Tritium. What is the point?

[Bill_in_TR]

I have read numerous reports about the improved brightness in low light conditions. Well I put tritium sights on my CZ 75 and I am not seeing it. They don't appear the least bit brighter than the factory sights. Am I the only one who does not see any improvement? I believe I wasted my money. Maybe it is my old eyes but I am not impressed.

 

[dh1633pm]

Daytime or nighttime viewing? Got them on mine. Can line up the sights in darkness.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

My Glock 44 came with them on. It came with the factory sights too. I didn't like the night sights during the day. So i put the factory sights on it.

 

[hso]

Well I put tritium sights on my CZ 75 and I am not seeing it. They don't appear the least bit brighter than the factory sights.

What conditions are you "not seeing it"?

 

[Bill_in_TR]

What conditions are you "not seeing it"?

Dark hallways, at the range, in a room with the lights out at night. In night conditions I don't see them at all

 

[WestKentucky]

Tritium fades over time. Did you get an old set?

 

[CoalTrain49]

I have them on two Sigs and an HK. In total darkness I see them perfectly. Very bright. I could use them in an SD situation a lot better than non Tritium sights.

 

[Bwana John]

Tritium has a 12 year half life, and because of some of its other uses I’m guessing it has undergone at least one half life before being used in night sights

 

[hso]

Dark hallways, at the range, in a room with the lights out at night. In night conditions I don't see them at all

Bad set.

 

[trackskippy]

Are you talking about tritium night sights or fiber optic sights? One glows in the dark, the other gets brighter in bright light and are gone with the light as it gets dark, just like regular iron sights.

As was mentioned, new night sights supposedly have a 12 year life, and/or are usually guaranteed by the makers for that long. Although, most all of the different makes Ive used, seem to need to be replaced at about 9 years or so, as the loss of brightness is pretty noticeable. Even then though, in a dark room at night, you can easily see your gun on the night stand or in its holster from across the room.

If they are in fact, tritium night sights and you bought them new, take them back and get a replacement. Theres something wrong there.

 

[Bill_in_TR]

Well they are brand new from Tru Glo. If it is a bad set I have no way of knowing. The sights I ordered get good reviews. The rear dots are fiber optic and the front is tritium with a white circle around it. I don't expect to see the rear sight in the dark but I expected the front sight to really stand out in the dark. I spoke to my son and he has a Glock with tritium on it. He wasn't impressed either.

 

[JTQ]

I've been skeptical of the value of tritium sights for a long time, and have often linked to this article where Tom Givens points out that ...

Low light, red sights, and Tom Givens’ Glock 35

If you’re a regular reader of my musings here, you already know that I am a Tom Givens believer. There is a simple reason for this…Tom’s materia…

civiliandefender.com

...in the 60 plus defensive shootings his students have been involved in, the lighting (or lack of lighting) was a factor in the outcome in exactly ZERO cases.

though I will admit that prior to three or four years ago, I had not owned a gun with night sights.

Now that I have owned a gun with night sights, and this is a new gun with fresh night sights, my opinion hasn't changed. Sure, in complete darkness, I can see the tritium glowing. In any other lighting condition where I can see the target, and I've been through the whole house trying different lighting conditions and different potential targets of a variety of colors, the tritium vial is nearly useless. What is useful, is the big red/orange square that surrounds the tritium vial.

I've discovered, with my vision, I prefer a white dot over the red/orange, but either are more useful for me than a tritium vial for just about anything other than finding my gun in the dark.

 

[nettlle]

Has to be pretty dark to see tritium sights and by the time it gets that dark it's too dark to see the target.

 

[Boom Vang]

... I believe I wasted my money. Maybe it is my old eyes but I am not impressed.

Who you gonna believe, the internet expert or your lying eyes?

I've used tritium sights on handguns since they were invented, plus 34 years in LE. They only are useful in near-pitch black darkness. Useless on a range/competition gun. Mostly useless on a carry gun unless some other non-tritium feature of the sights - painted dots, etc - make them more visible. I think they are useful on a pistol for home defense if you are set upon in the middle of night - easier to find your pistol and aim in poor light, although a flashlight or weaponlight on the pistol is more useful than tritium sights.

