Getting a good sight picture and target acquisition is important in self-defense settings. Green Light Sights claims to speed up the process. Is Greenlight Sights a gimmick? Or, a valuable tool?
We take our firearms and firearm accessories very seriously here at The Square Reviews. In fact, we take all of our product and travel reviews seriously here. The content we put out, we put out in earnest with honesty and integrity. This statement might be a spoiler alert for what you’re about to read.
Concept
The concept of Green Light Sights is that a user should be able to attain defensive accuracy quicker with the Green Light Sight. We’d describe the device as being a go/no-go concept. The claims are the window will be green when aligned with an intended target and white when not.
Green Light Sights are offered for select Glock model pistols. The units are make and model specific — ensure you confirm a unit will be compatible with your firearm. The device is installed by removing the back slide cover plate and replacing it with a Green Light Sight.
To make the device go from white to green and vice versa, the material seems to be a type of “lenticular plastic.” When the angle changes, the color changes.
In essence, the unit is supposed to make point shooting quicker and more accurate.
Installation
Installing the Green Light Sight is fairly easy. It requires the removal of your pistol’s slide cover plate. The Green Light Sight also needs to have some disassembly prior to installation and once installed, it needs to be reassembled.
The model we were provided with seems to be an older one. The current version that’s on their site is considered their “snap in” variety. The one we received required the removal of two screws, sliding out of the lenticular plastic, installing on the slide, and then reassembly. The snap-in version does not have any screws that need to be removed/reinstalled.
From all accounts all units appear to function in a similar manner.
Current versions
Currently there are three different versions that are offered for sale:
- Full sized offered for $160.00
- Tactical version offered for $200.00
- Adhesive-backed offered for $49.00
The pitch
Green Light Sights reached out to us about reviewing their product. In their message they touted that the Green Light Sight “dramatically improves sight acquisition speed” and gives “shooters an edge in both competition and self-defense.”
We were intrigued and agreed to take a look.
Our first glance
In the below video we went over some of what we thought the finer points of the Green Light Sight would be. We also show some of the test firing a firearm equipped with the Green Light Sight we were provided with.
A note about our process
Generally speaking we don’t like to say overly negative things about the products we review. We don’t usually find a product to be so awful that there aren’t any redeeming qualities about it. In the past when we find problems with products, we’ve always gone back to the manufacturer to try and reconcile or better understand the product.
In most instances, after chatting with a company, we’re better educated and could speak about a product in a more effective manner. If we’re not able to reconcile or get over any glaring issues with a product, we also discuss that with the manufacturer. We’re not in the business of destroying businesses.
That said, if through good and earnest communications we’re able to determine a product is not the right fit for The Square Reviews, we won’t expel any further energy on it — especially if all communications and efforts were met with good faith by the company.
I wish I could say that Green Light Sights nailed this. But, they did not. We had issues. We had questions. And after attempting to contact the sales representative who sent us our unit for testing and evaluation multiple times failed, we decided to put out this editorial on the product. Several emails were met with time conflicts and pushing off of making an appointment to discuss our concerns with the product.
Life gets in the way
We understand that life does get in the way. Sometimes we’re approached with a query by companies we’re working with because we’re moving too slowly for them. Life and business are busy.
Perhaps the representative at Green Light Sights has something going on in their personal life? We simply don’t know. All we can say is they did not really care enough to connect after multiple attempts — and we did leave it open ended to see if they would follow up with us. They did not.
The reputation
After running our own tests of the Green Light Sight, we looked at other creator’s comments and content on the units. Many reputable people had great things to say. A friend and close colleague of The Square Reviews actually ran the unit and gave it a lot of positive feedback.
What others have found is that the Green Light Sight paired with something like a red dot system would save on target acquisition time. The biggest squeeze that we saw other people get out of the system is in shaving off those milliseconds — even with iron sights.
There are users who really got behind these sights and offered up great and calculated reviews.
The wrong side of history?
We might end up on the wrong side of history on this product, but it’s not for us. Several members of our team tried out the unit and we all found it to be a gimmicky distraction. One member said explicitly, “Oh no, get that thing off my gun.” So, overall, this is not the system for us.
Does the lens work and turn from green to white? Sure. Is there decent defensive accuracy? Well, we did have some misses when we tested it, so I’ll say maybe.
In my personal opinion, if you’re looking for that defensive accuracy, train with front sight only shooting or take up one of the many point shooting systems that are out there.
This is one of those situations where training will almost always trump hardware. Would training with the unit lead to better results? Yeah, probably. But we’re not in the business of trying to train with a completely different wheel working against fundamentals we feel are important to get muscle memory on.
Is this an unpopular opinion? We don’t care. If we end up on the wrong side of history on this one, we’ll happily reevaluate.
The one recommendation
If you’re somewhat intrigued with this system, don’t let us dissuade you from trying it out. What we’d recommend would be trying out the adhesive-backed version to see if this is something that you could get behind. It’s about 60 percent cheaper than the full-size model. If you end up liking it, yes, you’ll be out of that $50.00 if you opt to get one of the other versions. However, if you don’t like it, you haven’t flushed $160.00 or $200.00 respectively down the toilet.
The quick and dirty
Pluses: We did not like this product. Innovative? Yes. A cool concept? Yes. For us? No. For you? Maybe.
Minuses: Expensive. It’s a distraction. Did not add anything to our defensive accuracy in a point shooting scenario — if anything our accuracy was worse off.
This is the first time we’ve made the editorial decision to flat out not recommend a product. As mentioned, if the sales team at Green Light Sights had taken the time to help us understand their product better, or if we made the decision together that perhaps TSRs isn’t a good venue to showcase their product, things would be different.
We did not sign up for the Green Light Sights affiliate program and will benefit in no way if you purchase a product from them. If you do decide to purchase a Greenlight Sight or if you have one already, zap a comment down below. We’d love to hear from you!
