The Best Helmet Light Kit So Far

The Enhanced M-AX Mount Kit

Today we're going to be talking about a new product that we're offering, and it's a product that we actually don't make any of the components for. However, in the interest of providing tools to guys and curating things that we like to use, we've been adding a bunch of stuff that we don't make to our catalog. So today we're going to be talking about a familiar product and something that a lot of you may already own or have experience with, and that is the S&S Precision M-AX Mount. So, what is this product? This product is a light and a body that mounts to the side of your helmet, and it gives you the ability to articulate the light in pretty much any direction that you want. We took this a step further and added a product from One Hundred Concepts, a pinhole light cap. We're going to talk about that in a minute. But we basically kitted all of these components together.

We’ll break down the components real quick. The first thing you're going to receive is the M-AX mount itself. These come in two color variations, Black or Coyote. Inside this packaging is going be the body itself and then a small set screw. Don't forget to grab that set screw, as it is important to installation. Then you also have two options for mounting, which we have laid out here as well. The first option uses the ARC system from Ops-Core. That means it will fit Crye helmets, Ops-Core helmets, and Galvion helmets, or any other helmet using ARC rails. The second option has an M-LOK setup. If you don't know what M-LOK is, tons of videos on YouTube about M-LOK. But this will work on MTEK helmets, and it'll also work on Team Wendy helmets or anything that has M-LOK-compatible mounting surfaces. So those are the two options.

The other components you're going to get are the Surefire vampire scout light head and the clicky tail cap. We went with the vampire head because we wanted the user to be able to select from a variety of modes depending on what’s needed. Those options are either white light, IR, or off. Finally, you'll get the One Hundred Concepts light cap with the pinhole lens cover on it. A quick point of note, it does have both coyote and black shock cord to match whichever variation of the light that you get. We went with this specific One Hundred Concepts light cap since it has a small reduction pinhole on it. It provides a task light if needed, with that tiny pinhole. It also offers the ability to lift that aperture or that cap off of it and then be able to use the full power of the light. Additionally, you do both of those things in IR mode or turn the light completely off so that it can never turn on by putting it in the off mode. From our perspective, it’s the best combination of having a task light, a full power light, and also having the ability to articulate where that light is going.

So let's talk about the theory behind where it's mounted. The theory behind the light, at least why we think this is the best light option, is that it gives us the ability to have articulation in the light, so it can be pointed in any direction. Having a forward-facing light is pretty self-explanatory. It gives you the ability to put light on whatever task you're doing. Something that I think is a DARC thing is the concept of umbrella lighting a room. Having the ability to tilt your light up at the ceiling is very important. If you're at your post-assault phase of an operation where you can then go white light, you're doing searches, and you're dealing with casualties, or you're dealing with detainees.

You can flip this light up, you can take the cap off, and you can turn it on, and it will reflect off the ceiling and basically give everyone in that room pretty good light to search around and stuff like that. You get a couple of guys doing this, and now you have a ton of light in the room. It makes it super convenient, and you're not blinding everybody. Nothing is more annoying than a guy with his fixed flashlight that's mounted parallel to the ground, turns that thing on, and he's just talking to everybody, and he's just shining the light in your face the whole time. This gives you the ability to use it as a task light or point it up at the ceiling and share the light with everybody.

We also think search and rescue guys should not sleep on this. This is a great light to use, especially if you're required to wear a helmet. Say you're doing a helicopter insertion or you're a climbing ranger or something like that. The lumens that this is going to put out is just going to be way better than your headlamps or other small personal lights. You're going to have a very good spotlight on your helmet at all times, so it's a great option for those search and rescue guys as well.

Additionally, if you go interior, you have the ability to redirect the light and kind of share it with everyone. You can mount it on either side of the helmet; it's important to note that it's ambi. You just flip the mount, and then you can mount it on the left side, or you can mount it on the right side. It really doesn't matter. It's a pretty straightforward product, but it's almost become ubiquitous as the go-to light after the GWOT, and there's a reason; we think it is the best one.

For further info, check out the product video linked below: