually ended up buying a DF Scout today.

[D.O.A.F.S.]

It's a great rifle light.

[Adrenaline_6]

Do Cloud Defensive, Elzetta, and Surefire not drop test? Surefire and Insight lights have been included in SOOMOD kits for like a decade or two. Surely that came with some sort of testing.

Is Oolight Chinese?

If they did, it is not documented. Elzetta has other types of torture tests on video but not an extensive drop test like this one. Are they still dureable? Of course. They have proven over the years that they are.

I think Olight did their testing to try and prove that this light is dureable too and is trying to break their way into the market because they are made in China and it being their first rifle light. With no real track record to go on, they must have felt they needed to develop some type of torture test to prove their reliability.

[Canonshooter]

I think Olight did their testing to try and prove that this light is dureable too and is trying to break their way into the market because they are made in China and it being their first rifle light. With no real track record to go on, they must have felt they needed to develop some type of torture test to prove their reliability.

Taking 200 lights and dropping each one six times is not exactly a "torture test."

I think the larger issue is the lack of understanding of the U.S. target audience. As seen in this thread, this audience has first-hand experience with owning firearms, a good portion of it with military experience. Of course, this places a Chinese light manufacturer at a distinct disadvantage as civilian firearms ownership in Communist China is non-existent. It's not like they can design a light, mount it on a rifle and then go shoot the hell out of in competition at the local range. They simply do not have access to that.

Case in point - remote switch attaches by a magnet;

You bring light to the merit of having spares in a kit bag. Does nothing for you on target when your shit breaks, as both you and 1168 pointed out, and is why I’m huge on securing wires with zip ties to take slack out and keep everything low profile. The only times I’ve seen the switches dead lined has been from snags or direct impacts on the plug.

Obviously the attach-by-magnet might be OK for a USB charging paddle, but not so hot when the cable gets snagged and the switch attachment gets pulled (or knocked) off. The designers simply don't have the experience or background to understand real life hard use, and no practical way for them to test themselves.

In terms of proving durability, this comes primarily from being vetted under hard use in real life applications for an extended period of time. Perhaps the light survives (or not), but how about the mount? What about the remote switch? Does dropping a 6-ounce light by itself six times from two meters ensure that it will survive when attached to a 9-pound rifle and it lands directly on the light?

I think this is why when it comes to serious-use lighting equipment, the strong preference is to stick with products that have a long and successful track record in actual use. Until this "Warrior X" light has seen extensive use in combat and has been proven up to the task, I don't believe it will be considered a serious-use option.

I understand your enthusiasm, but you must keep in mind that not everyone approaches their gear-selection decisions the same way.

[Adrenaline_6]

Taking 200 lights and dropping each one six times is not exactly a "torture test."

I think the larger issue is the lack of understanding of the U.S. target audience. As seen in this thread, this audience has first-hand experience with owning firearms, a good portion of it with military experience. Of course, this places a Chinese light manufacturer at a distinct disadvantage as civilian firearms ownership in Communist China is non-existent. It's not like they can design a light, mount it on a rifle and then go shoot the hell out of in competition at the local range. They simply do not have access to that.

Case in point - remote switch attaches by a magnet;

If I'm not mistaken, from what I understand, they took a sample of 200 lights and dropped each of them 1200 times, regardless, they are the first to even drop test a light at all. If they took a sample of 1, any doubters, me included, would call them on that. The glass itself is 3mm thick. The body is double hulled. If this was a Surefire design, people would be hailing the rugged design.


They do have an office in the US, so testing it on guns is not really a problem for them at all.

The theory for the magnet remote switch is if it snags, it will disconnect instead of tearing the wire out of the tailcap. The magnetic connection, charging included, is pretty solid, you can't just bang the light and it falls off. It would have to be taken off purposely or snagged of course. If the light is on and it does come off, the light will stay on, unlike a traditional tape switch. The cool thing about that in retrospect is, if your tape switch fails/wears out, you can easily disconnect it and now you have the standard tailcap button activation without changing a thing.

I understand and totally respect your cautious approach to a new design, but seeing what they have done on paper here, is pretty impressive, and 80,000 candela from a stock light trounces every weapon light out there.