quote:

Streamlight XC1

Surefire, you mean. Yeah, it's relatively spendy in this group. Plus these days you have to watch out for counterfeits.

Olight flashlights have been merely okay at best with me. The couple or so that I own haven't been the most durable. Switch buttons that fall off. Fading light levels after several minutes of constant run time, even with new batteries. Housings that don't hold up very well with real-world abuse. Streamlight and Surefire may be more expensive, but there's a valid reason for that. I don't know if those issues are also transferable to their weapon lights, but when I considered their Valkyrie unit in the past I've always ended up looking elsewhere.

The Inforce Glock APLc I've been mulling over of late for my compact Glocks. I like how its size and girth fits within the profile of the G19 or G23 and doesn't extend well beyond the muzzle like a X300 or TLR-1. Much tidier packaging. But it would be nicer if its output was rated higher for outdoor uses. I probably will end up with one anyways...just 'cause.

quote:

Originally posted by Scurvy:
What civilian scenario are you in where your weapon is drawn with the light on for 10+ minutes? Just curious.

Umm ….
Such as holding someone for the police to arrive—?

I would be curious how other lights do when left on for 10 minutes or more because I don’t believe I’ve ever done that myself, but I can imagine situations in which it might be necessary. That’s why my lighting arsenal includes flashlights with small LEDs. They’re not bright, but they could get me down off a mountain in the middle of the night.

A lot of defense oriented lights have a 'turbo' style mode where you can get a burst of extreme brightness for a short while before it steps down to a more normal high so it can run longer.

My guess is, if you turned on the 400 lumen O-light and waited for it to step down and then turned on the 200 lumen Inforce, they would be roughly the same brightness.

Let’s call a spade a spade.

O-lights aren’t really mainstream when compared to Surefire / Streamlight. Why? IDK, they could be the best thing out there but they certainly don’t seem to have the reputation or performance to justify it.

I’ll get back to the point of a mini/compact pistol weaponlight is concealabilty - and to conceal, most here believe you need a holster.

Oh it might be this, oh it might be that. Do you really need that in a weaponlight as a civie? Well, if you use stats, as a civie odds are you wont need more than 3 rounds even if you need to shoot your CCW. So why carry a weapon that has more than 3 shots???

Anyway, if that suits you, go for it. I’ll be happily carrying my XC1 on a G19 or a TLR-6 on a G43/42 when it comes to pistol mounted lights.

I’ve been carrying a glock 19 with the inforce aplc. I carry in the appendix position and don’t have any issues with it there. I have noticed that the bezel works slightly loose over time. I observed this due to seeing the light flicker slightly during dry fire. Now every week I just snug it up. Typically there is no movement in the bezel I just do it for reassurance now. I really like the controls of the light and love the size. I wouldn’t hesitate to purchase another at this point.

FYI - I was just trolling Midway USA for InForce. They show the Gen 1 Rifle light for 65 bucks. About 40 bucks off.

Oh, yeah, them. Oops.

Streamlight (for real now), while they have the TLR-6. Doesn't seem to have a player in this category. They should fix that.

As far as output, for civilian concealed carry, how much output do you really need? I think most of these will light up across a normal suburban backyard. I think this falls into the same category as carry guns in that the lower output light that you'd actually carry on the gun is better than the higher output one that's in a drawer at home because it's too big.

quote:

Originally posted by soggy_spinout:

quote:

Streamlight XC1

Surefire, you mean. Yeah, it's relatively spendy in this group. Plus these days you have to watch out for counterfeits.

Olight flashlights have been merely okay at best with me. The couple or so that I own haven't been the most durable. Switch buttons that fall off. Fading light levels after several minutes of constant run time, even with new batteries. Housings that don't hold up very well with real-world abuse. Streamlight and Surefire may be more expensive, but there's a valid reason for that. I don't know if those issues are also transferable to their weapon lights, but when I considered their Valkyrie unit in the past I've always ended up looking elsewhere.

The Inforce Glock APLc I've been mulling over of late for my compact Glocks. I like how its size and girth fits within the profile of the G19 or G23 and doesn't extend well beyond the muzzle like a X300 or TLR-1. Much tidier packaging. But it would be nicer if its output was rated higher for outdoor uses. I probably will end up with one anyways...just 'cause.

XC1 is sufficient out to maybe 25 yards, but they are coming out with the XC1B with 300 lumens (up from the current 200).

The TLR-6 is nice since it allows a WML on a small pocket gun (G42/43), however it’s only sufficient in a normal interior room / 7 yards or so (again, IMO) - but for most CCW needs, it’s ok and better than no WML at all.

