Greetings once again and welcome to our second installment for the day, this one an article on how to tactically mount flashlights to a weapon. These handy hardware are also sometimes referred to as gun flashlight mounts, offset tactical mounts, or depending on what gun model you have, it may also be called something like shotgun flashlight mount.

If you need tactical lighting in the dark, you currently have two options. One is to purchase made for guns torches or weapon lights like the SureFire X200B, which we featured earlier, or purchase an aftermarket mount wherein you can use any flashlight you currently own or want. As gun lights merit a separate feature post, we shall focus on mount-only units at this point. As always, we will lead you to some already-popular products that are currently available in the market.

A tactical flashlight mount is of course different from a laser sight mount. You can use the two in conjunction with one another, but they serve very different purposes. A laser sight of course is all about aiming a target. Laser sights are dead-on target seekers, that are very accurate, easy to use, and work very well in dark or light surroundings. On another note, a flashlight mount’s only purpose is to light your frontal vision—and exactly to where you are currently pointing your gun—so as not to have, or waste, one hand on carrying the flashlight which is obviously advantageous in tactical warfare.

Available products

As we do not carry and sell products from this site—not yet, at least—we will lead you to some good resources on where you can source quality tactical flashlight mounts. Although we are affiliated with some of these sites, we also link to sources without affiliate commission as long as they provide quality products or have a significant inventory.

See our compiled short list below of some good sources for tactical flashlight mounts.

1. Gun flashlight mounts from OpticsPlanet
2. Mounts from Botach Tactical
3. Tactical mounts being sold by a number of tactical stores through Amazon.com

Sample images

In this article, we shall discuss something that is somewhat very important in the world of flashlights—holsters. Now, if you have reached the point where you carry a torch daily, a holster can make your life easier and more organized—lest of course you carry a key chain light or something the size of a Maglite Solitaire. For lights that use a minimum of 2 AA batteries—stacked on top of one another—a carry holster would make sense.

A sensible option for holsters are belt clips. Most flashlights of this size come with attachable clips. However, clipped flashlights can sometimes attract unwanted scratching because it leaves the unit unprotected. A holster, on the other hand, not only makes the light attachable to a belt, it also adds maximum protection—depending of course on the quality of the holster.

Most flashlight brands make their own holsters. Most flashlights even come with their own special holster. However, if your light did not come with one, you still have a number of product and brand options to choose from. For example, SureFire alone has a complete line of holsters made from nylon, leather, and even polymer.

Before we head on to some product recommendations and features, let’s take some time to discuss the different materials commonly used in flashlight holsters. As said above, you can get products made from nylon, leather, and plastic. Personally, I am a nylon guy. I mean, nylon offers more than enough protection, is very light, and does not become too bulky. Leather and plastic, while offering over-the-top protection, is a little too much for me for everyday carry. However, they make for good pieces—especially if you are talking about fancy leather stitching, patterns, and design—can can really add to the value of your torch.

Anyway, the above are just some factors you might want to look at and consider when shopping for a holster. Now, make sure to know the size of your torch to its exact specifications in case a matching holster is not available for your unit—in which case you need to settle for a number of generic holsters.

Now, on to some products

Talking earlier about SureFire’s complete line of holsters, you can view their products from their site then check and compare prices, as well as reviews, from Amazon.com.

Click here to check prices and reviews of SureFire holsters.

Fenix, Maglite, Streamlight, Nite Ize, Nebo, and Rayovac are just some other brands that you can check out who make generic torch holsters. See the link below for some of their products.

Click here to view other generic flashlight holsters.

Sample images

Just to give you an idea, these are what flashlight holsters can look like—from the simple to the extreme.

If you are looking for a heavy duty flashlight, this article might just be the right one for you. You see, you are a potential flashaholic—I see in you what I felt within myself before I ever knew such a word and world exists—just because of the search engine keywords you used. Flashlights are magical things, aren’t they? And they’re just begging to be turned on, to be focused, to be flashed, and be played in any dark place.

You know, almost anyone can benefit from a good, strong, dependable flashlight. The sad thing is, when I internet-searched for some back then, it led me to some brands and manufacturers that pay to be at the top of Google’s results page. The good thing is that I did not stop there—I dug deeper. Truly, the best and brightest (pun intended) source of information out there is in a place called CPF—Candle Power Forums. Surprised yet? Yes, there is a worldwide congregation of people who love flashlights.

Click here to visit Candle Power Forums.

However, for a newbie or someone who just wants to get on with it and buy a piece, CPF can be very overwhelming. So, this is where this article stands.

In this article I will try to namedrop as many brands and products as I possibly can, and give some price ranges as well. We will try to discuss battery kinds, beam kinds, built, etc., but will be very newbie-friendly in my manner of presentation. So without further ado, let’s begin.

Battery type

Possible the most important thing to consider is the type of battery your flashlight will use. Being a heavy duty one, I assume you want to use and keep this torch for as long as you can, which means you need to use rechargeable batteries. The good news is almost all battery sizes have rechargeable counterparts. For this segment, I shall go on and recommend you stick with battery sizes that are very, very common like AA and AAA, as these (availability) will come in handy in odd emergency situations.

Flashlight size

This is a personal choice and yes, battery size is not a factor for flashlight size. In the world of flashlights, there are those which are considered EDCs. EDC stands for “everyday carry.” Obviously, these are those that are meant to fit in pockets. Do not however, be fooled by their sizes—there are very powerful (bright) small flashlights out there as this is a very popular market segment. So at this point, imagine what size you think would work best for you so we can match them with products later.

Bulb type

Let me make this short and simple and say LED. Halogens and incandescents are very outdated and non-efficient. And HIDs are somewhat not for newbies.

Built

Ah, here is where heavy duty comes in. If you are familiar with Maglites (brand), almost all of my product recommendations will have at least (if not better) Maglite-quality. Aircraft-grade aluminum, powder coating, stainless, waterproofing—these are all but common terms for hardcore flashlight users. At this point, forget plastic even exists.

Brands

Let’s start with those that are somewhat more common: SureFire, Inova, Coast Led Lenser, and Streamlight.

More brands: Fenix, NovaTac, Fireworm, Zebralight, and the list goes on…

Really, there are a ton of flashlight and brands available out there. To avoid confusing you instead of helping you, I have listed below a bunch of my personal favorites—those which I personally own. You see, I am a budget shopper—I do not mind paying premium as long as I get what I paid for and there is simply nothing better out there in terms of price over performance.

Fenix LD10

The LD10, for me, is the best single AA flashlight out there. It is a little larger than an AA battery and can go with a maximum brightness of 132 lumens. Its latest incarnation uses the R4 LED which has a lifespan of 50,000 hours. This is a compact torch and I assure you you will be surprised at its power.

Click here to read reviews and find deals.

I’ll have to continue this article another time as this is slowly becoming a novel…