Surefire 6P questions

[michiganstud]

So I've used the lights on duty for a bit. I thought I'd update you guys on what I found and what I chose.

POLYTAC X - the light was good overall. Good beam, good battery life. More a thrower than a flooder. I did not like the raised "cage" on the tailcap and it just wasn't brighter than my Stinger HL. Didn't feel good in the hand. NOT CHOSEN.

STREAMLIGHT STRION HL - Basically the same in every way as my Stinger HL, just smaller. The 700 lumens it gives is really no different than my Stinger HL. The beam is more floody and definitely doesnt throw as well as the Stinger. I didn't see a reason to spend almost 200 dollars (by the time I get extra batteries, chargers and a holder for my belt) when I already have everything this light offers in my Stinger. RETURNED.

SUREFIRE G2 - LE - Absolute tank of a light. Love it, but not really keeping it for duty. Very bright, good beam and love the tailcap. But again, not brighter than my Stinger HL. Keeping it - but using as a back up and extra light to have.


STREAMLIGHT PROTAC HL-X - This light is the clear winner. Smaller, brighter (at 1000 lumens) and a bit better on battery life. Amazing thrower and plenty of flood. Its great at lighting up rooms, outdoor areas, woods, classrooms, sports fields, etc. It does dim down for low light needs. Batteries are easy to pack in my bag and I already have plenty of 18650 batteries. Fits in my holder for the Surefire G2 - so if I ever want to alternate between the two - its a bonus. CLEARLY THE WINNER AND KEEPER!!!

Still keeping my Stinger HL. Its my bag light and traffic stop light - I can tuck it under my arm on stops better to reach out for paperwork etc while keeping a hand free. I still have the belt holder for it and can easily alternate between this and my smaller lights.

I took beam shots of the Stinger HL, Strion HL, and the Protac HLX. The first pic is with no light to show the difference. I am shining the lights across a full standard basketball court into upper level offices with no lights on.

 

[bykfixer]

Yikes! That's a lot of light pollution.

 

[michiganstud]

Yikes! That's a lot of light pollution.

?

 

[rwolfenstein]

?

I retired my old Streamlight stinger for good. I just use the Stinger DS now, with a Pelican 7060 as a back up. I would go with the smaller lights, but I hate not being able to tuck it under my arm.

 

[michiganstud]

I retired my old Streamlight stinger for good. I just use the Stinger DS now, with a Pelican 7060 as a back up. I would go with the smaller lights, but I hate not being able to tuck it under my arm.

Honestly that's a reason I keep putting my Stinger back on my belt. Today's thought was doing that and putting the protac or Surefire G2 in my pocket. The Stinger HL LED has just been the best light since the SL20x.

I was on foot patrol last night after i posted this and I stopped an intox person. I only had my little light and my Stinger was in the truck. Couldn't get that Protac to tuck under my arm. Almost dropped it. Hard to hold a light and notepad while interviewing someone in the dark.

So back to my Stinger as primary.

 

[aznsx]

So I've used the lights on duty for a bit. I thought I'd update you guys on what I found and what I chose.

POLYTAC X - the light was good overall. Good beam, good battery life. More a thrower than a flooder. I did not like the raised "cage" on the tailcap and it just wasn't brighter than my Stinger HL. Didn't feel good in the hand. NOT CHOSEN.

STREAMLIGHT STRION HL - Basically the same in every way as my Stinger HL, just smaller. The 700 lumens it gives is really no different than my Stinger HL. The beam is more floody and definitely doesnt throw as well as the Stinger. I didn't see a reason to spend almost 200 dollars (by the time I get extra batteries, chargers and a holder for my belt) when I already have everything this light offers in my Stinger. RETURNED.

SUREFIRE G2 - LE - Absolute tank of a light. Love it, but not really keeping it for duty. Very bright, good beam and love the tailcap. But again, not brighter than my Stinger HL. Keeping it - but using as a back up and extra light to have.


