Good evening everyone and thank you for coming back to TFB’s Friday Night Lights series that covers the world of illumination, night vision, thermal imaging and lasers. Our beam guru Nick Chen will be your regular host of FNL going forward, but I’m filling in tonight to give you an advanced look at two new lights from Streamlight. The ProTac 90 is a dual fuel utility light with an angled head and TEN-TAP switching. The TLR-8 G is Streamlight’s latest edition to their popular weaponlight lineup, adding a green aiming laser to the compact unit. These two lights are literally hot off the presses without commercial packaging, so bear with me for this first look.

Even as just a novice illuminator (Illuminati?) I can appreciate the features of a quality flashlight. Buttons that won’t disintegrate with skin oils or pocket abrasions, tail caps with threads that won’t gall, and of course brightness, battery life and throw. There are four or five popular manufacturers that consumers gravitate towards, with opinions and experiences running the gamut. I have 20 year old lights that are still going strong, and I have a light I picked up last year that is basically worthless. Point being, I’m not going to turn this product preview into a brand war – everyone has their favorites and Streamlight is certainly a popular and respected brand.

Both of these new lights are well constructed without any noticeable defects or design flaws. The buttons, especially on the TLR-8 G are solid and satisfying. Lenses are clear and defect free and appear to be scratch resistant (although I didn’t try to key them like that DBag did to my Jeep in high school).

For the ProTac 90, I’m a fan of the dual fuel revolution – CR123As can get pricey and aren’t always available at the country store, so being able to switch over to a AA is a nice feature. At the time of this writing, I didn’t have access to the battery conversion piece (I’m assuming it’s just a plastic tube). But we’ll give it a shot and report back.

For the TLR-8 G, I’ve never been a huge proponent of visual lasers for serious defensive weapons. Now that being said, I am in favor of whatever technique works for each individual shooter and believe that a weaponlight is practically a requirement for a standard concealed carry weapon. So if you can sneak a laser into a light unit without increasing its footprint, I’m all for it.

Functioning the TLR-8 G is easy: push either side for on or off. Push both sides to cycle through the options: light only, light and laser, and laser only. The light is fully capable at 500 lumens and the laser can be seen in daylight at about 50-75 yards. Again, give me some time to put it through it’s paces and I’ll report back with more information.

I’m looking forward to spending more time with the ProTac 90 and TLR-8 G and also to meeting up with the Streamlight crew next week at SHOT.

Thanks for reading TFB.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: Brand New Beams From Streamlight: ProTac 90

The ProTac 90 is in EDC light with a twist. It features a right angle-head that gives extra lighting capability for those with multiple lighting needs. Carry in your hand or attach to your MOLLE, belts, harnesses and other gear for hands-free use.

ProTac 90

• TEN-TAP programming – high/strobe/low; high only; low/high
• Multi-Fuel
• 3.78”
• 2.8oz

CR123A:

• 300/40 lumens
• 147m beam
• 1.75hrs high, 2.5hrs strobe, 14hrs low

AA Alkaline/Lithium

• 125/40 lumens
• 93m beam
• 2.5hrs (alkaline); 5.5hrs (lithium); 8.25hrs (alkaline) 15hrs (lithium)
• Strobe: 3.5hrs (alkaline); 8hrs (lithium)

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: Brand New Beams From Streamlight: TLR–8 G

https://www.streamlight.com/en/products/detail/index/tlr-8-g

Performance night and day. The small and mighty TLR-8 G with a green laser securely fits a broad range of full-size and compact handguns. Low-profile design prevents nagging and a “safe off” feature prevent accidental activation saving batteries. Green laser can be seen in daylight.

TLR-8 G

• 500 lumens; 4,300 candela
• 131m beam
• 1.5hrs/18hrs laser only
• CR123A
• 2.15”
• 2.64oz