March 2017
John Russo
Streamlight never fails to impress. Whether it is with their great quality, incredible brightness, or the number of new products they introduce each year. For 2017, this trend continues with some great new illumination tools. There are far too many to list here but this is a few of my favorites.
The KeyMate is now USB rechargeable with a lithium battery and still fits on any key ring. It features 35 lumens on high, 16 on low and even has an emergency flash setting. This is a great tool for anyone but especially anyone walking to their car in the dark.
The ProTac Rail Mount HL-X is a dedicated weapon light. It can be used with the included rechargeable lithium ion battery or with CR123A lithium batteries. With an output of 1,000 lumens there won’t be anything you can’t see! It comes with everything you need to mount it to a weapon along with tail cap and pressure pad switches. This is a great light.
The TLR-6 was originally designed for small handguns. The new version is designed to fit certain accessory railed handguns such as the Springfield Armory XDs, S&W M&Ps and many Glocks. The light is very compact and features a 100 lumen C4 LED along with a red laser. This is a excellent choice if you want a compact light/laser unit for a normal sized handgun.
Headlamps have come a long way. The new ProTac HL USB Headlamp is now rechargeable and putting out 1,000 lumens! It is adjustable with multiple settings and runtimes. This is a powerfully bright light. Last year I was walking out of the woods at night after an elk hunt and discovered my old headlamp was woefully inadequate. What had seemed like a bright beam around the campsite was pitiful when shined over seemingly endless yards of rolling sagebrush. You can bet I will have one of these new ProTac’s with me this year.
Sometimes you only need enough light for your work area, so why wear anything heavier than you have to? Streamlight recognized this and created the Bandit. This is a super small rechargeable and adjustable headlamp that only weighs 1.3 ounces but still puts out up to 180 lumens. I really like this light and find it extremely useful for area work around vehicles, campsites and game processing.
Finally, you need to check out the new Super Siege rechargeable lantern. I love this light for its many uses. It is a camp lantern, emergency home light source, area work light, and charging station. It has an 8800 mAh lithium battery that will charge most all of your devices and can put out up to 1100 lumens or as little as 1 lumen. It even has a compartment to hide valuables. Everybody should have one of these!
Check out all of Streamlight’s new stuff at www.streamlight.com.