Images by the author
Lights on your pistol are a trend right now. Of course, we’ve had pistol lights for decades, but modern technology, including LED lights, has made them smaller and more affordable. One of my good friends is a former deputy, so he speaks from experience when he told me that about 70% of defensive shooting situations occur after dark. Having a light on your carry gun is a good thing.
But what light should you buy? There are many out there that do a good job. You can spend almost any amount to add a light to your gun. I have reviewed many lights over the years, and pretty much all of them do a good job. However, if you’re on a budget, your options are limited. There are always the inexpensive, imported models, but their track record isn’t so great. I think I found a good alternative. The bonus is that almost all of the lights they make have a laser (or two) available, as well. We’ll talk about the laser aspect a bit later.
If you’re not aware of HiLight Tactical, I’ll let them tell you a bit about themselves, from their website:
Hilight has been your source for premium weapon lights at fair prices since 2007. Run from New York with locations in Oklahoma and Wyoming, we use all the same internals as the big players in the industry, but don’t have the marketing, sales, or administrative overhead… instead passing the savings straight through to you. We offer a strong 1-year warranty with US-based support. If you have any questions, just call or email, and you’ll receive a response from Joe, the owner.
That “response from Joe, the owner” bit is true. I’ve been in contact with him. He’s a fellow who seems to me to be trying to continually upgrade his company’s products and services. He told of plans he had for the future, and they sounded good. I was impressed with his existing line, but he’s got improvements in store. As the saying goes, stay tuned…
Anyway, I requested a few items to look at for this review.
He sent me the following, from the several series of lights they make:
ES10G, light with green laser in black. 500 lumen, light, green laser:
PS5B, light with cyan laser, in OD.500 lumen light, cyan laser:
MV3CL light with cyan laser, in black. 500 lumen light, cyan laser:
All three above feature ambidextrous switches. Also, I believe these are the only cyan lasers on the market… I could be wrong, but I don’t think so. This cyan light is bright and easy to see. Notice – no red lasers except for the bore sighters. That’s new. Green and cyan are easier for the old eyeball to pick up than red, especially in daylight.
TGBL20 tactical foregrip for AR with light and both green and cyan lasers. 1000 lumen light, cyan and green lasers:
CBS-9MM Bore Sight:
GBS-223 .223 Bore Sight:
I have not mentioned pricing on purpose. According to Joe, pricing is under consideration at this time. I provided links to each product so you can view the current price and specifications. I will say that this company’s prices are just about the lowest I have seen, and that takes in a lot of lights.
In terms of specs, I think that is best left to checking whichever light you are interested in. I will say that
One feature that the three pistol lights share is that they are rechargeable. The MV3CL has an easily accessible USB port. The other two use the round magnetic charge spot used by some other brands. All three make it quick and easy to top off the charge without pulling the light off the gun. The tactical grip uses two CR123A batteries, available on the website. Again, you don’t need to remove the grip to replace them – they go in at the bottom.
The lights are great… they all feature different modes, including strobe. I really, really like them and think that they are a great bargain. They are warranted, so your risk is minimal.
The bore sights are OK. They use several of the little “button batteries” to power their lasers. The .223 sighter’s batteries are all joined together, which makes replacing them easy… until you have to find more. I guess you could ask HiLight. But that’s a tiny deal. For one thing, you’re only going to be using these sighters very sparingly, and by simply removing their caps for storage, the batteries should last a long time.
I said this above, but I’ll repeat… these lights represent an excellent bargain. I do not say that about all items I review… some are better than others. Given the low prices listed on their website, I don’t think you can beat them. They seem to be well put together and should last. If you have questions, you can contact the company… they are very eager to help, as I found out. This is a win-win, as far as I’m concerned!
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