How Many Firearm Accessories Do You Need?

Some thoughts on the subject of weapon accessories by Oleg Volk.  He notes:

For one, all of these accessories cost money. Good, durable accessories can be expensive. Fortunately, users can amortize their accessories over many years and the benefits of having a good scope can be well worth the few dollars per month in depreciation. Most accessories also add weight. A red dot here and a white light there, plus a side-saddle with ammo and a bayonet, and soon you are looking at pounds rather than ounces of extra weight. You are also looking at new corners that can snag during use. Maintenance is another issue: a plain-jane shotgun can sit in a closet for years and still work, but the laser battery might not last as long (though lithium batteries can last for years on the shelf). Regular rotation of batteries becomes a scheduled task.

 He also notes the increased "cost" in training time--becoming familiar and competent using said accessories.

Although I seem to harp on this issue, I want to skip back to the weight issue. For a home-defense carbine that is never going to leave the house (except to go to the practice range), weight is probably not an important issue. Ditto for people using motorized transportation to bug out, or conduct security patrols. But if you are going to be slogging around on foot carrying a tactical carbine or battle rifle, weight should be an important issue. A fully tricked out AR-15 or M-4 clone with a fully loaded magazine, rails, a scope or red-dot, laser, light, and vertical foregrip can come in at 15 lbs or more. May not seem like much, but the "overly heavy" M-1 Garand was only about 9-1/2 lbs. In fact, one of the touted benefits of the M-16 when it was first issued was its light weight at about 6-1/2 lbs. Just something to think about.

For a good example of weight issues (albeit, in reference to a bug-out-bag), see this letter to Survival Blog.