Glow-in-the-dark sights...

[Canine Dave]

Does anyone else think this a a bad idea? If you can't see your sights how do you know what (or whom) you are shooting at?

[Ed M]

IMO, a bad idea.

I painted the dots on a set of sights a few years back with glow paint. It worked, but....

You have to "charge" them with a bright light for a few seconds first. They grow dim after a few minutes too.

"Excuse me Mr. Bad Guy while I charge my sights." Pretty much gives away your location.

All this doesn't apply to tritium night sights, which don't need to be charged up to work. They DO help in transitional lighting situations.

Shooting in pitch dark conditions without some kind of light is not a good thing, IMHO.

[berettabone]

Sights won't help you know who you're shooting at..................................practicing point and shoot is your best bet. You should still be able to hit what you shoot at in the dark by feel alone.

[jeepster09]

If you have a large form SHOOTING AT YOU....it would be nice to have your firearm aimed in the right direction when returning fire. Night sights help accomplish this.

[gale155]

In the average civilian self-defense situation we will not be using sights, IMO. Even if we wanted to, there won't be enough time to line up the sights, and hopefully the threat is close enough to make them unnecessary. Larry Seecamp once opined that if the threat is so far away in a self-defense shooting situation that you have to use sights, you'd better have a good defense attorney on retainer. Personally, I think point shooting and shooting from the hip are essential skills that everyone should develop.

[jeepster09]

My point would be the front night sight will help POINT more accurately. You could be off an inch or two in total darkness. I like seeing my front sight.

[gale155]

My point would be the front night sight will help POINT more accurately. You could be off an inch or two in total darkness. I like seeing my front sight.

Good point, unless the threat is so close that raising your gun to eye level is unwise or unsafe.

[King Rat]

I have been Point and shoot training for as long as I can remember. For myself it is imperative to have a good front night sight. While I do not look directly at the sight, I seen it in my peripheral vision. The paint on sights suck. They are last about 15 minutes.

[getsome]

I agree that having something to help you point accurately is a big help....My night table pistol is a S&W M&P 2.0 9mm which has Trijicon HD night sights which are very bright and let me see where the pistol is in total darkness without turning on any lights....I am not a fan of weapon mounted lights for general, non law enforcement use mainly because you have to be pointing the pistol at what you think might be the threat which might be your 4 year old grand daughter and if it is a bad guy it gives away your position....Same for a laser, nice at the range but when you are under stress and half asleep it's hard to find the right button to make the thing work and it also gives away your position which is bad because the bad guy is already in your house and pumped up on who knows what....

What works well for me is having good night sights to see the pistol in total darkness AND having a really good flashlight you can hold in your off hand to "photo flash" a room to ID what is making the noise that woke you up.....I'm a flashlight nurd and have several Streamlight 1L-1AA lights around the house....This is a real nice little pocketable light that is duel fuel running either on a single AA standard battery or for more lumes it will take a CR123 battery for as much light as you need for about 35 bucks from Amazon.....My night stand light is a little larger Streamlight 2LX which takes 2 CR 123 batteries available from any drug store/supermarket and this thing will light up any area with a thumb switch, either high, strobe or low and is programmable for your choice of modes and sells for 50 /60 bucks and is a very high quality light for the money....

I depend on my hand held Streamlight as much as I do my hand gun.....I consider a quality flashlight a weapon in that you can use it to easily blind a bad guy until you can know what the problem is and take a situation ending shot if absolutely need be.....

You can't hit what you can't see, the best night sights are useless in total darkness without a good light so get yourself some......

[Bawanna]

I use my night sights on my night stand gun to find my way to bed at night. Wife usually hits the pillow before me so the lights are out, so they are like reference marks or perhaps landing lights. Not as bright as they used to be but still work.

I too don't really like a weapon mounted light, always figured I'd use the muzzle flash to light things up to see.

I too have several flashlights, always at least 2 on me. I have an old Surefire I've carried for 20 plus years, added a Fenix several years back, it's brighter, smaller and has strobe and dimming capabilities. I leave the Surefire in a holder exposed on the chair, grandson likes to play with it. Granddaughter found where the Fenix is located so she usually digs in and plays with it.