Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Does anybody have a Tactical flashlight?

I'm getting a dozen junk e-mails every day for Tac flashlights, Tac pencils, Tac toilet paper....I must not be one of the cool kids because my flashlights are fairly plain.

If they have to pester you to buy several for cheap they aren't worth the batteries in them.

I know the post was in jest, but for those in the market, or just curious:

For the last 5 years or so, the best, brightest, longest running flashlights that serious, professional folks use (first responders, law enforcement, etc) have generally been Cree XM-L LED's, with 18650 batteries (or CR123s, for sub-compact form factors), or something similar. These lights outflood and outlast maglights or any other lame incandescent cop light 10x over. If you are not familiar with the 18650 battery form factor and are serious about lighting, look it up. 21700's are becoming popular as well, and is a form factor I am investing in.

Well, technology continues to improve and those who are in the know are now running XHP70 and XHP90 LEDs. Headlight bright (or better) in the palm of your hand. And 18650 (and 21700, and other Li batteries in well regulated lights) don't dim with use. The run 100% power and brightness until the battery is drained - the power curve is horizontal. You get 100% brightness until the last second of use.

If you buy a decent brand, these lights can go from retina-burning-bright turbo modes (*hours* of run time) to emergency-run-time 10 candlepower low mode (HUNDREDS of hours of runtime, on one charge). People that run around hundreds of yards underground in caves for a living, SAR, work in the dark, etc, trust these form factors.

My XHP70.2 (18650x2) has a strobe setting that will blind any/all bystanders within 100 yards, no joke. It was $40, and it is my primary tactical tool in my truck, ahead of my 9MM.

I believe that a flexible, long lasting torch (one you can run on 3000 lumen for 2 hours, or 50 lumen for 200 hours, for example) is a highly underrated tactical tool.

Define "tactical".


I have several Streamlights of various models both handheld and weapon-mounted. A Sure-Fire given as a gift, three Klarus XT-11s and most recently, an Olight M2T Warrior. All of them will fry retinas and draw blood on impact. Well, the SL Poly-Tac isn't designed for drawing blood, but I managed to do so with it. The Sure-Fire is an old 6-Z I got for Xmas in the late 90s. I upgraded the lamp assembly to LED a few years ago and it still runs without issues. It rides on my vest carrier as a backup.

IMHO, Streamlight is the best bang for the buck.

Another Streamlight fan here.

Meh, for me. It's like my buddies with their 5 D-cell Maglites. Great if you need to club a small Colorado black bear over the noggin point blank, but pretty much worthless if you want to blind him at 30 yards.

Streamlight doesn't even have a XM-L in their catalog, that I can tell, let alone XHP's.. They are GENERATIONS behind in LED tech.

Fenix, Olight, Klarus, and others embrace the newest tech. SO MANY great, bright, indestructible latest tech lights on the market for the buck - no need to pay so much for overpriced, black cop lights.

I've never had a Streamlight that was worth a damn. I think I've given away or sold all but two Surefire's. Surefires are just way overrated and over expensive IMO. I haven't heard of Olight or Klarus, but Fenix is dependable technology and overall I agree with his posts.

Any thoughts on led lensor?

I got one of those about 4 years ago - I bought it with a scope clamp and remote switch and put it on my 22 to shoot rabbits.

Small and lightweight and good battery life. The rabbits don't seem to like it though.

About 5 years ago I bought a $10 Tac-ish sort of 1-AA cell flashlight that I carry in my pocket. Middle age has set in, and my vision in the dark just ain't what it used to be. I use it pretty regularly.

A few weeks ago, honorable #3 son,Angus (in his early 20's) was going on about getting a $50 Tac flaslight and how useful it would be. He wanted us both to get one.

"Yes, but mine only costs $10"

"But this is soooo much better."

"Yes," I replied,"But mine's special." I brought it out. "Mine has. . . a normal setting. . . a bright setting. . . "

"So?????"

"Yes, but does it have this?" I turned it on the continuous flash setting and held it over my head. I started dancing. "Does it have a disco setting?"

My son walked away, not understanding that sometimes you just need to get down and boogie on the spot. I guess he's not of that age.

No. And I don't belong to USCCA, either..

I like my Streamlights. Super bright!

I'm a new Olight fan. I have a couple others but just ordered a weapon light and a couple flashlights as gifts. They're impressive, appear to be well made. Time will tell.

I still like my big Maglite rechargeable, and my two Streamlight Stinger rechargeable lights. One of the Stingers was given to me by my brother in law, who used it daily as a Federal Officer. I put in a LED upgrade, and it still matches up well against the new chinese cheapies. I figure it's got 20 years on it, and still works, is reliable, and completely functional.
I have a number of new tech lights as well, and they are great, but the switches and internals may, or most likely may not be as long term reliable.
All of my weapon lights are either Surefire or Streamlight.

I found one of these (similar) on closeout at Academy a couple of years ago. It is INSANELY bright with a adjustable focus such that you could put a spot on a deer's side at 50 yards. It comes with some stuff to mount it to a gun and a remote pressure switch. It has a quick flash/burst mode that I guess is intended to disorient bad guys. That, it will do! I wish I had bought more. Battery life is not great given the intensity.

https://www.nebotools.com/p/O2-BEAM-RC/598

Olight S2R batton II, when its dark and I am out and about its clipped into my left pocket.

My Maglight's a 3 cell. It's not near as bright as some LED's I got on Amazon for $5 each. Maglight came out with an LED conversion that I tried but it didn't make enough difference to matter. It's been sitting in a drawer for several years. I suppose I should take the old batteries out but I'm not likely to ever use it again.

The brightest lights I have a 2 Coast headlamps that I got from Costco for $20/pair. They use 3 AAA's and will light up the trees at 100 yds.

Give us a couple links to some of the best values in what you're talking about. It's Christmas shopping season, after all.

Me too. Constant companion for a few years now.