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jlw
12-24-2011, 01:06 PM
Any of you have first hand experience with it? Just from looking at the specs, it doesn't have the power of the traditional WML, but the compactness of it makes it appealing for concealed carry.

JConn
12-24-2011, 01:11 PM
I don't believe its waterproof. If so that seems like a deal breaker for me.

SCBradley
12-24-2011, 02:30 PM
I had the Glock model arrive from CT yesterday, with the M&P model to follow.

I found it to be pretty flimsy. It comes as two halves you assemble around the triggerguard and rail using two very thin allen screws. I was afraid of stripping the threads in installing it once. The whole unit has to be disassembled to change the battery.

It's definitely not waterproof.

The activation button was bulky and forced me to take a lower grip, making the gun feel awkward. I had a hard time not activating the light with any decent grip, two-handed or single.

Finally, the light didn't seem bright enough to bother with. It is rated at 100 lumens, but was noticeably dimmer and less focused than the Viridian C5L.

I'll get some photos up when I can.

rjfleming
12-24-2011, 05:53 PM
Thanks for theinfo on the Light Guard I was thinking of ordering one to replace the surefire 200 W/ DG Switch on my G-37 but after your post I think I'll Pass and stick to the surefire WML.

Thanks Again, Bob F.

jlw
12-24-2011, 05:56 PM
I had the Glock model arrive from CT yesterday, with the M&P model to follow.

I found it to be pretty flimsy. It comes as two halves you assemble around the triggerguard and rail using two very thin allen screws. I was afraid of stripping the threads in installing it once. The whole unit has to be disassembled to change the battery.

It's definitely not waterproof.

The activation button was bulky and forced me to take a lower grip, making the gun feel awkward. I had a hard time not activating the light with any decent grip, two-handed or single.

Finally, the light didn't seem bright enough to bother with. It is rated at 100 lumens, but was noticeably dimmer and less focused than the Viridian C5L.

I'll get some photos up when I can.

Thanks. That's just the info I needed.

JConn
12-24-2011, 06:01 PM
Maybe I'm weird but I carry a 19 w/ an x300 and don't mind the extra width. It is also a proven quality piece of equipment.

ToddG
12-25-2011, 10:29 AM
I've not played with the Light Guard except to finger one at SHOT, but a comment on the brightness:

How bright does it need to be? What do you expect it to do? It's designed to be a very compact low-profile light. It's not supposed to blind people, it's supposed to provide adequate illumination to identify a potential threat at normal "CCW" distances. If it does that, then I'd say CTC did the exact right thing by bucking the trend toward eyeball-melting lights and instead provided something that met the need of a WML without the bulk and weight.

If the switching sucks or the Light Guard is too fragile, agreed, that sucks. But unless the light won't let you see what you need to see, it's bright enough.

jetfire
12-25-2011, 01:21 PM
I've played around with a bunch of different models of lightguard, and it's not fragile. I dropped a loaded M&P while running through a wash in Arizona at night with one on it, and it held up just fine.

As far as the brightness goes, it's bright enough to see a target at 10 yards and get hits on it, I agree with Todd - how much brighter does it need to be? I actually prefer the fact that it throws a wide cone of light instead of a narrow beam; I'm not trying to hunt Muhajadeen in caves in Afghanistan, I'm trying to see what I'm shooting at in my house at 0200. In fact, one of the cool things about the way the light is set up is that you can illuminate something with the weapon light WITHOUT pointing your gun at it. A nice feature if the weapon light is your only light.

SCBradley
12-25-2011, 06:07 PM
358
359
360

I'll surrender to practicality on the brightness issue. On fragility...

As a consumer, if I'm paying $100+ on a WML, and I can choose between:

1. Two plastic halves that don't mate all too well, held together by two very fine thread pitch screws, which screw into roll pins with threaded inserts punched into the plastic.

2. A machined aluminum housing, with a battery compartment sealed with a rubber gasket.

I won't be choosing 1 without some serious convincing.

