OLIGHT M20 or T25?

[irmorrison]

I'm in law enforcement and I need a great tactical light that has good throw, spill, and a strobe.

I was thinking about an OLIGHT T25 or M20 Warrior premium. Which is better?

Or if you have any better ideas... I am always willing to listen.

 

[mdocod]

Welcome to CPF!

When it comes to flashlights, defining one flashlight as being "better" than another is basically impossible because each flashlight must be looked at as a tool that has a purpose at a price point. The M20 and T25 each have their good and bad points, and it's going to depend on what you intend to do with them, and possible more importantly, what type of battery system you plan to use (rechargeable, or primary, etc)... Also... if you are supplied any particular cell types freely or must pay for them on your own.

Keep in mind that more modes, like access to a strobe, or an SOS, or whatever, is NOT always better than having something simple. If you are in law enforcement then I am sure you are aware that effectiveness in the field comes from having gear that is not only easy to work with, but that you are heavily practiced in using. Added complications from multi-mode lights can actually make things worse. For any sort of tactical work, I tend to start by recommending lights that are either single mode, or 2 mode with the mode selection available through a quick bezel twist, anything more complicated could consume that fraction of a second that makes the difference between life and death. If you want to spend some time training and practicing to access a strobe mode on a multi-mode light, and making that a routine that will happen under duress, then that's also an option, more power to you if you can make it work for you!

For your proffession, I would be looking at options like the SureFire Z2 or C2 with a MalkOff M60 drop-in, or an EagleTac T10C2 or T10L, or Fenix TK10 or TK11, or DereeLight CL1H with a single mode drop-in.... There are certainly others out there worth a look, so keep your eyes open and listen to other suggestions as I'm sure there will be more. A lot of the options I have just put "on the table" are designed for use with a single 18650 size protected li-ion cell, which is a rechargeable option that is worth a look but will require some more research to get the right stuff for.

Best of luck in your search!

Eric

 

[Mdinana]

I have the T20 (military version), which is an earlier version of the M20. It's not, IMHO, rugged enough for military work. Police work? Uh, maybe. Keep this in mind on my comments, it's a slightly different light.

The light levels are good. It's very "spotlight" with a good spill area, but poor spill light level. Easy to change levels. Comfortable. Kind of smooth, not very agressive knurling, maybe an issue in the rain or snow.

Last, I dropped it from about 4 feet and broke the tailcap. Literally about 3 days of carrying it. So, like I said earlier, not real rugged. To make matters worse, Olight has a rather poor warantee dept (again, IMHO), and I wasn't able to get a replacement tailcap from them - I had to go through BatteryJunction to get it replaced.

Kudos to BatteryJunction, BTW!

 

[corrections operator]

Personally, I would go with either the Fenix TK-11 or the Olight M20. Both seem easy to use. My team will be reviewing both for potential purchase. Any particular reason you are looking at the Premium M20 instead of the regular M20? We'll be reviewing both M20's and the Tk-11. If you are interested, I would be happy to share our pick and the pros and cons of each. That is if you can afford to wait several weeks or a month.

I do agree with the previous poster about keeping it simple. Finding the intersection of simplicity and versatility is key.

 

[irmorrison]

Thank you for the replies. Forgive me if I sound like a blundering novice, but I did not realize the variety and quality in todays flashlights up until a few months ago.

I definitely want a "simple" light. I don't want something with 12 different brightness settings. Maybe I should have been a little more clear about what I am looking for...

Ideally, I want something that has two settings: "strobe" and "freakin' bright," and that has a switch like the maglites so I can keep it on constantly or push it half-way in for a quick second (preferably with the switch on the back). I don't know if I like having to turn a bezel 6 times in order to get to a specific setting, it would be great if I could double click fast for a strobe, or something. If anyone has any great ideas, please let me know! I would definitely train and practice with what I have, but I want it to be as simple as I can.

DBS lights throw really nice, but I feel that the strobe would be useful. With the Olight, I can just keep it on the strobe setting and then turn the bezel for high. I was also looking at a Tiablo A10, because it seems like I can keep the light on high (and not worry about the other settings) and then click it again for the strobe and that seems pretty simple to me. If it is really that easy, I'd like to hear your opinions on the throw and spill for the Tiablo.

My big light is a 4 cell d maglite with a tle-300m and it's great for searching or if I want to tuck it in under my arm, but I also wanted something smaller that I can keep on my belt.

Hopefully I am being a little bit more clear of what I am looking for!

PS. Corrections, I have no reason for looking at the premium over the regular m20.

 

[corrections operator]

The reason I asked is I've read several threads where some purchasers(not all) of the Premium M 20 have gotten lights where tint was much more yellow than the regular M 20. Wasn't sure if you preferred yellow light(like most incandescent lights) or had another reason.

 

[Toaster]

Take a look at the Jetbeam Jet-III M. It's a light similar in size, function, and output to the TK11 and M20 and it has the interface you are looking for. It has 2 modes. With head fully tightened the light is in fixed max output. With head slightly loosened you drop into user defined mode. You can set this to be strobe or a custom level of your choice. It comes with a tactical forward clicky switch. Half press for momentary on, full press to turn on or off. See here for a great review of this light.

 

[D-Dog]

This is more of a "just to let you know" than anything else, however:

The M20's modes are arranged low, high, max, strobe in that order. I am sitting here with a M20 Premium and although I have gotten quite good at flipping from strobe to max in about a second or so, it definitely requires some practice and some concentration. I'm not trying to steer you away from the light at all, however, you would need to complete 3 mode switches to move from strobe to max (S-Low, L-High, H-Max) which may not be possible in a life or death situation. Although I feel the light is plenty rugged enough, simplicity might be better in this case

Good luck in selecting