At SHOT this past January, Insight Technologies rolled out a new set of weapon lights – the WL1-AA weapon mounted tactical light. With a brightness of 150Lumens and an “on” time of 90 minutes, you might just walk right by. . . There was no fanfare, no parade, just the humble presentation of a low profile weapon light and its sister variant which sports a laser for aim assistance. No big deal right? Been there, done that? Well, not exactly. . . This little guy’s different – and guess what? It’s for anyone.
Insight has just gone into full production with this model, and it’s definitely an excellent offering into an already saturated market. I say that because in order to compensate for being late to the game, you’ve got to toss in a little innovation – or at least something a little different. It’s not the strobe function, that’s definitely been done. Included momentary pressure switch for use with a rifle or shotgun? Nah, nothing new there either. “Quick Release Rail Grabber?” Still not standing out.
Alright, so why are we paying attention to the WL1-AA? Turns out, it’s all in the name. The WL1-AA is powered by two AA batteries; average every day Copper-Tops. On those remote-powering, R/C car revving nuggets the WL1-AA will run continuously for 90 minutes at 150 Lumens. Not bad at all; especially when half of little-Johnny’s toys will provide you with an endless supply of replacement power sources.
The model I’ve gotten my grubby paws on is the non-lasered variant pictured above. It’s going to ride on a few different weapons during evaluation. I’ll report back as testing progresses. My “out of the box” impression is guarded optimism. Insight might have something here – Joe Everybody might finally be getting taken care of in the accessories department.
For more information on L-3’s Warrior Systems branch and Insight products (specifically the WL1-AA), visit their commercial products website.