I may be overly harsh, and I'm going to wring it out for at least a few weeks, but when I find myself thinking "please don't break" when I'm installing something, confidence isn't inspired.

JodyH
12-25-2011, 11:21 PM
I've heard a lot of complaints about the light output on the Viridian C5L as well.
It too is a small reflector 100 lumen LED.
While it's no where near the light output of my Surefires or Streamlights, when my wife ran it during a night match it was more than enough light to identify and shoot targets out to 35 yards in pitch black outdoors.
The trend towards high output long throw lights is the wrong way to go on handgun lights IMO.
The majority of the time a handgun mounted light will be used indoors and/or inside 25 yards.
As an experiment I've stayed in my darkened bedroom until my eyes were fully adjusted to the darkness (30 minutes or so) then kicked on my C5L.
The light output from the small reflector 100 lumen LED was enough to temporarily stun myself when it reflected off my white painted walls.
I've done the same experiment with a 225 lumen Surefire and it was significantly worse.
I think some of these smaller lights are a step in the right direction for handgun mounted lights.

Magsz
12-25-2011, 11:32 PM
For 100+ dollars i really wish these things were a little better made.

What we are paying for is the cost of their injection molds and its a little annoying when you can run out and spend 80 dollars on a TLR1 that arguably does the same thing but in a slightly larger package.

I also could not get the plastic housing to work on any of my guns that have even a slight undercut on the triggerguard.

Having said that, the overall slim design of the package is very appealing and the size itself makes it potentially possibly to rock this thing even in the appendix position. The light is plenty bright to use as a WML in the home or to ID targets at 15 yards like Jody said.

orionz06
12-26-2011, 12:17 AM
You are getting all of $100 dollars. Their intended target is the guy who buys a Glock, 50 rounds of ammo, and a small safe to keep the gun in the house, not us. I would pay $150 for something more robust, but myself, and the rest of us here, are not a large enough consumer base to matter.

SCBradley
12-26-2011, 01:14 AM
You are getting all of $100 dollars. Their intended target is the guy who buys a Glock, 50 rounds of ammo, and a small safe to keep the gun in the house, not us. I would pay $150 for something more robust, but myself, and the rest of us here, are not a large enough consumer base to matter.

That guy would be better served by a TLR-1 for that $100, or a TLR-3 for $75, as he won't even be seeing the lightguard's slimness advantage on a house gun. However as I type this, I don't really see a purpose in worrying/arguing about "that guy's" hypothetical purchases:o.

My intent in picking these up was to see how they would work AIWB; and it still is.

Hopefully I'll prove myself an idiot.

orionz06
12-26-2011, 01:19 AM
For $100 the TLR-1 is really hard to beat, but I think at the $150 hypothetical price the laser is well worth it and it would fall at $70 cheaper than the TLR-2 and have an arguably better switch.

For AIWB it seems to be the only option that would work for most people.

SCBradley
12-26-2011, 01:24 AM
For $100 the TLR-1 is really hard to beat, but I think at the $150 hypothetical price the laser is well worth it and it would fall at $70 cheaper than the TLR-2 and have an arguably better switch.

I may not be following, but the lightguard doesn't have a laser.

orionz06
12-26-2011, 01:25 AM
Hot damn, not sure how I thought it did. Must have had it mixed with another thing to come from SHOT.

I guess that makes this a much more limited item now.

ETA: They have one as a laser too, for some models.

jetfire
12-26-2011, 01:37 PM
They have a lightguard and a laserguard model, the Laserguard was designed for guns where it would be difficult to integrate a laser into the grip. I did have the same feeling of "is this thing really going to hold up?" when I first played with the Lightguards and Laserguards pre-release. The beating I gave one at Gunsite went a long towards making me not worry about the durability of the product.

The thing is that most people aren't spending their day climbing in and out of armored vehicles or fast roping down buildings, they're going to the grocery store. Or picking up the kids from soccer practice. It doesn't necessarily matter if their light is sealed to 20 meters of waterproof or if it's shock resistant to being dropped and then run over by a truck, because the worst thing their carry gun is going to see is an indoor range.

