Not a lot of Streamlight love? Why?

[kramer5150]

To many CR123 only designs.
Nothing special, different, uniquely appealing about their AA lights.

 

[Lee1959]

I use several Streamlight Stylus Pros and Microstreams more than probably any other lights I own, probably put together.

 

[Monocrom]

Just remembered, I bought 3 Streamlight Stylus Pros a few years back. Different colors. Kept one for myself, gave the other two to my best friend and his wife. It was my attempt to get them to EDC a decent and reliable light for both of them. She's a sweet young woman . . . But her first response was how the lights would be perfect for keeping in the glove boxes of their cars. :sigh:

Well, I tried.

 

[BillSWPA]

This was actually the reason I got into flashlights in the first place.
A couple of female friends and relatives carried kubotans, but being here in NY, kubotans can get you into trouble because they are a weapon.

The ladies concerned used to have their kubotans on their keychains, so they often dropped them on the counter when in a store etc, and it was only a matter of time before they caught a cop on a bad day and got into trouble.

A flashlight is primarily a flashlight, but could also be used as a kubotan, so it does the same thing but legally.
I don't really rate the kubotan as a weapon, but if they insisted on carrying one, then I thought that a suitably sized and shaped flashlight would be a safer option, so I did some research.
The Streamlight batonlight seemed to be an ideal solution to the problem, until I realized that it has 'Batonlight' written on the side, thus completely negating the whole reason for such a light's existence :shakehead

I believe the Batonlight has been discontinued now, and I wonder if they would have gotten better sales if they had not advertized the fact that it is a weapon in writing on the side of the light!

Of course, the happy side effect of all this is that as I was researching flashlights, I became interested in them myself

I saw a AAAA ('Stylus' maybe?) and liked the look of it, but when I saw the marketing description of what I knew was just a regular 5mm led, I became suspicious and passed it up.

I did not realize NY was so crazy. I have, in the not too distant past, tried to find any reported cases of someone being convicted of carrying a weapon for having a Kubotan or anything similar, and found nothing other than a case out of (if I recall correctly) Massachusetts, wherein the court clearly recognized Kubotans as weapons but also clearly recognized its legality. You certainly will not get a Kubotan through a security checkpoint, but that is a stricter standard than legality. I will have to look into this further. (Not admitted in NY or MA, so check with an attorney admitted there before relying on anything here.)

The Kubotan is definitely an effective striking and pain compliance device, but does require taking a class from someone who understands them in order to make full use of them. Using them as key flails is controversial in terms of effectiveness. Think in terms of primarily striking/blocking using the ends protruding from your fist, and secondarily in terms of pain compliance joint locks.

 

[BillSWPA]

M@glite will never admit this, but the reason why the 2AA Mini-Mag was first created wasn't to give the world a decent, travel-sized, flashlight that could be carried anywhere. Yeah, it's no accident that the light looks like a kubaton with a flashlight bezel at one end. It was done on purpose. Surprise, surprise . . . Turns out that they messed around and created a (for that time) quality flashlight that everyone started buying. M@glite very quietly and quickly decided to pretend it's popular flashlight design was just that. A harmless flashlight.

Tell your lady-friends to buy Mini-Mags. They completely fly under the radar, despite their origins.

+1 on the Mini-Maglights. Excellent little lights for both purposes that no one will ever question.

 

[Monocrom]

+1 on the Mini-Maglights. Excellent little lights for both purposes that no one will ever question.

Actually, as flashlights, they're crap compared to what's out there now. But for a light that'll be needed to do double-duty as both a light and a self-defense tool, then yes; it's the ideal choice.

 

[BillSWPA]

Actually, as flashlights, they're crap compared to what's out there now. But for a light that'll be needed to do double-duty as both a light and a self-defense tool, then yes; it's the ideal choice.

My Surefire E2D LED is currently at Surefire for repair after I managed to drop it and break the lens. The Mini-Maglight does not let me see as well, as far away, as 200 lumens out of a Surefire, but I do not care what may happen to a $14 light.

 

[american lockpicker]

My next light will prob be a Sidewinder. Their lights are ok but nothing too exciting.

 

[baterija]

C4 Led - Marketing ploy to obscure what's really in there. That's not a big draw to this crowd.
Li-ion support - Or lack of it in their CR123 based lights. No 18650 support for the 2x123 lights that I have seen as well.
Slow product cycles - There's a big part of here which is chasing the flavor of the month with the latest new thing. Streamlight does not feed that. Maybe they've updated the LED along the way as new bins become available... even that isn't obvious because they still call it a C4.
Don't market to CPF - The focus of their design and marketing is right at their target professional markets.

Solid, well designed, functional, and reasonably priced. In car terms here people tend to talk about the sexiest and fastest new sports cars. Streamlight makes the minivans that get the kids to school and picks up the groceries. It's a nice mini-van but people don't sit around and talk about it wistfully.

 

[allblues]

I bought a Pro Tac HL since it offered nearly everything I was looking for, i.e. foolproof programming, high output. My only quibble is not being able to use 18650's.

