Now that Olight is spooling up in PF world...what about that BALDR?

[LOKNLOD]

BALDR Mini looks interesting. Anyone know if there is holster compatability with TLR7/8?



https://www.olightstore.com/baldr-mini.html

So I snagged one of these BALDR Minis last week and it arrived today.

Pros:
Plenty bright for house/self defense usage IMO. Hot spot in middle, decent spill. Nice in the house or even in my yard. Not as bright or as much throw as the ODIN, of course. Brighter than my old streamlight protac 1L.
--Laser high and centered seems to work well, puts it closer to the bore, isn't affecting beam pattern to my eyes. Green is bright enough to be visible in the middle of the white light unless you flash it into a white wall in pitch black at 12". In which case it's probably not your biggest issue.
--Fore-aft adjustment fit easily on G17, 92 compact, PX4 Fullsize. I also put it on my SBR at 12:00 against a DD fixed sight, and that was pretty slick. It put the laser very low right over the bore.
--Throw lever is easy on-off but still pretty flat to the gun. Can be swapped to the other side by reversing the mount. Not sure if recommended.
--Hold for momentary, click for on switching is pretty intuitive.
--Position switch for light/laser/both is positive and unobtrusive.
--Magnetic charging is cool.

Cons:
--switches are fairly small, and if not in an application where they wrap around something (trigger guard, sight base) I could see them getting damage in rough usage.
--throw lever with easy on/off if dubious if it's not fully return-to-zero on the laser.
--Magnetic charging - this is set up with opposite polarity from my other Olights. It is literally impossible to share cord with my other ones... They all look visually the same (black cords with blue ends), but have some different writing alluding to rating -- this one says "special" so I assume this polarity swap is intentional, to avoid accidentally connecting to the wrong cords and damaging something. In a way, this is very clever, and sorta foolproof. On the other hand, more clear visual differentiations would be nice. Instead of 3 blue cords that aren't' interchangeable, perhaps a red/blue/green or something more clearly obvious without literally reading fine print. I can imagine ending up at a class, or on vacation, or something and having grabbed the wrong light/cord combo and not being able to charge anything. (in fairness, some of this may be clarified in the manual that came with it which I promptly ignored).

[UNM1136]

I ordered mine. On paper, it is twice the light as my issued TRL1s.

Want to play with it....

pat

[JWH]

I just received my baldr mini, and I like it a lot. The switching is more intuitive than I expected. It seems well made. The mount is just a hair too tall to allow it to fit in my sagax lux. Do we know who is making holsters for these? The only one I found was Werkz, but their design seems a tad bulky.

[rob_s]

This past weekend I removed my TLR8G from my PCC to go shoot my match, then came home and re-attached it. I'd really love to get a throwlever solution instead of wearing out the screw like I'm doing now.

Anyone have a TLR8G and one of the Olight Baldr Minis they can mount on the same rail so we can see how they compare?

[rob_s]

This past weekend I removed my TLR8G from my PCC to go shoot my match, then came home and re-attached it. I'd really love to get a throwlever solution instead of wearing out the screw like I'm doing now.

Anyone have a TLR8G and one of the Olight Baldr Minis they can mount on the same rail so we can see how they compare?

ETA:


Olight overall height: 1.4175
Streamlight overall height: 1.479

The above are from this video. He measures the overall height, not the height from the top of pic rail to furthest point of light, but they should still be about the same difference. So the Streamlight is a little taller.

[Clusterfrack]

Has anyone tried the BALDR Mini in a holster fitted for a TLR8?

[UNM1136]

Has anyone tried the BALDR Mini in a holster fitted for a TLR8?

Nyet. Tried it for Safariland ALS duty holster for G17 and X300. The Mini has corners that are the wrong contour for the holster. I can get the gun in the holster, but it needs a FIRM push to seat and engage the ALS system, and a FIRM pull to draw. Seriously thinking about letting a co-worker hit the holster with a heat gun and loosen up the grip on the light.

