Flashlights are one of the best self-defense tools you can carry.
Why?
83% of our senses come from what we see through our eyes, and about 50% of the time, violent crimes happen at night time when our vision is limited.
Having a bright flashlight allows you to identify the threat, momentarily blind an aggressor’s vision, and buy you extra time to take appropriate actions.
This isn’t just a roundup of Amazon reviews…we purchased all of these and subjected them to daily use, drop-testing, and water submersion tests.
Plus…pictures of the actual light spread pattern, which matters a lot more than pure output.
We’ll start with what we consider to be a “tactical flashlight” and compare 5 of the most popular ones under $100 to see which one is really the best.
Summary of Our Top Picks
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Best Premium LightComes with mini USB charging, and has switches from turbo to high mode after 5 mins to avoid overheating.
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Best Compact LightCompact, 920 lumens, red firefly light, takes both IMR 14500 and AA batteries
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Compact & SimpleCompact, affordable, takes both AA and CR123, single button operation
Table of Contents
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WHY YOU SHOULD TRUST US
We know there are plenty of opinions out there when it comes to reviews, so why trust Pew Pew Tactical?
We spent thousands of hours researching and analyzing flashlights to determine which is the best when it comes to lumens, candela, and ease of carry.
Input into this article came from our editorial team, who has a combined shooting experience of 30+ years and includes instructors in multiple disciplines.
Every light we recommend has been tested by someone here at Pew Pew Tactical and has gotten their stamp of approval.
What is a Tactical Flashlight?
Besides being a well-rounded flashlight, we believe tactical lights provide users a strategic advantage during a potentially dangerous situation.
Tactical flashlights usually have a tail-activated switch to allow the users to turn it on quickly. They are bright enough to momentarily blind an aggressor, and they are built to sustain tough environmental abuse.
Don’t need that stuff? Check out our Best Everyday Carry Flashlights instead. Or if you’re looking for something attached to your gun…Best Pistol Lights.
Our Selection Criteria
Given current LED lighting technology, we prefer tactical flashlights to have at least 500 lumens, a good amount of downrange reach, yet still small enough to be easily held in one hand while operating a handgun in the other hand if needed.
Once we got the criteria set, we looked for flashlights from a reputable brand with, on average, 50+ reviews and 4.5 stars on Amazon. We also consciously picked a flashlight from different brands, so there’s a fair share of diversity and fairness with each manufacturer.
As for price, we limited it to $100 or less for the flashlight since we want the best bang-for-the-buck. If price is no object…we recommend the Surefire P3x Fury Tactical ($250).
What is a Lumen?
Lumen measures the amount of light being output by a source within a given area and time.
The higher the lumen, the brighter the light is. One lumen equals the amount of light received at a square foot area one foot away from candlelight.
A 100W incandescent light bulb generates about 1600 lumen. And a typical headlamp of a car outputs about 700 to 1200 lumen.
Not that helpful…so we will have pictures of the light pattern from our backyard.
Batteries
Often overlooked, the type of battery will matter a lot. From cost to performance and time between recharges, what battery a tactical flashlight uses will sometimes make or break the decision.
Besides the traditional alkaline batteries (AAA, AA, C, D Cells), most modern flashlights these days take the following common batteries to increase power and weight efficiencies…
CR123: 3V lithium high output battery commonly used in high-performance electronics. A quality CR123 battery can carry up to 10 years of shelf life and usually cost around $1 to $2 per battery.
18650 (18mm by 65mm): 3.7 V rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. These are also the batteries used in the Tesla Model S sedans. They typically cost $3 to $6 per battery. Many flashlights would take either a single 18650 battery or two CR123 batteries.
14500 (14mm by 50 mm): 3.7 V rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that are the same size as traditional AA batteries. They typically cost $2 to $6 per battery.
Scoring Criteria
We decided to score the flashlights based on three categories:
- Lumen Output
- Ease of Use
- Ease of Carry
For ease of use, we look at how easy it is to turn on and off the light, switch between various modes, and how easy it is to hold a pistol while using the light, etc.
