Am I the only one starting to prefer iron sights?

**georgeib** · 01-27-22, 13:21

Originally Posted by okie

In the mid-day sun, I need aimpoints turned up to the highest setting, and even then the dot gets washed out on light backgrounds. And then if I tried to use that same setting indoors at night, even with the lights on, the whole tube will just be solid red.

Color blindness is a spectrum. Sometimes, it's simply a lower sensitivity to certain light wavelengths. I wonder if this whole issue may be explained by your having a slight insensitivity to red light? Perhaps you could try a green dot and see if it becomes easier to see in bright conditions without having to crank it up all the way? I know that even in the brightest sunlight I don't need my dots at 10 in order to be clearly usable.

ETA: Or perhaps you would benefit from an ARD.

**markm** · 01-27-22, 13:49

Originally Posted by georgeib

I wonder if this whole issue may be explained by your having a slight insensitivity to red light?

Maybe this. I mean.. we shoot in some bright ass desert sunlight, and I don't think even then I've turned a dot all the way up.

**okie** · 01-27-22, 13:53

Originally Posted by georgeib

Color blindness is a spectrum. Sometimes, it's simply a lower sensitivity to certain light wavelengths. I wonder if this whole issue may be explained by your having a slight insensitivity to red light? Perhaps you could try a green dot and see if it becomes easier to see in bright conditions without having to crank it up all the way? I know that even in the brightest sunlight I don't need my dots at 10 in order to be clearly usable.

ETA: Or perhaps you would benefit from an ARD.

Sounds kind of plausible. When they switched to white boards, I was one of the kids who had trouble seeing red marker, but I was far from alone. Half or more had the same problem.

I've tried green reticles and they do show up better against light backgrounds, but they also don't work very well against green foliage, someone wearing earth tones (e.g. camo), etc. That's why red is usually universally preferred for dot sights because you rarely find it in nature, so that's usually going to give you the better contrast. And of course they still suffer from the same issue where the daylight settings don't work at night and vice versa.

Essentially the way I've come to use my dot sights is exactly how you use an optic with an etched reticle that has fiber/tritium. In bright sunlight, the black reticle is clearly visible, and in low light, where the reticle isn't visible, the illumination takes over. I just leave my dot at that middle setting all the time now, so it's a very similar experience for me. I really wish there were more 1x sights with etched reticles out there. To me, that's a very underserved market.

**Five_Point_Five_Six** · 01-27-22, 14:09

It is bright and sunny here today. Much brighter than yesterday. I don't have time for a range trip today so I just took the same carbine outside in my back yard as yesterday with the Aimpoint on the same number 10 setting. Pointing in the same direction that the sun is facing, I could still see the dot, though it was dimmer than I would prefer, but still usable. It wasn't until I started raising the optic toward the sky that it washed out and became invisible.

Color blindness/wave length sensitivity may explain why okie is having more problems than the rest of us, I'm not an ophthalmologist so I'll just have to go with it being a plausible reason, but that still doesn't explain why he thinks that shooting irons and a RDS are the same technique because they're cowitnessed.

**georgeib** · 01-27-22, 14:32

Originally Posted by okie

Sounds kind of plausible. When they switched to white boards, I was one of the kids who had trouble seeing red marker, but I was far from alone. Half or more had the same problem.

I've tried green reticles and they do show up better against light backgrounds, but they also don't work very well against green foliage, someone wearing earth tones (e.g. camo), etc. That's why red is usually universally preferred for dot sights because you rarely find it in nature, so that's usually going to give you the better contrast. And of course they still suffer from the same issue where the daylight settings don't work at night and vice versa.

Essentially the way I've come to use my dot sights is exactly how you use an optic with an etched reticle that has fiber/tritium. In bright sunlight, the black reticle is clearly visible, and in low light, where the reticle isn't visible, the illumination takes over. I just leave my dot at that middle setting all the time now, so it's a very similar experience for me. I really wish there were more 1x sights with etched reticles out there. To me, that's a very underserved market.

Agreed on the green reticles. That's why I stick with red too.

As to etched 1x reticles, maybe give the Primary Arms prism a try. It's inexpensive enough to where even if you decided you don't like it, you could sell it without a big loss. I suppose you could also just send it back for a refund if you realized you didn't like it right away.

**Defaultmp3** · 01-27-22, 14:47

Prism sights are poor replacements for RDSes given that they do not have unlimited eye relief and a constrained eyebox, which are some of the greatest strengths of an RDS/HWS. They have their own strengths, but the two are not really comparable, IMO.

**georgeib** · 01-27-22, 14:50

Originally Posted by Defaultmp3

Prism sights are poor replacements for RDSes given that they do not have unlimited eye relief and a constrained eyebox, which are some of the greatest strengths of an RDS/HWS. They have their own strengths, but the two are not really comparable, IMO.

That's true too. Maybe instead of a prism, try a Holosun. I find their dots much easier to acquire than an Aimpoint's. Also, to my eye, much crisper and clearer dot.