Tritium. What is the point?

[Bill_in_TR]

Well last night in a pitch dark room with no ambient light I looked at the sights again. Yes there is a glow although not as bright as some describe. But the least bit of ambient light seems to make the tritium almost disappear. Maybe I am just expecting too much.

 

[silicosys4]

My sig thats less than two years old has dim night sights as well, only faintly visible in dim lighting. Personally I will not pay extra for a product that has a shelf life like tritium sights. If they come on the gun great, but when they inevitably go dim they will either not be replace or will be replace with a non-tritium set.

 

[Gordon]

I started putting on tritium sight in the 80s. Very expensive then. when I had to replace them in the early 2000s, I did so because of the war situation after 2001 and the increased training I paid for I did it to the pieces I used. Then they wore out lately. All except the IMI ones! Those Israelians must use a hot isotope!

 

[CraigC]

Well last night in a pitch dark room with no ambient light I looked at the sights again. Yes there is a glow although not as bright as some describe. But the least bit of ambient light seems to make the tritium almost disappear. Maybe I am just expecting too much.

My pic shows them brighter than they really are. They're not bright like fiber optic sights in daylight but you can see them. The point is to be able to just see them, not to blind you.

 

[trackskippy]

My sig thats less than two years old has dim night sights as well, only faintly visible in dim lighting. Personally I will not pay extra for a product that has a shelf life like tritium sights. If they come on the gun great, but when they inevitably go dim they will either not be replace or will be replace with a non-tritium set.

The couple of SIG's I had back in the late 90's, and early 2000's that came with factory night sights were not as bright as the Meprolights and Trijicons I had at the same time. Even the night sights on my more recent P320 arent all that great. Up until a couple of years ago, Meprolights were all that I was using for night sights, as they seemed to be the brightest and longest lived, and also seemed to have a larger vial/dot. They also used white rings around the vial where others just had the aluminium. Some of the Trijicons Ive had in the past, had some noticeably smaller vials too.

These days, Ive been replacing the Meprolights with the Ameriglo three dots with the bright orange ring up front and white in the back. They have a thinner front sight blade, which gives a better traditional sight picture, and are a bit cheaper too.

 

[CoalTrain49]

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's where a weapons light comes in. Then you don't need tritium sights. I put one on a P-30 and won't be without one on a night stand gun ever again. I don't have one on my carry however because I just don't go anywhere that I would need one at night.

 

[usaral63]

never could see much a a point...........hells fire, if you cannot see the target then WHAt GOOD ARE THE SIGHTS???

 

[Riomouse911]

I spent 13 of the first 16 years as a LEO working weekend graveyard shifts. (The last 16 years, working nights was not very often.)

Like a few other options we can choose to utilize, they certainly aren’t a “mandatory” thing. But illuminated sights sure can be helpful when things get real and it’s not going like you always thought it would.

Buy them if you want to, I have sets on several SD pistols. (OP, I think your sights are not up to par if you can’t see them in low light/dark. Full disclosure, I am not a fan of Tru Glo tritium sights. They are, in my experience, less expensive but not as bright or long-serving as Trijicon sights.)

Stay safe.

 

[Double_J]

I have had Trijicon and Meprolight night sights and will say they were more than bright enough to see across the room in the dark. My Meprolights were purchased back in 2002 and are pretty much dead now, and the replacements are in the Midway cart. I need to add them to my current carry pistol, but don't have a gunsmith close by who can install them for a reasonable price.

 

[R Reed]

Does not sound right, Id contact truglo. Things happen, I always give the manufacturer a chance or 2 to fix the issue.

 

[balin]

I find the green tritium in a white dot is very visible day and night. I put them on all carry pieces.

 

[MikeInOr]

I have a couple sets of TruGLow? (I think). I paid about $20 more for the TruGlow fiber sights with tritium than the just straight TruGlow fiber sights. When it is very dark the tritium can be seen. 99% of the time the tritium is worthless for me... but they were only a $20 premium. I would not pay big bucks for tritium only sights.

