Streamlight 14000 Sidewinder Flashlight with Alkaline Batteries and IR LED (Coyote)

This light is being given to soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is a nice tool, very versatile, but it does lack brightness. Out of the 4 lights it has, the brightest is the white LED, rated at .5 watts. For a military light, you would expect it to be a brighter tactical level light.

Pros:
*VERY versatile. Has white, red, blue, and green (on civilian model) or IR (on military model) LEDs. Each LED has low, medium, and high mode, as well as "strobe" mode (more like "FLASHING" mode, because it flashes too slow.
*Runs on AA batteries, inexpensive, easy to find.
*This is a LED than can actually run on AA LITHIUM batteries without damaging the LED circuits. Lithium batteries are more powerful and last longer, but are also more expensive.
*White LED offers decent light in dark conditions.
*Red LED good for reading maps or documents in the dark without disturbing night vision.
*Blue LED is bright, and does not harm night vision too much.
*IR light cannot be seen by the enemy unless they have night vision equipment.
*Green LED is very bright, can be disorienting at night, but is perfect for hunters because deer cannot see green light, so they will not be spooked.
*Feels like it is made of plastic, but it is very tough, and impact resistant.
*Runs for 7 hours on white LED high mode, or over 100 hours on the other colors on low mode.
*The head rotates 185 degrees.
*Has pocket clip, allowing light to be used like angle head flashlight clipped to a molle vest, or can clip to your hat turning it to a headlamp. Soldiers can also buy an attachment module to place it on their helmet.
*It IS a Streamlight, so you will get a nice warranty package.

Cons:
*Not really a tactical level light, especially when used by soldiers. It is more like a personal light for up-close activity and for reading maps.
*The colored LEDs project uneven light, leaving "dark spots" like those seen on a maglite.
*The clip should be a little tighter, because the flashlight tends to fall off sometimes.
*Only available in OD green and Coyote Tan. Black would be nice too.

Overall the pro's outweigh the cons, but like I said, this is more like a personal light, or a secondary/backup light. If you are planning on taking this to Iraq, you're going to need a more powerful light.

This flashlight is great for a variety of uses. I bought it in Afghanistan last year and carried it every day. It is extremely durable. It has a white light, a blue light, a red light, and an infared light. Changing between colors is as simple as rotating the selector knob. Each color has 4 intensities and a strobe (flashing) mode. It also has an ambidextrious belt clip (can be mounted on either side of the light)that can be attached to a helmet mount (included in the military version). The helmet mount attaches to an ACH (Advanced Combat Helmet) without tools and the belt clip mounts to the helmet mount very securely. The light is not bright enough to be used at long distances (outdoors) but is plenty bright for use inside, even in large rooms.

The best part about this flashlight is that it is made by Streamlight. Streamlight makes excellent products and stands behind them. I purchased this light from an AAFES in Afghanistan and did not save the receipt. When the light stopped working (which is a rare occurance with Streamlight products) I emailed the customer service department and told them that I had no receipt and no warranty information. They replaced the light with a new one with no questions asked. I appreciate a company that honors their warranty and will continue to buy Streamlight products.

These people were honest and a pleasure to deal with, i would have no problem dealing with them in the future!

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