Question for Aimpoint Users.

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Palmetto-Pride

New member
So I just bought the Aimpoint PRO a few weeks ago and I love it. Suppose to have a 3yr battery life if left on setting 7(max is 9), but I just cant bring myself to leaving it on I don't know why, but there is just somthing in my brain that wont let me leave it on. Any other Aimpoint users leave there's on or off I think its my OCD or maybe having to replace batteries in other red dots. Is there any cons to turning it off and on every time I use it.
 
Same here

I'm with you. I have a new Aimpoint Pro and I turn it off. If the gun is going to sit there for a month in the safe, why waste battery?
 
I recommend you buy a few spare batteries, face down your fears and leave it on.

It's the only way to build confidence in your equipment. :)
 
I've got a T1 and I'm in the same boat, can't bring myself to leave it turned on. Don't know why, I had a Docter sight which has simlar battery life and cannot be turned off and the original battery was still going strong when I sold ittwo years later. Just feels to me like it's wrong to leave the Aimpoint on though.
 
Aimpoint T-1. I might leave it on at the range, or in the case on the way home from the trip, but I'll turn it off when it comes time to clean it (usually the night of or day following a range trip.
 
I leave my Aimpoint PRO on all the time. It's been on for about a year so far. I fully expect the battery to last another 2 (or more) years.
 
I own a micro H-1 it stays off unless i'm using it. I have a Glock 21 which honestly would be more practical in the a home defense situation considering the mobility, precussion, and over penetration of the AR. So i just turn it off when i'm done.
 
Ive got a couple comp 2s that i leave on all the time on a low setting and the batterys are still working after 3 years. I guess if a guy is worried about it he can change out the batterys every year on new years like you should your smoke alarms. I like knowing my sight is on so if i have to grab one in the middle of the night under pressure of a home invasion or other such senerio i dont have to fumble around or ever remember to turn it on.
 
Yea its not really my primary home defense gun, but it is an option if need be. Thanks guys I think I am going to buy a extra battery and maybe leave it on.
 
Mine stays by my bed and I leave it on (about the halfway setting) all the time because that was the primary reason I went with Aimpoint over EOtechs and the competitors. I don't want to have to fumble with an on/off switch in the darkness during a high stress incident.
DSC01376.jpg
 
I have 2 identical rifles with Aimpoints.

One is in the safe it is my "back up"/"end of the world rifle" test fired, sighted in and ready to go. It is "off".

My "primary rifle", is under the bed. It is on, but it is on a low setting for night time behind a flashlight use. Daylight settings at night will blind you.:D

I have fixed front/rear sights so if I need to use it in the day time for some reason and I don't have time to turn it up, I can just use the iron sights.

Both of them get fresh batteries on my birthday every year, whether they need them or not.;)

As an aside, you can't actually turn "off" an Aimpoint. Even when you can't see the dot, the ACET is still drawing some power to keep the battery regulated.
 
If you can't hit an "ON" button how are you going to manage a safety switch? If you don't have time to hit a switch do you have time to aim? Will I even need to acquire a perfect sight picture or be able to do anything but point and shoot with a rifle at the sightline distances (<10')
available in my bedroom?



Call me complacent but I think have better odds at winning Powerball than there is a likelyhood I need an optic in my bedroom in under 3 seconds.
 
Turning it off won't hurt anything. Leaving it on won't hurt anything.

I change batteries in EVERYTHING in my house (not just the clocks, but the flashlights, and yes, even the optics) once a year. Aimpoints have battery lives measured in years, so if I leave mine on all the time, it will never have used more than a fraction of the available battery life.

It's up to the user. I used to turn them off, but now I just leave them on and I don't worry about it.
 
I recommend you buy a few spare batteries, face down your fears and leave it on.

It's the only way to build confidence in your equipment.
Click to expand...

I agree with this sentiment. If it were mine, I would counduct an experiment to see just how long a battery would last...just to know.
 
If you can't hit an "ON" button how are you going to manage a safety switch?
Click to expand...

They don't have an "on" button.:rolleyes:

Aimpoints have a rheostat that increases the brightness of the dot. If you have it too high, it will blind you at night.

Which hand are you going to use to do this with? Your firing hand or your off hand?

How are you going to activate your light? You are using a light right to identify your target before you shoot aren't you? So if you are doing it with your firing hand, how are you going to make the shot?

Will I even need to acquire a perfect sight picture or be able to do anything but point and shoot with a rifle at the sightline distances (<10')
available in my bedroom?
Click to expand...

I know what you are trying to do here, but what you actually did was present the specific case for RDS/Holographic sights. You don't have to have a "perfect sight picture" or even have your face on the stock to use them. If the dot is on the target, that is where the bullet will go.

Well, technically, it will be about 2.5 inches low at 10 feet, but close enough for a COM shot. If you are triying for precision crainial shot, you need to hold on the hairline.

Anything you have to do other than pick the gun up and shoot, will slow you down.

If you can make a shot COM on an agressive target in the dark without using any type of sight at all. You should open up a shooting school and make enough money to retire teaching all the SWAT and Military your CQB tactics....

Am I correct that you neither own an optic nor have you actually tried doing any of this before to actually develop your own TTPS?
 
If you can't hit an "ON" button how are you going to manage a safety switch? If you don't have time to hit a switch do you have time to aim?
Click to expand...

The phenomenally improved battery life on modern Aimpoints negates two human factors problems with the older versions:

1. Inadvertently leaving the sight "on" during periods of lengthy storage (like in a military arms room rack or gun safe...with the sight perhaps left on for many weeks or months). For practical purposes...that no longer matters.

2. The requirement for a combatant to remember to turn on the sight during an adrenaline fueled moment of sensory overload. Now you no longer have to. That's one less thing to think about and one less manipulation to perform under stress.

It would seem like turning the sight on or off would be an easy thing to remember...but a decade of military use by hundreds of thousands of users has shown that to not be the case. Especially when trouble kicks in the door.
 
Exactly. Everyone always say 'if you can't turn a button on then blah, blah, blah...' I have a Vortex Strikefire, Burris Fastfire, Leuopold Deltapoint, Aimpoint PRO, Lucid HD7, EOtech, Optima 2000, ect... and the ones with on buttons are all in different places. Unless you train to activate that on switch under stress, then it will be difficult, I promise. It may not seem so on a static range but with someone kicking your door down it will be.

I've been on enough patrols/raids in my day to know that plenty of highly trained people leave their optics off. They go through the door raise up their rifles to obtain a sight picture and... yup, no dot. It should be part of any PCC/PCI but it still happens.

The Aimpoints take both of these issues away. I change my batteries out on New Years every year and have never had an issue.
 
I turn 'em off... I couldn't care less about the batteries life, I'm more interested in the "Red Dot's " burn life. I imagine it is very good , but really don't know for sure.

From Aimpoint....Aimpoint red dot sights are made without magnification or optical distortion. They use an LED (light emitting diode) which is totally harmless to the eyes.




BTW, How long is the life of the light emitting diode in an Aimpoint ?

From Wikiapedia on LEDs....Lifetime: LEDs can have a relatively long useful life. One report estimates 35,000 to 50,000 hours of useful life, though time to complete failure may be longer.[98] Fluorescent tubes typically are rated at about 10,000 to 15,000 hours, depending partly on the conditions of use, and incandescent light bulbs at 1,000–2,000 hours.
 
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