Am hoping to find a good, quality dot sight under $250 if at all possible but am having trouble browsing online so thought I'd come to the Outdoors forum for advice. This would be strictly for SHTF type situations at home and practice at range.

One of my concerns is whether a red dot sight would even be useful at night time given it can be almost pitch black in our house. Was curious to get peoples' thoughts on lasers and how dependable they were. Also any recs would be greatly appreciated. Tried a buddy's pistol with crimson trace laser on it years ago and it was pretty cool...wondering if anyone has one on an AR???

Any info greatly appreciated.

Primary Arms Advanced Micro Dot or Sig Romeo 5. I have both and have been very happy with them. Crisp dot, awesome battery life, and hold zero. Either one is $150-$175. Add a good weapon light from Primary Arms, Streamlight, or Inforce and you are covered for the nighttime issue. You will want the light to positively ID your target, and it can have the added benefit of disorienting your target if used properly.

Have you considered doing a red dot and a weapon light like a protact from straight of a wmlx from inforce instead of a laser?

Most red dot sights have variable levels or brightness and can be adjusted to work well at night or during the daytime. I suggest adding a flashlight if you plan to use during the night time. These days there are a lot of decent red dots under $250.

Laser's can be useful at night but are terrible for during the daytime and longer ranges.

Good ideas, thanks for the input

Yes, red dots are useful at night. They need to be paired with white light so you can id any potential target.

A light and a red dot on a rifle make it an outstanding home defense weapon.

For shtf, I like the idea of the holosun units that have a solar cell. Batteries become less of an issue.

I recently bought a Burris red dot site.

No complaints

Spent about 185