What's the meaning of "Tactical LED Light"?

[Lightfantastic]

Below is NOT a tactical situation nor a tactical light (although some manufactuers would have you believe that this is a 'Tactical light' allowing nightly fridge raids to combat hunger strikes!) Lol

Of course that's not a "Tactical" light. Anyone knows it is a "Strategic" light.

 

[elgarak]

So, 20 armed swat team members or combat troops in full gear moving around, switching off safeties and such aren't going to make noise, but the tiniest noise of a flashlight switch is going to give their position away and ruin the day? If the bad guy is close enough to hear the switch (and not the 20 guys in full combat gear behind it), he's close enough to be a goner as soon as he turns around.

I say it doesn't matter if a forward clickie actually clicks, as the momentary mode is always silent. I would futher say that twist momentaries are not tactical, because if you want constant on light, twisting the switch could take far more time than it should (and can require two hands), and there is the chance of the tailcap being locked out and you getting no light at all.



Of course it does, the OP bashes them every chance he gets, and doesn't even own one.

So, you know how much sound a SWAT team makes? You believe that action movies where guns click whenever moved depict reality?

Momentary: You fail to realize that constant on is NEVER employed in tactical situations. You give away your position when the light is on. Clickies are not recommended because you can accidentally switch to constant on. It's difficult to restrain yourself from pressing too hard when under duress. The moments you need to realize your error and to switch off the light might cost you your life.

There's another consideration I see for tactical lights: A beamshape and brightness that illuminates the full body (or at least the torso) with enough light to assess all weaponry and movements.

 

[jzmtl]

All the talk about tactical lights, how many here actually needs one? I don't even use the momentary feature on my l2t that much, most of the time it's clicked on.

Although I do think the protrusion of the switch on l2t is too little, make momentary harder to do.

 

[Marduke]

So, you know how much sound a SWAT team makes? You believe that action movies where guns click whenever moved depict reality?

Momentary: You fail to realize that constant on is NEVER employed in tactical situations. You give away your position when the light is on. Clickies are not recommended because you can accidentally switch to constant on. It's difficult to restrain yourself from pressing too hard when under duress. The moments you need to realize your error and to switch off the light might cost you your life.

There's another consideration I see for tactical lights: A beamshape and brightness that illuminates the full body (or at least the torso) with enough light to assess all weaponry and movements.

I have several law enforcement buddies, and I have been lucky enough to be invited to watch them train on several occasions, and listen to countless hours of their stories. So yes, I do know how much noise a Swat team makes. And yes, I do know what sound a gun makes when you take the safety off, I own a number of them. And I also know that a large portion of the time spent in "tactical" situations is spent searching basements, attics, and general dark areas of a house, which requires CONSTANT illumination.

Protruding switch? Definitely! Silent?? I think the bad guys heard someone coming when a door was kicked in and a flashbang went off....

 

[xiaowenzu]

Momentary: You fail to realize that constant on is NEVER employed in tactical situations. You give away your position when the light is on. Clickies are not recommended because you can accidentally switch to constant on. It's difficult to restrain yourself from pressing too hard when under duress. The moments you need to realize your error and to switch off the light might cost you your life.

+1 I agree. I'd also like to add that, Well-trained Elite SWAT teams are as stealthy as Ninjas, if they weren't the bad guys would hear their location long before they can spring a surprise. It's also important that equipment manufacturers strive to make their products operate as silently as possible since every little sound adds up at the end. For instance a SWAT team would NOT use a $5 dollar reverse clickie that emits a loud CLICK-CLACK when pressed would they?

All the talk about tactical lights, how many here actually needs one?

My Porsche can do 180Mph, but it's not like I'll ever drive it at that speed. Though it's good to have that capability under the bonnet! Being a Flashoholic is not about Sanity.

Protruding switch? Definitely! Silent?? I think the bad guys heard someone coming when a door was kicked in and a flashbang went off....

Well, you've got be quiet before you can spring a 'flash-bang' surprise! Tada!

 

[Curious_character]

So with all the "tactical" lights out there, 98% of flashlight users must be on SWAT teams. What's left for the rest of us who don't have the training (or attitude) to be proper "tactical" users -- just Minimags? Surely there must be some lights advertised as "non-tactical" that we'd be authorized to use.

c_c

 

[bspofford]

Tactical means that you spend a lot of money on a light and you need to have "tact" when you tell your wife.

 

[BigD64]

So, 20 armed swat team members or combat troops in full gear moving around, switching off safeties and such aren't going to make noise, but the tiniest noise of a flashlight switch is going to give their position away and ruin the day? If the bad guy is close enough to hear the switch (and not the 20 guys in full combat gear behind it), he's close enough to be a goner as soon as he turns around.

I say it doesn't matter if a forward clickie actually clicks, as the momentary mode is always silent. I would futher say that twist momentaries are not tactical, because if you want constant on light, twisting the switch could take far more time than it should (and can require two hands), and there is the chance of the tailcap being locked out and you getting no light at all.



Of course it does, the OP bashes them every chance he gets, and doesn't even own one.

A SWAT team making an entry isn't always as quiet as they'd like to be, but as a 20 year veteran police officer who has had to search dark buildings for armed felons without the benefit of a team. I can attest to need for a silent switch. There is nothing more aggravating then a small noise when you are trying to be silent and not get your a** shot.

 

[MikeLip]

Counter-rant;

This whole thread is ridiculous. There is no point in getting bent out of shape over some marketing-speak.

Definition per Merriam-Webster;

tactic
4 entries found.

tactic[1,noun]tactic[2,adjective]-tactictactic

Main Entry: 1tac·tic
Pronunciation: \ˈtak-tik\
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin tactica, from Greek taktikē, from feminine of taktikos
Date: 1640
1 : a device for accomplishing an end
2 : a method of employing forces in combat

So, ANY light can be tactical. A plastic $2.99 Eveready can be tactical is it allows you to accomplish your end. It doesn't even have to be black!