 

[SterlingBullet]

We have to live with the limitations of tritium until battery operated LED lights are small enough to fit in gun sights. Better than the old radium dials on watches.

 

[Varminterror]

If it is a bad set I have no way of knowing.

The clear indicator would be the fact that they are not glowing...

 

[Hugger-4641]

I have them on my Xd-40 and my G24.
I can definitely see them very clearly in dim or full dark and they function just like normal irons in daylight so I'm betting you got a bad set.

The camera amplified them a little, but these have been on my XD for about 6yrs and they're still bright.

 

[trackskippy]

Has to be pretty dark to see tritium sights and by the time it gets that dark it's too dark to see the target.

That hasn't been my experience. They are a 24/7 sight and will give you a sight picture in any light and/or against a dark background, etc, when you will normally not be able to get a sight picture with plain irons.

A bright colored front ring with white rings in the back really works well with them too.

 

[nettlle]

That hasn't been my experience. They are a 24/7 sight and will give you a sight picture in any light and/or against a dark background, etc, when you will normally not be able to get a sight picture with plain irons.

A bright colored front ring with white rings in the back really works well with them too.

Why waste money on infrared sights when Tritium sights will do the same thing for a lot less money?

 

[trackskippy]

Why waste money on infrared sights when Tritium sights will do the same thing for a lot less money?

I thought we were talking about tritium sights? That's what I was referring to, tritium night sights.

 

[wanderinwalker]

Well they are brand new from Tru Glo. If it is a bad set I have no way of knowing. The sights I ordered get good reviews. The rear dots are fiber optic and the front is tritium with a white circle around it. I don't expect to see the rear sight in the dark but I expected the front sight to really stand out in the dark. I spoke to my son and he has a Glock with tritium on it. He wasn't impressed either.

It sounds like you either a) got an old set that's been sitting around or b) the tritium vial got broken somehow. A set of fresh tritium sights should look just like @Hugger-4641 pictured.

To be 100% fair, these days I'd opt for a pistol with an optics cut and a self-adjusting red dot if I wanted sights I could see under all lighting conditions.

 

[jmr40]

Something isn't right. When new they should glow brightly like the photo in post #17. If nothing else it makes it easy to find the pistol in the dark. If the closet door is open, I can lie in bed at night and see my pistol's sights glowing while sitting on a shelf in the walk-in closet that is nearly 30' away.

As they get older, they do gradually grow dim but should be perfectly usable for 8-10 years. And in bright light I don't see them as well as I do factory Glock sights.

That said, I'd rather use a weapons mounted light most of the time. I can buy a light for a lot less than night sights and it's a lot cheaper to replace the batteries occasionally than to replace dead night sights.

 

[Jim Watson]

We have to live with the limitations of tritium until battery operated LED lights are small enough to fit in gun sights. Better than the old radium dials on watches.

Been done. I don't know if they used LEDs or grain of wheat bulbs but there were battery powered pistol sights in the 1970s. A light under a "red ramp" front and one in kind of a bustle shining on a white outline rear blade. Grooves milled down the barrel and frame of a revolver for fine wires to a battery in the grip.
An automatic got a sliding contact between slide and receiver.

 

[papajim2jordan]

Seeing the sights is good, seeing the target is better. I remember "night fire" training, conducted during the day, while wearing something akin to welding goggles. Later, after sunset on a dark (and stormy?) night, we used something called a Starlight scope, which did work, but it was bulky/heavy. A good size dog is much better than glow in the dark stuff.

Save the tritium for fusion power, not that it will happen in my lifetime.

https://www.science.org/content/article/fusion-power-may-run-fuel-even-gets-started

 

[CraigC]

I've got tritium sights on a 1911 that I have in my desk drawer that I've had since 2012. My office is only lit by lamplight but all I have to do to see the green glow is to put the gun in the shade under my desk.

I prefer night sights on guns that 'may' be used at night. Especially over bright painted sights if I'm ever going to shoot it in daylight, because they are fairly subdued in daylight. I hate three dot painted sights and fiber optics. Much rather have plain black target sights, even for defensive use and even with failing eyesight.