Though "Mr. Poet" has never been in my kitchen, I have been carrying this light for a little over 2 years, and it has the scars to prove it, because he recommend it. Great light, especially for the money. I just ordered more Streamlight products based on my success with this very light.
Old comment, but this is exactly what I'm about to do. I still like the 1L-1AA and it'll live in my backpack as a backup light, but I really like the deeper pocket clip and brighter beam on the 2L-X. I also like the simplicity (I use low-high), where just about every other EDC light out there has four or five modes to stumble through.
Great review. I have REPLACED most of my inforce and even some surefire lights with streamlight ProTac1s and the HL-Xs. Better output, same reliability, if not better. Excellent review.
i know what you mean. I used to run Surefire exclusively, but the last few years Streamlight has been killing it with awesome products across the board.
A couple things. First, 2 CR123s while together equal 6 volts, will not put out more power than an 18650. While 6 volts is more than the 4.2 of a charged 18650, the 18650 can put out a ton more amps than the CR123s. One cr123 can sustain about 1.5 amps each, while some 18650s like samsungs 30Q can sustain 15 amps. On this light, that might not be too relevant because it's not a super high output light, but still, an 18650 will always put out more juice than 2xCR123s. I have an Acebeam EC50 Gen II that runs on a 26650, which is just a fat 18650. It puts out 3k lumens. Can't get 3k lumens from 2xCR123s. Plus you get a bit longer runtimes with high capacity 18650s and when it's dying, just recharge it. The main advantages of CR123s is that they have a very long shelf life (over 20 years) and they also hold their charge and capacity much better in very hot and very cold temperatures. That's why CR123s stashed as backups is an good idea. Second, Those Streamlight 18650s are way overpriced. Any 18650 that is rewrapped like Nitecore, Olight, Streamlight, Surefire, etc are going to so overpriced. Go on Illumn . com or Battery junction and you can get some high capacity Samsung, Sony or Panasonic 18650s for like 5 to 7 bucks and those are basically what's going to be under the re-wrapped batteries. They just charge you more because they have a name brand label on them.
It depends. If this light has a spring in the head then yes, flat tops should work just fine. If not, then it might be better to get button tops just to be safe.
Jacob Manning. Yup any rewrapped battery whether it's rechargeable or not is going to be a Samsung, Sony, Panasonic or any other brand underneath. It's much cheaper to just buy them straight from a place that sells them unwrapped, otherwise you are going to be paying 2-3x as much for one battery.
After reviewing John's video and seeing your comment in that section I decided to go with this Streamlight model. This video confirms my choice and as a bonus they are based here in Pennsylvania. Thanks for the informative video.
Bought this today based off this video, and John's endorsement as well. What an excellent EDC light. I'm very impressed with it especially at the price point. Thanks yet again for being an amazing source.
I found a way to keep the clips in place no matter what. I used two tiny, heavy duty zip ties to hold the back of the clip tight to the light. The knobs on the zip ties help to keep the light in slippery pockets.
I found one on the ground while picking huckleberries. It still works fine, my guess is it had been there for a few months due to the visible damage. Feel bad for the guy that lost it but I can't complain, the thing blows my mind!
I've had the original Protac 2L for almost 7 years (160 lumens). If you're questioning the quality of Streamlight.. for the price they cannot be beaten. I absolutely love the brand and have many of their flashlights.
John Lovell's approval is my confirmation bias. I've EDC'd the 2L-X for over 4yrs now. Its on its 3rd belt clip, due to user-induced snagging (which Streamlight replaced, priority mail, for free), & much of the anodizing has worn away, but she fired up bright & perfectly every time until ~ 2wks ago, when the tail switch started acting up. Par for the course after literally tens of thousands of activations. 10-tap is rad! I use only the LOW-HI, and NO damn strobe. I love it so much I bought another.
First! I've got the StreamLight Pro-Tac 1L-1AA and I love it! My favorite feature is the fact that you can run either a single 123a or any AA battery . Which I find incredibly useful in a situation where you need a quick replacement and might not be able to find a 123A. Yes with the AA the lumen's are lowered but the light is still plenty bright, JMO! Great video thank's for letting your Patreons see this first and keep up the good work!
I have a question, I also left a message a few days ago on someone elses vid about this specific model, I have the 1L 1AA, I don't know if its my light or ALL of them.. battery run time SUCKS, doesnt matter which battery I run, or make of battery.. I have a dozen streamlights and the battery run time for this specific model gets carried the least!! what is the average run time for your 1L 1AA? all my other streamlights are just fine no issues..
@@Mrgunsngear RU-vid personalities sell each-other on same products, conformation bias becomes viral, and eventually all that remains is Glock pistols and Streamlight flashlights. I have no problem with this. The best of the best.
