3 lights in mind..

LED Flashlights – General Info
1

Hello all. Seeking some guidance.

I am currently seeking to get 3 lights from streamlight and wanting to find the most cost effective way to keep all three going. I am a law enforcement officer if anyone wanted to know why I will need all 3.

A Protac USB, TRL-1HL, and either a Protac 1 or 2L.

I am hoping to get some sort of rechargeable batteries (I know the manufacturer advised against it) to fit all 3. I have searched around and can’t find anything answering my question exactly.

I have read a few battery review on here and learned about rechargeable cr123 and 16650s etc. However, I still would like to get some feedback

Any help would be appreciated thanks

2

3.7 volts cr 123 a batteries are 16340. Lemme look at what batteries your light uses. If your light unofficially supports 3.7v batteries you could have a loss of modes

Edit: your protac usb uses 18650 but whether you want a high capacity battery or high discharge is up to you. If its regulated then it doesn’t matter what battery you use. Just don’t go for the *fire batteries. The NCR18650B is 3400mAh…get the protected ones. For your TLR why don’t you wanna replace it with a gun mount and use a hand held flashlight? Streamlight seem to be expensive for their lumen per dollar ratio :frowning:

3

Ha! This is a flashaholic forum you stumbled upon. We are more likely to convince you to buy more lights then to ask why you need all 3.

4

Get the TRL 1HL. There are better choices for less money for the other 2 lights you want. Does the USB have to be USB rechargeable.

5

I have shopped around quite a bit and there are reasons I have chosen these particular lights. I’m open to suggestions but usually people suggest lights that do things I don’t need.

My main interest is battery choices. USB rechargeable is a huge thing because of the size and ease of charging it.

Also the USB protac can except the same batteries as the other two lights.

6

For the Protac USB get these batteries. CR123 batteries are not too popular around here because of the cost and lower output, also a little more dangerous than lithium ion from my understanding, especially when using 2 batteries in series. Read this , especially the text below the third graph. Not really a good substitute for primary CR123. Personally have never owned rechargeable CR123’s. There are plenty of lights that use 16340 lithium ion batteries that should work for you.

7

Yeah I am beginning to think I am not able to achieve what I am trying to do. Which is keep a decent supply of batteries rotating so I’m never, pun intended, in the dark.

8

How about the nitecore MH10 in place of the Protac USB and the Sunwayman v11R in place of the Protac 1L. Both use lithium ion batteries.

9

As someone who once was a Streamlight user....there a lots of better alternatives that are cheaper and just reliable if not even more reliable.

Instead of listing the lights themselves...list what you like about each light and we will find you the alternatives to look at.

10

+1 what he said

11

Or if you are deadset on those lights just say so and we will respect that and answer your battery question.

12

I purposely avoided the battery question because even though I did not look these lights up it seems like all of the modern SL's have battery differences by design to avoid crossing from one platform to another.

For example....the Strion HL model uses an LG 18650 battery BUT try and find one that fits. The battery is wrapped inside another container and the tube is designed for that container and not the standard 18650.

Now if the op insists that it must be Streamlight then I would respect that but doubt there will be one battery that fits all in essence defeating his objective :)

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Edit: After looking I see that one is weapon mounted light. If JohnnyMac sees this maybe he can chime in as to one that may take rechargeable batts.

13

Crap I didn’t finish my reply.

Yes one is a weapon mounted light, one for on duty, one for off duty/EDC. I am very open to suggestions. However it’s hard to find exactly what I am wanting. I like a simple UI. High/low with momentary on tailcap. That’s all. Why streamlight? Heard nothing but good things about CS, cheap, available through Amazon Prime(free two day shipping)

Only thing I’m not budging on is the weapon light. Trial and error has already been tested and that’s the light I like.

The USB Protac-because it has 3 different ways to charge it AND it take batteries.

The PT 1/2L because of battery and simplicity of UI. Plus I can get them all from the same place.

By all means my suggestions! I didn’t join here to just be told what I wanted to hear. Although that would have been nice lol.

At home I have a cheap energizer charge with about 10 rechargeable AAs that serve multiple purposes throughout the house. I was hoping the Nitecore smart charger and rechargeable 123s could just stay in rotation never leaving me in the dark (pun intended)

14

You will start splurging on charrgers and batteries before you know it!

15

Those look really good I’ll look more into them today thanks.

16

I just watched a review looks good. I would have to get that Nitecore charger I was looking at

17

Haha yeah problem is I don’t know the downsides to rechargables, which ones to buy, and which charger to get. That’s why I’m hoping to decided on lights that will accommodate the same batteries for cost and quantity

18

For a start you could get high capacity protected panasonics like a NCR18650B

19

That’s the size of 2 CR123s right? The weapon light takes 2 but side by side and my EDC will only take one if I have it my way

20

Correct. Takes 2 cr123s ? But side by side? Hmmmm