One of the great new product lines presented at SHOT Show 2023 was by Streamlight. The ProTac 2.0 line of flashlights and weapons lights features a larger and longer lasting battery, but the big advantage is that they are USB-C rechargeable. You don’t even have to remove the battery from the device in order to plug it in! This part is huge, because it means that if some emergency happens in the middle of a charge you can just grab the device and go – no fumbled emergency reassembly.
I was able to test-out the updated ProTac 2.0 handheld light, and all I can say is Wow! This new model features a programmable switch called the TEN-TAP which allows the user to select one of three different programs. Those are: High-Strobe-Low, High Only, or Low-Medium-High. I am a simple gal, so my preference was High only, but there are many uses for the other features – especially the strobe in a defense situation.
Despite its power, this light is surprisingly -well – “light”. It doesn’t feel any heavier than my phone. It is a hair over 6 inches long and weighs 8.25 oz. It comes with a belt holster and recharge cord in the package as well.
Brightness-wise with this light, Low is 100 lumens, Med is 570 lumens, and High is a blazing 2000 lumens. Just FYI, a 2000 lumen flashlight is really fricken bright. I’m just gonna put that out there. Because for those of us who grew up in the 60’s and 70’s with a dim 2 C-cell Eveready on our nightstands to keep the monsters at bay, this flashlight would have been the Holy Grail.
Back then I only needed to light up my closet or underneath the bed. This StreamLight on the other hand would illuminate a monster all the way across the street from my second story bedroom window. I’m not kidding. I went out on my back deck at 7:30 at night in February with this ProTac 2.0 and lit up my backyard, the neighbor behind me’s backyard, and all the way out to the street that runs in front of their house. Monsters beware!
Of course what I consider “monstrous” nowadays is considerably different than when I was five. Nowadays, instead of piles of laundry that look like shoggoths, the “monsters” I’m concerned about are things like home invaders and four legged garden vandals. And that’s just when I’m home.
When I’m away from home – whether camping, exercise walking at dusk, staying in a hotel room, or whatever else, this powerful handheld flashlight can be even more useful – or even lifesaving. Escaping a hotel room in a fire at night? No? How about finding the campground outhouse at midnight in the rain after supper at a Mexican restaurant? Yeah, don’t even tell me that’s not a lifesaver.
The USB-C rechargeability is also a travel godsend. No trying to find batteries at the QwikMart when you are out of town and don’t know where anything is or what kind of neighborhood it’s in. I carry a USB outlet port with my phone recharger when I travel, so I can recharge this light right in the safety of my room – or even in my car while I’m driving to the next destination.
I’m looking forward to carrying this light next month on a sunset Woodcock walk at a local preserve, and on summer camping trips, and maybe in the wee hours to a turkey blind this spring. My plans for it are legion.
I realize that 2000 lumens may not be for everybody, but personally I want ALL the lumens. Even the low beam on this Streamlight would beat out my childhood flashlight by a mile. I don’t need to carry the sun around on my belt, but a smaller star would certainly be nice.
This StreamLight ProTac 2.0 handheld is indeed that star.
