Little Lights, Big Brights

July 1st, 2006

Troops need small red lights to perform certain tasks at night without harming their night-adjusted eyes. We’ve donated LED microlights and color-adjustable lights in the past, and will continue to do so, as circumstances allow.

But many Soldiers and Marines, especially those on patrols and checkpoints, also need extremely bright white light. There are now many quality lights out there that can do the job, but most have a high price tag to match the high quality.

The Hobbit Hole continually searches for affordable products that can serve our troops. As nice as they are, we can’t seriously consider the aluminum high-intensity flashlights out there. But American, and Hobbit, ingenuity comes through with a pair of plastic flashlights that should do the job just as well. The lights are made by SureFire and Pelican, famous for their combat lights and other high-performance products.

The SureFire Nitrolon G22 is on the left, and the Pelican PM6 3330 on the right. Both use two CR123A lithium 3 volt batteries, and are in the now-fashionable desert tan color. After that, their differences are substantial.

First, the SureFire uses a xenon halogen bulb. It gives off an intense bright white light of about 65 lumens. Battery life is about one hour, and the lamp has a lifetime of about 100 hours. The tailcap switch is the momentary-contact type. The tailcap is tightened completely to give “constant on”.

The Pelican uses one of the new high-powered white LEDs. Its output is 40 lumens, but has a bettery life of about 40 hours, and a LED life of 10,000 hours. The switch in the tailcap is the momentary/full type of pushbutton.

Second, while both lights are made of similar high-tech plastic that resists dents and scrapes, their construction differs. The SureFire unscrews at both the head and tail cap, while the Pelican just comes apart at the front end. Both are sealed with O-rings, which should be treated with a bit of silicone grease from time to time to help sealing. They’re water and sand-proof, within reason.

Finally, the SureFire has a one-inch body diameter, and can be adapted to mount on a weapon using a one-inch scope ring or flashlight mount. Be aware, a real weapons flashlight is more than just a light with a one-inch diameter body. The lamp assembly is designed to protect the white-hot filament, about the thickness of a human hair, from recoil and vibration. While an M16 doesn’t seem to have much recoil, any weapon has an instantaneous recoil spike of several hundred Gs for a millisecond or two. That is what will break a filament. And when one of these halogen bulbs go, a replacement costs almost as much as the original light, and that’s if you’re lucky enough to find one

The Pelican is just a handy light with a convenient pocket clip. Neither one is very roll resistant, so don’t let it roll away from you.

For nighttime use, both are quite brilliant. The SureFire has the edge in the ability to “dazzle” someone when shining it into their eyes, although the LED on the Pelican is plenty bright, too. The LED light is far superior in battery and lamp life. If CR123 lithium batteries are hard to come by in your area, you might want to consider the Pelican LED model.

These lights are less expensive than their aluminum counterparts, but they still represent a significant cost to the Hobbit Hole. The best price we have gotten on the SureFire is $36, but that includes four extra batteries. The best price on the Pelican to date has been $19.

If you need a light, please ask, and specify “SureFire” or “Pelican”. We’ll try to throw in some extra batteries, if we can. If you want a Camillus 904S folding knife, we can include that, too.