Looking for Straight Talk on Streamlight

that is a very good question. I think that Stream light makes some quality lights, but I can't seem to find very many reviews with beam shot comparison to other high end brands.

Streamlight makes quality flashlights, and they are very reliable. The reason most of us don't talk/buy is that we want the latest and greatest out there where Streamlight stays on the simple design, and keeps their lights at a reasonable performance level.

Streamlight came up with a line-up of lights that sells to its varying target audiences, long ago. Whether they be Police Officers, First Responders, Outdoorsmen, etc.

Streamlight doesn't make radically new models that generate a huge amount of buzz. Often, they update existing models to improve them. But not on a yearly basis. Reliability counts more with Streamlight than using the Latest & Greatest new emitters. Compared with other brands, you generally don't see a massive ammount of innovation with Streamlight. You see updates of already time-tested and proven designs.

Sadly, all of that means that Streamlight gets very little attention on these boards. Overall, excellent lights that you can rely upon. But rarely anything exciting for the average flashaholic to lust after.

Through the years I have bought many Streamlingt flashlights, mostly the incandescent varities. They have been work horses for my needs, and I have had few failures. When I did need them fixed, I took them tp a local Streamlight repair store, close to where I lived, and they were repaired or replaced free of charge. Yes, they are not vauted on CPF or CPFMP, but they can be a good choice for us flashaholics.

Nill

At work the Stinger with the Xenon bulb was carried by quite a few guys as their duty light, it was like a mag-charger but without the bulk/weight. The guys I knew that used them loved them.

P_A_S_1 said:

At work the Stinger with the Xenon bulb was carried by quite a few guys as their duty light, it was like a mag-charger but without the bulk/weight. The guys I knew that used them loved them.

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I love the look of the old Stinger XT incandescent model.

Yeah, not the latest & greatest. But still available as a current SL model. I want one.

I'm working on reviewing a few of them right now. I agree with what the others said about their products being a little boring to flashlight enthusiasts but I'm still surprised they aren't discussed here more often. Another possible reason is that they tend to orient a lot of their lights more toward throw (lux) than sheer output so their lights aren't as attractive when compared to others in the lumens race.

Streamlight "fails" in several critical areas to appeal to flashlight enthusiasts:

1. Exotic, cutting edge products - as noted earlier, Streamlight offers solid, dependable products. But they don't offer the glittering bells and whistles of other companies. As noted, their target market prefers reliability and a certain level of overall conservatism which extends to their gear purchases as well.

2. Easily upgraded - one of the key things that made Surefire such a hit was the P60-drop in and replaceable parts. Which in turn spawned a small horde of custom, aftermarket upgrades. Streamlight products tend to follow the usual route of fairly "static" designs with very little ease of repair/upgrade/customization.

3. Accessibility - with a couple of exceptions (the Microstream, for example), a fair amount of Streamlight's product line is too expensive to be attractive to casual buyers. Combine that with the points 1 and 2, and you see why Streamlight just didn't catch on with the hobbyist/enthusiast crowd, particularly compared to other companies.

Another reason for their inertia is that many of their lights have certifications of one sort or another, like hazardous atmosphere. Obtaining these certs takes extremely expensive testing by third parties, usually multiple times. Also, many very large purchasers, especially government agencies, usually have multi-year purchase agreements that specify performance parameters and characteristics. Usually, changing these in any significant way can lead to a re-compete for the business. Why take the chance on losing current customers that don't significantly change the base line functionality of the product?

If you go to any dangerous working environment, you will see Streamlight flashlights because they are the leader in safety lighting that meet very challenging technical certifications. Miners, hazmat teams, firefighters, bomb squads and industrial complexes with explosive materials highly rely on Streamlight to keep them safe and illuminated. Designing explosion proof lights are much more challenging than slapping the latest LED and driving it to the max. And Streamlight is still very popular with cops (at least in my state.)

