You may never have contemplated the situation

[duke7595]

You may never have contemplated the situation


If it is too dark to see what is in your opponent's
hands, then you really can't identify a threat and you
should not shoot, even if you can see your night sights.

If it is light enough to identify your opponent as a
threat, then is it also light enough to see your sights
so you don't really need night sights.

Most people are unaware that night sights by themselves
are only useful for about 20 minutes during a normal 24
hour period.

It is in that short window of time, when the sun is going
down (or coming up) and there is still enough light to
identify your target as a threat, but not enough light to
clearly see your sights, that night sights really shine
as an important addition to your weapon.

So should you have night sights on your tactical
weapons...?

 

[cluznar]

That is an individual decision. Before night sights came out people did ok.

:dirol:

 

[kelcarry]

It is one thing if you are out in the dark of night in the woods or somewhere that is really pitch black and you are not familiar with your environs. I can understand having a tactical light on your firearm or in your hand. If you are in your own home and I speak for myself---I know my house, there are no other people in any other area of my house---just my wife and I in the bedroom. The BG probably and most likely does not know my house. Why in heck should I light his way to my center mass? In my house I am in a locked bedroom with a door stopper under the door. I have called 911, opened my garage door and activated car alarms--cannot hurt for police or anyone to know something is going on. I have my FN57 and I have my 12g shotgun and I have my defensive position. I will not leave the bedroom--the BG can have all the "stuff" in the other rooms--it is replaceable and insured. If I go out to defend this "stuff" I know I am insured but I know I am not replaceable--it is not worth it to me--but that is me and maybe not you. To go out there with a light, IMO, is putting a target on me for the BG--no way.

 

[Kalamity023]

I have night sights on all my carry guns. I also understand that if I'm going to be out late and it's dark I will carry a tactical flashlight with me. The night sights are for me to get every advantage I can to hit my target. Not so I can blast away in the pitch black just cause I can see my sights.

 

[S&W645]

You may never have contemplated the situation


If it is too dark to see what is in your opponent's
hands, then you really can't identify a threat and you
should not shoot, even if you can see your night sights.

If it is light enough to identify your opponent as a
threat, then is it also light enough to see your sights
so you don't really need night sights.

Most people are unaware that night sights by themselves
are only useful for about 20 minutes during a normal 24
hour period.

It is in that short window of time, when the sun is going
down (or coming up) and there is still enough light to
identify your target as a threat, but not enough light to
clearly see your sights, that night sights really shine
as an important addition to your weapon.

So should you have night sights on your tactical
weapons...?

If someone has broken into our house, I do not need to see what they have in their hands. All I need to see is the sights as there are night lights in areas that will backlight the criminal. So yes, the night sights are advantageous.

 

[DRNurse1]

+1. Tritium sights do not rely on light to be visible in the dark. And Kelcarry is right about carrying a tac light as well as a firearm. So "BE PREPARED for any old thing," and do not forget to practice in likely situations/ environments.

I have night sights on all my carry guns. I also understand that if I'm going to be out late and it's dark I will carry a tactical flashlight with me. The night sights are for me to get every advantage I can to hit my target. Not so I can blast away in the pitch black just cause I can see my sights.

 

[JCliff]

Being able to easily pick up your front sight in a lowered illumination scenario is a distinct advantage. It doesn't have to be really dark for that advantage to manifest itself, and, as Kalamity023 mentions above, night sights are not for blasting away in the pitch black. I would recommend night sights for any pistol used primarily for self defense purposes.
.
Flashlights & tactical mounted lights are a very different thing. Police & military use them, but their mission requirements are substantially different. As a private citizen, it's very, very unlikely you're going to need to clear rooms/buildings. That said, a good quality flashlight could still be extremely useful. I strongly recommend quality training to learn how to use such a flashlight (especially a gun-mounted light) in a self-defense scenario properly. Not knowing how, and not training, could easily get you shot, as kelcarry points out above. Using a light requires flashing, moving, and shooting in (obviously) low light. If you haven't tried it, it's not easy, and takes a fair amount of practice to do proficiently.