Employing force? No reason why that same light can't be used to aim your Uzi or illuminate your grenade victim.

Yeah yeah yeah - I know that's not how Surefire or Jeff Cooper define it. But they RE-defined it to suit their purposes in the first place. That doesn't give them ownership of the word you know, or even narrow the definition. So the marketing people are perfectly justified in using the word if they like.

As far as I'm concerned, tactical is what gets the job done.

 

[xiaowenzu]

In summary of this thread so far.... The word 'tactical' as defined by the oxford dictionary generally means something which employs tactics... but that definition hardly satisfies us flashoholics in the way we define a tactical flashlight. Paul Kim of Surefire defines it as in the first post.

Dictionaries are great but they rarely serve to completely define or cover the wide subject field, especially one that is niched as Flashlights.

There is nothing more aggravating then a small noise when you are trying to be silent and not get your a** shot.

HAHA! Tell me about it! I've been through times where a 'click' will put my life in danger.. people have no idea how noisey it can sound at night.

 

[bspofford]

Counter-rant;

This whole thread is ridiculous.
Etymology: New Latin tactica, from Greek taktikē, from feminine of taktikos
Date: 1640
1 : a device for accomplishing an end
2 : a method of employing forces in combat
As far as I'm concerned, tactical is what gets the job done.

Etymology is fun, and I now wonder what the relationship between "tactical" and "testicle" might be.

 

[Patriot]

As far as I'm concerned, tactical is what gets the job done.

That pretty much sums things up.

 

[Lobo]

As far as I'm concerned, tactical is what gets the job done.

Here I was about to make a long rant about tacticool, mallninjas, what people actually use, reliability bla bla bla.

Not that the rest of Mikelips post wasn't spot on, it was.
But that single quoted sentence actually says all about the matter that has to be said.

 

[MikeLip]

Here I was about to make a long rant about tacticool, mallninjas, what people actually use, reliability bla bla bla.

Not that the rest of Mikelips post wasn't spot on, it was.
But that single quoted sentence actually says all about the matter that has to be said.

Mallninjas? MALLNINJAS? What the heck is a mallninja?

 

[Marduke]

Mallninjas? MALLNINJAS? What the heck is a mallninja?

Mall rent-a-cops probably

 

[Lobo]

Mallninjas? MALLNINJAS? What the heck is a mallninja?

Sorry, should be mall ninja, we don't separate words like that in swedish.

And if you wonder about the actual word.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=mall+ninja
which I believe originated from this old thread at glocktalk:
http://www.geocities.com/suketh.geo/gun/mall_ninja_1.html
And another fun read.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1670423/posts

 

[LightJaguar]

Counter-rant;

This whole thread is ridiculous. There is no point in getting bent out of shape over some marketing-speak.

Definition per Merriam-Webster;

tactic
4 entries found.

tactic[1,noun]tactic[2,adjective]-tactictactic

Main Entry: 1tac·tic
Pronunciation: \ˈtak-tik\
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin tactica, from Greek taktikē, from feminine of taktikos
Date: 1640
1 : a device for accomplishing an end
2 : a method of employing forces in combat

So, ANY light can be tactical. A plastic $2.99 Eveready can be tactical is it allows you to accomplish your end. It doesn't even have to be black!

Employing force? No reason why that same light can't be used to aim your Uzi or illuminate your grenade victim.

Yeah yeah yeah - I know that's not how Surefire or Jeff Cooper define it. But they RE-defined it to suit their purposes in the first place. That doesn't give them ownership of the word you know, or even narrow the definition. So the marketing people are perfectly justified in using the word if they like.

As far as I'm concerned, tactical is what gets the job done.

That's exactly right. In the Military Maglites and the cheap plastic flashights are the ones used the most. The Marines like nothing more then to break down a door and clear a room by sending a few guys in. On an interesting note I was chatting with a few military guys from the Replublic of Georgia. We were chatting about the "tactics" we use to clear a certain place. We told them that we were trained to spare innocent people as much as posbile. They told us that their tactics involved throwing a granade in whatever place they were trying to clear. They were not worried one bit if innocent people died or not.
Guess they really don't have any need for a "tactical" flashlight.

 

[woodrow]

xiaowenzu, I think your thread has some good points. I am not a LEO, but have had to point a gun at someone before, and having a good "tactical" light does make a difference.

For 98% of us civilians and even law enforcement, I think that 80% of the lights out there well get the job done and illuminate a target well. That being said there may be a few better lights than others. I would say that the Pelican 7060 is a great Tactical light in my opinion.

All seriousness aside... so next you are going to tell me that my Ninja flashlight was not actually used by real Ninjas in feudal japan...

And... for those of you who have never seen it...the greatest S.T.A.R.S tactical light (ever!) review can be found here:
http://www.outdooridiots.com/features/200704/lilbratztorchreview/lilbratztorchreview.asp

I seriously advise you to check it out...it might just save your life.

 

[FASTCAR]

"The true definition of a handheld tactical flashlight (as defined by Paul Kim of Surefire"


Because Paul Kim said this..does it make it correct? This is not a flame. Im just saying maybee others define it differently.

 

[Lightraven]

Different tactics call for different tools. Lights may be mounted to guns, helicopters, robots, mirrors/cameras, shields, armored vehicles or boats. They could be infrared. They could be towed generator lights. They may be flares parachuted in from a mortar. They could be chemical light sticks.

"Tactics drive the gear train."--Pat Rogers, USMC, NYPD ESU retired, firearms instructor to military and law enforcement.