DIY Tactical Lights

I wanted to add a rubber ring to several of my tactical flashlights to improve my grip.  For myself, I’m find that gripping the light like a cigar or syringe gives me more control and points better.

There are many flashlights that have this feature, but in a DIY spirit I thought I’d try it.  I had three self-imposed conditions: the light had to be still useable if I didn’t like the outcome.  I had to use commercially available parts and any alteration had to be done with the simple tools I have at home.

I selected two lights.  One was diode Cyclops with a metal housing.  The other was  old Surefire plastic body light.  I had ground down the surface some time ago to fit in a scope ring and used it as a weapon light on my rifle.

One of my favorite hand held lights. The button on the tail cap extends past the metal for easy access

After looking at the options, I decided my answer would lie in O-rings. O-rings come in a variety of material, sizes, and thickness.  I first search my stack of plumbing related components, but didn’t find anything.  When in doubt, DYIers turn to the internet.  I found a manufacturer who provided an easy-to-understand chart and I was off to the races.  I measured the locations on each flashlight where I wanted to position the O-ring. 

O-Rings are more complicated than you might suspect and we'll will not go into the compounding aspect of O-Rings.

Armed with that information I found a manufacturer’s chart and determined the best fit possible.

There are amazing polymers for ultra rigorous and corrosive conditions.  Polymers that will stand up to extremes in temperature and pressure.  Since I’m just holding the lights in my hand, I decided either neoprene or nitrile rubber would work.  Both materials are resistant to oil and ozone cracking.  Both retain some measure of flexibility at low temperatures.

I ground the body for a previous application using 25 mm scope rings.

When the rings arrived, I removed the tail caps and installed the rings.  It isn’t rocket science.

Cheaper by the dozen?

I took several measurements before I ordered the O-Rings. 

After a little experimentation, I slipped a second O-ring on the Cyclops and that drastically improved the performance.

So, why am I doing this?  Isn’t everyone using a weapon light slung under their gun?

I got a excellent fit for my Surefire. 

I could suggest that one is none and two is one.  https://knifesearch.blogspot.com/2010/08/on-edgean-adventure.html

There are two complications to weapon lights.  The first is obvious, you point your gun at everything.  Your children, spouse, good guys, bad guys, your dog and fish tank, everything has the potential to be an accidental backstop. 

The fit, while useable is a little slop, but I later slipped a second ring next to the first and it works fine.

There are ways to manage this problem, one of which is professional training.  The second is more complex.  Many weapon lights are too big for older compact pocket guns.  Some of these guns don’t have a rail or a dust cover suitable to mount a rail. Then there the problem of finding a holster for the modified gun.  These problems will solve themselves over time as manufacturers see the market potential.

But do you want to wait for it?  Not me.

Flashlights are a amazing tool.  They all have advantages and disadvantages which are defined by their intended us.  I have a blog that covers that in more depth.

https://tactical-talk.blogspot.com/2022/02/do-you-see.html

Lastly, Ernest Langdon has a nice, if slightly dated, video on handheld lights.  The nice thing about flashlight training is you can evaluate all these techniques and any you might think of with an empty, dark rooms.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlJqULcTb9Y