The Best Weapon Light? A Comparison and Historic Progression.
The Best Weapon Light? A Comparison and Historic Progression.
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As far back as the early 19th century, people were attempting to affix light sources to firearms. As technology has developed over the last 200 years, and especially in the last 40 or so years, from 1980 to present, weapon lights have become more and more common on firearms. But contrary to basic understanding, lights with similar top-line stats can actually have massively different functions and/or outputs. In this video we explore some of those functional differences with a demonstration on a course designed to highlight the differences between throw, spill and beam intensity.
Models reviewed:
00:08 – Intro
01:45 – History/Background
05:10 – Course Layout
06:47 – Light Demo
06:52 – Maglite
07:20 – Surefire 6P
08:02 – Insight M3
08:26 – Surefire 6P LED
09:05 – Streamlight TLR-7
09:52 – Fenix PD32 UE
10:41 – Surefire EDCL2-T
11:12 – Surefire X300U
12:48 – Surefire M300 KX1A
13:23 – Surefire M300 KE1H
13:45 – Surefire KE1F
14:20 – Arisaka 300 E1HT
15:20 – Surefire M600P Fury
15:54 – Surefire M600 KE2C
16:22 – Surefire M600 KE2A
16:44 – Arisaka 600 E2XT
17:30 – Surefire M600 Vampire KM2-C
18:14 – Streamlight Pro Tac 2
19:38 – Surefire M600 DF
20:28 – Cloud Defensive Micro REIN
21:38 – Modlite PLHv2
22:11 – Modlite OKW
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I really liked where this was going in the beginning with the history, and showing the different antiquated devices. I’d love to see in-depth reviews of old technology like the very 1st red dots, Aimpoints, EOTechs, Surefires, etc.
Gee thanks, now I’ll be spending about $400 (x2 rifles = $800) for Modlite/Arisaka mount/rail mounted pressure switch set ups. That’s not including the 2 pistol lights I’ll be upgrading to SureFire X300s… This channel should be banned from YouTube.
You should have thrown some images of medieval ‘lantern shields’ into the intro – this goes back even before the invention of firearms.
I’ve got TLR1-HL’s on most of my rifles. Plenty bright, affordable, takes up very little space on the rail, and with the long gun kits, they’re as adaptable as any other rifle wml. To keep things slim, I thread the holes in the streamlight long gun switch and directly attach to my rails with mlok screws coming from the inside of the rail out into the newly threaded holes of the switch/pressure pad.
Why would you compare the tlr 7 instead of the tlr1 to the sf 300
WITH THAT SAID 😂 – I enjoyed watching your video. Very informative. Could have done without the history lesson.
Please do a follow up and include olight models like the Odin series
No full size REIN?
I’ve always wondered about other peole’s mindset with mounting certain types of like, I saw videos of the Marines nowadays and a LOT of them are using Streamlight TLR-1s on their rifles, but the light was meant for a pistol.
I think civilians get way too wrapped in throw. When are you going to need to PID at target with a light at 100 yards and engage it? Never if you do not want to go to jail, short of a SHTF situation. Great spill on the other hand, as a civilian, that has good PID to 25-50 can save your life by identifying targets to your left, center, right. Think room/house clearing out to 25 yards max. Anything past that is going be really hard to justify in court.
Secondly is battery type. The 18650 seems to be all the rage now. Yet I remember people saying CR123’s were hard to find so stick to AA or whatever. Well you better have a good supply of 18650 because they are 1000% harder to find than CR123 at any local store. I can buy CR123’s at my local grocery store. It also powers my Eotech, so I have two spare CR123’s in my grip that will power both my light and Eotech. If your 18650 shits the bed and you do not have a backup…that light is down hard.
Nice video, thank you, but the background music adds nothing – in fact it is pretty annoying.
NO, NO, NO, NO! NEVER USE A LIGHT. IT DRAWS FIRE!
The problem with this test is that it is evaluates illumination at distance. But if your objective is home defense, you want illumination at short range, and not so bright that it hurts your eyes. They never did an indoor test at close range, a major oversight.
Modlight or nothing
I can’t make a decision. I keep switching between a 9" 300aac and a 16" FN 5.56 patrol carbine. Worse yet I keep switching between my Olight Odin mini and surefire m300 scout… This is why we need women, to just tell us what to do.
Thank you for not including olight on this review, you would have lost all credibility. See
00:08 – Intro
01:45 – History/Background
05:10 – Course Layout
06:47 – Light Demo
06:52 – Maglite
07:20 – Surefire 6P
08:02 – Insight M3
08:26 – Surefire 6P LED
09:05 – Streamlight TLR-7
09:52 – Fenix PD32 UE
10:41 – Surefire EDCL2-T – Typo Correction1 (11,300* candela)
11:12 – Surefire X300U – Typo Correction (11,300* candela)
12:48 – Surefire M300 KX1A
13:23 – Surefire M300 KE1H
13:45 – Surefire KE1F
14:20 – Arisaka 300 E1HT
15:20 – Surefire M600P Fury
15:54 – Surefire M600 KE2C
16:22 – Surefire M600 KE2A
16:44 – Arisaka 600 E2XT
17:30 – Surefire M600 Vampire KM2-C
18:14 – Streamlight Pro Tac 2
19:38 – Surefire M600 DF
20:28 – Cloud Defensive Micro REIN
21:38 – Modlite PLHv2
22:11 – Modlite OKW
Keep ignoring Olight please. It keeps the price reasonable. Thanks. I’ve ran the hell out of several Olights over the last 3 years and they’ve all been impressive… More impressive than several of the surefire models that made your list (from personal experience)
How is the tlr-7 in this list, and myriad versions of old-gen scouts, but not any version of the TLR-1HL or TLR-2? That’s a huge oversight, it’s been used by literally tens of thousands of civilians and cops for well over a decade.
