October 7th, 2021
14:30 runtime
When it comes to defensive firearms, reliability is a top priority.
Over time, products tend to reveal their ability to hold up or not.
This works great for most folks.
The HEX Wasp spent 30 minutes submerged in water, and the optic showed no signs of allowing water into the internals.
Well, that doesnt work out so well for me.
I am an early adopter.
Its actually my job to be part of the sorting.
The Wasp is machined from 6061 T6 aluminum with serrations cut into the sides. It also has a hood to help protect the glass lens from impact.
I like that part of my job.
So, I had to wonder if the diminutive dot could really deliver.
I have some pretty high expectations for my gear, and that carried over to the Wasp.
The repeated bashing of the optic on the shoothouse railroad tie had little effect on the optic other than this small mark on the corner of the hood.
The shell of the Wasp is a great place to start.
It is machined from 6061 T6 aluminum and has a deep black hard coat anodizing.
In addition, the top edge extends forward in a hood to help protect the glass.
The Federal Premium Ammunition American Eagle 9mm 147-gr. FMJ-FP rounds proved to be reliable and serve as a good test load.
This helps keep the optic low, allowing the above-mentioned co-witnessing with the iron sights.
At first, the Wasp appeared to have a rather small window to me.
After all, it is a small dot designed for a micro 9mm pistol.
The hood on the Wasp’s housing proved durable and practical. After slamming it on the edge more than a hundred times, the only evidence was some dust.
Part of this is probably related to the notable clarity of the window itself.
Also, the dot itself auto adjusts brightness based on ambient lighting quickly and reliably.
The HEX Wasp is also a waterproof optic, featuring an IPX7 rating.
The author found the Wasp mounted on top of the Hellcat RDP to be a formidable combination. The optic was easy to pick up and track and it proved to be a durable unit.
This means that it can withstand 30 minutes fully submerged in one meter of water.
The self-adjusting dot runs off a single, bottom-loading, CR2032 battery which has a two-year life.
Put the battery in and the dot is on.
The fully loaded pistol with the Wasp mounted on top came out of the water and simply worked.
The Test
As I mentioned, the dot specs out wonderfully.
Thats not whats important though.
What I wanted to know is, would it really perform.
The Hellcat RDP is a complete defensive handgun package with the HEX Wasp. I set out to test to see if the optic was as reliable as the pistol. It was.
The only thing left was a plan.
Sure, it could make it through a box of 50 rounds, but how about a few thousand?
Next, did the waterproof rating mean what I thought it meant?
While shooting the Hellcat RDP with the HEX Wasp, the author made sure to shoot with a two-handed grip, primary hand only and support hand only.
And finally, was the housing robust enough to take abuse?
I set off to find out.
Once I got the optic mounted and sighted in, I began the shooting portion of the test.
I loaded up 11-, 13- and 15-round magazines and headed out to the range.
It isnt my SCUBA carry optic.
I had access to an oversized bucket the same width as a five-gallon bucket, but taller.
I filled it up and placed the loaded RDP into the water.
I let it soak for 30 minutes, then retrieved it and started shooting.
Next, I wanted to check the durability of the optic itself.
That wasnt the point.
What I really wanted to know was if the housing and the lens could withstand extended, realistic abuse.
To me that meant racking the slide with the optic on an abusive surface.
I figured a ballistic structure built from railroad ties ought to do the trick.
This process was repeated 10 times for a total of 110 impacts and more rounds downrange.
The Results
The HEX Wasp performed admirably throughout the tests.
The live-fire seemed like a simple task for the dot.
One of the fail points of slide-mounted red dot sights is the recoil the sight has to live through.
The HEX Wasp kept right on trucking to a full 2,500 rounds with no issue.
The mounting system worked well in the live-fire as well.
Ive seen more than one dot shear off a gun under recoil.
I did pay close attention tomounting procedures and properly torquing the screws, which doesnt hurt.
Based on the live-fire test, I would expect it to go many thousands of rounds more without issue.
The water didnt pose an issue for the Wasp either.
The dot was fully functional right out of the water and remained functional days and weeks later.
It is clear that no water entered the Wasps internals.
I was most worried about the Wasps performance when I started to hammer on it.
Such a small optic seems like it could be pretty easily damaged.
That was not the case.
Final Thoughts
I understand that my test is on a sample of exactly one HEX Wasp.
However, this one Wasp performed well.
Very well, in fact.
Spending the time working over the HEX Wasp was very informative for me.
I am glad I did it.