 

[BigSlick]

That is an individual decision. Before night sights came out people did ok.

:dirol:

The same could be said for flinklocks and muskets too. Night sights tilt the odds in your favor and in this day and age I want every advantage I can get. When I completed my low light clinic I was the only one with night sights and they made a huge difference.

 

[MonRiver]

If you are using a tactical, or pistol mounted flashlight, the light will not be shining on your sights.

The flashlight is to illuminate the target, night sights are to guide your bullet through the dark!

 

[Jahshoewah3619]

My P220 has them. I didnt see what all the hype was about and wasnt looking for them but it came that way. I agree they are only good for less than an hour a day under natural lighting conditions but i imagine there is alot of artificially lit areas where they would help like parking lots at night as just one example. It certainly doesnt hurt to have them on there just in case.

 

[Deserteagle]

Buy a flashlight. Problem solved.

 

[cjs1945]

I have Trijicon night sights on my Ruger P944 and they are very helpful anytime between dusk and dawn. If someone enters my house at night there is enough light to spot them as they move around and there is no need for them to see me, the night sights work great for sighting in on them and the muzzle flash will be their first clue that i am aware of their presence. They will not get off the first shot and the night sights will help make sure they don't get any shots.

 

[Etkini]

I strongly recommend quality training to learn how to use such a flashlight (especially a gun-mounted light) in a self-defense scenario properly. Not knowing how, and not training, could easily get you shot, as kelcarry points out above. Using a light requires flashing, moving, and shooting in (obviously) low light. If you haven't tried it, it's not easy, and takes a fair amount of practice to do proficiently.

Right on. I personally use(d) a 3D Maglite with a SSC P7 mod done to it and also added a strobe feature. It's not difficult to do, but I am a bit of a tech-freak regardless. It puts out probably close to 1,000 lumens, and I'm easily able to focus the beam to see about 300-400 yards away. A light that bright with a fast strobe feature is very disorienting when it's pointed at your face in a pitch-black environment, and if you train enough with it (close your dominant eye before turning it on to retain your night vision and switch sight picture to non-dominant eye) it can give you precious needed seconds to react.

With that said, I didn't have night sights on my duty-issued handgun, and don't have them on my personal handgun. Chances are I'm not going to have to shoot much more than 15 yards in a dark situation - if it's so dark that I can't see chances are I can't be seen either. If it occurs at home, there's night lights placed in certain locations that will light up anyone's silhouette, and placed at key points that I know are safe for me to fire in case I miss. Outside of that, I don't generally put myself in positions where it's too dark for me to see.

But again, it's all up to what you feel comfortable with and what makes you happy. I would carry and train extensively with a flashlight regardless, though.

 

[cluznar]

Why not just keep night lights in every room so you have just enough light to make out a bad guy? Much easier.

:victory:

 

[duke7595]

Should you have night sights on your tactical weapons for the potential need to use them in that very limited tactical niche of 20 minutes in every 24 hour period? YES.

Why?

Because most gun fights occur in low light and night time conditions. If you work in an artificial light environment as a warehouse night watchman, shopping mall security guard, or city police officer on the night shift, then you will find night sights particularly useful in the shadows of street lights and security lighting.

What kind of night sights should you have?

Keep it simple. There are plenty of choices but the three dot (two dots on the rear sight and one dot on the front sight) system is fast and simple.

The above is a consensus from East coast Police Officers taken from the their last training event in target identification.

 

[Etkini]

As an addition to my last post.. if you feel the need to have night sights, why not go the extra bit and just get a red dot?

Why? Because everyone has different opinions for what they feel they need or want, or what they can afford. Some like iron sights on their ARs, some like AIMpoints, some like EOTechs, some like reflex sights, and some like scopes (and inside that there's fixed\variable power, lower\medium\high power, etc). It's great we have all these choices, it really is. Otherwise we'd all have the same boring rifles with the same accessories.