Timothybil said:

Another reason for their inertia is that many of their lights have certifications of one sort or another, like hazardous atmosphere. Obtaining these certs takes extremely expensive testing by third parties, usually multiple times. Also, many very large purchasers, especially government agencies, usually have multi-year purchase agreements that specify performance parameters and characteristics. Usually, changing these in any significant way can lead to a re-compete for the business. Why take the chance on losing current customers that don't significantly change the base line functionality of the product?

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Excellent point. That would explain why certain older incandescent models are still available, while others were discontinued.

The Surefire 6P and G2 fall into that category, I believe.

Their TLR-1 weapons light is extremely popular with LE and shooting/handgun enthusiasts, second only to the SureFire X300.

I have two TLR-1's and am very happy with them. If I were looking for a weapon light for a holster carried handgun, it would be the TLR-3. I am hoping some holster makers start to see the benefit of making holsters to fit pistols equipped with the TLR-4. Streamlight provides the best value in a weapon light I have seen.

agreed, I carry a pro-tac 2l daily and think it's a great light. I'll take dependable over flashy any day

Streamlight makes Reliable lights. I had/have 10 of their lights starting with the 4AA Propoly Luxeon. I really think that they make really good lights. They do not make 17670 or 18650 batt based but they make 123 size based lights. Their Stylus is very popular in 2AAA as well as the 2AA size Junior. I personally like their Propoly series in 3AA and 4AA and 3C. Solid lights never had any issues. The newer led they use C4 as they call it, is bright and gives long runtime. I have used the Sidewinder compact is very versatile now that new model uses AA or 123 batt. A coworker has the Siege lantern that takes 3D batt and is absolutely great design. I have the Knucklehead 4AA is extremely good for any type of work in the garage, fixing the car. I have the flood model with 2 led. I did let a coworker borrow it for a water leak at his house, he loved it how versatile it was with the strong magnet. I say all their Polymer lights in any battery size ARE very useful and versatile.
They also have the Police and Firefighters models. I never had any but I would think they are good lights.
Streamlight latest lights in any Polymer form are for me very useful and very smart design. I would say Streamlight has the most innovative designs today built around Polymer led lights.

Good thread. :thumbsup:

Bill

I picked up my first Streamlight (a Scorpion) around 1998 while in college...It was my first quality "tactical" light and I loved it...I also lost it. Still pains me a bit. Several years later in 2002 I was hired into law enforcement and picked up an SL20X. I used that light through custody assignments and patrol and still have it sitting on my desk...upgraded with a Terralux XM-E (I think) 600 lumen drop-in. In the mean time I picked up a backup SL20X, got my wife's SL20X, a Stinger, Stinger XT, Strion, Strion HL, Stinger LED DS, PT1l, PT2AA, PT2AAA, ProTac HL, Super-tac X, three Microstreams, a TLR-2, TLR-2G, and Sidewinder Compact II.

I have never been disappointed with a Streamlight product. I have had to repair the switch on my original SL20X light once, but it was easy and quick to deal with the warranty-repair center.

Yes, their lights may not be cutting edge but they work, and they offer a bunch of lights and options to address the needs of the user. I'll go for a good light that does what "I" need it to do over a flashy one any day.

Off-duty my main light is a Surefire EB1 Backup. I love that light... But as an on-duty belt light I use a Strion HL and couldn't be happier.

BillSWPA said:

I have two TLR-1's and am very happy with them. If I were looking for a weapon light for a holster carried handgun, it would be the TLR-3. I am hoping some holster makers start to see the benefit of making holsters to fit pistols equipped with the TLR-4. Streamlight provides the best value in a weapon light I have seen.

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i used to have the TLR-3. with the right hand you rotate up for momentary. down for constant.

with the left hand that's reversed so it gets really confusing

now since you can't shoot while in momentary it's pretty much useless and you'd be forced to use constant on, but which should be turned off as soon as you're done with it if you follow good tactics. but to do that you have to do the rotate-up finger motion which is the same for the momentary. i've tried doing some pistol drills with it and it's really confusing

i'm gonna get the inforce APL