So I have a couple Olight weapon lights and I like them a lot. Super bright, quick attach/detach, robust design, etc. I have been seeing memes though lately that they are prone to blowing up or something related to battery issues? This is news to me and I am wondering if it is really a thing?

It's likely just a rumor that got started, but, that aside, there's no way on God's green Earth that I'd mount a Chinese anything on one of my rifles.

There is an irrational level of Olight acrimony on the internet. By that I don't just mean snobbery in the sense of, "Surefire & Steamlight are for operators; Olight is for poors," but rather, "Anyone who uses Olight is playing Russian roulette and deserves to die."

There are two cases that are primarily responsible for all the negative memes. The first was the case of Caleb Joyner. He was using a handheld Olight to work under the hood of his car. He was holding it in his mouth, which in itself is already is a hazard, b/c one's saliva can short out the circuits. Seems he contacted his car's battery w/ the Olight in his mouth causing the Li-Ion cells to explode and kill him.

The second case was this WML mounted to a G17 posted on reddit.


I read this was attributed to using two Li-Ion batteries of different charges.

Olight also recently offered refunds on their new Warrior Mini handheld lights, b/c they were turning on in owners' pockets and burning holes in their pants. This could be resolved by enabling the lock-out switch, but many owners complained the light turn on too easily or should have a temperature control auto shut-off.

I don't consider myself an Olight fan, although I do own a PL Mini Valkyrie 2 WML. I like its size and that it's rechargeable. I think my Google-fu skills are pretty decent, and despite many critics claiming there are legions of documented melting & exploding Olight WMLs - including the rechargeable models - I couldn't find any.

I don't think Olight is as good as Surefire & Streamlight, but I think they provide good value for their pricepoints, which they are often heavily discounted by Olight. A PL Mini 2 on sale costs 50-60% what a TLR7 does.

Now if you want to read about design & engineering reasons to dislike Olight from the perspective of flashlight enthusiasts, this reddit thread covers the issues w/o delving into heresay.

https://www.reddit.com/r/flash...ople_hate_on_olight/

Finally, I'll add that there are documented cases of exploding or melting Surefires & Streamlights too.

Oh, now it makes more sense. The flashlight snobs took that ball and ran with it.

It's nearly impossible to avoid Chinese-produced goods. Some of them are even decent, such as Olight products. I'm a fan of their i3E EOS for use in small survival kits.
So, I have no aversion to Olight products. I simply don't want any Chinese-made accessories on my rifles. I favor Surefire heavily, but that's not because I'm a Surefire fanboy. It's because of the consistent performance of Surefire's lights. Being made in the USA is most certainly a tremendous plus, but the main reason for my loyalty to their WMLs is their reliability.

And I don't use rechargeable batteries. I use Surefire-branded disposable batteries. In 20 years, I've never had a single problem with Surefire batteries.

Anyhoo, I digest...

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
...there's no way on God's green Earth that I'd mount a Chinese anything on one of my rifles.

I second this for anything I carry, use, depend on or every intend on passing to one of my children.

I pushed this big time with Vortex, when pushed by friends to "give them a chance". I caved once, for a range toy, and sure enough was "lucky" enough to get to find out how awesome the warranty reputation is for that Chinese made company.

O-light is made in china. Vortex is made in china. If it's made in china, it isn't a matter of if, but rather when it will fail.

Stick with American companies. Streamlight & surefire don't really cost much, if any more.

They've probably snuck through a Chinese-made sling swivel on me, or some other minor gee-gaw but that would be an issue with a secondary supplier, and nothing that I could readily avoid.

Beyond the practical aspects, it's also a matter of principle. You wouldn't bring your sister to a whorehouse.

I have an earlier single CR123 light from Olight that I've had no issues with, but most stuff I see now is for rechargeable WMLs and I'm not ready for that yet.

Thanks for the examples and insight guys. I may remove my Valkyrie and put my TLR7 on my G17. I have the TLR-1s on my AR so that’s gonna stay there I guess.

I have 5 O-Lights with 0 issues so far.

3x Valkyrie Mini PL2s, can't beat the modularity

1x PL Pro

and 1x I1R on my keychain

As well I gifted a PL Mini to my best friend on his birthday

I look at them like the sig and vortex optics of the flashlight world. Lower price with similar quality to the more expensive stuff out there.

For reference, my old surefire when I was in the army used to get turned on ALL THE TIME and kill batteries and burn my leg, so that's nothing new in the flashlight world. I have absolutely no doubt, without even searching, that other popular flashlight brands have caught and caused fires. I dunno about exploding someone's head, though. That sounds like some divine intervention of retribution for deeds from another life.