AR Sponsor
Posted: 9/16/2005 2:13:08 PM EDT
|
I'm looking for a light to mount on my AR-15. Here are the requirements. Shockproof - obviously. Takes AA batteries. 1" in diameter to take generic mounts, or comes with a mount for it. LED (for runtime) Besides the TacStar T3 LED, what is there out there? |
|
On the contrary, 30 lumens is perfect if you JUST want to light up a room, not blind a person. 30 lumens of dull light will light a room up enough to identify a target, sure it won't blind them as much as 65 lumens, but it'll light the room up just the same. The reason I want a AA weaponlight is for battery availability. The above comments reflect my personal experience, your mileage may vary, everyone's eyes and low light vision is different. In my experience 30 lumens is not only enough, it's plenty more than enough for the desired purpose of ONLY lighting up a room to identify targets and navigate. I am no longer military, as such I no longer need military grade gear, as cool as it may be. |
|
AAs just do not have the performance characteristics called for with weaponlights for most users, so there is pretty much zero R&D using them and almost zero products out there for sale. I, personally, would never use a AA light for any serious use if I was able to get 123 batteries...and I am, so I own no lights that need AAs to function...and obviously the vast majority of users feel the same. Good Luck on your search. |
| Looks like the TacStar T3 LED or Elektro Lumens XM-3 is for me then. Thanks for the replies, it's too bad this is such an untapped resource. In the event of an emergency (such as Katrina), if it were to last a bit longer, months maybe, and be nation wide, CR123A batteries may be very hard to come by eventually, AA however will be everywhere. I'm building one weapon for worst case scenario end of the world and so on and so forth, so I want it to take the common everything. |
|
So stock up on 123 batteries and get a Pila rechargable and solar charger. You planning on staying the disaster zone for months on end? A single $18 box of Surefire batts would last you for all of Katrina for weapon light use. Get 5 boxes for under $100 to store. Now your set up for a multi month campaign in a foreign country. Better idea than counting on scrounging AAs from the already raided Walmart. You can get 2x123 3W weapon lights from Pentagon for not too much, or for your wide angle desires there are a TON of 5W LEDs. I am sure you will find what you want for under $100 if you go with 123 batts. Keep in mind weapon lights are in a very special nich category and dont get used like a regular flash light. 1 hour of run time with 2 batts means days of use. The Pila rechargable and solar makes WAY more sense than going to AA for prolonged SHTF scenarios. |
You oughta shop around a bit on those battery prices, especially if you want buy 6-7 boxes. 
|
Now pila batteries with the solar charger DOES sound quite interesting. Got links? Other than that, maybe I'm the only one that prepares for a permanent disaster, but that's what I'm looking at, and WalMart may be raided, but I'd be willing to bet you could still find AAs somewhere. I will look into the pila solar recharger, if you find a link before I do let me know please. I'd LOVE to be able to use my SureFires as my permanent SHTF lights. But if I can't find a common source or solar charger it's likely I'll be using the AA (ElektroLumens XM-3 probably, TacStar T3 LED if not), those I can find solar chargers for (already looking). |
|
Pila is the battery brand name and youd get a seperate solar charger. Pila is not the name of the solar charger. I am gonna be out for the night and cant look for links but you can do some looking on candlepowerforums.com and see which lights fit the Pila nad which do not. They are ever so slightly larger than regualr 123s in diamter. The $18 for Surefire batts was delivered. I buy em at $15 or other brands at about $1 each. Also ask questions in the survival forum of this site in the general section. Lots of Pila users there too. |
AR Sponsor