The Power and Convenience of Rechargeable Flashlights
Fifty years ago, if you carried a flashlight as part of your patrol equipment, it was likely made of metal, heavy, using four to six batteries to push power through an incandescent bulb. If the lamp assembly had a focusing feature that was “high tech.” Today’s flashlight technology has evolved quite a bit to provide flashlights that are brighter, lighter and more rugged. Perhaps the most convenient and cost effective feature that has been developed is the ability to recharge a flashlight’s power pack rather than having to constantly buy new batteries.
When rechargeable flashlights first came on the scene in public safety, it usually meant having to remove a “battery stick” from the flashlight to put it into a recharging unit for half a day or more. The battery sticks tended to get hot… sometimes explosively so… and the amount of charge time to run time was disproportionate; twelve hours of charge time often meant only two or three hours of run time.
Since that time, the battery technology has developed and today’s NIMH (Nickel-metal hydride) batteries perform far better than batteries ten or more years ago did. Today’s NIMH batteries don’t get as hot during charging and most often don’t even need to be removed from the flashlight to be recharged. Additionally, the charge-to-run time ratio has changed so that it’s closer to equal with run time actually often being the greater portion in the balance. The second big advancement in flashlight evolution was the change from incandescent bulbs to LED driven lamps. LED (Light Emitting Diode) technology has developed a great deal in the past two decades and where we once could only drive 60-65 lumens of light from one, now you can easily get 700+ lumens. That is more than enough for most public safety needs.
Two examples of current technology rechargeable flashlights are the Streamlight Stinger and the Streamlight Strion systems. Both are available through the GT Distributors Flashlight section along with accessories for them and a selection of other flashlights as well.
The Streamlight Stinger offers over 600 lumens in a convenient package with charger options for your home, office and/or patrol vehicle. On a 2.5 hour fast charge, you can get full power out of this light for 1.25 hours; medium power for 2 hours, or “low light” (still 170 lumens!) for 4 hours. Given that a good tactical LED light used to only provide a maximum of 65 lumens and we considered that acceptable, this light providing nearly three times that for FOUR hours with options for higher light outputs is quite the evolutionary upgrade!
The Streamlight Strion is another good rechargeable flashlight system. Using the power of digital programming available with circuitry and that now ever present LED lamp assembly, the Strion offers two different activation switches and the ability to program those switches to activate one of three light programs YOU select. The battery fully recharges in three hours and the light output can be varied from 700 lumens down to 40 lumens (which is ideal for simple trunk searching or looking where you’re walking). Run times vary from 1.25 hours at highest power up to TWENTY HOURS at the lowest power setting.
Learn more on GT Distributors’ Flashlight product page.
Editor's Note: This article is a paid for and sponsored piece of content purchased by GT Distributors.
