Glock night sights, red dot sights, and weapon-mounted lights, or WMLs, do not perform the exact same functions, but their use cases are all so interrelated that a dissection is warranted.
With that being said, here’s what to know about their relative values with respect to each other.
Glock Night Sights
We’ll start with Glock night sights, which are like standard iron sights except that they are treated with spots of tritium or tritium vials, which is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that is radioluminescent – that is, it glows in the dark
Glock night sights are better than standard iron sights because they enable faster target acquisition and greater accuracy in low-light conditions. They’re also superior to fiber optic sights because they work in darker conditions.
Most shooters find that night sights enable them to shoot more accurately not only in low-light conditions but in the dark, making them superior to other types of open sights.
Another advantage of Glock night sight systems is that they don’t ever require batteries, unlike red dot sights. The half-life of tritium is more than 10 years, which means night sights will work for more than 10 years with effectively no maintenance. The fact that they are not electronic devices also means they can’t “fail” in the conventional sense of the word.
On top of that, Glock night sights don’t betray your position; while they aren’t effective at illuminating a target, they won’t give away your location like a WML can.
Now, for the downsides; because they are still open sights, Glock night sights are not immune to the issue of sight radius, and shooting accurately over open sights can be difficult in stressful situations since the sights must be aligned to shoot accurately.
Red Dot Sights
One alternative to Glock night sights is a red dot sight. Red dot sights consist of a housing with a glass lens onto which a spot of light is projected; they are commonly red, hence the name, but they can be other colors, too, such as blue or green.
Red dot sights, like night sights, can be highly effective even in completely dark conditions. Red dots specially (as opposed to green or blue dots) are effective because they do not counteract your night vision.
Also, a big advantage of red dots over open Glock sights is that they enable more reflexive shooting. With only a single spot corresponding to the point of aim, there’s no issue of sight radius. This enables quick, instinctive shooting with a red dot; it also enables shooting from uncomfortable positions.
There are however some shortcomings associated with red dot sights. One is that, even though they do have very long battery lifespans, the batteries will eventually die. Also, though many of them are specifically designed with highly durable housings and IPXX ratings, they are not immune to electrical fault.
Another consideration is that a red dot sight can become incapacitated by dust or fog on the lens. With that said, like night sights, they can help keep you concealed in the dark while enabling faster, more accurate target acquisition and shooting in the dark.
For more information on choosing a red dot sight for your handgun (and more) see our previous post, Choosing a Red Dot Sight: Basic Considerations.
And, for what it’s worth, it’s not a hard choice between one or the other. Our Glock night sights allow for co-witness with a red dot or similar optic, so you don’t need to decide on only one.
Weapon-Mounted Lights (WMLs)
A weapon-mounted light is another shooting accessory you might want to add to your Glock to optimize it for nighttime defensive applications.
Unlike Glock night sights or a red dot sight, however, WMLs are not optics; they’re just lights that you attach to your gun. In the case of most Glock pistols, there is a short section of rail under the barrel and slide compatible with many standard WMLs.
A WML frees you from the need to carry a separate light, as it is mounted directly to the gun. This can be a benefit in defensive engagements.
The WML also offers the distinct advantage of illuminating the target, which neither a RDS or night sights will do. This is a benefit in engagements in the dark, though the tradeoff is that it will expose your position. For this reason many WMLs have kill switches to restore darkness.
A WML can also be detached from the gun for general utility, which is another advantage of including one in your loadout.
Lastly, like a red dot sight, a WML is powered by batteries, which will eventually die, a consideration of which you need to be aware.
Upgrade Your Glock Today
The great thing about Glock night sights, red dot sights, and weapon-mounted lights is that on most Glock pistols, they can be run in concert, serving as redundant backups to each other, and conferring the benefits of each so as to mitigate the relative disadvantages. This is one instance of optimizing a handgun for defensive carry in which you don’t need to make big concessions, since you can outfit the gun with all three.
