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Meatball's Featured Reviews |
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Airsoft Core |
By Meatball
Published: July 7, 2005
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Rico Alpha-9 Tactical Weapon System (Flashlight)
I received the Rico Alpha-9 flashlight along with my G&G GR-16a2 both coming from Redwolf Airsoft. I must say off the bat that I had my doubts on the practicality of having a flashlight attached to your gun figuring that the enemy would see the light much easier than I can see them with the light. I assumed the light would just not pack enough punch to really be worth it. But it did provide a cool look, the built in LED lights for navigational reasons, as well as the vertical grip which I was interested in, so I was not going to be disappointed if it did not help me in action. The specifications on Redwolf Airsoft however begin to paint you a more accurate picture of this project. The light delivers a 250 lumen output and was originally designed for actual military use, so this should tell you that this is not your Wal-Mart flashlight, and it is not a toy but a serious flashlight designed for weaponry. It also has a 3mm poly-carbonate lens making it virtually indestructible to airsoft gun fire. This flashlight is solid as should be figured with a weight like 640g.
The LED Lights
This is the two LED lights in the dark while mounted to gun
I assume like me, you do not understand what the LED lights are, and why they are there. But everyone can tell that they look pretty cool when turned on. LED stands for Light-Emitting Diode and are lights that do not give off heat like most lights we know of today. This means that the energy going into the light is used only for lighting and not for heat, thus saving energy. They also provide more of a glowing look than what we are used to. You may see LEDs in some cars, or new traffic lights because they are becoming more and more common. There is however practical reasons behind having the lights and that is for stealth navigation. I know they look bright in the picture above, but they are not as bright as they may seem. They give off a glow, that you can easily shield and direct towards a piece of paper you need to read, a door handle, a trail, anything like that. This allows you to get enough light just so you and your team can see what they want to see, and its easy enough to block out from anyone else picking up on the light. Of course if you just shine this light around in the woods while looking for someone, expect to experience a hail of BB’s because it can be seen. It is however much easier to conceal than most lights.
This is the light pointing at the ground (grass). As can be seen it is kind of dull despite being right against the ground, and is concentrated.
This is another expamle of using the LED lights and this time it is mounted on the gun as you can see the barrel of the GR16-a2
The Main Lamp
The main lamp packs a 250 lumen punch as mentioned above, and for those who do not have an appreciation for light measurements I will have to describe it to you. Unfortunately the pictures all came out blurry due to slight haze which is common for nights in my area, and because I am not a professional photographer and these pictures are difficult to take. I am hoping to find an indoor place to take example pictures of because then it would be much clearer how powerful this light is. You can go into any dark household room, hit the light and the entire room is instantly illuminated, sometimes better than if the actual lights were on. For larger rooms obviously it will depend on where you aim it, but light will reach every corner of any room unless it is warehouse or gymnasium size rooms. This would really be ideal for dark CQB arenas since it would give you instant light in any situation and also blind any opponent it is aimed at. The outdoors however is the way I typically work, so that is the only experience I will relate to, and is the only images I can currently provide.
Large bush/tree from about 50 yards
As can be seen in the picture above, this light is more concentrated when you are in the outdoors and large areas. This is simply because in rooms it will reflect off of all surfaces consequently lighting up wider areas. But the light itself is a pretty concentrated and powerful beam that is practically a small spotlight (which is exactly what you want to have for a light). This is probably the clearest picture I was able to get, and as can be seen if anyone was in or around that tree, they would have been easily spotted and most likely shot.
Hard to make out, but it is a treeline about 100 yards away
The picture above is as best I could do to demonstrate the power and range on this light, and unfortunately I still do not feel that it was done justice due to poor images and the haze. It may be hard to tell in the picture but the light is focused on some tall grass at the base of a tree line, which where I play is a likely enemy position, and this light made it quite obvious that no one was in that position. Unfortunately, it is probably hard to tell that through the picture considering you do not know what it looks like in the day time, and the camera is not exactly perfect to how well your own eyes can see.
Operation
There is a switch, pressure buttons on the grip, and one button above the vertical grip. These combine to give you all the options you’ll need on your light. The switch is a circular object which has 3 positions it can take and controls the main lamp. It can be in the center which means that the main light will not go on if the grip is squeezed, there is a right position which is that the light will go on when the grip is squeezed and off when the grip is released, and there is a left position in which the light will go on and stay on regardless of the grip. The vertical grip has two buttons, one on each size which operate the light when the switch is in the right position. The final button is for the LED lights and is above the vertical grip. This button works at anytime regardless of the switches position.
You can see the switch behind the lamp, and the grips on the light vertical grip
This is the LED light button above the vertical grip
The light as can be seen in the picture above has two knobs which can attach the light, and detach it from any gun which has a weaver style rail, so no more mounting equipment is required. It simply slides right on, you secure it tightly, and it can be slid right back off when the knobs are loosened. Very simple really. The light takes 3 CR123A batteries which fit in the handle of the light as can be seen in the image below. These batteries are seen a lot in cameras so you probably can only find them in camera stores. However if you buy from camera stores you most likely will pay a fairly high price for these batteries, and that is why I recommend searching for them online because you get more reasonable prices.
You unscrew the bottom of the grip, and in goes 3 CR123A batteries
Conclusion
I really like the light and I have yet to see a better one on the airsoft field. If you really want a powerful light and are serious about it, this is the product for you. This is not a toy as I said before, and is nearly as good as it gets for a mount light on an airsoft gun. It undoubtedly would help you in airsoft situations lacking appropriate lighting, whether it be outdoors or indoors. You also will find that Redwolf Airsoft beats the rest when it comes to pricing on this product. My doubts stopped pretty much as soon as I saw the power of this thing, as you can see people with it out of airsoft range! That is the kind of power you need for it to be successful. You need the light to light up the entire opponent for your entire team to see, and be far enough away so that you most likely will not get shot. You also have the advantage of seeing where your BB's go in the night, while the opponent will only see a blinding light!
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