Having a light on your deployment or home-defense carbine is a must. Identifying a threat or target is imperative, and the fight often occurs in low and failing light conditions.

Your light must be bright enough to see clearly yet remain lightweight and compact. Battery life is critical, as well as the types used. The best light on the planet is worthless if you can’t find batteries. SureFire has been the industry standard for decades, and they continue to improve their products yearly. Having used several over the years, I can attest that they remain the most dependable, rugged and proven weapons lights you can buy.

SureFire’s Scout Light is my favorite weapons-mounted long gun light. Small, light, compact and easy to mount, it can be very powerful. Swap out a different head and you can even get IR light. Most take Lithium 123 batteries common in many sights, and are pretty easy to get if you’re in America.

Those deploying overseas often complain about how hard they are to get and how prolific the AA battery is. So SureFire has answered the call with its new Scout Light using AA batteries.

Built to SureFire’s usual standards, this light can take abuse. Roughly an inch longer than the other Scout Light design, it uses the same mounts. Rated at a maximum 200 lumens output, battery life is more than twice that of more powerful lights at 3.75 hours.

Using the latest RM45 mount, the AA scout was mounted to my Tavor using an integrated tape switch. The mount is slim with no protrusions and did not block my sight line. Placed at 45 degrees, the light is in just about the perfect position. It can be switched around for use on side rails as well, and it provides a simple and rugged lighting system with plenty of power for most any duty or self-defense application.