Editor's Review: The Pelican 7070R Flashlight

The evolution of the “tactical handheld flashlight” continues and depending on who you talk to, what direction it evolves in is up for debate. Smaller? Lighter? Brighter? Rechargeable? Not? Tailcap activation? Slide switch? USB charging? What people want is as different as… well, as people are. What’s perfect in a tactical handheld light for me may be entirely different from what you consider perfect for you. What we can all agree on (usually) is that the light needs to be: reliable, rugged and bright.  The added value features are how long the battery will last on and off charge, how easy the light is to use if it has variable brightness or function modes and what techniques for officer survival / shooting it permits. Let’s keep all that in mind as we look at the Pelican 7070R flashlight; a light I’ve been using and abusing for several months now without a glitch or failure from it.

“Back in the day,” any LED driven handheld light that pushed over 100 lumens seemed to be fantastic (around the turn of the century). In today’s world, 100 lumens seems… well, anemic. The 7070R pushes three different levels of light and they are sufficient to many tasks.

Full Power - 1219 lumens: the brightest and best used if you are identifying or engaging a potential target. There’s no such thing as “too much” light under those circumstances. The only caveat to that statement is that you have to be aware of and use proper tactics when using such bright light. Reflections, flashback and positional telegraphing have to be avoided. On full charge, the 7070R will produce the full power 1219 lumens of light for over two hours. That is usually more than sufficient for an average building search (residential) and most often far more time than you need for such. Keeping that in mind, if you turn this light on in an empty room and point it at the ceiling, you can light the whole room if you already know the structure to be clear and simply need light to operate by.

Medium Power – 626 lumens: this middle ground is still far brighter than any LED light used to be and more than sufficient for target identification and engagement. The same concerns exist for using this much light; tactics and use of light principles have to be adhered to. On full charge, the 7070R will produce 626 lumens of light for over four hours. Again, that is far more than is usually necessary for searching a building – residential or commercial. This level of light can also be used to brighten whole rooms by reflecting it off a white or light colored surface.

Low Power – 32 lumens: this is all the light you need if what you’re doing is searching your trunk for that first-aid kit you need or the raincoat that is somewhere buried under the AED and a box of flares. It’s also enough light to navigate by. Assuming no threat (when conditions allow such an assumption), you can use the lowest setting to find secure footing and avoid obstacles wherever you find yourself. At this lowest setting, on full charge, the light will last for well over a day: 32 hours. At that point, this tactical handheld flashlight can be the light you use for an entire weekend camping trip if you are using that lowest power level for around the camp navigation and minor functions. Five and ten minute uses of the light at this level, broken up with daylight and sleeping hours means the light could, quite literally, last you for a week or more without issue.

Now, the challenge we’ve all had with some handheld “programmable” lights is the difficulty in switching between power levels. Multi-tap switches are cool but our fingers sometimes move faster than our brain and when we want medium we end up with low – and then have to cycle through strobe and high again to get to medium. We want low and end up with strobe… or having turned the light off. Admittedly, there is a strength in having the light in your hand and your other hand empty, but if you want to be able to set the light, with some sense of ease and confidence, the 7070R provides something no other light I’ve found does: the ability to program it from your phone. Now, being able to do that doesn’t mean you have to preset the light for strobe mode and you have no other option. By double-tapping the side or tailcap switch (dual switch activation is another great feature of this light as it empowers multiple techniques for searching and shooting) you can activate the strobe mode. But going back to the light level adjustments…

Using Bluetooth technology the 7070R app allows you to preset / program the light level you want from the flashlight. That makes it pretty simple and very intuitive. That technology integration along with wireless charging via a USB plug docking station (easy to mount anywhere it will fit), enables a quick-grab fully charged light reality that no other lighting system I’ve found can match. The power indicator, built into the charging station, gives you a constant reading on the battery level when the light is docked.

Measuring just under seven inches long and durable enough to have put up with everything I’ve throw at it (drops to hard surfaces, drops into snow, use in the rain, banged around in my go bag, etc.), the Pelican 7070R is one of my new favorite lights. A quick Google search revealed prices as low as $165 plus S&H which is a steal of a deal for a light with these futuristic features.