For ease of carry, we looked into various carrying methods, including holster carrying, pocket clip carry, or simply keeping the light in a pocket, etc.
Enough talking…let’s see our first contender on the list!
5 Best Tactical Flashlights
1. ThruNite TN12 Pro
- Pro: Ease of carry and use, 0.4 lumen firefly mode
- Con: Light gets hot in Turbo mode (minor)
- Ease of use: 8/10
- Ease of carrying: 6/10
- Lumen: 1900
The ThruNite TN12 light delivers an overall well-rounded feature for the users. At less than $50, this light is compact, lightweight, and sturdy.
The light takes a standard 18650 Li-ion rechargeable battery or two CR123 batteries.
It has several modes:
- Turbo 1100 lumens
- High 435 lumens
- Medium 175 lumens
- Low 18 lumens
- Firefly 0.4 lumens.
Holding the side mode switch for 1 second turns on the strobe mode.
I usually kept it in the High 435 lumens setting since going to Turbo mode is only one click away.
I personally use my thumb to turn on the light and use my pinky to activate the mode switch button on the side. If you toggle between various modes often, it may help to mentally memorize the five different modes as you switch between them.
It has a more spread out and even area of light.
The 0.4-lumen firefly mode is the perfect camping piss light. It allows you to preserve your eyes to the adjusted night vision. It also conserves the battery in an emergency situation, allowing you to run your flashlights for up to 74 days as rated.
The manufacturer has warned against running the light at Turbo for more than 10 minutes. We obviously went ahead and tested it.
At around 3 minutes, the bezel of the light becomes noticeably hot. And around 6 minutes, it becomes very uncomfortable to touch. I stopped the test at around 8 minutes because I didn’t want to push the limit and damage the light just yet.
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All in all, the price and even beam spread make it our best overall pick.
What do you think? Give it a rating below.
2. Fenix PD35 TAC
- Pros: Ease of carry, mini-USB charging battery
- Cons: Min output 8 lumens, hard to locate mode switch button without looking
- Ease of use: 7/10
- Ease of carrying: 6/10
- Lumen: 1000
The well-rounded Fenix PD35 TAC light delivers an overall great experience.
There are a couple of combos out there, and the light itself is around $65, but we recommend getting it with the 18650 Li-ion rechargeable battery that allows you to plug in a mini-USB directly for charging, so no more separate charger is needed!
A nice feature when you’re traveling or don’t have a battery charger. Alternatively, you can also use two CR123 batteries for power.
It has several modes:
- Turbo 1000 lumens
- High 500 lumens
- Medium 200 lumens
- Low 60 lumens
- Eco 8 lumens
Holding the side mode switch for 1 second turns on the strobe mode.
The power switch is built solid and very easy to turn on and off. You press the button halfway, and it goes to momentary on and off easily without issues.
Since the mode switching button does not fully protrude out of the light, there are times when I found it hard to use my pinky to locate the button without looking at the flashlight.
Compared to the ThruNite TN12, this light is not as hot in the Turbo mode. Per the user manual, the light would automatically down switch from Turbo to High mode after 5 minutes of operation. Because of this feature, I was able to easily leave the light on past 30 minutes without risking damaging the light due to heat.
Now, if you’re someone who’s used to having a flashlight with moonlight/ firefly mode, the lowest output at 8 lumens may seem a bit too bright. Waking up in the middle of the night, this flashlight may provide more light than needed for well-adapted night-vision eyes.
The light provides a well-spread beam that’s sufficient to illuminate a whole room and just enough concentrated light in the center to illuminate downrange.
It ticks off all the checkmarks we have for a great tactical flashlight, but due to its higher price-point with a rechargeable battery, we’re awarding it the Best Overall Tactical Flashlight in the Premium category.
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3. Nitecore MT10A
- Pro: Compact, 920 lumens, red firefly light, takes both IMR 14500 and AA batteries
- Con: None
- Ease of use: 7
- Ease of carrying: 8
- Lumen: 920
The Nitecore MT10A is a compact EDC-sized tactical flashlight with a very thoughtfully designed red light.
