The world of flashlights used to be oh so simple: a rotating-head variable-focus multi-cell aluminum light was the bomb. As we learned our liability lessons from using such lights as impact weapons though, the strength of smaller and more efficient lights became apparent. The advent of the 6V hand-size "military grade" flashlight was born. It's been a couple decades now and many major manufacturers have gotten into the act. Streamlight is one of the industry's major players and they have a new duty light that performs fairly efficiently. It's the Super Tac and here's some more about it.
Machined from aluminum (and I have to give them credit for not trying to dress this up as "super anodized space grade whiz bang aluminum") the Super Tac is just under seven inches long and weighs just under a 1/2 pound. Like many hand held "tactical" lights today it runs on two 3V CR123 lithium batteries. The published material states that it produces 135 lumens of light for up to 3.5 hours. It further states that the light produces up to 30,000 peak beam candlepower. Now, there are a few things we need to remember...
"Lumens" and "candlepower" are two entirely different measures of light output. 135 lumens is a pretty good output for a tactical hand held light. The deep reflector design on the Super Tac gives it a little bit more "throw" or reach. The fact that it uses an LED lamp assembly makes it more durable than those lights using an incandescent bulb. LEDs are simply harder to break. The "3.5 hours of runtime" may not be at peak output. If it's like other LEDs (and I didn't get a chance to run it completely down while watching it the whole time) the LED output will fade down from a peak of 135 lumens to something about 35 lumens and then will maintain that for more hours. This is nothing to scoff at. While 35 lumens isn't what I'd consider useful for "tactical" light output, it's certainly a lot better than lighting a match.
The test unit I received came with a nylon pouch to carry the light on your belt. The light itself isn't all that bulky but when you add in the thickness of the nylon and the size of the pouch (because it has a flap that wraps over and snaps securely down to hold in the light) it seems a bit much to have on your gunbelt. Still, there are plenty of after-market pouches out there to carry your light and this light makes that worth the purchase.
The light is tail cap activated. Touch pressure will turn it on and then turn it off when you release the pressure, or you can push it harder and click it on to stay on without having to hold the button. When you're not planning on using it and want to avoid accidental discharges a 1/2 turn of the tailcap counter-clockwise (loosening it) will disengage it. At that point you have to retighten the tailcap to turn the light on.
That's all the (mostly) objective stuff. Here's the subjective part...
At handgun qualifying distances out to 25 yards, the light produces more than sufficient illumination to identify your target and engage it. The structure of the light isn't so large as to compromise weapon handling and it weighs little enough so that it doesn't cause fatigue in your hand for prolonged searches. The deeper and slightly larger bezel is a mixed blessing because the additional reach it creates can be invaluable while the additional size it requires makes the light less convenient to carry. Still, it's a lot easier than some other lights with larger bezels that have about equal reach and sometimes less light output.
The light could probably be mounted in 1" rings if you wanted to put it on a long gun, but the rings would have to stand a fair ways up away from the grip surface. The bezel is a little more than 2" across while the flashlight's body is just under an inch. My test light came with a metal clip attached by way of an allen screw, I suppose for the purpose of carrying it clipped in a pocket. Securing the light in your pocket in this fashion depends on the weight of the batteries to hold the wider bezel down. That means not putting the light in your pocket at an angle. Make sure the handle is pointed as straight down as you can get it and the light is shoved in as far as the clip will allow.
Here is the kicker: I found these lights available online brand new for as low as $66 plus shipping. $66 for an LED driven, 6V, hand held "tacitcal" light is darn good. Heck, at that price you can also buy a dozen 3V batteries and still have spent less than $100. Given that cops get in about 80% of their shootings in conditions of low or no light, a good flashlight is an invaluable tool. I recommend you check this one out.
