What do you look for in a flashlight for a carbine?

[Edwardteach72]

Its awesome to see the competition and it will drive down prices but surefire has a slick mount also.

Scout Light Pro | 6-Volt Ultra-High-Output LED Scout Light® Pro w/ Z68 Tailcap | SureFire

With its recoil-proof, ultra-high-output LED delivering 1000 lumens of blinding white light, the Scout Light Pro Weapon Light is ready for action. Its proprietary TIR lens shapes the light into a far-reaching beam with ample surround light for exceptional peripheral vision, making it ideal for...

www.surefire.com

The good news is just about any quality light uses Surefires scout mount.

 

[Will556]

Its awesome to see the competition and it will drive down prices but surefire has a slick mount also.

Scout Light Pro | 6-Volt Ultra-High-Output LED Scout Light® Pro w/ Z68 Tailcap | SureFire

With its recoil-proof, ultra-high-output LED delivering 1000 lumens of blinding white light, the Scout Light Pro Weapon Light is ready for action. Its proprietary TIR lens shapes the light into a far-reaching beam with ample surround light for exceptional peripheral vision, making it ideal for...

www.surefire.com

It’s not like Surefire has never made a 1,000 lumen light. The biggest difference between this any other lights that they have is it has the integrated mount, which it honestly kind of reminds my of the Bobro pivoting mount. If you check out the candela on the Surefire Pro, it’s pretty shitty. 11,300...that’s the exact same lumen and candela rating as the Surefire X300U, which is mainly a pistol light. It’s got decent spill but it’s throw is complete garbage. If you’re 100% dead set on having to have a Surefire light, you might as well get the M600DF. It has 50% more lumen output at 1,500 lumens and has a 41.59% increase in candela at 16,000 (w/18650), or 13.27% candela increase at 12,800 (w/CR123’s).

 

[Edwardteach72]

. If you’re 100% dead set on having to have a Surefire light, you might as well get the M600DF. It has 50% more lumen output at 1,500 lumens and has a 41.59% increase in candela at 16,000 (w/18650), or 13.27% candela increase at 12,800 (w/CR123’s).

Then here comes me with the but wait, why pay surefire prices for a 600DF (about $260-270 depending)

When for $275 you can walk away with a Cloud Defensive Rein.

The 600DF comes with a clicky tail cap and a basic mount.

The rein comes with clicky tail cap, mount, AND pressure pad

 

[Will556]

Then here comes me with the but wait, why pay surefire prices for a 600DF (about $260-270 depending)

When for $275 you can walk away with a Cloud Defensive Rein.

The 600DF comes with a clicky tail cap and a basic mount.

The rein comes with clicky tail cap, mount, AND pressure pad

Oh I would have gone there too. That’s why I made sure I put the whole “...If you’re 100% dead set on having to have a Surefire...”. I made a comment regarding that exact thing on another thread regarding lights earlier. I’d definitely choose Modlite and/or Cloud Defensive over Surefire right now.

 

[SomeSoldier]

I was thinking about one of these.

WML + WMLx White - INFORCE

inforce-mil.com

 

[Will556]

I was thinking about one of these.

WML + WMLx White - INFORCE

inforce-mil.com

They’ve been known to have flickering issues. The body of the lights also aren’t very durable since it’s constructed of polycarbonate including the mounting base. One good drop on that thing and it’s cracking.

 

[SomeSoldier]

I purchased a light from eagtac for my wife and it is very well made, bright and not too expensive. The light has high, low and pulse settings.This was another brand I was thinking about checking for a weapons light.

EAGTAC - High Performance Tactical Flashlight - EAGTAC.com

 

[Jmac00]

View attachment 77566

I'll need two, I'll need a backup

 

[Edwardteach72]

I was thinking about one of these.

WML + WMLx White - INFORCE

inforce-mil.com

Don't

Lmao olight is better than an inforc

 

[Will556]

Don't

Lmao olight is better than an inforc

I don’t even like typing Inforce or Olight. lmao

 

[Edwardteach72]

I don’t even like typing Inforce or Olight. lmao

Its true..