Thank you so much for this review man! I’m now convinced that the Pro Tac 2L-X is going to be my final decision for a permanent EDC light. I’ve been looking at it for a while now among a ton of others and reviews just haven’t held my attention long enough to help in my decision. Thanks to this review though I’m finally going to pull the trigger on this light. I’m pretty excited about it and even though it’s only 500 Lumens I’m confident that is more than enough to ward someone off. Several of my good friends that are local law enforcement officers carry the 350 Lumen Pro Tac and that’s enough so I should be good to go. Thanks again for the video! I appreciate it and am now a subscriber.
Not really into the flashlights, but I was looking at the Streamlight ProTac HL USB, but was hesitant because of it's price. You just convinced me to buy the 2LX. That amount of quality at that price point is a no-brainer for me. Thanks for posting, man!
Good review, I am starting to become a light junkie. So many really good tactical type lights out there. Oh and I noticed that Mr Colt was guarding that ProTac not going to let anyone get near that light.
I’ve EDC’d this flash light everyday since seeing John Lovell’s review on it and immediately ordering it. It’s a great tough light that kind of fits the Goldilocks zone of size, brightness and durability. Your brightness comparisons were fantastic! Very solid review!
after watching this video and being a owner of a dozen streamlights. I went out and picked this model up. and everything he says in this video is dead on the money. what a awesome lil light this is. this isn't as small as the popular olight s1 baton or similar lights. but this thing feels almost bomb proof, great lumens, good spill, perfect size for work, or duty and tactical. it feels really good in the hand and the knurling is just right. this will be my new work light, and put in EDC rotation. I paid a total of 59.00 that's taxs and all and I feel I still got a decent price on it. I know they can be found a little cheaper if you shop around but I ran across this one and couldn't pass it up. for those on the fence about buying it, you wont regret it!!
I got one if these and it came with a sticker with my 2l-x streamlight the only light I got that didn't come with one is my microstream usb , my seige 3AA also came with one
Good video. Picked one up based on Lovell's review and am really pleased with it. Hard to beat the value, reliability and versatility with the program options.
I love streamlight! Great light great value. I currently use the ProTac 1L-1AA light. very versatile, can use 1 cr123 battery or 1 AA battery both very common. Its very similar to the light you just reviewed, i liked the clip placement on the light you reviewed better though.
I picked one up a few months ago. I like it a lot. I have the 18650 USB rechargeable battery. The strobe is rough; I get quite a bit splash back from the high and strobe settings.
I’ve had this light for about 6 months now and I carry it every day! Absolutely the best lumens for the size. My last light was a surefire and it just a little large. This 2Lx disappears in your pocket
Just replaced my Nitecore EA11 after a year of hard use for a Streamlight ProTac 1L-1AA... I loved the Nitecore, just desired a clicky tailcap. My only complaint with my Stramlight is a lack of knurling on the body of the light like the 2L-X. Great review as always, and Merry Christmas!
Fantastic review. Been using this light for months now with no issues after dropping it above waist height etc. I use a nitecore protected 18650 2300mah in both my 2lx and my odin works mlok flashlight weapon mounted hlx. So far amazing run time so I hardly ever need to recharge them. I think they offer a 3400mah protected 18650 so you could get even longer run times than the advertised with those. Especially considering streamlight 18650s are 2600mah. Only downside to the 18650s is the shelf life compared to cr123a batteries. Edit: I forgot to say I got it after watching John Lovell's EDC video. Edit 2: I would recommend people to buy a nitecore charger and protected 18650 instead of the streamlight stuff. Their charger and battery quality compared to a more reputable company is questionable at best. You can get protected cells from other companies too but leave the light manufacturing up to streamlight and the other stuff to better suited companies. Main reason I say is because for the same price you could be buying far better batteries and chargers that will last longer.
Nice light .thanks for the great review !! John Lovell never let's ya down !!WPS!! Thanks again your dog was like man I'm not looking I can't see anything . Merry Christmas my friend
I've had the Stream light 1L and loved it untill I lost it. I was using that flashlight everyday on my job, untill the pouch got used and abused on a daily basis. I just picked up the 2L-X. The only thing I hate about this is that they used same pouch on the 2L-X, they should of made it out of polymer or something and more durable this time around.
I had a little bit of a flickering issue when using it in momentary when it was in the 3 mode factory configuration, since switching it to high only I don’t have that issue. Super impressed with this light and before this I was carrying the usb micro stream and was worried this would be too large but it’s not its perfect. Now I had the micro stream in my 5th Jean pocket for small tasks and the protac for more defensive uses 👍👍
The new batteries for this light can now be charged with any cell phone cord. The charging shot is right in the battery itself. How neat is that. I like the light so well I ordered a second one, you know 1 is none and 2 is 1 and 3 is better.
Great Vid! I wish the characteristics of the 2L-X could come to the O.G. Protac 1L. But for the price Ill have to give this one a try! Thanks for another great year of vids and sticking up for our rights!
