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Lumens or Lemons?

Oh boy, this is going to be a wild ride. There ain’t no nerd like a flashlight nerd, and I can assure you I am not one. However, like some of you I have spent (aka wasted) a lot of money over the years chasing the latest white light “best one.” Here are a few things I have learned that may help you save some time and money.

Flashlight development and improvements have been exponential in the last 20 years. Used to a two or three D cell Maglite^TM was the heat. In military circles (which is what the community typically emulates when it comes to defensive kit) the standard was the two D cell angle head flashlight; if you had a few extra bucks you would spring for the Maglite Mini Mag and leave the anglehead back in the barracks. There were a couple of improvements from the Vietnam era model, but not many. The one my Dad had in his toolbox from his service in the late 60s was not a heck of a lot different from the one I bought at the Fort Benning Clothing Sales decades later to use during fireguard (thank me for my service America, no taxpayer funded barracks ever caught on fire on my watch).

I am not a flashlight aficionado by any means, and I would rather have a root canal than jump on the flashlight forums and argue developmental timelines and nuances of that world. What I can tell you is I have spent a stupid amount of money over the years chasing solutions and was immersed deep in the end user community during the big developments that came in the early 2000s. This is all from a typical end user perspective of “just tell me what works bro” view. And no, I don’t build my own lights from components other than the occasional body and head swap - this discussion is purely about commercially available completed units or components.

And along came Surefire

 The only real solution for years was the issued anglehead flashlight, and many times (you guys will probably be surprised by this) some dudes didn’t even carry a flashlight in the field unless it was mandatory. We typically shared one light among two or three dudes. Weaponlight? Fuhgeddaboudit. The only guys doing that were the high speed men in Traxx running shoes and coveralls who were using hose clamps to attach lights under carbines. But that was a long time ago. Then came Surefire.

When the 6P Surefire came out with its 65 lumen Xenon bulb throwing a “blinding 65 lumens” we were all in (just don’t drop it while it is on). Those became the standard for anyone who took this white light business seriously. They were great lights because there wasn’t anything better at the time. When writing this I had to look up the release date of the 6P which is actually hard to pin down. In that search I did find several new in package vintage 6Ps for sale on ebay for $280 bucks. Yikes.

What a legacy though. The 6P body and form factor as they say is still in play today, The typical handheld 2xCR123 light is a close cousin to those original 6P models. In the early 2000s as GWOT cranked up and the firearms training industry gained traction like never before we saw the real improvements with the addition of LED bulbs. 65 became 200 which became 300 lumens and we were off and running on the lumen wars (now the candela wars). Two cell 123? Let’s add another and get those lumens way up (thankfully that madness didn’t last long). I remember chasing lumens and listening to one of the big national firearms trainers at a class back then; I bought and mounted one of those three cell stupidities to a gun. It didn’t take long to get taken off and sold on one of the marketplaces. 123s eventually got accompanied by single rechargeable 18650s in the market as an option and there are even dual fuel solutions (some had serious growing pains) and the brightness and cost continued to increase. There are great options that have the kinks (mostly) worked out as the light market became crowded in the last half decade.

What should I get?

It is almost easier to recommend what to avoid than what to purchase. If you are well versed in choosing lights, you probably want to skip to the bottom for this week’s discount code ‘cause I am going to talk about this in general terms that may help newer folks out a bit and save the frustration (and $) that some of us have experienced. No lumens vs candela, battery voltage, battery chemistry, comparisons etc - just a generic overview for making a light choice.

Some generalities.

Batteries. For new entrants it can be an emotional event to look at CR123 battery prices if your baseline is the Harbor Freight AA alkaline. I get it, Lithium 123s are ridiculous. But the power and resulting light we get from any of the modern batteries compared to AA or D cell is night and day (see what I did there?). Don’t be afraid to make the jump, AA and AAA lights have their place but for serious use the $ cost is worth the shift. Headlamps are another requirement, and many take the AA/AAA battery sizes. But even with these it is wise to use rechargeables or lithium non rechargeable. Yet another investment for us (although IKEA carries rechargeables that have proven to be Eneloops rebranded and are great inexpensive options). Next time your wife is picking out a dresser for you to assemble be sure to scoop up a few sets of rechargeables on the cheap.

