Introduction
Excluding factors such as cost and brand preference, there are three main factors to consider when buying a tactical flashlight. As you formulate your decision, each of these factors will contribute to your final selection.
First, comes the toughest: for what tactical applications will you use the light? To search trucks and vans as a Border Patrol agent or to execute dynamic entries as the entry man on a SWAT team? Maybe you're an armed citizen concerned with keeping your home safe if you hear shattering glass in the middle of the night.
Second, how much light will you need? Do you anticipate long range threats or mostly CQB distance encounters? The amount of light is crucial to fulfilling different tactical roles for white light.
Finally, how long will you run the light before you can install fresh batteries or put the light down for a recharge?
A flashlight is simply a tool you use to control or alter your environment. And, like any tool, it usually has one specific application for which it excels, depending on its design and construction. For instance, the SureFire M6 Guardian® with its six lithium batteries and retina-searing 500 lumens of blinding white light is an incredible tool for a SWAT operator who needs to blind a bad guy while crashing a crack house, but the size and weight of the M6 make it a poor choice for an undercover officer- or a civilian who needs something compact enough to carry comfortably and small enough to conceal in a suit pocket.
If you carry a light for self-protection and you should you need one that produces at least 60 lumens of light. SureFire believes that 60 lumens is a sound threshold for temporarily blinding a would-be assailant whose eyes are dark-adapted. Most people, except for police, military and rescue personnel, have no urgent need of a light that produces more than 140 lumens.
Note that many SureFire lights have more than one output level, depending on which lamp is installed. For example, the Z2 CombatLight model standard issue for the FBI and U.S. Air Marshals ships from the factory with a P6O lamp assembly that produces 65 lumens for a runtime of 60 minutes. Installing the optional P61 lamp assembly in a Z2 increases the light output to a dazzling 120 lumens, but the runtime is reduced to 20 minutes.
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