Tru-Glo offers a robust fiber optic sight, though its fiber optic/tritium combination is the way to go.

XS Sights
The XS Sights express big-dot sight system was the easiest to find and get on target quickly. All who shot with the XS Sights were quite pleased at how easily they could find the sight and place it in the narrow V. The lack of aligning the square front sight into a square rear sight simplified the process. The downside was that the white dot was lost in the many white walls, curtains, furniture and other backdrops that are part of everyday living. White is a common color, and XS would do well to take a hint from Col. Cooper.

J Point
The J Point sight was shunned by all who looked at it, until they shot with it. I admit that I fell into this category, thinking that the sight was just a toy for competitive shooters. I contacted John Paul, the inventor of the sight, who revealed that he, too, thought his creation was just a gizmo for the "run and gun" crowd until he started getting feedback on the sight from combat in Afghanistan. John told me that he was contacted by a member of U.S. intelligence who had used the J Point sight on his Glock 21 while on tour. "In country…this real-life operator used the gun on four different occasions to save his own life."

John told me, "The sight was broken when he took a tumble down a hill and the gun went flying. I gave him a new one." I had John mount his sight into a spare Glock slide that I had on hand, and I admit that I am quite impressed with it. Others who used it were as equally impressed as I.

The main question is whether the sight will stand up to the rigors of military and police service (making it viable for the legally armed citizen as well), but only time will answer this question. Since the sight, including the lens, is made from lightweight polymer material, it adds next to no weight to the gun. A rear fixed sight is built into the body of the unit that can be used in the event that the sight is damaged.

Be forewarned: The lens of the J Point will enhance the glow of any fiber optic or tritium sight that you may use as a BUIS for the J Point, which is quite distracting when trying to look at the red dot alone. Use a flat black front sight for this purpose. Like the Aimpoint and other reflex sight systems now enjoying great success in Iraq and Afghanistan, the J Point is a "place and press" sight that does not require a shifting of focus from the target to the sight. The time for a pistol-mounted reflex sight has come, and hopefully the J point will be the answer.

Hi-Viz now offers a combative-grade sight utilizing a large front fiber optic combined with a serrated rear sight equipped with smaller fiber optic pipes.

Alertness/Awareness
Alertness and awareness are much like the common light switch: You are either switched on or you are switched off. Obviously, the sights can more easily be used if the shooter is switched on and prepared for confrontation vs. being caught off guard and thrown into startle response. While everyone in a confrontation will suffer some level of startle (unless, of course, you are starting the fight), those who are switched on will suffer it to a lesser degree than those who are totally unprepared. Unfortunately, many cops live in this state of mind.

The end result of all of this is that if you are going to be able to use your pistol's sights in an armed conflict, they must be made so that they interrupt your field of vision. The sights must be made so that they can't help but be noticed. In the end, however, we all point shoot. This does not mean that we can't use the sights, it's just that the sights do not come into play until the gun is up in front of your face. This means that the hands, arms and upper torso must direct the gun to the target so that our eyes can reference the front sight to reconfirm what our upper body should have been doing.

Anyone who thinks they can just thrust their pistol toward the target, chase down the front sight and get a quick and accurate shot is mistaken at best. Getting the gun to the target is a coordinated effort of the upper body--isn't that point shooting? Can we use the sights in a fight? The answer is yes, but it will take a training program directed at that goal and a sight system that one cannot ignore.