Today I have a review of my favorite EDC flashlight. It is the Streamlight PT 2L. The PT 2L is a small tactical flashlight weighing in at only 2.8 oz and 4.68 inches in length. For its small size it puts out an incredible 180 lumens. The PT 2L runs off of two CR123A Lithium batteries. It has three modes: Hi (180 Lumens for 2.5 hours) Low (50 lumens for 50 hours) and a strobe mode (up to 6 hours). It is waterproof to 1 meter for thirty minutes.
A few years ago I started looking for a good EDC flashlight. Being picky I had a few requirements. It had to be bright. I was only interested in how high the lumens were. Price, I wanted something of moderate cost and high value. I’m not interested in a $200 Surefire. At this point I think it’s all name brand and I would be afraid to use and abuse something that expensive. I also wanted it to be small enough to carry around and not look like I had a batman utility belt on. And lastly there’s my weird obsession of buying things locally over ordering everything from the internet.
I found what I was looking for in Bass Pro Shops one day. It was the Streamlight PT 2L. I already had the Streamlight Nano on my keyring and had some brand loyalty to them. The size to lumen output on the PT 2L was exactly what i was shopping for. If you have never seen what 180 lumens of light looks like you won’t believe how bright this is. Once during a power outage at the store I work at we used my Pt 2L to light up the backroom to unload a truck. Everyone was astounded by how much light this tiny flashlight gave off.
As for price at the time I bought mine I paid close to $60 for it. But that was because I bought it locally. If you buy on Amazon right now you can find it for around $40 new. I would much rather buy two of these and still be cheaper than a Surefire. I’ve thrown this in packs on camping trips, ran it for hours straight at work, and generally abused it. Still works perfectly and I have only had to change the batteries once.
If you’re in the market for an affordable quality EDC flashlight I cannot recommend the Pt 2L enough. It had taken everything I can throw at it and keep putting out tons of light.
Sweet write up.. I have two streamlight polytacs as weapon lights on my ar and shotgun.. they work well and seem to take a beating. I can’t justify spending more than 60.00 on a flashlight..
I’ll have to try their weapon lights. My glock and AR15 need lights. I really want an eotech for the AR.
Check out the latest version. Look for the ten tap function. Ten tap is kinda cool (I have no use for a strobe in everyday life) but more importantly they made it brighter. 260lum. This thing is bright.
The little light is the brightest yet, I carry it always, it is handy to have even in the day time, one great light