A Streamlight PolyTac in My Glove Box

[rob_s]

I'm a fan of the Polytac for a general purpose light too. I still prefer to carry Surefires. I have a Polytac in every room of my house, and by every exterior door, with the bog-head version by the front and back doors. I also have one is all four map pockets of my truck.

The high-vis of the yellow is definitely useful. I gave up on black lights and knives a long time ago because half of my shooting events take place on an outdoor range at night under stadium lights. The lights are perfect for lighting targets and making for interesting COFS, but do not light the ground well at all. Magazines, among other things, are often lost. After losing a black SUREFIRE and a black leatherman, I went to high-vis everything.

[NH Shooter]

NHShooter,

I'd be interested in hearing how you handle the charging/discharging process, what charger, rate, etc.

.

Today's quality and selection of Li-ion batteries are quite good. The 16650 cell I'm using is a relatively recent offering, which fits any device that takes two CR132a cells end-to-end.

The up-front investment in cells and a good charger is certainly not prohibitive. Depending on cell size and capacity, they can run from about $7 up to about $20, and a good charger can be had for about $30.

Lights that are stored for occasional/emergency use get loaded with lithium primary (non-rechargeable) cells, which have at least a 10 year shelf life and won't leak/destroy a forgotten device like an alkaline cell will. My WMLs are loaded with lithium primaries. Hand-held lights that we use regularly are loaded with rechargeable Li-ion cells, which unlike older technology rechargeable cells, have a much lower self-discharge rate. With infrequent/light use, these cells can go for months between recharges.

Right now, I'm running Li-ion rechargeable cells in four primary "go-to" lights: my EDC Quark, a SF 6PX Pro my wife uses for walking the dog at night, the PolyTac and my SF PR1 Peacekeeper (which came with a Li-ion 18650 cell). Here is the break down of lights/cells;

- Quark QTA/QT2L-X Burst Mode head uses a pair of AW IMR 14500 cells in rotation

- PolyTac uses a KeepPower 16650 cell, recharge as needed depending on how much I use it

- SF 6PX Pro uses a KeepPower 16650 cell, recharge as needed (my wife only uses the low setting, so it goes for months between recharges)

- SF PR1 uses a Surefire labeled 18650 cell that came with it

I use a digital multi-meter to check voltages when I detect a decrease in light output and the highly-rated Xtar VP2 to charge them (click link to view charger details).

For back-up purposes we keep a supply of CR123a primary cells handy to power the Surefire and Streamlight lights. For the "hot rod" Quark, I have a 2-CR123a body to Lego the head and tail cap onto in the event I need to run the light with those cells.

No doubt battery management needs to become part of your regime to leverage the very substantial cost savings of using rechargeable cells while keeping your lights good-to-go. Being able to easily resort to primary batteries makes it all relatively painless and risk-free.

[NH Shooter]

I just had a Streamlight one cell model crap the bed on me but willing to try another.

Switch failure? Remove tail cap, face light downward to maintain battery contact with positive terminal in head and use a paperclip to jump the negative battery terminal to the body and see if it lights up. Switches are the most common failure point and tail cap assemblies are easily replaceable. Of course, SL should make it good under warranty.

[LSP972]

Today's quality and selection of Li-ion batteries are quite good. The 16650 cell I'm using is a relatively recent offering, which fits any device that takes two CR132a cells end-to-end.

This interests me. I copy all the other stuff, and find nothing there I disagree with.

However, I have begun to move away from 123A-powered lights for general purpose use. They are, IMO, still the best thing going for a PD (personal use/defense, as in EDC) light, but AA-powered LED lights have progressed by leaps and bounds. Of course, this from a guy who still uses an Opa-Lec on his work bench…

But I will look at the 16650. Thanks for the information.

.

[peterb]

The high-vis of the yellow is definitely useful. I gave up on black lights and knives a long time ago because half of my shooting events take place on an outdoor range at night under stadium lights. The lights are perfect for lighting targets and making for interesting COFS, but do not light the ground well at all. Magazines, among other things, are often lost. After losing a black SUREFIRE and a black leatherman, I went to high-vis everything.

I add reflective tape to a lot of my stuff for the same reason. I got tired of looking for black gear in the dark.

[JDM]

Excellent thread!!

[rob_s]

I add reflective tape to a lot of my stuff for the same reason. I got tired of looking for black gear in the dark.

The light that stay in my range bag is one of the Surefire lights they market to firemen that comes with the reflective tape. Already saved me losing the light twice.

[pdh]

Ive two of the old design and one of the new ones, both black.

I find them cost effective and efficient when needed. Ran one on my AR for a while bu then went to a dedicate WML.

I much prefer the second version allowing a lower light setting for general purpose although the older one is super simple, on/off same lumen output

[BobLoblaw]

Today's quality and selection of Li-ion batteries are quite good. The 16650 cell I'm using is a relatively recent offering, which fits any device that takes two CR132a cells end-to-end.

Will the 17670 cell not fit?

[NH Shooter]

Will the 17670 cell not fit?

No, the 16mm 16650 (17670 is 17mm in diameter) just makes it. FWIW, the 16650 is available in 2500mAh, I believe the highest capacity 17670 is around 1600mAh, making the 16650 the way to go.