I’ll start by saying that as a TX CHL holder I feel it is irresponsible to go out at night while carrying, without a flashlight of some sort.  The safety afforded from a flashlight is invaluable.  Be it for threat assessment, target identification, attack deterrent, or even simple slip/trip/fall hazard identification.  Having a small functional (bright!) light is a must have for night time travel, carrying or not.

I’m one of those guys, a knife for every occasion, man debris on all the flat surfaces and covering the dresser top.  But my one constant is my StreamLight PT-2L. A 3.5″ long roll of nickles sized torch.   Per Streamlight it puts out the following:

HIGH – 180 lumens/2.5 Hours
LOW – 10 lumens/50 Hours
STROBE – 6 Hours

I bounce between all three settings, though I use Strobe much less for day to day.  In a tactical or attack situation I would use the strobe perhaps more.  I do use strobe when walking the dog and there are cars approaching, the flashing light being more attention grabbing, even when pointed at the ground.

The three levels are cycled through with quick taps of the bottom button switch, located at the opposite end of the light from the bulb.  The flashlight is right at hand sized and to cycle the setting you have to carry it overhand, with your thumb on the button and the light at your pinky.

With day to day carry and dog walking use I’ve gotten about 6-8 months on the original StreamLight batteries and usually 4-6mo on the cheap Academy batteries.  I love having the ability to light up the darkness, so I probably use it more to just satisfy my curiosity of dark corners, burning 180 lumen battery time.

In the two years I have owned the light I have had zero problems with it.  I’ve dropped it a ton and left it on (low) for over an hour at a stretch.  While it gets warm, it is never too warm for holding.

The built in pocket clip, which is not really removable is perfect for holding the light at easy access height in your pocket.  But be warned that with this and a knife clipped in the same pocket you start to get a little overloaded. For that reason I often carry it in my left pocket. Plus this lets me keep my right hand free.

I paid about $50 for it at GT Dist two years ago. Scott pointed me towards it as opposed to a more expensive light.  It’s been awesome ever since.

So if you don’t have a good flashlight, go get one.  I think you’ll like this one, but anything you get (within reason) is going to be safer than not having at all.  Remember, you cannot hit it if you cannot see it, and if you can see it you might realize you don’t need to hit it.

I’ve got my eye on the new Streamlight PT-HL, but that thing eats batteries.

By: Matt Harold

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Tactical Gun Review

Tactical Gun Review, along with Texas Outdoors Network, is published by Michael Coker and Charles Coker.

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