The light is about the size of an adult palm and fits very nicely in the pocket. I enjoy carrying this light in the pocket for EDC purposes, yet it’s bright enough to be used as tactical light with a tail-end switch.
This is my new favorite go-to camping light, as the red light feature allows me to travel in the dark without disturbing my night-adapted vision. Plus, I can also travel invisibly in the dark since others won’t notice the red light from far away!
Note that to achieve the 920 lumens rated, you actually have to use these IMR 14500 batteries. They are the same size as AA batteries yet provide much higher voltage compared to the traditional AA battery.
The AA batteries will only push out 170 lumens. The IMR 14500 batteries are about $4 to $10 depending on the quality and manufacture.
The light has several modes with the IMR 14500 batteries:
- Turbo 920 lumens
- High 500 lumens
- Medium 180 lumens
- Low 70 lumens
- Lower 1 lumen
- Red light (I would estimate it at around 0.5 lumens)
It creates a semi-focused beam that’s useful for searching and for general lighting up of areas.
After 3 minutes of using the Turbo mode, the flashlight will lower its output automatically to prevent overheating.
If you read into the manufacturer’s instruction manual, it would say, “Do not use an IMR 14500 battery in low power.” Sounds strange, right?
What it actually means is don’t leave the light on until it dies. It’s completely okay to use the IMR 14500 battery in the low output mode…probably a bad English translation here.
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4. Streamlight ProTac 1L-1AA
- Pro: compact, affordable, takes both AA and CR123, single button operation
- Con: limited output modes (minor)
- Ease of use: 8
- Ease of carrying: 9
- Lumen: 350
The Streamlight ProTac 1L-1AA 88061 is an easy-to-carry all-around light. It’s small enough to fit nicely in the pocket without noticing it.
And…the ProTac line has over 7000 reviews on Amazon with a 4.5-star rating!
One of the greatest advantages of this light is its ability to take both the AA (or IMR 14500 rechargeable batteries) and CR123 batteries. This makes it an ideal light in a bug-out bag since you can find AA batteries everywhere.
It has three default mode
- High 350 lumens
- Strobe 350 lumens
- Low 40 lumens (with a CR123 battery)
The operations are completely done through the single tail cap switch. Some users may like its simplicity, while others may find it a hassle to switch between modes if you constantly have to cycle to the low light mode.
I personally appreciate the single button switch because that’s the only button I need to press for operation.
Compared to some of the other lights outputting up to 1000 lumens, at 350 lumens, the temperature of this light does not appear as hot compared to other lights.
And I know…we wanted at least 500 lumens to be considered “tactical,”…but we just loved this little light so much we had to add it in.
After 30 minutes of operation on High mode, the bezel of the light only feels warm, and the temperature does not seem to increase.
Our favorite pick for a small yet powerful tactical flashlight.
Prices accurate at time of writing
Prices accurate at time of writing
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5. Streamlight Wedge
The Streamlight Wedge is a rechargeable, compact EDC light with 300 lumens (constant-on) behind it.
It offers a three-hour runtime and weighs in at 3.30 ounces. Length-wise, it measures 5.46 inches.
This light comes with a rotating thumb switch with a tactile feel and what Streamlight calls THRO — Temporarily Heightened Regulated Output modes. Under this mode, the light outputs 1,000 lumens in a 35-second burst.
It comes with rugged anodized aluminum and a waterproof USB-C port.
Coming in under $100, this is a decent EDC option for those on a budget.
Prices accurate at time of writing
Prices accurate at time of writing
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Water Submersion and Drop Test
To ensure all the lights live up to their manufacturer ratings, we subjected all of them to basic impact and water-resistant tests.
We turned the lights on, then dropped the lights five times from about 5 feet high (~1.5 meters) to the concrete floor:
- light facing down (3x): how it will likely naturally fall from your hands/pocket
- light facing up (1x)
- sideways (1x)
After the five drops, we ran a successful function check by cycling through the settings of the lights to ensure they still work properly.