Like legit with the cost of streamlight there is reason for either inforde or olight

 

[Will556]

Its true..

Like legit with the cost of streamlight there is reason for either inforde or olight

“inforde”...my point exactly. Case closed.

 

[Edwardteach72]

“inforde”...my point exactly. Case closed.

Lmao yup and didn't waste time to go back and correct myself

 

[Will556]

This kind of durability is exactly one of the reasons I had to pick up a REIN.

 

[Will556]

Surefire is definitely better than Streamlight. But with the progression of technology and other companies creating better products, Modlite and Cloud Defensive both have lights that beat Surefire depending on what type of light you’re choosing. That’s not saying Surefire is bad, cause that’s not the case. Surefire is absolutely still a really good light choice but It’s no longer the early 2000’s where Surefire was leading the industry. As it stands today, Surefire has definitely been dethroned as the king of lights. Surefire can’t say they’re leading the pack right now, until they decide to step their game up a little bit.

It’s like they read my comment and made a video based on it. 100% of everything I said is true.

 

[Podmonkey]

It’s like they read my comment and made a video based on it. 100% of everything I said is true.

Would you say LE is moving towards Li-Ion accessories? Is there a protocol for ensuring everything is charged up, or is that all on the individual officer? Is in car charging used or is it taken care of at HQ? Or is it a private procurement thing?

 

[Will556]

Would you say LE is moving towards Li-Ion accessories? Is there a protocol for ensuring everything is charged up, or is that all on the individual officer? Is in car charging used or is it taken care of at HQ? Or is it a private procurement thing?

I think the departments, agencies, teams that are better equipped are much more likely to be running a weapon mounted light with a rechargeable 18350/18650. The absolutely outperform the older style lights with CR123’s. As for regards to maintenance, that’ll all be based on each departments SOP’s. I take care of all of my own gear and make sure all my own stuff is good to go. I have a charger that can be used by plugging into a wall or by plugging it into a vehicle, though the vehicle charging will take much longer than if you were charging it by plugging it into an outlet. Not all departments or even most have the funds to be able to get the nicest gear out there. I know plenty of guys that run a lot of gear that they personally bought because it’s better than the options that are issued.

 

[Podmonkey]

I think the departments, agencies, teams that are better equipped are much more likely to be running a weapon mounted light with a rechargeable 18350/18650. The absolutely outperform the older style lights with CR123’s. As for regards to maintenance, that’ll all be based on each departments SOP’s. I take care of all of my own gear and make sure all my own stuff is good to go. I have a charger that can be used by plugging into a wall or by plugging it into a vehicle, though the vehicle charging will take much longer than if you were charging it by plugging it into an outlet. Not all departments or even most have the funds to be able to get the nicest gear out there. I know plenty of guys that run a lot of gear that they personally bought because it’s better than the options that are issued.

I guess my whole thing behind the question is that while 18650/350 lights outperform CR123 lightstge logistics are trickier. With the latter all that is needed is to toss out packages of batteries, with the Li-Ions you have to ensure they aren't being over charged or allowed to completely discharge and all that there. But I guess its not such a big deal, fairly simple thing I suppose. I do think that companies light ModLight and Cloud Defensive are at the forefront of weapon lights now. The PLHv2 has a good beam pattern for the purpose.

 

[Will556]

I guess my whole thing behind the question is that while 18650/350 lights outperform CR123 lightstge logistics are trickier. With the latter all that is needed is to toss out packages of batteries, with the Li-Ions you have to ensure they aren't being over charged or allowed to completely discharge and all that there. But I guess its not such a big deal, fairly simple thing I suppose. I do think that companies light ModLight and Cloud Defensive are at the forefront of weapon lights now. The PLHv2 has a good beam pattern for the purpose.

All of my chargers which are like most modern chargers and they won’t overcharge 18650/18350 batteries, they are made to instantly stop charging once they reach maximum voltage. Pretty much plug in the charger, put batteries in the charger...set it and forget it. The Cloud Defensive lights come with a charger, so does Modlite if you choose the option to add the charger.

