tactical jack "protector 3W" flashlight

[phaserrifle]

A few months ago I suddenly had need to replace my old AA mini-maglite, after it was stolen. I started off looking at surefire lights, as they where reccomended by the police officer who took my statement, but on researching them, i decided that A) they where too expensive and B) the running costs where too high.
then while searching the net i discoved the "Protector 3w" flashlight offered by tactical jack, who are a part of cop shop uk.
It is a aluminium built torch, running of 3 AAA batteries, which are of cheaper and easier to aquire than the CR123s required by a surefire. according to the data on the site, it runs for around 50 hrs before it needs new batteries. and produces around 80 lumens. while i don't know what 80 lumens looks like i can confirm that this torch is BRIGHT. It appears to be well made, although the threads (both at the head and tail ends) where a little rough at the begining this soon smothed out. It also came supplied with a set of batteries, and a wrist lanyard.

Personaly I dislike carrying stuff in my pockets, so I also ordered the nylon belt sheath. This is slightly less useful for your average user, as the belt loop is somewhat large. this is because the torch and holster are both designed to be used by police officers, and so the belt loop is sized for 50mm nylon duty belts. on most other belts it tends to shift around a bit, mainly settleing at an angle. the holster can carry the torch either tail-cap up or tail-cap down, although tail-cap up is a little stiff.

Overall both the torch and it's accesories appear to be of good quality, and my only concern with the torch is it's apparent lack of water-proofing on the tail cap switch. however this seems to only be a minor issue.

 

[adamlau]

Thanks for the intro to the Protector 3W. Appears to use an optic, interesting. Plenty of good, if not superior alternatives to SureFire around .

 

[DM51]

3xAAA batteries + 80 lumens + 50 hours run-time = severe exaggeration.

 

[Gunner12]

With good rechargeable batteries, you might get around 1 hour of good output. With alkalines, expect around 15 minutes. At 50 hours, the light will be pretty dim.

I'm guessing it uses a Luxeon III("3 watt" LED), which also means you can double the output for the same runtime by swapping in a current gen LED.

For that price(and depending on your use), I'd get something like this(It will get 3 hours regulated runtime on 2 good AA rechargeable batteries), this(bright for a AAA powered light), this, this, this, this, this...(AKA, there are better lights for the money)

This thread might interest you.

But for you the "Protector 3W" might be a good place to start.

Current gen LEDs:
Cree XR-E P4-R2 bin
Seoul P4 U-bin
Seoul P7 C-bin
Luxeon Rebel 80 and 100 bin
Luxeon TFFC K2 180+ bins(No TFFC means it's an older K2)

I apologize for being a bit harsh.

:welcome:

 

[phaserrifle]

it certainly does more than 15 mins using alkali batteries (phillips powerlife) although the 50 hours may be how long it will give out any light, rather than its maximum output. or it may be the figgures for the lower powered 1watt version, coupled with a company that does'nt know much about LEDs. either way i have happily used the torch for several hours over a weekend scout camp wihout any noticeable drop in brightness (althogh i still cary spare batteries at all times, coz the dark is not a nice thing to be in on scout camp (there's often other scouts hidden in it))

and yes, it does use an optic, althoug so does my other LED light (a small single AA one that is allright but i wanted something wiht a little more powerful, and robust, incase of "things that go bump in the night" (eg other scouts sneaking into my tent, intent on mischeif (wouldn't be the first time)) so I didn't feel it was that unusual.

 

[HeadCSO]

From the website you mentioned, I assume you are in the UK.

For a little more money, I would suggest a Fenix L2T Q2. These are available from the UK distributor, the photon shop. Similar size to a 2 AA mini mag, but much much brighter.

 

[phaserrifle]

I only saw the fenix lights after I had bought the Protector. however There was a reason I was trying to avoid AA maglite sized torches. I wanted something shorter. (when my maglite was stolen, the thief put his hand over the front of the torch while I was holding it (out the back of my fist, shoulder level) leaving me with no light, and no wepon (if I needed one)) after this I decided I wanted something shorter)

The fenix would actualy work out cheaper, as I could have got the fenix (holster included) for £37.95 with out having to pay P&P while the tactical Jack was Torch (£26.99) + holster (£6.99) plus P&P (£6.50!) totaling £40.48!

 

[HeadCSO]

I only saw the fenix lights after I had bought the Protector. however There was a reason I was trying to avoid AA maglite sized torches. I wanted something shorter.

Should you decide you need another light (you can never have too many lights :naughty, take a look at Fenix's L1D Q5. Runs on 1AA so is short and easily carried in the pocket, but still has more power than the Tactical Jack.