Olight continues to crank out some amazing products at competitive prices. The Warrior X Pro is no exception.
Category Archives: Illumination Tools
Olight PL-Pro Weaponlight Review
Olight has released an update to their flagship pistol mounted light and it is a substantial one. The Olight PL-Pro took all of the great features of the PL-2 Valkyrie, increased the output and added an internal rechargeable battery.
The Surefire X300-U is the market leader for pistol mounted weapon lights. I own several of them. The original PL-2 Valkyrie offered a great value to those who are not quite in the market for the Surefire. The PL-Pro may have actually taken a step past the X300-U.
Olight has increased the output of the PL-Pro to 1500 lumens compared to the PL-2’s claimed output of 1200 lumens. The programming of the light has also changed. Double-tapping either of the side switches will now drop the light into a 300 lumen low-power mode. This will extend your battery lift and makes the light useful for administrative tasks when not mounted to a weapon or for weapon mounted illumination in close quarters. The light will “remember” the last mode and continue to work in that mode until the switch is double-tapped again. Continue reading Olight PL-Pro Weaponlight Review
Olight Baldr PL-2RL Weapon Light with Red Laser
Olight sent me one of their new Baldr PL-2RL weapon light to review. When I am outfitting a full-size handgun for defensive use, I will usually select a Surefire weapon light. They are durable and they have outstanding customer service. However, that does come at a significant cost.
I believe in spending money for quality equipment. That does not necessarily mean that you should go without if you don’t have a large budget. The Olight PL2-RL is an affordable option.
I don’t find lasers to be very useful on a defensive handgun. They can be useful for SWAT Officers carrying a shield. They may be useful for shooters with some vision problems. Outside of those situations, I prefer standard iron sights or a red dot optic. The PL-2RL is available without the laser, as the PL-2 Valkyrie.
Continue reading Olight Baldr PL-2RL Weapon Light with Red Laser
Weaponlight Carbon Solution
If you train with firearms, cleaning them is a fact of life. There are few firearms cleaning tasks that are less enjoyable than removing the caked up carbon from your weaponlight.
Removing the weaponlight before training is a simple solution. However a weaponlight can alter the way a firearm handles. It can also affect how the handgun fits in a holster. If you carry a weaponlight, you should train with your weaponlight attached. That begs the question, how do you prevent the mess?
There are several products on the market to address the problem. Most take the form of stickers or lens caps. All of them cost money. Thankfully, you probably already have something in your range bag that can solve the problem. Continue reading Weaponlight Carbon Solution
Inforce APLc Glock Pistol Light Review
Years ago, it was uncommon to see someone outside of the military or Law Enforcement carrying a handgun with a weapon light. As lights became more compact and less expensive, they became much more common. More and more citizens began to add weapon lights to their concealed carry handguns. Inforce has released a new product to make this even easier.
Traditionally, adding a weapon light to your favorite compact handgun also added unwanted bulk and made it less comfortable to conceal. Lights add some significant length if not also thickness to a pistol. Inforce solved this by taking one of the most popular concealed carry handguns, the Glock 19, and designing a weapon light to fill the empty space under the dust cover. Continue reading Inforce APLc Glock Pistol Light Review
Thyrm SwitchBack Review on the Surefire G2X
We recently came across a novel product from Thyrm LLC. The SwitchBack Flashlight Ring adapts your flashlight into a more versatile, tactical tool for concealed handgun carry.
Over the years I have used many different flashlight techniques while shooting a handgun. The “Chapman”, “Harries”, “Rogers”, “FBI”, etc. all work with varying degrees of efficiency. All take away points of contact on the handgun when compared to a standard two handed grip. This drawback paved the way for weapon lights to take over the professional sector.
In the concealed carry world, a weapon light causes some new difficulties. Weaponlight holsters are bulky and most sub-compact handguns are not designed to accept weapon lights. Now we are back to having to use one of the old-school flashlight techniques, while minimizing loss of contact on the weapon.
Thyrm LLC’s SwitchBack helps to solve some of these problems. The SwitchBack is a simple polymer ring that slips over the tail cap on a variety of popular tactical lights.