Still playing with it, with mixed feelings. If it were Valkyrie (or X300/TRL1) sized with a laser coming out of the reflector at 12:00 it would be a grand slam! I kinda like the trow lever and don't notice it binding much in the holster. It may be, but it appears to be the lower two corners of the holster. And that holster is a bucket...

pat

[98z28]

I snagged a couple of the Baldr Minis. I mounted one on a Sig P320 and the other on an AR at 12 o'clock in front of a DD fixed front sight. The switching will take some practice on the AR, but I think it works well enough. You have to press down slightly on the switch in the expected position (as when mounted on a handgun), which means you have to press up slightly when the light is upside down on the AR. I have had a Surefuire X300 in the same spot for years, and I like that you can just press in for momentary activation. Pressing in and slightly up will take some practice, but it is not awkward by any means. Just different. The switch takes a good bit of pressure to activate the light/laser, which should help reduce light ND's. I really like that you can adjust the light to snug it up right where you want it - up against the trigger guard on a pistol, or against the front sight an an AR, for example. The adjustable mount does make the unit taller, but the switches end up in about the same spot as they would with an X300 or TRL-1. I included a couple pictures that (hopefully) show the relative size of the Mini with an old-school X300 and TLR-1. The light itself is noticeably brighter than both the X300 and TRL-1, though that's not surprising as neither is a current example.

I haven't been to the range with them yet, but I did remove and re-mount each light several times to see if the zero shifted noticeably. The laser appear to hold zero on both guns, at least as well as I could tell by matching the lasers up to the red dots at about 30 yards.

I do have a concern over the lights, though - or more precisely a concern over the lasers' zero. There is perceptible movement in both units when they are mounted. I sent the following email to Olight this morning, and will post here when I get a response:

I purchased two Baldr Mini's in the recent Elite sale, one in black in one in gunmetal grey. Both wiggle when mounted, and I am wondering if that is expected behavior. One is mounted on a Sig P320 and the other on the top Pic rail of an AR-15 (BCM KMR-13 rail). I switched the Glock key for the 1913 key in both lights before mounting them. The mount itself is rock solid - it doesn't move. However, I can wiggle the light unit (where the light, battery, and laser are housed) when the adjustable mount is locked onto the rail. The movement appears to be the light units wiggling on their adjustable rails, not the mounts moving on the firearms' rails. The amount of movement is slight - less than 1/64 of an inch - but it is perceptible by touch (I can feel it moving), vision (I can see it moving), and sound (I can hear it rattling). If it were just a light, I wouldn't be concerned. I am concerned about the lasers' zero. I cannot wrap my head around how the laser will maintain a consistent zero at distances beyond 10 yards with the movement, though I will not make it to the range to confirm zero for at least another week.

I initially thought one of the units had something wrong (because of the movement), but the fact that both units have the same behavior makes me think that it may be expected, which is why I am reaching out with the question. Does this sound like something over which I should send the lights back for inspection, or does it sound like they are behaving as expected?

Thanks,
Steven

[critter]

I initially thought one of the units had something wrong (because of the movement), but the fact that both units have the same behavior makes me think that it may be expected, which is why I am reaching out with the question. Does this sound like something over which I should send the lights back for inspection, or does it sound like they are behaving as expected?

I don't have the BALDR Mini, but it appears like the same adjustable mounting system that on the Valkyrie PL mini 2.

If so, it comes with the (I can't remember what it called) rail attachment piece for Glock mounted. There is a second piece in the box for picatinny mounting. That could be the cause.

ETA: Nevermind... just saw the "I switched the key..." portion... the PL Mini 2 is solid on the rail mount... yep, I'm obviously illiterate.

[LOKNLOD]

I snagged a couple of the Baldr Minis. I mounted one on a Sig P320 and the other on an AR at 12 o'clock in front of a DD fixed front sight. The switching will take some practice on the AR, but I think it works well enough. You have to press down slightly on the switch in the expected position (as when mounted on a handgun), which means you have to press up slightly when the light is upside down on the AR. I have had a Surefuire X300 in the same spot for years, and I like that you can just press in for momentary activation. Pressing in and slightly up will take some practice, but it is not awkward by any means. Just different. The switch takes a good bit of pressure to activate the light/laser, which should help reduce light ND's. I really like that you can adjust the light to snug it up right where you want it - up against the trigger guard on a pistol, or against the front sight an an AR, for example. The adjustable mount does make the unit taller, but the switches end up in about the same spot as they would with an X300 or TRL-1. I included a couple pictures that (hopefully) show the relative size of the Mini with an old-school X300 and TLR-1. The light itself is noticeably brighter than both the X300 and TRL-1, though that's not surprising as neither is a current example.

The 12:00 mount is exactly my hope for it, but playing with it I wouldn't mind having one for the house pistol either. The shorter OAL is great on an SBR/Pistol length gun.

Mine has the same tiny bit of wobble on the fore-aft adjustment rails, but I didn't worry much about it until I had a chance to zero. I think at ranges it's viable, it's amount of wobble is less than my amount of wobble, so I think theres a good chance it's a non-issue. I wonder if it could be shimmed slightly in a way that jammed the fore-aft once you got it set right, and that would eliminate the wobble.