I suppose I’ll go ahead and recommend/review the specific light that’s served me well. It is an older model of the Streamlight ProTac 2L and I think I paid $50 or $60 for it. It now lives in my bedside quick access safe, pictured below to give you a size comparison with a Glock 19.
Pros:
It has three settings that you can cycle through easily with a little practice. High is a very bright beam, I think around 500 or 600 lumens. Low is an adequate beam, perfect for checking IDs or illuminating anything within arms reach. Strobe is strobe. If you don’t know what a bright LED flashlight on strobe is like, buy this light and see how long you can look at it while somebody shines it in your face.
It is thumb-actuated by a button on the “bottom” of the flashlight with a quick tap mode of operation where the light stays on with just a light press of the button and turns off when you let go. You can also press it all the way in to stay on without continually pressing the button with your thumb.
You can also program it to behave differently. You can disable strobe, you can change whether quick tap engages the high beam or low beam, and probably other settings I’ve never messed with.
The size is ideal for easy everyday carry, but it is large and rugged enough to be deployed as a weapon. You can’t use it like a baton, but you can hammer fist it to good effect. This is also a very discrete way to be ready for violence with a weapon in-hand. Nobody is alarmed by a flashlight, and it isn’t even particularly noticeable if you’re hammer-fisting it with your arm at your side or palming it somehow.
Battery life on low beam is also just absurd. Like 25-30 hours or something like that.
Cons:
The clip fell off one night at work and I never found it. My model was a clip-on clip that worked fine for normal use but didn’t hold up to a little bit of roughness at work one night.
Great product overall and it’s probably even better now.