Yeah it's my EDC the Streamlight pro tac 2LX verry excellent light . Just trying to get it low beam not sure how .. Gotta reprogram it somehow I guess .. And just ordered Fenix PD35 1,000 lumens max output yay . Streamlight at my local store has 18650 batteries much lower priced at $13 . Going to get extra ones . The newer ones have charging portal on the side if them all you need is a USB cable that comes with it
Mike, while I love my 2L-X (and my 2L before it) I would highly recommend you check out FourSevens. The FourSevens Quark Click QK2L-X is a bit smaller then the Protac and emits an impressive 700L on high. It also feels like it's built a bit better. The downside is it doesn't have strobe, but it does have High, Low, and momentary on function. Thats not to take anything away from the 2L-X, I love mine. I carry both lights depending the occasion, they're my main EDC lights. Check out the FourSevens though.... You will be impressed. The QK2L-X feels so well built it's one of my favorite lights. If you're interested I wouldn't mind sending mine out to you for a review, although at the $50 or so it costs you wouldn't be disappointed if you picked one up.
jacob manalang interesting... Thats unfortunate. But it does say they're relaunching the brand in 2018 under someone else. We'll see. Im sure you can still find their lights at different sellers. Amazon and bladehq specifically
Programmable for low/high and high only on the fly? Compatible with 18650's? High quality brand? I'm sold. This thing does everything I could ever want. The only thing left is to find a compatible red light filter.
I had to chuckle when you said something about a pair of CR 123 batteries lasting a month or more… I own this light as well as the HLX and the shurefire that you showed in this video… I’ve never gotten more than three or four days out of a pair of batteries in any of those lights, I guess my idea of usage on an EDC flashlight is a little bit different than other peoples. That’s why I finally stuck the sure fire in the drawer and moved over to the stream light because he could use the 18 650. I was literally going through cases of CR123 batteries at a couple dollars a pop. It just got insanely expensive. When I switched over I bought eight of the lithium rechargeable‘s and I haven’t had to buy any batteries since.
big fan of streamlights, I have a bunch.. SUREFIRE has been taking a big hit in the last year or 2 with so many competitors.. streamlight, Olight, elzetta, ETC.. surefire hasn't seem to understand majority of folks don't have the funding of the U.S government to pay some the cost associated with surefire brand, and most are not going into battle in Afghanistan.. surefire needs a more affordable line and better lumen.. GENERALLY SPEAKING surefire lumens is on the low end VS its competitors.. JUST SAY'N
Surefire is starting to understand they need to put out lights with higher lumens. The only way that they will produce lights that are more affordable is to outsource to China like some of the ones you mentioned.
Since companies measure lumens differently, 1000 Surefire lumens is much brighter than 1000 Chinese knock off lumens. While I carry and use other lights, Surefire is the only one I trust my life with
Surefire has a 1200 lumen weapon light, as well as a handheld version, running on 2 CR123 cells, with the weapon light pushing it to 1500 on an 18650. Just sayn.
No one will probably see this due to the age of the video, but I just ordered one of these after carrying a Nitecore P12-GT for many years. I had some weird glitchy issues with the P12 and their customer service is just awful. You have to attempt to go through the distributor first and I think that's ridiculous. Decided to try this Streamlight due to that. Hopefully, they are more reputable than Nitecore. I still love my Nitecore, but if the quality isn't there, it's not worth a future commitment.
I hope I got a defected one and they don’t all come like this, when I tighten the cap fully after charging the battery the light comes on either high or strobe until I back off the cap a quarter turn but then I feel it’s not water tight anymore. I’m going to return and reorder and hope the next one doesn’t do that
Interesting candela comparison is that the Protac 1L-1AA has 6400 candela whereas the 2L has 6800. 1L-1AA uses one cr123. 2L uses two cr123’s. For such a compact size, weight, only 400 less candela and only needing one cr123 the 1L-1AA seems a better deal. A side by side review of these two would be great!
I used to own that flashlight but I sold it because of the poor battery life and how expensive the batteries are. However surefire sales a big pack of the batteries the flashlight requires. Also they flashlight has proved to be dependable when I wore it on duty.
Good review. I remember you doing some reviews of Inforce weapon lights. In your review of this Streamlight, you mention that you trust Streamlights, Surefire and Elzetta lights for serious purposes. Am I correct that Inforce lights don't make the cut?
Good review as always. I have been wanting this to put on an AK with a thorntail mount. The HL was to wide for ring so I have a pro tac 1 on there now. Stearmlight makes great products. All of the kids have the pro tac 1 to carry and I've been carrying the HL sence the winter. Hope this one fits the mount
love this light, but im a very interested observer in the lumen war. i cant wait for a similar sized 1500-2000 lumen light. (i think something from surefire just came out!)
good point, i think that heat might be more of an issue for mil/LE than most civilian use. its only a matter of time until physical components or technology improve to the point where actually DO reach the point where "all the lumens" requires an asterisk and we start to fry retinas
Holster is useless, should give free battery pack instead. ProTac has been in my pocket for many years. 123a's are not cheap, but they definitely crank out the power.
G n' GF Well I wouldn't say that it's completely useless. It can serve as a purpose during those unexpected times if you will. I have one myself. That said I'd take the extra batteries if they replaced the holster with them.
