Princeton Tec has just started shipping the Vizz, a new commercial headlamp. A single on the top mounted button gives you red LEDs. Press and hold and you get white dimable 5 mm LEDs that offer 1-30 lumens. Double tap and you get a 150 lumen spot. It features a low battery indicator and a lock out so it won’t accidentally turn on during transport. Waterproof to 1 meter, it’s current regulated meaning you get a constant light output (160 hours on low, 110 hours on high).
Look for a MPLS version in the future. Until then, get yours from www.PrincetonTec.com
This is a cool kit for those requiring basic illumination and cutting tools. It includes Gerber Gear Sheath, eFECT weapon maintenance tool, MP 600 one-handed multi-tool, and Recon-M II flashlight. It also includes a strap cutter which is rapidly becoming recognized as critical for those riding in vehicles whether military or civilian LE.
It’s available for unit and agency purchase through ADS Inc.
The Switch-MPLS has been around for awhile now but I still think it makes a great helmet light. It is designed as a unique personal light with a dual-LED head on a flexi-neck platform. In addition to allowing you to point the light where you need it, the Switch-MPLS always turns on in the low mode of these specialty colors; a 2 second press of the large push button activates the bright white or red LED mode for better illumination. Also available are specialty LED colors including Red, IR, Blue, and Green and high output colors, White and Red.
Inforce has introduced a new reflector for their handheld light models 9VX and 6VX. Offering increased on axis illumination, these new reflectors offer more light on target. If you look at the business end of these new models compared to those with TIR reflectors, you can see a difference in appearance. The new Inforce reflectors are deeper. And when you watch a demonstration you can definitely see a difference in performance.
I watched a demo with older and newer model lights at 200 lumens. Same lights, same lumens, same batteries, different reflectors. That is at 5 feet. At 50 The difference was amazing.
Phantom Products has been around for decades and their covert Phantom light is a standard issue light for Army and Navy aviation. They recently introduced a ResQ Lens to increase the versatility of the Phantom Light. From its very inception the Phantom Light was designed to provide sufficient light for the user’s tasks but to not give away his position through errant light emissions. They do this by creating soft light with LEDs inset behind a shroud as well as a dimming switch.
Unlike other lights, the Phantom Light does not emit light to the sides. In order to offer 360 degree emission, they’ve introduced the ResQ Lens which fits on the end of the light. With this lens in place, it can be seen from any angle for use as an emergency strobe.
UnityTactical is adding a helmet mount to their lineup which will accommodate a variety of lights and cameras. Called the ARC Rail Hub, it is compatible with the Ops-Core ARC rail and features an adjustable break-away feature so you can set it for break-away / non break-away.
Coming Q2, pricing is not yet set for the mount but they’ll be running a pre-order soon.
I’ve been a big fan of Tomahawk Tactical Flashlights for years now. Made by First Light USA, the style is unique. Its angle head design is optimized for a fist-style grip. Relying on LED lights, the Tomahawk offers versions in Red/Green (for blood-highlighting), Red, Blue, Red/Blue, Yellow-Green. The Red/Green mix is particularly interesting. Blood is a tough material to see under colored lights and medics were having a heck of a time differentiating blood and oil in night time IED incidents. For example, red light makes blood all but disappear and blue light turns blood black making it indistinguishable from oil. First Light worked on the issue and developed a great combination. Additionally, First Light offers the Tomahawk Task Light attachment for medics that can be configured as a Blue light for Fluorescein eye stain tests or UV light fluoresce certain fungal and bacterial infections.
Held at the ready, the buttons are within easy reach of your thumb and include momentary on/off, on/off and strobe settings. Using two CR123A batteries you should expect to get about 2 hours (highest setting) and 60 hours (lowest setting) for white light.