ToddG
12-26-2011, 02:08 PM
It doesn't necessarily matter if their light is sealed to 20 meters of waterproof or if it's shock resistant to being dropped and then run over by a truck, because the worst thing their carry gun is going to see is an indoor range.

At the same time, if it gets frakked being on the range in a rainstorm or breaks when it hits a barricade or is damaged by a fall off a table, it's inadequate to the task of being on a gun I'm going to train with regularly. I'm not suggesting the Lightguard will have any of those problems -- again, I have no experience with one outside of diddling one at the SHOT Show last year -- but for any gear I'm going to rely on, it has to be tough enough to handle a little everyday abuse.

jetfire
12-26-2011, 02:24 PM
Agreed 100%. I think the problem is that many of the people here through no bad intention whatsover have a definition of "everyday abuse" that is far beyond normal abuse.

My personal experience with the Lightguard comes from running one on an M&P during a writer's event at Gunsite, which is also the only time I've ever dropped a loaded gun. The Lightguard and the M&P were fine in that instance. I also have a couple of T&E models here which I've banged around and whacked on tables, etc. Seem to be fine.

The Laserguard (which is the same module as a Lightguard) works just fine in the rain. I have used the Laserguard for the HK45, the Sig P238, and the XDM in a pouring Oregon rainstorm and they ran just fine.

362

VolGrad
04-24-2012, 06:37 AM
So what did the hive decide on these? Go? No go?

I have a couple of TLR-1s (one on my dedicated night stand gun and one on a gun I carry) but would like a lower profile option at times for IWB carry with a light. At this price point I was thinking of trying one, specifically on a M&P9c. If I'm carrying a full sized gun I will carry a full sized light. However, on a compact or subcompact gun (carried IWB) I can see the potential value of a low profile light.

SCBradley
04-24-2012, 01:08 PM
I meant to update my opinion on this.

My durability concerns were unfounded, it seems.

I had one on my carry 19 for about 2000 rounds and I have no idea how many draws. It's was still solid on the gun and still works.

The most surprising to me, is the one I use for molding holsters is still functioning and in it's original shape after 20+ pressings. A lot of other lights/lasers have given up the ghost in the function department doing the same.

I'm still not a fan of the activation, as the only way to be sure I'm not going to activate the light with a good grip is to have the unit switched off. It also lowers my grip on the gun.

tmoore912
04-25-2012, 10:36 AM
Vol, thanks for bumping this. I too have thought about getting one because of the compactness.

Seems CT will be coming out with one that mounts on the rail and not on the triggerguard, which would solve the problem with a little bit lower grip under the triggerguard.

http://www.crimsontrace.com/products/manufacturer/ar15-m16-rifles/01-3260

Byron
04-25-2012, 11:09 AM
Seems CT will be coming out with one that mounts on the rail and not on the triggerguard, which would solve the problem with a little bit lower grip under the triggerguard.

http://www.crimsontrace.com/products/manufacturer/ar15-m16-rifles/01-3260
It's so good, you don't even need a front sight on your Glock!

But seriously, thanks for the heads up. I love the fact that more light options are coming to market.

VolGrad
04-25-2012, 05:58 PM
Vol, thanks for bumping this. I too have thought about getting one because of the compactness.

Seems CT will be coming out with one that mounts on the rail and not on the triggerguard, which would solve the problem with a little bit lower grip under the triggerguard.

http://www.crimsontrace.com/products/manufacturer/ar15-m16-rifles/01-3260

I have it on good authority the Railguards might not be "ready" yet. I asked someone whose opinion I trust and they said theirs activated on it's own during live fire.

The Light/Laserguards seem to be a good alternative for CC.

I will be passively looking for one at a good price. The only reservation I have is finding holsters.

VolGrad
07-20-2012, 12:17 PM
I will be passively looking for one at a good price. The only reservation I have is finding holsters.
I finally found a set of these LNIB on a local board and an anxious to check them out in person. For the price I paid it's worth the risk. I'll report back.

