I started building flashlights about 10 years ago. We had a shooting the night before Christmas, three Fort Worth officers showed up and only one had a working flashlight. Streamlight owns the First responder light market. Their Nickel-Cadmium batteries self discharge. We also hard use and sometimes abuse our equipment. Solarforce made 18650 host that worked well and every one was building dropin’s. Batteries were 2200 mah with almost no self discharge compared to the Nickel ones. These and the real Surefires started small duty belt lights that we could rely on. Officers, Deputies, Firefighters and EMS all have equipment junkies in their rank. These days real tactical lights have only one or two modes with one switch only lights. Two switches and we have a few more options if the modes are locked. Moving the e-switch into the tailcap would probably mean some parasitic drain and dead lights when needed.
Are you wanting to build tactical or tacticool flashlights? Between you and me there are no tactical lights. Only lights used in a fashion that enhance the users efficiency. Ask the First responders here what they desire in a light. Military hates flashlights/bullet attracters. They went night vision years ago.
Myself. In my area we have some rural, bodies of water and lots of built up cities. I carry two flashlights; Astrolux FT01 and a two mode Pflexpro with a Cree XP-L V6 HD at 3.8 amps. The second Astrolux has been completely potted with the charging port sealed. The first had its port tab break and it got water in it. It does rain in Texas. I carry spare batteries in Soda Bottle Preforms.
I don’t need long range throw. When I light someone up in a building, parking lot or alley I need that spill to see if he has friends with him. I’ve got a fully potted 4.56 amp 3 volt Cree XHP-50.2 5400K dropin in a Solarforce. It’s almost perfect for most of my uses. It gives plenty of light but a slightly bigger reflector would improve throw. Only slight Yellow ring, not an issue for how it’s used. I use strobe rarely, mostly to signal where I’m at. In a busy parking lot strobe will still signal that ambulance 100 yards away in the daytime where to go. I do need a light that gets dropped often and still works. I need a light that has enough mass to shed lots of heat from long use. Heavy enough to hit a window. Slight tail flaring to keep it in a leather belt loop holster when running.
All lights that I use at work go into the deep end of my pool for two days. They must be absolutely dry on the inside for me to even consider using.
Not trying to be too preachy but if you want a real tactical use flashlight these are points to look at.
The FW3A is a light with e-switch in the tailcap. It’s parasitic drain according to maukka is 28μA (see: TLF/BLF/Lumintop FW3A review (18650, 3x XP-L HI cool white)). Given a 4000mAh battery capacity this means that the parasitic drain will suck the light dry in around 5952 days (roughly 16 years). If you don’t charge your light within 16 years you might run into problems. Otherwise not.
That kind of equipment is very basic. My pistol has only one trigger and one magazine release. Handcuffs all use the same key unless your agency bought Chubbs. My knife has only one blade and its lock is rated at 425 pounds. My baton has no buttons or control settings. Air tanks have only one valve, one hose and one mask. Fire hoses have only two holes. Even the AED’s have pictures and talk you through their use. K.I.S.S. is the rule that we live by. Key rule is very simple very durable. However our Motorola radio has an 120 page instruction manual and needs a teen to reprogram.
If you take it to the extreme with an active shooter, down power lines, multi car crash or a large fire with injuries. Complicated and/or delicate equipment gets lost, broken or left in the fire. We use tools, not really tactical or tacticool. Our equipment is more functional and durable than cool but that makes them cool too me. Don’t get me wrong we cherish good gear beyond rational control.
Being practical not rude, is this flashlight really a tactical flashlight to be used by first responders? Or tacticool to sell to the masses. Please remember good quality functionally simple gear can do both. Think of gear that has withstood the test of time. Screwdriver, Colt 45, rope, blanket, matches, corkscrew, sword, spear, bow, axe, etc. they all do one thing well.
The USB port in the threads is nice. With a “normal” design the driver, E-switch and USB port are in the same part of the light, commonly the head, and with some rubber cover for the USB port. With the USB port in the threads of the tube, there has to be a contact plate of some sort in order to avoid needing cables between the tube and head?
I’m curios as I’ve done a bit of dual switch driver development with USB ports myself, but I’ve always used hosts with the “normal” design that have the USB port in the head.
I have started liking the 'Tactical flashlights" idea not so long ago. It was only after I got my hands on some 'real' tactical lights, not the ones eBay listings call 'tactical'.
When I'm out in the field doing beamshots I like having a flashlight that will produce X with 1 click on a button. A Anduril UI or anything similar doesn't belong in a tactical flashlight.
For me, a tactical flashlight has a UI you don't need to remember! The UI should be self explanatory without hidden modes, multiple clicks.
1 click for ON (high/turbo)
if possible 1 click to Strobe.
UI should go from High mode to low mode, not vise versa, unlike and EDC light.
That’s why a “tactical knife” like a Ka-Bar doesn’t have a bottle-opener or other nonsense attached to it. It does one thing but it does it flawlessly.
Anyone who wants a SAK can certainly get one, and they’re quite handy (just ask MacGyver), but it won’t be “tactical”.
I’m not convinced a dual sleeve design is a good idea for a light designed to handle constant repeated impacts / recoil. Also onboard charging will be a real pain to get potted properly to stand up to the same abuse.
That’s how I have my Quark Smart QSL set up too and I like it a lot (side switch turns on, off, and changes brightness…with blinky modes disabled; and the rear switch is full power momentary only).