I’d like to see how Olight stacks up. One of by biggest gripes for weapon lights is how fast the battery drains. Olight has a built in battery which is rechargeable.
Great review!
Nahhh…my Olight is just as g(BOOM!!!)!!!!
..I might be 4 months late watching this, but it’s an EXCELLENT comparison and review of the most popular. Very comprehensive. Thanks..
Really good video and interesting history. Be cool to see you do on of these for red dots too.
Best performance vs price option for an AR, other rifles/carbines…Hands down the Crimson Trace CWL-202
Have the plhv2 18650 and my god . Its fucking amazing
No TLR1-HL?
Add down range video,what target experiences
You guys need to do more flashlight reviews.. Take something like the Olight WML range and do this 🙂
The next evolution will be small drones with miniature spot lights flying into the action zone providing illumination and ‘possibly’ targeting decoys
Very informative video. Great Job!
I got a deep cut on my and your talking about flashlights. Cant help but remember when i was young i had a deep cut on my hand, opened up a D cell flashlight and battery acid “spilled” into my cut. Good times
No idea how I have found this channel before now. Youtube algorithms… Great video! Please keep it up.
nitecore p20i the best…
I’m not sure that I believe that the TLR7 is putting out 500 lumens.
Paying over $200+ for a light & pressure switch or hell for a sight is absolutely ridiculous…. Rather put that towards another firearm.
The cloud rein micro is a tad shorter and lighter than the protac HL-x with the same size head for those wondering. The full size Rein challenges the OKW on throw and has more spill (lumens), but it is much larger and heavier than the okw.
At 300 meters the modlight and cloud lights are an obvious tier above the streamlight and surfire lights in my testing. That arisaka Malkoff head has great throw also.
This course was great for engagements in open areas/outdoors, but I’m wondering if you could do a follow up showcasing their effectiveness in the <25m range in an indoor/urban environment?
That would help show performance in both situations as some may only be expecting to use a tac light in areas like buildings/residences/alleys/etc.
Yes wml is a MUST and I stick with my Surefires mainly the new scout pros using mlock…… they do everything I need and more! I love the spill and how everything lights up around you.
That 15 meter spill width is nice and a beam for identifying targets at 50-75 meters would be my ideal light for my AR pistol
Very thorough and well thought out study. Well done. I have for some time now been running several Streamlight Pro-Tac 2 625 lumen lights with a commonly available Surefire DS tail-cap adapter that allows me to mate the Streamlight light with a Surefire dual remote switch. I have been very very pleased with this "Frankenstein" modification. Streamlight makes quality products at a fraction of the price but the cost savings was NOT the reason I chose to use the Streamlight Pro-Tac 2, I truly felt that after using both Surefire and Streamlight lights the Streamlight was noticeably better in overall performance in a number of different real world environment/scenarios. I addressed the issue of the less desireable Streamlight remote switch by using the Surefire DS tail-cap adapter and better Surefire remote switch. The tail-cap adaptor is simple and seamless and I have had absolutely no problems with that configuration. Again, great video.
At 10:50, there is typo in the specs of the light. You have the candela listed as 113,000 candela, but in fact the light only has 11,300.
Please pick one light to compare the other ones to, or at least the "control" for each size category be the same.
I’m sure you worked hard on this video. Had you compared rifle to rifle, pistol to pistol and hand held to hand held lights, your time would have been spent much more wisely. As the video is laid out, it pointless rambling comparing apples to oranges.
Comparing the X300 to the TLR7 isn’t really a fair comparison. The TLR7 is half the size and not made to be a competitor to the X300. The streamlight TLR-1HL is a more fair comparison. And is built to be a direct competitor. I know you already know this. But anyone who is new to weapon lights will automatically assume that the surefire is the better offering. When in my opinion the TLR-1HL is much better in performance and was better in price. Like half the price.
Weapons lights today are a necessity in my opinion. And any light used for home defensive armed situations are a necessary attachment to a home defensive weapon. The streamlight 8a with 500 lumens is a perfect amount of light for my needs. On my ar9 and ar15 carbines the protac HLX is perfect for both weapons. The ar9 is my primary home defensive weapon has more than enough for any defensive situations I’ll encounter. On my glock19 and 23 and sig320c. The 500 lumens is more than adequate for home defensive situations and if needed for outdoor situations. And as a retired federal law enforcement officer and from reviewing tecrnt data. Most armed incidents are sill takeing place within distances of 25 to 50 yards at maximum distance. And my streamlight is more than capable to illuminate and identify a potential deadly threat. And I’m not knocking any other brands of wespomd lights. I’m just giving my opinion from my experiences. And years ago I used a surefire 6p weapons mounted light on a ar15 carbine. And with 65 lumens it put out a useable amount of light for my needs. I believe it had something to do with tje dimped reflector it used. But wmls today have improved to preformance that any good weapons mounted lights out today are sufficient for most defensive needs of civilians in need of a wml. My thought on the subject is to get a light to match your needs realistically. But most importantly to get trained in it’s use. If there’s anything I’ve noticed it’s the improper use of lights mounted on wespoms or even hand held lights. Low and no light training is a must. And it definitely gives you a edge and a advantage on proper use of your wml.
Excellent review of options and capabilities of weapon lights. I run the the Streamlight Pro on my HD Shotty and on one of my AR’s. The light completely floods the room and I can see even directly left or right of myself, leaves almost no shadowed areas in a room. For outdoor use, I was glad to see the budget friendly light performed well, thanks for illustrating it!
Love my Cloud Defensive OWL.
Streamlight RML Is the way to go!!! 👍🏼
You forgot to mention battery types. I won’t get a light that doesn’t take AAA or AA batteries. Mainly due to battery life and battery availability.