DavidS&W
07-21-2012, 03:09 AM
edited by ToddG: NO ASTROTURFING

VolGrad
07-28-2012, 06:08 PM
I finally found a set of these LNIB on a local board and an anxious to check them out in person. For the price I paid it's worth the risk. I'll report back.

FWIW I have my set listed for sale.

While I really like the way these are designed and still believe lasers are a great tool .... I still don't think they are for me. I slow myself down to chase the dot. For me I'd be better off focusing on one thing and one thing only .... the sights. Where these would be ideal though is low light, while shooting from awkward positions, from on your back, etc. I MUCH prefer these over the GLOCK Crimson Trace grips. The activation is in a better place and they have a master on/off switch.

Alas, still not for me. I so wanted to love them.

orionz06
10-28-2012, 10:56 AM
I swindled one of these off of a member for an M&P for a short period of time. I have only spend a batteries worth of time screwing around inside my house but I am very pleased with the light output. I can satisfactorily identify anything in my home and would venture to guess that it would be sufficient for most dark alleys and creepy places I find myself in. If it costs me nothing to have it attached to my pistol, G17 AIWB, I will use it. It would not replace my handheld light, Four Sevens Quark QTL, but that is for a specific lighting technique.

Haraise
10-28-2012, 07:28 PM
Lot of people are missing the point of this light. It's for CCW carry IWB/AIWB/ect.

If you're currently carrying without a light, this should allow you to carry with it. This is better than no light. CCW target ID.

If you're carrying with a light, you're golden of course, but most people don't CCW with a light on, and adding a weapon light to your hand held is a very useful kind of thing.

orionz06
10-28-2012, 07:41 PM
Agree, if it fits your mode of carry why not add it?

tmoore912
10-29-2012, 06:37 PM
I've been using the LightGuard on my carry gun and like how it performs so far. Been using it since late June in a JM Custom Kydex appendix holster. It's better than no light and works well for AIWB because of it's thin and short profile. I like the wide cast of light it throws.

Ridgeback303
10-30-2012, 07:34 AM
I've looked at this light (http://www.crimsontrace.com/products/manufacturer/ar15-m16-rifles/01-3470) on the CT website, but it appears to run on a single CR2 battery. That's an uncommon size, from my flashaholic experience, and I don't currently stock any of them, so that makes it a deal breaker for me. I wish they had opted for a single CR123 instead.

orionz06
10-30-2012, 07:55 AM
I don't believe, with the size of the 123, that they could have the same feel with a switch. The battery thing is a non-issue to me. buy a dozen or two and you are set until the next big thing comes around.

VolGrad
10-30-2012, 09:08 AM
I don't believe, with the size of the 123, that they could have the same feel with a switch. The battery thing is a non-issue to me. buy a dozen or two and you are set until the next big thing comes around.

Are you still carrying with a CT LightGuard attached orionz06?

Being as how Citrix is down and I can't connect to my virtual desktop I'm bore and will likely spend $ today on crap I don't need. I was thinking of the Lightguard again. The Laserguard was a bust for me but the Lightguard would be a great addition to a G19 or my Shield. Unfortunately, CT makes the Laserguard for the Shield but not the Lightguard. What gives with that?

orionz06
10-30-2012, 09:13 AM
No, the Lightguard I had was for an M&P for a member to make a holster (http://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?4199-2012-1911-when-will-it-arrive-and-be-GTG). I do not have an M&P that is satisfactory for carry. I established that it would not keep me from carrying if it were attached though. I did not make an AIWB for it, just IWB and OWB. Neither IWB or OWB holsters made for the gun with the light attached seemed much different at all, especially OWB.

VolGrad
10-30-2012, 09:18 AM
I guess I'm out for now anyway. My G19 I carry has a rounded trigger guard so this prob wouldn't even work well on it. The other gun I carry is the Shield and they don't make the Lightguard for it ... yet anyway. O well.

orionz06
10-30-2012, 09:21 AM
I believe they make, or are making soon, a Laserguard for the Shield. I assume a light model could follow.