SO...... I'm dipping my big toe into the shark infested waters of reflex sights for my home security system, and I find out that they're now.......Solar Equipped. UNfortunately.... 2 out of three of my carry pieces are too dimminutive to for the snazzier $300 solar equipped model, so I have to settle for a smaller non-hybrid unit as pictured above. Reflex sights are the newest hotness in the CCW community, and they're remarkably advanced tech (first developed by our good buddies, the Brits in the 40s,) in a reeeeally small, reeeally durable, nearly affordable package. They completely eliminate parallax, dominant eye, and other sighting issues. The observer shifts from left to right but the reticle stays planted where the sight is pointed. If you've seen pictures of US-issued weapons lately with very small tubes attached - say......in the 'Stan, some of those are some of these. Not of particular interest to the Prius community, probably, except for the bit about solar.....
All three of my EDC (Everyday Carry) pieces are Mass Compliant, and even though Mass is a "may issue" state (for now)...who knows? They..........."may" issue!
Ambient energy harvest, to displace battery changes, was one of my work project areas for a while. And indoor solar collection seemed to be the most viable at the time. But my work was towards stuff that would be mostly out in the open in common office or home conditions, with good (mostly artificial) light exposure. This one seems to be for an item that spends nearly all its time encased in darkness, or nearly so. Does this application really work under normal conditions, or do you need to adjust conditions to accommodate it?
Most of these (including mine) have auto-off or 'shake awake' features that render the solar collectors kinda moot, although most of the holsters leave the sight exposed to ambient light. I'm thinking that it's an interesting "bling" item given the market and the fact that commonly available CR3032 batteries are rated for something like 50,000 hours in these things with a "medium" brightness setting. Given the price of ammo? I don't have a problem believing that particular spec.
