Darkness and Red Dots

The widespread use of Red Dot Sights (RDS) on handguns has gained enormous popularity in the past five years and with good reason. In our previous blog post we highlighted the reasons why you should consider equipping your handgun with a RDS for improved accuracy and situational awareness, here we will high light the increased benefits within a low light situation.

Low light encounters do not necessarily only include evening or nighttime. Going from broad day light into a dimly lit building presents another level that shooters need to be prepared for. Night sights on handguns have been the standard for defensive handguns and are still a great option however a RDS still has the benefits of being a single plane sighting system while also being self-illuminating. Tritium sights will glow in low light/ no light environments but not in the way that a RDS does.

Incorporating a handheld or weapon mounted flashlight into your everyday carry will make you better prepared for these encounters and variables. First, a weapon mounted light, this will enable you to illuminate your target and not create too much “wash out” on your sights, especially a RDS. The downside of course being that anything you illuminate, you are also pointing a weapon at. A handheld light will prevent flagging unnecessarily but depending on how it is held can create significant wash out of the weapon sights. This can of course be combated easier with the use of a RDS.

So in summary, it is hard to beat a Red Dot equipped handgun for low light environments when using external illumination techniques making a RDS the clear choice for a every day carry handgun.

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