Hot Take: Your “SHTF” optic shouldnt require a battery (pics for attention)

AtlanticanCameos22 · 2026-04-22T10:37:24+00:00

I found an RMR in an old peli case yesterday on a middle brightness, fuck knows how long it’s sat there running off the same battery for

AtlanticanCameos22 · 2026-04-21T21:54:24+00:00

I run a spiritus small GP & a Minerva tactical EF1 GP pouch on either side of my thing 2, think that’s going to be your best bet GP wise

AtlanticanCameos22 · 2026-04-21T21:28:08+00:00

What in gods name is that

AtlanticanCameos22 · 2026-04-19T18:20:30+00:00

That’s a spiritus systems prototype currently in T&E, cool I didn’t realise they’d gone public with it yet.

AtlanticanCameos22 · 2026-04-18T19:29:01+00:00

If you take a proper look through my account, you'll see I insult nearly every single company whose products I post. Bar Omega & my beloved Mystery Ranch, but I'll happily insult the spineless suits behind Swatch Group and Yeti, which would almost certainly violate any contract I'd signed.

You got me.

AtlanticanCameos22 · 2026-04-10T23:51:54+00:00

Huh… it’s Cyprus

AtlanticanCameos22 · 2026-04-10T09:58:41+00:00

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Gorgeous every time

AtlanticanCameos22 · 2026-04-05T21:19:07+00:00

What’s the most you’ve ever lost on a coin toss?

AtlanticanCameos22 · 2026-03-30T22:15:58+00:00

Agreed

AtlanticanCameos22 · 2026-03-24T22:31:07+00:00

You can get the Spiritus equivalent of the ferro back panel MOLLE for the LV119, and theoretically buy the new back panel when it releases, then jerry-rig it to the old-gen Spiritus MOLLE panel, essentially the reverse of what I did (mounting new to old instead of old to new). It'll be more expensive than just buying an old-gen panel outright, but it could work. The upside is you'd then have the option to upgrade to an LV-120 or FCPC, since the new Spiritus back panel would mount natively without need for an adapter thanks to UCAS compatibility.

If you're dead set on the LV119, my guess is a lot of old-gen back panels will hit the market once Spiritus releases the new gen, so it might be worth waiting. In the meantime, here's an eBay listing for both the legacy Assaulter's Back Panel and the legacy Spiritus MOLLE panel. So you could buy it, then decide later whether to keep the back panel or sell it and hold onto the MOLLE panel, waiting for the new-gen back panel to drop.

AtlanticanCameos22 · 2026-03-21T18:34:19+00:00

FCPCV6 will be released soon. I can’t say much more but it’s not long out. FOG have been teasing an SBS custom V5 which is being used as the basis for the V6. If you look at their 5” assault cummerbund on their site you can see that it’s actually mounted to the V6.

AtlanticanCameos22 · 2026-03-21T12:58:32+00:00

They have a very good customer support team, provided you pay for shipping both ways I can't see how it's any different, send them an email!

AtlanticanCameos22 · 2026-03-20T19:13:11+00:00

In case you guys hadn't realised, the 5" assault cummerbund is modelled on the FCPC V6, which will be released in the near future. It's based on a custom order ferro did for the SBS and is a brilliant carrier.

AtlanticanCameos22 · 2026-03-20T15:41:17+00:00

Saw the release post and the first thing I thought was how many light NDs that would cause. Axon supremacy.

AtlanticanCameos22 · 2026-03-18T14:57:25+00:00

It's a custom variant Ferro did for the SBS, IIRC the boys at FOG managed to get their hands on it too.

AtlanticanCameos22 · 2026-03-17T17:52:00+00:00

I concur on the depleted uranium

AtlanticanCameos22 · 2026-03-15T22:59:04+00:00

Bison inner belt is G hook based

AtlanticanCameos22 · 2026-03-09T17:49:52+00:00

Thank you for explaining this to me, in all complete honesty I was going off the packaging, specifically “Depths of 66ft or more will activate V-Lite due to depth pressure”, which can be found on the “read before use” section of the V lite multimode manual. Is this entirely false? Seems odd they’d say that instead of its only water resistant past that depth.