If you rarely are outside at night, and have night lights placed inside you home at strategic locations, I don't think you really NEED to spare the expense. A $40 flashlight is going to do a better job (as long as you're trained or practice extensively) of threat identification than any set of night sights will ever be able to do. But again, we all have that choice so it's up to us to make that call.

 

[eagleeyes]

i practice point shooting... i might not have time to line up sights esp in the nighttime

 

[Dunewolf]

I like the idea of night sights because they generally are brighter then normal "white" sights in most situations.

I dont have any currently but if I had the money / time I would defiantly add some to at-least one of my firearms. (either the beretta or XDm)

However when it comes to flashlights and using them in fighting situations, they could present yourself as a target to shoot at. Soo use of a flashlight/combat light might be questionable at times. As I was walking to my bathroom just a min ago, I had the thought. If your owning the house you live in, and have the "master bedroom" why not just instal some extra electrical wiring to said master. Where you can have switches to turn the lights on in other parts of the house from master bedroom..

I know in "smart house" stuff that is possible easily enough. and there is some retrofit kits that allow a person to instal receivers / transmitters to remotely turn on lights in other parts of the house. Now that I think about it, i remember seeing some devices that turned on lights at a sound (breaking glass/loud thumps or just "clap on")

Though I currently have cameras installed indoors (soon outdoors) I can see all the entrances to my house currently from anywhere I have a network connection. (pc/tablet/etc)
I think adding remote lighting to my security plans a plus - more so for outdoor lighting (as it gets dark out here) some perimeter lights on remote, not just the "motion sensing" ones.

While its true the electric could get cut from outside, having a back up generator that auto cuts in should be apart of everyone's "emergency" situation plans for staying "home"

Oh boy if I had unlimited funds.. or even some decent funds the plans I could whip up.... ARGGGG sucks being an idea guy

 

[gejoslin]

I like the idea of night sights because they generally are brighter then normal "white" sights in most situations.

I dont have any currently but if I had the money / time I would defiantly add some to at-least one of my firearms. (either the beretta or XDm)

However when it comes to flashlights and using them in fighting situations, they could present yourself as a target to shoot at. Soo use of a flashlight/combat light might be questionable at times. As I was walking to my bathroom just a min ago, I had the thought. If your owning the house you live in, and have the "master bedroom" why not just instal some extra electrical wiring to said master. Where you can have switches to turn the lights on in other parts of the house from master bedroom..

I know in "smart house" stuff that is possible easily enough. and there is some retrofit kits that allow a person to instal receivers / transmitters to remotely turn on lights in other parts of the house. Now that I think about it, i remember seeing some devices that turned on lights at a sound (breaking glass/loud thumps or just "clap on")

Though I currently have cameras installed indoors (soon outdoors) I can see all the entrances to my house currently from anywhere I have a network connection. (pc/tablet/etc)
I think adding remote lighting to my security plans a plus - more so for outdoor lighting (as it gets dark out here) some perimeter lights on remote, not just the "motion sensing" ones.

While its true the electric could get cut from outside, having a back up generator that auto cuts in should be apart of everyone's "emergency" situation plans for staying "home"

Oh boy if I had unlimited funds.. or even some decent funds the plans I could whip up.... ARGGGG sucks being an idea guy

Tritium Sights for pistols glow in the dark. After 14 years they'll put out only half the lights, but that;s better than 20-30 mins a day.

Here's the website for some here Link Removed

Your right about the really neat electronic gadgets, they do get pricey. But extra lights in strategic places would help. And Radio Shack has the wireless trans and

receivers pretty cheap.

 

[NotTwoShure]

Kimber=Night sights, under pillow, five D cell Mag ligh sticks out of bed. Glock=Laser sight next to night, not within easy reach due to one in chamber. Kimber=give or take 10 to 14 years of bright glow, then dull, however, white dots remain. My older Ultra-Carry is in need of new sights, however, not going to change.