I have a buddy with a Beretta 92 from the 80's with tritium sights. They are long gone and he hasn't found anyone that will replace the tritium vials.

 

[Riomouse911]

I have a couple sets of TruGLow? (I think). I paid about $20 more for the TruGlow fiber sights with tritium than the just straight TruGlow fiber sights. When it is very dark the tritium can be seen. 99% of the time the tritium is worthless for me... but they were only a $20 premium. I would not pay big bucks for tritium only sights.

I have a buddy with a Beretta 92 from the 80's with tritium sights. They are long gone and he hasn't found anyone that will replace the tritium vials.

That was one of the hassles with the built in front sight on the older Berettas. (My 96 has the same problem; all in one slide/ front sight with a dead Trijicon vial.

Rumor has it the old ones can be pushed out after applying a little heat to soften up the rubbery glue, but I don’t know if Trijicon sells just the vials or not.

Stay safe.

 

[westernrover]

Well last night in a pitch dark room with no ambient light I looked at the sights again. Yes there is a glow although not as bright as some describe. But the least bit of ambient light seems to make the tritium almost disappear. Maybe I am just expecting too much.

No, they're bad. If you just bought them, return them as defective. Otherwise, contact Tru Glo customer service to determine what their policy is.

I bought a S&W revolver that came equipped from the factory with 3-dot Trijicon tritium sights. The front sight glowed bright. One of the two dots on the rear sight was dead/dark, but the other one glowed. S&W replaced the rear sight, but I had to ship the gun to them and back (at their cost, but my time).

Later, I bought a new S&W Performance Center L-Comp. It also comes with a single dot tritium front sight. The sight was not dead, but it was not even half as bright as the sights on the other S&W. I bought it new in 2019. It could have been old stock (that model was 18 years old by then) or just low QC on the tritium sight.

I sold both those guns, but if I were to buy Tritium sights again, I would expect them to pop if I only cupped by hand over them. If they're any dimmer than that, I'll pass. As it is, I prefer reflex sights on my handguns.

Tritium is generated by the irradiation of lithium in nuclear reactors. Rods containing lithium can be placed in a reactor core when the reactor is refueled every 18 to 24 months. During operation, the green glow of tritium is not observed because the lithium is enclosed in a zirconium alloy tube much like the uranium oxide fuel pellets. Instead, blue Cherenkov radiation is observed.

When charged particles, such as electrons, travel through a dielectric medium (like water) at speeds greater than the phase velocity of light in that medium, the result is the emission of electromagnetic radiation, which we perceive as a characteristic blue glow. The blue color is due to the high-energy photons released during this process, which have short wavelengths and high frequencies, typical of blue and violet light. This effect is similar to a sonic boom but occurs in the light spectrum. This is also why the future of energy is blue, not green.

 

[MikeInOr]

Well last night in a pitch dark room with no ambient light I looked at the sights again. Yes there is a glow although not as bright as some describe. But the least bit of ambient light seems to make the tritium almost disappear. Maybe I am just expecting too much.

That sounds about right. It is a pretty good description of my tritium night sights.

 

[JohnKSa]

The glow should be easily visible in the dark, and should make the sight usable in "twilight" type conditions. I have an older set on a pistol and the glow is quite usable in a room where it is still possible to make out details. For example, there's a hallway where I can still see the sights with the rooms at the ends lit but with the lights off in the hallway. More than enough light to see the contents of the bookcases that line the hall, and even to read the book titles and the glow of the sight dots is visible. In a normally lighted room they will appear to be sights with normal white dots--no glow.

 

[someguy2800]

Sounds like you got a very old or defective set. Fresh new tritium sights glow very bright in a dark room.

I have tritium sights on all my carry pistols and since I have a range at my house and can do as I please, I actually do go out and practice shooting in the dark or at twilight pretty regularly. Anybody that tells you tritium sights are not effective in the dark has obviously never done any training in the dark.