You can tell from the images that the lights do suffer minor scratches and dings on the surface. But the lights all function just fine.
After the drop test, we subjected the lights to 30 minutes of water submersion in 1-foot deep room temperature water.
After 30 minutes, we took the lights out of the water and conducted a function test by cycling through all the light features and output modes.
Again all lights have successfully passed the test!
Final Thoughts
Product engineering is always a trade-off. And depending on what you’re looking for, here we have different solutions for you!
Both ThruNite TN12 and Fenix PD35 TAC are your standard tactical lights, while TN12 seems to be easier to use and more affordable.
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If you want a tac light that fits well in the pocket and has a nice red firefly light, go with the Nitecore MT10A.
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And the Streamlight ProTac 1L-1AA would be an ideal light for someone who prefers single button operation.
Prices accurate at time of writing
Prices accurate at time of writing
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For tips on how to use a light while shooting, check out the Brownells Daily Defense video below for tips.
How did we do? Any that we missed that meet our criteria of at least 500 lumens, tail button activated, and under $100? Or if you’re looking for something attached to your gun…Best Pistol Lights and Best AR-15 Flashlights.
35 Leave a Reply
Is this an article about the worst lights to buy? Because I didn't see a single unit listed that I'd consider a go to light.
I like and use the Streamlight Protocols. That's what's in the 2 ARs I've set up for Home Defense. Two reasons I chose the Protacs are the price, and the ability to use either CR123's or AA's. Though I keep CR123's on hand, you generally can't find them at Convenience stores. If and when SHTF, AA's are a lot easier to scrounge for.
For its price point, the ProTac is hard to beat.
Here's the thing about finding flashlights in water to prove some point, same with most gear items that use batteries.
The effect of the water is practically zero even if it did get inside the "tactical gear' flashlight. Now why is thst? Its because these water immersion 'tests' in types of articles don't prove anything because, one, the water does not have enough 'conductive ability' to cause electrical damage at battery voltage levels and, two, think about the components there selves being 'water proof' by their material structure so unless the water has a corrosive component (e.g. salt water) that can compromise that seriously its very unlikely that some water in the thing at battery voltages will cause it to fail once the water is removed. So basically the 'water test' here is useless to prove anything because 99.999% of ALL flashlights, tactical or not,, using the low voltage and current in the batteries used here will still work fine anyway tested for water resistance or not.
correction....
"Here's the thing about finding flashlights..."
was suppose to be ...
Here's the thing about dunking flashlights...
and "thst" is suppose to be "that"
darn spell/grammar correct on phone is still messed up...substitutes words randomly not intended ever since I added some abbreviations to its 'dictionary'.
I'm tired of seeing the word "Tactical" attached to everything in the gun community market, especially 'gear' things like these flashlights that are clearly intended to capture a share of market based upon the word 'tactical' without being actually 'tactical gear'. Simply making something in a durable metal structure in a style concept that mimics literally thousands of other gear things and coloring it black does not make it 'tactical'.
At most, these flashlights are 'Tacti-Kewl'. Although they are 'rugged' in the sense of the material body, they do not have the qualities of reliability and durability and life expectancy and dependability expected of true tactical gear in purpose built use. It is true that one could say 'well, it works for me and been ok so far so you should give it a try if interested' which is overall what the article author seems to be saying, but to call them 'tactical' is giving them too much credit.
If you approach them as a lower cost alternative to something that is designed with actual 'tactical gear' qualities then ok, there is nothing wrong with that and it may very well give you good service in some routine uses. But just turning them on and them casting light of a certain 'strength' or area illumination is not defining 'tactical'.
These use common off the shelf parts that are present in flashlights from what you sometimes see on the impulse buy rack at the grocery store checkout to what you see in infomercials about a light that for some reason the viewer suddenly can't live without and its only $9.95 so buy it now while supplies last to the lower cost 'sporting' gear flashlights. These flashlights are not purpose use built as tactical gear, they have not been tested or vetted for the qualities of true tactical gear, they are common cheap variety parts packaged in a 'rugged use' manner to mimic what is considered a 'tactical style' concept and are intended to capture a 'market share' based upon them being cheaper and being called 'tactical'.
