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Reviewer's
Impressions:
The Streamlight
Tactical Light series is designed as an affordable but
very good quality set of compact lithium powered high
intensity lights.
The body, made of anodized machined aluminum is cut
with deep lands and grooves in an interrupted ring pattern.
It is very hard to drop one of these lights as a result
of a poor grip. The tailcap has longitudinal grooves
to facilitate twisting, as does the focusing ring around
the head of the light.
On the side of every Tactical Light is a spring steel
clip which is colored black. The clip can be removed
with a small hex wrench. At the end of the clip is a
lifted cut-out which serves as an attachment point for
the included lanyard.
The reflector is made of aluminum with a brightly polished
coating or surface. There is a texture to the reflector
to help smooth out the beam produced by the lighting
element. Both the 2 cell and 3 cell versions of the
light are available with Luxeon Star LEDs instead of
the standard high pressure xenon incandescent bulb.
The Luxeon Star LEDs are not as bright as the xenon
bulbs, but use solid state technology to create light
instead of a filament. As a result, they cannot "blow"
like a regular bulb and no spare bulbs are needed. The
LED is considered permanent. The 2 cell LED lights use
a Luxeon I while the 3 cell LED lights use a Luxeon
V which is the up-and-coming competitor for incandescent
bulbs.
The xenon versions of the lights include a spare bulb
inside the head of the light. Remove the bezel cap and
you will see a silver button on the bottom of the lamp
assembly. Remove the silver button (don't lose it!)
to reveal the spare bulb. The lamp assembly can be removed
from its supporting spring and the bi-pin bulb pulled
out and replaced.
(Xenon and LED lamp assemblies in bezel/reflector)
The switch is the standard "tactical" style
tailcap. Twist for constant on/off, push in on the button
on the end for momentary on, release the button and
it shuts off. Streamlight has made the momentary button
on the end flush with the rest of the tailcap so that
the light can stand on its tail end and also to help
prevent accidental activation of the light. Although
the light does not have a lockout type tailcap, twisting
the tailcap backwards two full turns makes it very difficult
to activate the pushbutton switch by accident.
The light is sealed throughout with O-rings and plenty
of silicone grease to prevent the entry of water or
other elements of the environment.
All of the Streamlight Tactical Light series take lithium
123a batteries for power. The xenon versions of the
lights will run for about an hour on new batteries.
The LED versions will run about 3-4 hours brightly,
diminishing significantly thereafter, but giving a marginal
amount of light for a long time since LEDs become more
efficient at lower voltage levels.
Of course, the 3 cell lights produce more light than
the two cell lights, but their runtimes remain about
the same as the 2 cell versions. All lights can be focused
from a tight spot to a wide flood. In doing so, a circular
"hole" develops in the beam of all of the
lights. This is pretty standard for adjustable lights.
Included with every light is a nice nylon lanyard with
a pair of spring stops for adjusting it to fit.
My impression of these lights is very good. They appear
to be durable, have very good light output and a nice
pocket clip. They are all very bright and much more
convenient to carry around than a clunky D-cell aluminum
light.
+ + + Pluses: Water resistant,
Durable, Bright, Easy battery change, Lightweight, Stands
up
- - - Minuses: No significant faults.
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