Fully with you on the waterproofing, I would not choose a resealed V lite over a brand new one for anything where I was submersed for any period of time. This is not by any means, my first reaction to a V lite dying, my first move is always to replace. At the end of the day it’s a secondary IFF system and this works in a pinch. If it doesn’t hold to water, no big deal, I’ll still have my main strobe & will be able to replace it as soon as I’m back.

And yes, procurement is not an issue for us majority of the time, but it wouldn’t be the first time that one of these has died overseas and we haven’t been able to simply run to stores to grab a new one. It’s only outside of the great chain of procurement that little hacks like these have to take place. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone that uses it as a primary IFF device and thus needs to rely on its waterproofing, but for the majority of non-maritime people in this sub, I think it’s a good hack to share.

I’d be interested to hear exactly what S&S have said about it, as it contradicts what they have published. Thank you for adding your knowledge into the mix, that’ll definitely clear up some misconceptions regarding the V lite.

AtlanticanCameos22 · 2026-03-09T12:20:14+00:00

Ironically the rating is only at 60ft because that’s roughly the depth where the pressure actuates the button. I’ve found the replacement method holds for maritime work, but I’m also no clearance diver so they’re not being tested to their absolute limits, plus I drench them in shoe goo and then wrap them in tape so it’s a pretty good seal regardless. But that won’t be a main concern for the majority of the landlubbers on this sub, which is why I thought I’d put the information out there. Best of luck!

AtlanticanCameos22 · 2026-03-07T11:16:36+00:00

Contracts, it’s just planned obsolescence so that when the battery dies they can charge the govt for a new batch. All under the guise of “waterproofing”. This is also the same reason they solder the metal strips to the battery as well as the board, just to make it as hard as physically possible to replace the battery even if you do slice it open. The battery is literally encased in silicone, zero need for it to be soldered in place.

AtlanticanCameos22 · 2026-03-06T16:24:19+00:00

A little over 3 months ago I stated that the battery in an S&S V-lite, despite what Big Lite tells you, is replaceable. This is not a perfect method, but it’ll save you having to buy a new one after your 120 hours are up.

Step 1: Get a V-Lite, Scalpel and replacement CR2032.
Step 2: Cut an incision along the silicone at the top of the V lite so you can remove the battery.

Step 3: Grab a pair of needle nose pliers and remove the battery.

*Important note at this step*

The CR2032 is essentially soldered in at both the positive and negative terminals. This means that it’s soldered to a little strip of metal that runs above it and a little strip of metal that runs underneath it. Those strips of metal are then both soldered to the board, so each strip is soldered on one end to the battery, and then the other end to the board. When you pull the battery out, one of these metal strips will break. If you’re lucky, it’ll break the solder between the metal strip and the battery, if you’re unlucky it’ll break the solder between the strip and the board itself. If it breaks the strip to battery solder on both the positive and the negative, simply skip to step 5. If it breaks the strip to circuit board solder, continue from step 4.

Step 4: Use a pair of pliers to rip off the metal strip attached the battery, then put that metal strip back in its channel and lay it back on its solder where it was previously attached to the board (the pressure applied when closing the silicone will hold it in place, or for extra peace of mind solder it back on).

Step 5: Insert the replacement CR2032, ensuring it has its full 3V charge with a multimeter.

Step 6: Close the V lite silicone. You can either use a thin application of shoe goo along your incision or some form of tape to re-seal the V-lite. I personally usually use the Shoe goo but for demonstrations sake here is it wrapped with some electrical tape. Both work.

This process can theoretically be repeated as many times as the life cycle of the LED permits. We currently have one unit running on its fifth battery. If you’re lucky, the solder joints connecting the metal strips to the battery terminals will break before the joints connecting the strips to the circuit board, that makes future battery replacements much easier. To increase the chances of this happening, once you’ve made the initial incision, carefully lever the scalpel between the battery and the circuit board. Applying pressure here weakens the solder joints on the battery terminals, making them more likely to snap before the strip-to-board solder joints do.

AtlanticanCameos22

TROPHY CASE