 

[Edwardteach72]

All of my chargers which are like most modern chargers and they won’t overcharge 18650/18350 batteries, they are made to instantly stop charging once they reach maximum voltage. Pretty much plug in the charger, put batteries in the charger...set it and forget it. The Cloud Defensive lights come with a charger, so does Modlite if you choose the option to add the charger.

Modlite even offers 2 different chargers a standard one and a more premium one for a few extra bucks (worth it imho) and with 18650 it's easy to have one in the light, 1 spare ready to go and 2 in the charger on tap and then just rotate all of them regularly/when needed

 

[Will556]

Modlite even offers 2 different chargers a standard one and a more premium one for a few extra bucks (worth it imho) and with 18650 it's easy to have one in the light, 1 spare ready to go and 2 in the charger on tap and then just rotate all of them regularly/when needed

Cloud Defensive has a few options as well. I know they had one that was solar powered as well. So in case you’re not able to plug a charger in...BAM, solar powered charger!

 

[Will556]

Nitcore is usually the brand of chargers that light companies use. I have a few Nitcore chargers that have come with both my Modlite package and Cloud Defensive package.

 

[Edwardteach72]

Yea I went with the Nitecore as well, it was a few bucks more than the other option but seemed to offer a few more features

 

[Edwardteach72]

Yea the other one that most offers with the Modlites is the XTAR MC2. Which is about 10 bucks cheaper. And as we can see not nearly as many features as the Nitrcore which has a digital read out screen

 

[Will556]

Right now I have the two Nitcore chargers (one on the right came with my REIN and I haven’t even opened yet), other one came with my Modlite which I bought first. Third charger is the Surefire charger.

 

[Will556]

They talk about how Arisaka outperforms Surefire like I have previously stated on her multiple times as well. They also mention that they’re not fans of a strobe feature in a weapon mounted light. They even mention how Haley has stated in the past that he’s not a fan of it and why. Travis Haley himself has stated “...specifically talking about the momentary only function. Cause when we are talking about principles or applications of light, we want to be able to utilize that light the way we want to. So we want good power authority. So if I’m searching I don’t want *high*, *low*, *strobe*, when I wanted *high*, *high*, *high*. So that’s where we take basically the certainty of a light working when I want, versus the probability of a switch potentially confusing myself or not being able to dominate the target with light if I absolutely needed it in that split second.” I’ll also post the other episode of this series that I missed last time posting it up.

 

[Will556]

Here’s Part 1 of the series which makes sense since the Inforce is my least favorite out of all the lights on this list (even though they are backed by Haley, he must be getting a kickback from them I assume). Because they’re absolutely not the best light out there. Though he might be backing a not so great light which drives me a little crazy, he still makes perfect sense on the usage and proper application of them.

 

[Will556]

The Modlite Review

 

[dwa12479]

They talk about how Arisaka outperforms Surefire like I have previously stated on her multiple times as well. They also mention that they’re not fans of a strobe feature in a weapon mounted light. They even mention how Haley has stated in the past that he’s not a fan of it and why. Travis Haley himself has stated “...specifically talking about the momentary only function. Cause when we are talking about principles or applications of light, we want to be able to utilize that light the way we want to. So we want good power authority. So if I’m searching I don’t want *high*, *low*, *strobe*, when I wanted *high*, *high*, *high*. So that’s where we take basically the certainty of a light working when I want, versus the probability of a switch potentially confusing myself or not being able to dominate the target with light if I absolutely needed it in that split second.” I’ll also post the other episode of this series that I missed last time posting it up.

I honestly can't stand stobe on WMLs. Im a believer in the KISS principle for sure. KEEP. It. Simple. Stupid. Ive gotten very comfortable with my streamlight tape switches. A very large momentary pad, and an obviously different to the feel buttonnfor continuous on.

 

[HEX]

I just keep it all very simple. I use a TLR-1 or TLR-2 variant anywhere I can. No potentially screwy pressure switches. No cords to get caught on anything. I just put the rocker/momentary switch where it's easily accessible to a thumb. Never had one go wrong. I don't care or worry about lumens. The basic models are plenty bright enough.