Brands. Yes I know. Light elements (bulbs/reflectors etc) mostly come from the same place. But brand matters (up to a point). There are top tier and bottom barrel and everything in between. Are the good ones overpriced? Yes. Resoundingly yes. Grandpa Morris would poop a kitten if he knew I spent 2-300 bucks on a weapon mounted light…a stupid flashlight. The answer is not to go the “jUst aS gOOd as” route though. While there is some middle ground and tradeoffs, for anything decent quality and adequate performance you are going to pay. Avoid the temptation of the “cheap” light. Best case they will fail quickly, worst case they will go high order and set nearby object on fire. A quick aside, don’t be afraid of buying used lights from great brands. Dudes will offload old model lights to chase new lumens so you can find some really great deals on the forums and marketplaces.

Handheld vs Weapon Mounted Light (WML). Which do you need? The answer is yes. As we always say have a clear set of requirements and then choose the training and/or material solution to meet it. This is no different. Just because your favorite guy that was voted as Mister Doorkicker 2008 wants “all the lumens” does not mean you should spend $600 on a WML to do the same. I suppose that “all the lumens” saying is now all the candela…or something.

Handhelds. The use case for a handheld becomes split with the EDC (everyday carry) requirement. Two cell 123 handhelds are the perfect size for a handheld in my experience. They are long enough to get a good purchase when wearing gloves and still activate the tail switch (more on switches later) and still hang on to when shooting a pistol. But they can be a nuisance to carry. Yeah, they aren’t THAT big, but having one in my pocket isn’t something I want every day. The lumen/candela tradeoff of going down to a single cell 123 may be worth it for you. Your choice. Some models have dual modes (low/high) or a mix of low/high/strobe(dumb). Fortunately, one of the good manufacturers (Streamlight) allows you to program this feature out of some models of the lights. For a two cell handheld I opt for a high/low Surefire and for my one cell EDC kinda’ light I use the dual fuel Streamlight with the high/low as well. For the smaller one cell a good rule of thumb is don’t go shorter than the width of your four knuckles (so you can hold in a closed fist and activate the tail switch while your fist/pinky finger isn’t covering the lens at the other end). Anything shorter is a bit of a novelty and becomes limited in functionality. The final piece of this is you still need enough light to overcome the photonic barriers you may encounter (more on this in another newsletter). No free chicken, the compactness of single cell lights are always a tradeoff when it comes to power.

WML. The WML space used to be owned solely by Surefire (I know I keep mentioning them by name, but I have zero relationship other than spending a shite ton of money on their products since the turn of the century). There have been several other entrants the last few years that are viable options for long gun WMLs, and Streamlight has really stepped up their pistol light game. So there are options. A couple of general points here as well; if you have a handgun you need a light. It can be mounted or a handheld, either way will work. Go take a few classes and do it for real and you will see quickly that the pistol WML is the optimal solution most times. BUT…just because you are CCWing a gun with a WML you still need a handheld light for obvious reasons. When choosing a WML do your research, look at the throw (the “reach” or how far the beam pattern goes out at distance) and spill (the breadth or width of the beam, how far it “spills” into the periphery) and decide what your requirements are. A good requirement is never just “all the lumens.” In general, a long gun white light should be in the 600-1000 lumen and full-size or compact pistol in the 500-1000 range. Lumens have somewhat given way to candela, just understand whatever you use for a metric. Annnnd…further understand manufactures like to create faux benefits when it comes to selling things, especially electronics. (FOM, lumens, candela, etc).

Long gun lights go on long guns, pistol WMLs do not. Use the right tool for the job (shotguns are the exception, an X300 is a great solution for a defensive shotgun but they are inappropriate on a rifle or carbine).

Again, these are generalities, specific models and your actual requirements always get a vote. By far the best way to truly figure it out is take a lowlight / no light pistol and carbine class. If you aren’t committed to a model borrow the light setups from a buddy and run them. If the class has at least a dozen shooters you will get a great education on lights as soon as it gets dark and the targets get illuminated; the differences become amazingly obvious when you see them in action together.

Others. Headlamps, keychain lights, small lanterns, etc. Headlamps should be given careful consideration, a solid IP rating being first and foremost along with a low beam red lens option. Odds are you will need your headlamp a lot more than your WML so choose it carefully. Low cost red lens keychain lights are great in the field and the inexpensive LED lanterns are perfect for power outages around the house. But we must not be tempted to allow the camping quality lights to serve the dual purpose, keep the cheap stuff for non critical tasks.

Summary. The takeaway for this week is understand the capabilities and attributes of a light before you invest in it. There is some room to save money, but in the middle of the pack category where the majority of our requirements are met there is no wiggle room to go cheap. Please understand everything about the light before you commit, especially the battery. You may be surprised when a dual fuel light will not take regular CR123s or maybe it won’t take the CR123Rs (rechargeables). Not something you want to discover after choosing a light that fits with your overall power/battery plan.

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