What Makes A Flashlight Tactical?

Below is an explanation of things that make a flashlight tactical. If something below is missing from your flashlight, it’s likely to be considered a regular flashlight.

1. Lumens

Derived from the Latin word ‘lumen’ meaning ‘light’, lumens are the measure of the total amount of light that a light emits. There is a simple equation to understand how lumens work:

The higher the lumens, the brighter the flashlight.

But for a flashlight to be considered ‘tactical’, it needs to have a lumen range of 200-400. Why is this? Because it must be bright enough to disrupt another person’s vision to cause a distraction or buy some time. A tactical flashlight can have a range of lumens available, meaning you can adjust the brightness. But it needs to be within this range to be considered tactical. Nowadays, most tactical flashlights reach up to 1000 lumens.

2. The Design

A tactical flashlight has a specific design that must be followed to ensure it’s counted as a tactical flashlight. While each tactical flashlight may be visually different, the underlying designs are all following the same structure.

• Lightweight. A tactical flashlight should not be big and bulky. Nowadays, tactical flashlights are smaller and more lightweight.
• Tail cap button. Located at the bottom of the flashlight, this makes it easy to identify where the top and bottom of the flashlight are, especially if you’re in the dark and need access to the light easily. This is also useful when using the flashlight for self-defense.
• Robust and durable. This includes a hard casing, being waterproof, and shockproof. Ensuring the tactical flashlight can survive in all situations is critical to ensuring it’s a tactical flashlight. In other words, it should be able to take a heavy beating and still come out in one piece!
• Long-life battery. It should be able to withstand long shifts that law enforcement officers must undertake and have an option to recharge should it run out of life. Ideally, they should use LED bulbs as they’re the most energy-efficient and last much longer than incandescent bulbs.

A variety of settings. A tactical flashlight must have a momentary-on option and a constant-on option. It should also have a variety of brightness settings and perhaps the option for strobe or staggered pulse light settings.