Its been almost two months since I attended the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market. One of the many companies I met with was Energizer. And so I am sure the first thing out of your mouth is, “Energizer?”. And well, quite frankly, my answer is, “of course”. Not only have they been in the battery business for over a century, they have been making flashlights as well. They sent me a Hard Case Tactical light right after the show and I have been using it in a variety of environments. Initially, I was a bit concerned over the light’s size. However, my assessment is that it is beefy but not heavy and in my opinion the perfect replacement for the old GI Anglehead Flashlight (MX-993/U).
Sure, they resemble each other; somewhat. They both have an angle head, the capacity for color filtered light, and both have a clip to attach the light to equipment but that is pretty much where the similarities end. In fact, you can’t even truly say that the Hard Case Tactical has an angled head since it swivels a good 125 degrees up and down. This comes in handy since the base of the light is flat and you can swivel the head down to illuminate a work space (or card game).
Whereas, the old Anglehead light used two D-cells, the new Hard Case Tactical uses two AA batteries and throws more light. The Hard Case utilizes four LEDs; the main white light lamp, a red LED, blue LED and IR (strobe) LED.
Due to the use of AA batteries and LED lamps the light only weighs 8 ounces and that’s with the batteries.
I only have one real complaint with the light and that would be the switches. You have to rotate the base to control the IR light. Now rotating the base for the IR light isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it mitigates NDs for the IR light which can be at the best of times embarrassing and the worst of times deadly if a foe is equipped with NODs. My other gripe is that the main switch is on the bottom, but does at least feature a momentary switch. Unfortunately, due to its location, it isn’t exactly handy if you need momentary control of the light. I really like the momentary switches for the blue and red ancillary lights located right at your trigger finger. Additionally, they are all silent switches, designed to last the lifetime of the light.
The light is molded in Black and OD ABS plastic with rubberized panels to protect the light and ensure a positive grip in wet conditions. The MOLLE clip and side panels are manufactured from Black-coated stainless steel. The MOLLE clip will attach to most anything but was designed dimensionally for use with PALS webbing.
Overall, it’s a great light.