Painfully obvious you have no one writing for you who is actually knowledgeable about either knives or flashlights. Perhaps you should stay in your lane.
Nitecore MT10A - No No NO! a thousands times NOOOOOOO!!!!
Tried one, and it worked - for about 30 seconds and was not able to turn on again. But it does travel well when you chuck it as hard and as far as you can, and if you do that tactically well its still a tactical flashlight then.
Which one of the 5 have tactical momentary swtiches?
Looking to keep things made in USA, the MF (Monster Flashlights) look to be a decent option over the Chinese made products. A bit more expensive but worth keeping an America company in business. Just my 2 cents.
Have you done any reviews on Olight flashlights, I recently purchased their Warrior X and it seem good so far, however it does heat up quickly on high
I think that the TN12 flashlight by Thrunite is a dated model. I just purchased the new TC12 from Thrunite which has the same features and dimensions only upgraded. It also came with a battery from Thrunite as the TN12 did not on amazon. Maybe make the update to include the TC12 instead of the TN12 (2016). Great and helpful article! I appreciate the time taken to actually get hands on and test them!
Have you ever checked out Olight? They have very reasonably priced flashlights with decent lumens.
Is a > $100 light worth it?
How do the Surefire and Elzetta lights compare?
Have you looked at any Klarus flashlights? In particular the Klarus XT11GT? I would love to see your thoughts on that light.
Hi John, haven't tried out any handhelds, but one of our writers liked it as an AR-15 mounted light...article here.
Agreed, I am stunned that the XT11Gt was not one of the top 5, let alone being number 1.
I love my fenix tk-16. Great light for everyday and tactical uses. I have one for the car and one foe the house. I love the tail switch only design and the fact I can get a remote switch for use with firearm platforms.
Yup, really liking my Fenixes
Try Streamlight Protac 2L-X and HL-X. They have 500 lum and 1,000 lum respectively, both use 2xCR123A or 1x18650. From factor for the 2L-X is similar to 1L-1AA, just longer. HL-X has a bigger bezel.
Form factor*
The Streamlight ProTac 1L-1AA is an amazing light...small enough that you forget you are carrying it. Cannot go wrong with it!
What is the country of origin for each of these lights?
I know Fenix is based out of the U.S. Not sure about any of the others though.
Thanks for the very detailed write-up. I've been looking at the Nitecore MH25GT for a while now, but haven't taken the plunge yet. One note I might add about the 18650 batteries is there are two types. One type is flattop, which are used in e-cigs While the non-flattop are used in flashlights such as those in the article. The two are not interchangeable.
Great article! I don't currently have an EDC tac-light. Are tac-light weights typically negligible? Is there a battery advantage in terms of weight?
What do you think about the Klarus XT 11GT 2000lu @ $89.95
We didn't get to try it...but one of our writers really likes the brand.
No surefire, no recommandation.
Hey Jackman, we note that we were only going after sub-$100 lights. And also state that if money if were no issue to go with the Surefire. Thanks!
Did you look at any Monster Flashlights? I don’t know if they have one under $100 but I’d guess so. I love mine!
Hi Dave, haven't heard of them but might check them out later.
Really, how is it? I've been on the fence on getting a Monster light for EDC, so any info would be nice to know before I take the plunge.
A quick tip for using lights with a side button, rotate the pocket clip so that it points at the button.
RE: the Fenix PD models, the tactical versions use a small smooth metal button that is harder to locate. The non tactical versions use a larger rubber button that is (IMHO) easier to use without looking. I've had both, I still have/use the ones with the rubber button but sold the tactical version after a week or two.
As a flashlight geek who also shoots I have to say your eval is pretty damn good!
Good tip...thanks Jack!
I positioned the clip so it would fit under my knuckles. That way, my pinky is nearly always on the button. But I agree, they are hard to find. I think stippling it would make it better, though I'm too nervous to try it on my TK15UE.