STREAMLIGHT PROTAC HL-X - This light is the clear winner. Smaller, brighter (at 1000 lumens) and a bit better on battery life. Amazing thrower and plenty of flood. Its great at lighting up rooms, outdoor areas, woods, classrooms, sports fields, etc. It does dim down for low light needs. Batteries are easy to pack in my bag and I already have plenty of 18650 batteries. Fits in my holder for the Surefire G2 - so if I ever want to alternate between the two - its a bonus. CLEARLY THE WINNER AND KEEPER!!!

Still keeping my Stinger HL. Its my bag light and traffic stop light - I can tuck it under my arm on stops better to reach out for paperwork etc while keeping a hand free. I still have the belt holder for it and can easily alternate between this and my smaller lights.

I took beam shots of the Stinger HL, Strion HL, and the Protac HLX. The first pic is with no light to show the difference. I am shining the lights across a full standard basketball court into upper level offices with no lights on.

Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback, observations, and opinions regarding the various lights you have, and those that you've 'test driven' recently. I find such info from professional users in real world conditions in 'critical service' applications to be the most valuable to me, so thanks again! Stay safe out there!

 

[rwolfenstein]

Honestly that's a reason I keep putting my Stinger back on my belt. Today's thought was doing that and putting the protac or Surefire G2 in my pocket. The Stinger HL LED has just been the best light since the SL20x.

I was on foot patrol last night after i posted this and I stopped an intox person. I only had my little light and my Stinger was in the truck. Couldn't get that Protac to tuck under my arm. Almost dropped it. Hard to hold a light and notepad while interviewing someone in the dark.

So back to my Stinger as primary.

Small surefire lights work great when you are searching a car fyi lol.

 

[michiganstud]

Small surefire lights work great when you are searching a car fyi lol.

Well I have belt holders for both lights .... maybe I should carry both? Think anyone would mention it around the department? LOL

 

[rwolfenstein]

Well I have belt holders for both lights .... maybe I should carry both? Think anyone would mention it around the department?

My coworkers flip me crap because I carry two lights, I just remind them that dayshift dolly's don't need a light, they are spending too much time making sure their boots have a shine and their uniform has proper creases....

 

[michiganstud]

My coworkers flip me crap because I carry two lights, I just remind them that dayshift dolly's don't need a light, they are spending too much time making sure their boots have a shine and their uniform has proper creases....

2 is 1 and 1 is none!! Always have a backup.

 

[DaveTheDude]

2 is 1 and 1 is none!! Always have a backup.

Ages ago, during my time in the Navy, my ship regularly conducted casualty drills. Among these were simulated loss of electrical power exercises. There is nothing like being in a tight machinery space, located five decks below the waterline, to impress upon a young sailor the importance of carrying a pocket light when the lights go out. (The emergency lighting - dim at best and powered by small lead-acid cells - was intentionally disabled for exercise purposes.)

You can guess where this is going. As many have recited previously, two is one, etc. Driving this point home during one such drill, the exercise leader accidentally dropped his flashlight and it fell into a place that for purposes of the exercise could not be retrieved (more on this later). It was also pointed down, and provided no useful illumination for the evacuation drill. "Now what Chief?" asked the young sailor, to which the Chief had no useful reply. (His actual statement is unsuitable for publication in a family-friendly forum.)

The lesson here, as you no doubt deduced, is the importance of having backup tools readily available. Even a Mag Solitaire would have been a lifesaver in the pitch black environment of the ship's unlit engine room.

As to the dropped flashlight, it took about an hour to safely retrieve the light from it's location in the bilge. No word on how long it took it's owner to clean it however. 🤬

 

[rwolfenstein]

I have been on many a building search when another agency arrives and half way through the search, I have someone asking hey do you have a spare? My light went dead. I used to read a lot of the old books , specifically Street Survival Tactics for Armed encounters. Many of cops were killed back in the day because they used battery powered lights that they either used all day or never replaced the batteries. Their "back up" light was most of the time a cigarette lighter or a pen light. Cops would walk right past their suspect and get jumped not knowing they were there. How does this cross over to the civilian side? We have all the technology in the world, it would be pretty silly to die or be seriously injured because you only had 1 flashlight on you and it failed.

