Review of the Inforce WML Weapon Mounted Flashlight

I was recently reminded by my friend Doug (thanks Doug!) about how great of a weapon mounted flashlight the Inforce WML is, and decided to do a product review.  I’ve been using an Inforce WML on my Colt 6940P for almost a year, and have used it during a couple of Tactical Rifle training courses (both of which had low-light components to the courses) and was more than pleased – it took the abuse from the high round count training course and performed admirably.  Here’s a photo of how I have the Inforce WML mounted on my AR-15:

The Inforce WML is a very basic, bare-bones, no-nonsense weapon mounted light (which is what WML stands for).  The version I purchased is the white LED only with momentary on functionality, and is rated for 125 lumens (the actual model# is INF-WML-B-W-M).  There’s a tendency among flashlight consumers (I’ve been guilty of this myself) to think “more is better” when it comes to lumen output.  But if you’ve done or practiced any low light house clearing, you’ll see that that once you go much beyond 100 lumens, you’re going to experience significant “wash back” of light bouncing off of light colored walls which are typically found in most buildings – a very undesirable effect.  In terms of the user interface, there’s a simply “instant on” activation switch – as long as pressure is applied to the button, the light stays on at full-power.  Take the pressure away from the button, and the light turns off.  This is exactly the sort of simple, single-output tactical UI which is highly desirable in a weapons mounted light – you want the light quickly and easily activated when you need it on, then you want it off just as quickly.  Remember, when that light is on, you can not only see your potentially armed assailant, but they too can see where you’re located.  The Inforce WML is powered by a single CR123A Lithium power cell, and can run for approximately two hours.

You can’t really talk about the Inforce WML without talking about the excellent value it is with a retail price of just $125.00 (even less if you buy it here).  Most weapon mounted lights can cost anywhere from about $200 – $500.00, and many of which have extra bells and whistles which aren’t just less desirable, they’re “features” which can get you killed if you’re involved in an actual engagement.  When I saw the price, I thought “this must be made in China” but my research indicates that the INFORCE brand is owned by Emissive Energy Corp.- an American ISO 9001:2008 certified manufacturer that designs, engineers and produces optoelectronic systems for Military, Law Enforcement and Federal agencies. and has done so for 22 years.  In fact, according to their website, INFORCE products are distributed in over 40 countries and currently used by every branch of the U.S. Military and the majority of federal law enforcement agencies.

The Inforce WML is also extremely light, and very easily mounted to any MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail – no tools requried.  My only minor quibble with the Inforce WML is that it’s not very flexible in where you can mount it.  Ideally, you’d want the light on the top or bottom of the rifle – side mounting it will make  navigating hard corners a bit of a challenge.  The button on the Inforce WML would awkward at best to activate if you mounted it to the bottom of a rifle.  The next best place would be the top of the rail, as illustrated by this stock photo from the INFORCE website:

Stock Photo From INFORCE

On my rifle (and I suspect the majority of AR-15 set ups) top rail mounting the Inforce WML simply isn’t feasible due to both optic and iron sight placement.  In this photo, you can see I did mount my Inforce WML on the left-hand side of the rifle, so I can easily activate it with the thumb of my non-shooting hand.

I just have to make certain that if I’m dropping out on a left-hand corner that I clear the edge of the corner otherwise I’ll have 125 lumens bouncing right back in my face.

Simple.  Durable.  Effective.  Great value – all are appropriate adjectives to describe the Inforce WML.  I like it so much, I plan on getting a couple more to mount on my shotguns.  As usual, Amazon.com is one of the best places to purchase one, and is currently available (in both tan and black) for less than $100.00.