I started this Olight PL Turbo Valkyrie review about a month ago. In that time I’ve done a fair amount of scenario based, live fire, and dry fire training with this new weapons light, and it’s passed all of my tests. It’s an excellent budget option for those that need a powerful weapon light that can be used in a variety of applications. Keep reading for all the details.
Early in September Olight reached out to me and asked if I would do a review for a new weapon-mounted light they were releasing. I agreed, and they sent out the PL Turbo Valkyrie (Amazon Affiliate link). To be clear, they didn’t pay me anything for the review, but I didn’t pay anything for the light either.
Up until this point I had no experience with any Olight flashlights. I had heard that there were some quality control issues with other models, and I was interested to see just how reliable this tactical light was. Long story short, it’s proved to be as reliable as other traditional LED lights, like my Surefire X 300, or my Streamlight TLR lights (Amazon Affiliate Links). Here’s some highlights of the Olight Valkyrie Turbo review.
Olight PL Turbo Valkyrie Review
- 800 Lumen / 66,300 Candela light intensity
- Tightly focused beam with 515 meters throw
- Ambidextrous switches with momentary, constant, and strobe modes
- Weight 4.48 ounces with battery
- More than 116 minutes of continuous use battery life
- Aluminum body with screw attachment rail clamp
- Dual CR123A in rear battery compartment
- IPX 6 water resistance rating
Before we get to the specifics of the review, I want to say that this light turned out to be much better than I was expecting. Given its price of around $90, I don’t think there’s anything on the market that offers this much value per dollar. Let’s get to the details. Before we do that, don’t forget to join the email list below.
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PL Turbo Valkyrie Testing: Durability
My first concern with a white light at this price point, is durability, and reliability. I can tell you from my past experience that the fastest way to break a light is to shoot major power factor ammunition. To this end, I put several hundred rounds of 40 S&W ammunition through an Atlas Titan 2011.
I’ve previously sheered the screws on a Surefire X300U with 40 caliber recoil. While it took around 10,000 rounds before that happened, I’ve found that 40 caliber ammo to be a good reliability test of a weapons light. After the 200 or so rounds I put through the gun, the light didn’t have any issues.
I also made it a policy to throw the light on the ground 4-5 times every time I switched it between guns. If you’ve ever carried a pistol light, then you’ll know they get banged off of equipment, and dropped quite often. The Turbo Valkyrie had no issues. There were a few scuffs to the anodized aluminum, but that’s cosmetic only.
Overall I give the PL Turbo a pass, as it continues to function well after more than 30 drops to the ground, and several hundred rounds of 40 S&W caliber recoil. Next, we’ll move on to the ergonomics.
Olight PL Turbo Valkyrie: Ergonomics
This light is built around a similar pattern to many common pistol lights. There are two switches on either side of the light body. You can activate constant on with a quick press, pushing a switch inward. If you push and hold, it’s momentarily only. If you push both switches, you get a very disorienting strobe mode.
My only complaint with the switches is that I would prefer that they be a little higher. Most shooters will activate them with their support side thumb. This requires that you rotate your wrist down a little more than is comfortable. This is a minor complaint, and it didn’t have any practical implications.
During my testing, I put the PL Valkyrie on some simunitions guns, for force on force training. I found that I was easily able to activate the light without any conscious thought, even though I have much more experience with rocker style switches.
One of the best features, that I’ve not seen on any other light, is the ability to move the locking lug forward and backward. This allows you to position the light exactly where you need it. If you prefer the end of the light extend further from the gun, you can do that. It also comes with two different rail adapters. I left the stock adapter on, but there is a Glock specific version included as well.
If you want it tight to the trigger guard, that’s an easy adjustment. The best part is that you don’t need any tools to change this setting. You just loosen the mounting screw and you can adjust the lug. Now, let’s cover how the light itself performed.
Olight PL Turbo Valkyrie: Performance
The Turbo Valkyrie has a very tight beam and a very long throw. They advertise that it has a 515m throw distance, and I don’t doubt it. As you’ll see, this light has an exceptionally tight spotlight, with a less powerful spill. I must admit that I wasn’t a fan of this at first, but as I got used to it, it think it works well.
When using it indoors, with normal sized rooms, I found that the hotspot is almost perfectly head sized. This proved to be an unexpected benefit when doing scenario training in mixed lighting conditions. This puts more light output in the bad guys face, which is more disorienting, compared to a more diffuse beam. Check out these photos below to get an idea of the beam pattern.
Because this beam is so tight, I think it actually makes a good rifle light as well. It’s a breeze to quick attach it to a picatinny rail. The whole process takes a few seconds.
You can see in the photo that the beam works even better at distances around 30 yards. If you need a do it all light, that works well in a wide variety of uses, then this would be a good choice. You can also see that the light only takes up a sliver of the optic window
Olight PL Turbo Valkyrie Review: Final Thoughts
The PL Turbo Valkyrie represents a very good value for a high performance tactical weapons light. It is very bright, and works well indoors and outdoors. It can also be mounted on almost any modern pistol, or rifle.
Like any new piece of gear, I think you shouldn’t use it until you complete a trial period. I’ve had an overall positive experience with this light, and I expect it will continue to work well. If you want to pick up your own light, then you can use this Amazon affiliate link and get it shipped to your door. Now get out there and get training!
You can also find links to great training ammo, and self defense ammo here. Don’t forget to join the email list below. Now get out there and get training!
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