In use, the index finger of the shooter’s support hand goes through the loop with the rest of the flashlight body pointing down in the palm of the hand. This is what I refer to as the “utility” grip. During my testing, I found that it is a very secure way to hold the light for most tasks that do not involve a firearm. For regular searching I would hold the flashlight in the center of my chest, palm down. If I needed to draw my handgun, but did not have a threat, then I could use the “FBI Technique” where the light is held high and away from the body.
When it was time to bring up your handgun and light up a target, you allowed the light to rotate around your index finger, pivoting on the ring. This brought the tail cap switch into contact with your middle finger. The “bump” on the ring falls perfectly under the pad of your thumb. In this position, pushing forward with your thumb causes the light to pivot on the ring and press the tail cap switch, momentarily illuminating the light. I will refer to this as the “tactical” grip.
Once you have the light in the “tactical” grip your middle, ring and pinky finger are free to wrap around your strong hand and assist in keeping your weapon on target. In use I found this grip to be much more stable than the G2Z in a “Surefire/Rogers” grip.
During our test I installed the Thyrm LLC, SwitchBack on a Surefire G2X light. Initially we used the stock Surefire momentary switch. At first the switch was very hard to depress, but as it broke in it became easier to activate the light in the “tactical” position. Later we swapped out the factory momentary switch for a “clicky” switch. This made is easier to activate in momentary on. The fit of the SwitchBack on our G2X made it almost impossible to twist the tail cap for constant on. The installation of the “clicky” switch solved this problem. I definitely suggest using an aftermarket “clicky” switch or selecting one of Surefire’s other models if you intend to add a SwitchBack.
Thyrm LLC was also smart enough to add a pocket clip to the body of the SwitchBack. This clip makes it very easy to keep the attached light high in a pocket for quick deployment. In civvies, it allowed me to clip the light in my support side pants pocket with no problems. I never once had anyone ask about it. In uniformed use, it clipped perfectly inside my cargo pocket divider on my 5.11 Stryke pants.
The biggest benefit to a non-weapon mounted light is during non-gun situations. Sometimes, 500 lumens of white light may be enough to discourage whatever antisocial behavior had arisen. Other times I may require a more personal non-lethal response. When going “hands-on” the G2X and Thyrm SwitchBack have some added advantages. The G2X features an aluminum head and slightly toothy bezel. In a downward strike it can dissuade an attacker from continuing his hostile actions. When held in the “utility” grip, the SwitchBack places the thumb “bump” directly at the index finger’s middle knuckle. This could provide a focused strike, or even better apply a great deal of force to a pressure point for pain compliance. Thankfully there was not a need to test either of these features during this review.
With a $19.99 purchase price, the Thyrm LLC, SwitchBack offers a lot of value. Even if you do not currently have a light that the SwitchBack will fit, I feel it is worth the expense to purchase one if you routinely carry a non-weaponligth handgun.
TacLites M600 Heavy Utility Flashlight Review
The flashlight has been a core tool for Law Enforcement and Military personnel since it was first patented in 1899. Since then, the cardboard tube and bulky batteries have evolved into a countless number of designs. Some are cheaply made, disposable junk. Some are finely machined tools. The TacLites Flashlights fall into the latter category.
TacLites sent us one of their finely crafted M600 Heavy Utility Flashlights (HUF) to evaluate. The flashlight body is constructed of 6061 Aluminum and aggressively grooved to provide a sure grip. The body is 1″ diameter in order to fit many weapon mount options. Our test model was black anodized, but KG Guncoat finish is also available.
TacLites uses a “p60” style drop in LED module. This offers a wide variety of beam color and intensity options. Out test model came equipped with a Cree XM-L2 emitter and three power options (5%, 30%, 100%). At full power the light is rated at 800 Lumens.
While we don’t have any method to test the actual lumen output of a flashlight, I found that the TacLites M600 was the brightest of all of my handheld lights. The full-power setting easily illuminated 100-200 yard targets. Continue reading TacLites M600 Heavy Utility Flashlight Review