 

[bykfixer]

One thing I liked about the Pelican M6 (2320) holster was a spot to carry two extra CR123's. I always wondered why Streamlight, SureFire or Pentagon never did that.
Dead bulb? Now that's another matter.

 

[rwolfenstein]

One thing I liked about the Pelican M6 (2320) holster was a spot to carry two extra CR123's. I always wondered why Streamlight, SureFire or Pentagon never did that.
Dead bulb? Now that's another matter.

Surefire had a light holster around the time hurricane Katrina occurred. The issued NO PD a bunch of G3L flashlights with a swivel holster that held 3 extra CR123a. Mostly because all of the wall charging lights were dying.

 

[bykfixer]

Good on SureFire!! ^^

It seems the Streamlight Scorpion had a spare bulb in the tailcap. Trouble was the pin holes would over size and the bulb would fall out if dropped just so. I had a Strion that I teraluxed which over sized the pin holes so when I went back stock I just bent the light bulb legs in a zig zag and it stayed fine after that.

 

[tech25]

Surefire had a light holster around the time hurricane Katrina occurred. The issued NO PD a bunch of G3L flashlights with a swivel holster that held 3 extra CR123a. Mostly because all of the wall charging lights were dying.

https://www.knifecenter.com/item/SFG3LBKKIT0180/SureFire-G3-LED-Holster-Kit-Single-Output-LED-Flashlight-80-Lumens

 

[rwolfenstein]

Good on SureFire!! ^^

It seems the Streamlight Scorpion had a spare bulb in the tailcap. Trouble was the pin holes would over size and the bulb would fall out if dropped just so. I had a Strion that I teraluxed which over sized the pin holes so when I went back stock I just bent the light bulb legs in a zig zag and it stayed fine after that.

I recently have pulled a classic out of a box, I found an old B65 battery charging kit for my old surefire G2. Which is funny because back in 2005 this was the coolest thing ever. Now I cannot find batteries for it other than in Australia.

 

[chillinn]

I recently have pulled a classic out of a box, I found an old B65 battery charging kit for my old surefire G2. Which is funny because back in 2005 this was the coolest thing ever. Now I cannot find batteries for it other than in Australia.

B65 is 4.8V for 600mAh or 40 minutes of light. You can do better today with four 2/3A NiMH for the same voltage with 1600mAh capacity or an hour and 45 minutes of the same light. B26 is 120.4mm long, and 2/3A cells (like this, or these) are 28.5mm, or 114mm with four in series, so you'd use three 2mm thick neodymium button magnets between the four cells. You'll get better performance with NiMH, less voltage sag, and benefit from NiMH's superior low self-discharge to NiCad. Plus you can swap the locations of the cells for even wear, unlike with the B65 battery, which must be four NiCad cells in series, probably 2/3A size also.

 

[knucklegary]

^ If you want to keep it stock, recently viewed a used B65 on eB. Sold as kit with Al extender and charger.

 

[rwolfenstein]

B26 is 4.8V for 600mAh or 40 minutes of light. You can do better today with four 2/3A NiMH for the same voltage with 1600mAh capacity or an hour and 45 minutes of the same light. B26 is 120.4mm long, and 2/3A cells (like this, or these) are 28.5mm, or 114mm with four in series, so you'd use three 2mm thick neodymium button magnets between the four cells. You'll get better performance with NiMH, less voltage sag, and benefit from NiMH's superior low self-discharge to NiCad. Plus you can swap the locations of the cells for even wear, unlike with the B26 battery, which must be four NiCad cells in series, probably 2/3A size also.

Wow you guys are awesome, so much knowledge on this. I never thought about building another battery, I just figured some company would make something aftermarket.