I have carried IWB G19 &X300, however the issue I have is it’s too long and when sitting, the light portion of the holster is pushing up quite a bit (ie, I’m small assed) and is annoying / uncomfortable, since occasionally the holster belt clip with wiggle off the belt. Just not my thing. The G19 / XC1 carries like a G19 without any light / laser, as go the G42/43s with the TLR6 (pocket and IWB for the 43).

Any idea if the upgraded XC1B will have the same form factor? I assume it will. I've been looking at one of these to replace the X300 on my bedroom pistol. It just seems to big for a pistol light nowadays...like I'm channeling the 80's every time I pick it up lol.

quote:

Originally posted by mbinky:
Any idea if the upgraded XC1B will have the same form factor? I assume it will. I've been looking at one of these to replace the X300 on my bedroom pistol. It just seems to big for a pistol light nowadays...like I'm channeling the 80's every time I pick it up lol.

I read somewhere it just has a slightly larger battery cap at the front, but is otherwise the same.

I plan to get one after the rush / vetting / beta testing, then use my original on my training pistol.

I am not a fan of the XC1 constant on off operation. I would rather only have to manipulate one switch to activate the light between momentary and constant.

The Olight mini came in and so far so good. I got it mounted up and the biggest issue was trying to bust a holster out for it that worked with the QD lever. During the forming process its been exposed to soggy leather and water and shows no ill effects. Not a groundbreaking test or anything but just noted it. I'm curious to see if the quick charge ring will be effected by being dragged in and out of a holster constantly though I tried not to make it directly contact the holster.

It is tiny and yet provides excellent lighting with solid throw. I heard something outside the other day and swapped it over to my rifle to go take a peek around the property. Nothing there but it showed a nice use for the QD lever I didnt think I'd have a use for. (Yes my rifle normally has a x300u with screw mount and of course it wasnt on since I was messing around with a bunch of different lights at the time I heard the noise. Screw you Murphy) I simply popped it off my pistol and slapped it on the rail on the rifle. Neat feature. It also made me value a QD on any WML.

The QD locks up strong with no wiggle though it does cause an issue with it hanging off the side of an otherwise svelte light when it comes to holsters. The toggles work independently of each other. The charging cable uses any USB which I surprisingly find more handy than I thought in todays day and age. I even have one of those on my crank up storm emergency light radio deals.

The throw and illumination are very good. You could run this on a rifle lightwise, as I found out, just fine though the switch isnt natural for that. Its comparable with the fullsize WMLs as far as output. It seems well built though I'll have to spend more time with it. Currently for what I paid for it I'm quite happy with it.

quote:

Originally posted by Dusty78:
I am not a fan of the XC1 constant on off operation. I would rather only have to manipulate one switch to activate the light between momentary and constant.

new one that is 300 lumens, fixs that issue, but right now my APLc has been doing
what i need for a while.

O-Light PL-2 Valkyrie showed up today. Impressed with the fit and finish and its very bright. Like the QD system. Its very slim and non obtrusive.

Bought rechargeables for it and will give it a workout and see how it does on run time.

Time will tell...

quote:

As far as output, for civilian concealed carry, how much output do you really need? I think most of these will light up across a normal suburban backyard. I think this falls into the same category as carry guns in that the lower output light that you'd actually carry on the gun is better than the higher output one that's in a drawer at home because it's too big.

I played with one of those 800 lumen TLR-1 lights on a Mossberg shotgun one warm evening this past summer. I was impressed how it lit stuff up out at 40-60 yards, roughly the distances to the edge of the treeline on my buddy's acreage. Not as cool as Streamlight's 2200 lumen handheld but for a weapon light intended for outdoor use, it did pretty well. Any raiding varmint, four OR two-legged, should beware.

OLight Mini PL on sale today.

https://www.olightstore.com/olight-pl-mini

Yep....I just ordered three of them. A steal at that price. Not as nice as my TLR-2 but also a LOT cheaper and still feels like a quality light.

Finally received our first supply of TLR-7s and 8s at the shop. Cute. Think I want to try one. I like my APLc well enough but 200 lumens has proven to be somewhat limited outdoors, plus the on/off switch is inadvertently activated too damn easily. Burning out cells while not actually using the weapon light seems to be a thing with me.

Kind of sorry for missing the Olight sale; not much a fan of their flashlights for the reasons as I posted months earlier in this thread. Too fragile. Their weapon lights seem to get a lot of positive reviews, but so too do their EDC flashlights, some of the same ones I'm dissatisfied with. At sub $50 it might've been worth a try, less inclined at the $80 full price.

They extended the sale until 12pm EDT

Stream light announced their TLR-7 since this thread ended last.

I agree with Rhino’s comments about holster selection.

That’s why I went with the TLR-7