 

[trackskippy]

What seems to be misunderstood by some is, it doesn't have to be "dark" to take advantage of them. There are a lot of situations where its light enough to see, and yet dark enough where you're not be able to get a sight picture, due to lighting and target background.

A lot of times, just the white/colored riings around the vials is enough to make up for it, but even without the rings, the glow of the dots still gives you a good, useable sight picture, even if its just three dots in a row against a dark target.

 

[chicharrones]

What seems to be misunderstood by some is, it doesn't have to be "dark" to take advantage of them. There are a lot of situations where its light enough to see, and yet dark enough where you're not be able to get a sight picture, due to lighting and target background.

A lot of times, just the white/colored riings around the vials is enough to make up for it, but even without the rings, the glow of the dots still gives you a good, useable sight picture, even if its just three dots in a row against a dark target.

Yep. Light enough to identify a target, but dark enough to lose the sights on the target.

 

[CraigC]

And when you need to find that front sight, you REALLY need to find that front sight.......and fast.

 

[Bill_in_TR]

I am starting to believe that one man's bright is another man's visible is another man's dim. I can see the sights in very dark conditions. But I wouldn't call them bright. And I don't find them easy or quick to acquire. I can get the 3 dots lined up but I have to work at it a bit. I also really think my old eyes are contributing to my issues.

This is going to be another one of those things I need to practice more. All of my dry fire and range time is in decent lighting conditions. I only bought these sights because I didn't care for the factory sights at all. I went back and forth considering these and a reflex sight. But I didn't care for that big contraption on top of my slide. I have reflex sights on a couple of pistols I use just for target shooting and I don't find that red dot quick enough to acquire for an SD handgun.

Thank you everybody for all the comments.

 

[JohnKSa]

That's not what I'm starting to think.

This has been said multiple times on the thread, but I'll try again with a bit more explanation.

Tritium has a half life of around 11-12 years. The degradation doesn't start when you buy the sights or open the package, it starts from when the tritium was "made". As the tritium degrades, the sights will get dimmer and dimmer and eventually become just regular dot sights. That is why people keep saying you may have an old set. If you've got a set that sat on a shelf somewhere for 15 years before you bought them, then they would be much dimmer than a set that came out of the factory a few weeks ago. The Tru Glo sights have a pretty good reputation for brightness so I would say you got an old set, or maybe a set that is defective.

 

[Bill_in_TR]

That's not what I'm starting to think.

This has been said multiple times on the thread, but I'll try again with a bit more explanation.

Tritium has a half life of around 11-12 years. The degradation doesn't start when you buy the sights or open the package, it starts from when the tritium was "made". As the tritium degrades, the sights will get dimmer and dimmer and eventually become just regular dot sights. That is why people keep saying you may have an old set. If you've got a set that sat on a shelf somewhere for 15 years before you bought them, then they would be much dimmer than a set that came out of the factory a few weeks ago. The Tru Glo sights have a pretty good reputation for brightness so I would say you got an old set, or maybe a set that is defective.

The main reason I am not inclined to believe it is an old set is because I don't believe TruGlo has been making this model that long. Maybe I'm wrong. I was wrong once before.

 

[JohnKSa]

Hard to address an issue if it is not brought up.

What model are they?

Also, TruGlo doesn't make the tritium vials, they come from another source so it's possible that you got a sight made with vials that either got stuck somewhere at the original source before shipping, or maybe got temporarily lost at TruGlo before they were made into sights.

At any rate, maybe have one other person have a look at them just in case there is something unusual about your vision. If they concur that the sights are hard to see in dim lighting, then I would contact TruGlo.

 

[Bill_in_TR]

Hard to address an issue if it is not brought up.

What model are they?

Also, TruGlo doesn't make the tritium vials, they come from another source so it's possible that you got a sight made with vials that either got stuck somewhere at the original source before shipping, or maybe got temporarily lost at TruGlo before they were made into sights.

At any rate, maybe have one other person have a look at them just in case there is something unusual about your vision. If they concur that the sights are hard to see in dim lighting, then I would contact TruGlo.

I will have my son look at them and see what he says.