We love flashlights–weapon lights, task lights, beacons, IR, white, multi-setting, single setting, low power, high power white trash night vision–and everything in between. Though a high lumen headlamp isn’t the choice for an urban assault, they are fantastic for things like working on your truck in the middle of the night and for other times you need illumination while keeping your hands free. Today, Brian Montgomery talks about one such option: The Streamlight Pro Tac Head Lamp.

~Brian Montgomery

I got one…and I love it. I’m a little biased in that I’ve carried several Streamlight flashlights throughout my career. I’ve also carried other lights, but I often went back to Streamlight.

Out of the package, I noticed it was fairly big (presumably to accommodate the two included C123A batteries). It has two options for attaching to your head: a soft elastic band with a second band going over the top and a rubber strap option for helmets.

When I placed the batteries inside and activated the switch, I first noticed how bright it was. This light is so bright it’s almost too bright. Fortunately, before I blinded myself I figured out how to activate the variable brightness switch (I read the f’n instructions). According to the manufacturer, it puts out (puts out [giggle]) 540 lumens (high), 95 (med) and 18 (low). And that 540 setting is incredibly bright as well as wide.

The light comes with Streamlight’s TEN-TAP system which allows a user to actually program which setting will automatically activate. The options are Hi/Med/Low, Continuous High and Low/Med/Hi. To program to settings, here are the instructions directly from the company’s web site:

With lights featuring the TEN-TAP® programmable switch, you are able to select one of three different programs to meet your lighting application needs. To change to the next program, starting from the “Off” position, tap the switch rapidly 9 times (within 0.4 seconds per tap) and hold it down the 10th time. Continue holding the switch until the light turns off (approximately 1 second), and then release the switch. Repeat this pattern to change to the next program.

– whatever

 

Made from an anodized aluminum housing and gasket sealed, it’s water-resistant and rated impact resistance for a 1-meter drop. The head tilts 90 degrees to limit neck fatigue and the activation switch on the side is large enough to easily accommodate a gloved hand.

If weight is one of your primary concerns, this probably isn’t the illumination tool (tool [giggle]) for you. If not, this is a cool piece of kit and works really, really well.

For purchasing or more information, head to Streamlight’s page here.

 

Streamlight.

Read everything we’ve written about Streamlight flashlights.