 

[ecallahan]

This was my first serious light as well, I loved it. And - I'm also in SW PA. I sold it a long time ago now.

My first serious light was a Streamlight Scorpion. It was a good light for a good price. I used it for years before giving it to a relative who developed a need for a good light.

I picked up a couple of Batonlights when they came out. I really like the basic idea, but wish they did not say "Batonlight" on the side. One of the two developed switch issues. Given the positive comments above about Streamlight service, I am kicking myself for not having contacted them about the issue.

I currently have two Streamlight TLR-1's. One of them is mounted on a rifle, and works quite well for that purpose. I have also found that it works quite well on a pistol. The other is for my wife's home defense pistol. No issues with either.

Overall, I agree with the above: solid lights at decent prices.

 

[bccan]

I have a few Surefire lights (L1, L2's, 6P, G2's, U2) & Streamlights (Poly Stinger, Poly Tac, Knucklehead, Stylus Pros). I keep SF stuff in house & cars, the SL's do the dirty work @ shop & in garage. Always have a Stylus Pro in my pocket @ work & use it frequently throughout the day. I think that the SF's as tough as they are seem too nice to beat up! SL's have proven very tough w/ excellent performance & I have no hesitation to beat or dirty them up - they are made for it.

Bought a G2L & Poly Tac @ same time, side to side comparison for throw, spill, whatever went to SL PT.

Some are unimpressed w/ C4 LED, I however am. Seems to give a bright hotspot w/ good throw & a wide, bright area around it, very good for general purpose use.

 

[PhillyRube]

They are ok, but as I've found with the Streamlight SL20X lights issued to the officers in my agency, they eat batteries like crazy, and replacements are expensive. I've retrofitted several I own with NiMH cells to avoid the NiCad burnouts I get.

 

[Monocrom]

They are ok, but as I've found with the Streamlight SL20X lights issued to the officers in my agency, they eat batteries like crazy, and replacements are expensive. I've retrofitted several I own with NiMH cells to avoid the NiCad burnouts I get.

A good idea.

 

[Paladin]

Without digging through long term "storage", working off the somewhat aged brain cells, I have several TL3's both led and incan, several TL-2's that are led, a 2L3W, a couple of 3c twintasks, a few 4aa Polypro led's, some 3AA led task lights, several TLR-1's, and a bunch of gifted lights to family members. All have been 100% reliable, in spite of being not the latest tech.

Paladin

ETA: a pair of Scorpians, one led and one incan.

 

[Cypher_Aod]

My only Streamlight Light is a TL-3 (incan) Thunder Ranch light that I bought at a trade show for one pounds (about a buck-fifty!), still with original bulb but no packaging.

That was seven months ago, and I've been using it very frequently since then on a pair of AW 17500s. It's one of my favourite lights. I love the Form-Factor, the UI and the build quality. It's been dropped on concrete from as high as eight feed and there isn't a scratch on the Anodizing

 

[loneranger]

As others have noted, Streamlight products are not the sexiest ones on the market. They are designed with particular usages in mind. For example, I have an old Propolymer LED light. I bought it because I live in earthquake country, where ruptured gas lines can be a concern if a big earthquake hits. I can safely use the Propolymer without worrying about igniting the gas while searching for the source of a leak. None of my newer lights are rated for this. And frankly, most people don't care about this safety feature.

 

[Cypher_Aod]

There are still lights available that are "intrinsically safe" (IS) rated, but they're usually not especially bright and are quite expensive, so they aren't too popular or common. I guess not that many people need lights that are safe to use in explosive gas atmospheres *shrug*

Sent from my LT26i using Tapatalk 2

 

[martindb]

I have IMO a decent collection of lights and the way I add to it, is I choose a manufacturer that I don't currently own a light from –research their whole line and pick one that would fit nicely in my collection (typical criteria – Black HA type III coating, Holster included, output around 500 lumen)
The amount I spend depends on how exciting their range oflights are and how much of a prominent addition to my collection the light will be.

A couple of weeks ago, it was the turn of Streamlight.

I was up against two obstacles – the first being, I'm in the UK and Streamlight flashlights are beyond rare. The second being that the places that do sell them, sell them at higely inflated prices.

Ordering from USA would include large shipping and customs charges which often double the cost of the light and turns it into a serious purchase, which this really wasn't.

In the end, I settled for a Streamlight Jr. This was the 29th ​torch in my collection and instantly became my least powerful light with 55 lumens (Previous lowest was Thrunite Ti with 60)

I bought this light pretty much just for the sake of being able to say I have a Streamlight in my collection. It's well made, looks nice,but as the Fenix E15 (140 lumen) that I have attached to my keys outperforms itin every way, I think this one for the collection only.

I can accept what I'm saying is pretty unfair to streamlight as they do provide much better lights than the one I bought - they're just not freely available in the UK.

 

[TEEJ]

I find that they are well made but a one trick pony: pretty much just pencil-beams...that's about it.

For the amount of area illuminated at range, I simply have better beams I could shine out there instead.

So, if I need an anemic little spot of light, sure, its a reliable way to get one.