It is nice to see companies donating profits and bringing awareness to causes.  Streamlight is promoting a new “Light for a Cause”, this time focused at Diabetes.

This is an interesting little light. Retails for $45, uses common AAA batteries (1 set of Duracell included), and has 4 colors available to the user with simple twist selection. It is packaged with a lanyard, instructions, and the aforementioned Duracell batteries all in the familiar LED Lenser cardboard box.

From SIG Sauer:

Those looking for a solid hunting flashlight can now turn to Smith & Wesson, who with their OEM PowerTech, Inc. has released a green beam flashlight, conveniently called the “Galaxy Green Beam”.Designed for those stalking at night, green beam flashlights are solid for illumination at frequencies that often are not seen by wildlife due to their color (or lack thereof) receptors.

Ever since the movie came out in theaters, I’ve been waiting to buy it and take copious amounts of screen shots in order to make this post. Well, the movie was released on the 15th to the general public for paid download, you can go buy it yourself here at Google Play. Anyways, I’m the typical gun guy when it comes to action movies, always criticizing and calling everything out that is wrong with the small arms present. Although there was a lot completely off and unrealistic about the small arms in Furious 7, there actually was a lot of stuff right. In addition to a lot of detail that went into them and making the movie come alive, from a small arms perspective. If you want to get into some real detail, go check out the Internet Movie Firearms Database entry for Furious 7. There is also an excellent behind the scenes write up of the armorers from the movie, and some of the details from Range 365 blog. From their post-

For those of you who don’t know who Paul Kim is, he was the Senior VP of Engineering at SureFire. He was the one designing all the cool LEDs, flashlights and Hellfighters in the mid 2000s. Paul Kim, aka PK, has moved onto creating his own design firm. Here is his website.

Lasermax has come out with a new laser line called Spartan. I would link to it, but I can’t find the exact product on their website. They’ll be coming out for shipping in the next several months, Natchez Shooters Supply even has them up for order as soon as they get them in stock. Lasermax had a great thing going when they introduced their guide rod lasers in 1988 before picatinny rails came into the form that we know them as today, but since then they seem to have taken their time in introducing a full line of laser platforms for the picatinny rail, they must be ready to hit it full force with the Spartan. I think some of that comes from the idea of why put a laser on something where you could fit a much more useful light, and even a light/laser combination. Before picatinny rails of course, the guide rod laser was truly innovative, but now we see the market has surpassed the accessory phase to the rail. Regardless, their guide rod lasers are still selling.

Last week I posted the initial information on Springfield Armory’s 3rd iteration of the “Duel” product giveaway. The prizes involved will total $132,000!

Surefire announced their XC1 at Shot Shot last year. Sometimes some of their offerings become vaproware. But not in this case. They are pushing their new weapon light and will be shipping them out in less than 30 days, according to their Facebook post.

While most of our readers will be carrying a firearm when they can, those who live in restricted areas or in gun-free workplaces, etc may find this a distinct and concealable trinket. On top of being a faily-good flashlight, the ZAP has 1,000,000 volts on command to stun an assailant. Its also rechargeable!

Crimson Trace and Ruger teamed up to release a pair of LC9s Pro pistols equipped with the Crimson XChange lights and lasers. The new pistols, distributed through Talo, come with either a light or a laser, and the system is designed to let a shooter easily swap one for the other.

The modern sporting and tactical rifle industry constantly sees an influx of accessories.  Some accessories are good….some are bad. Some accessories are brilliant in their design and function; some are poorly made and serve no function at all. One awesome accessory that recently hit the market is the PLM or Proctor Light Mount from Way of the Gun. The Proctor Light Mount is a low profile light mount that mates a Streamlight ProTac 1L to a MIL-STD-1913/Picatinny Rail.  The Proctor Light Mount is a collaboration between Way Of The Gun owner and US Army Special Forces veteran Frank Proctor and Unity Tactical.

SureFire expanded their line of wrist worn flashlights by introducing the model 2211X WristLight. These new lights are based on the original 2211 model, but uses a polymer body instead of an aluminum one. This helps reduce the suggested retail price from $495 to $169.

Very few companies execute a company blog well. Fewer still are able to create a good video blog. Elzetta is one of the few that has shown a penchant for the latter.

Lights have more than one use when it comes to firearms. They’re most commonly used for the obvious, lighting the way when it’s dark and visibility is next to nothing, but they also have their applications while hunting. Then there are their self-defense uses – yes, a light can offer defensive options – and myriad tactical purposes, which are a mixture of a few of these. Whether you need a light simply to brighten dark corners or want another tool in your self-defense arsenal, the new EL700 High Lumen Flashlight is advertised as doing it all.

Firefield announced the company is now shipping a compact unit that combines a white light and green aiming laser. Designed specifically for compact pistols, the FF25002 will mount on the accessory rail of most small handguns.

Surefire has an interesting new entrant into the flashlight market–a flashlight that auto adjusts based on ambient light, from 15 to 600 lumens.

Streamlight announced the company is now making a combination white light and red laser aiming unit for compact Glock pistols. These new units will fit both the G42 in .380 ACP and the recently introduced G43 in 9mm.

Bushnell announced the addition of two new Rubicon flashlights to the company’s catalog. One is a 250 lumen light, while the second is a 500 lumen light. Both are rechargeable via USB.

I am very much a fan of companies that take the time to teach customers about their products and further, educate them on the standards by which they are measured and evaluated. Its a rare trait these days and speaks volumes to a companies confidence in their own products.

Coast announced a new rechargeable flashlight that is small enough to carry pretty much everywhere. The HP3R Penlight is approximately 5.8” long and weighs less than two ounces. It charges through a USB port.

Adaptive Tactical is now manufacturing a new training tool called the Non-Lite. The Non-Lite is a replica of a pistol mounted flashlight.

Streamlight announced they are now shipping the ProTac HL USB flashlight. These hand held lights are rechargeable via a micro USB port on the body of the light.

SureFire has produced the first ever commemorative flashlight celebrating Freedom Alliance’s 25th anniversary.

SureFire posted this yesterday for April Fool’s. It is a commercial for their X400 pistol light/laser.

The people who came up with the “ New Weapon Lighting System” have gone live. They have a website now. Nextgenhdl.com

Soldier Systems posted this up. Unity Tactical is making an upgrade replacement clamp for the Magpul MBUS Pro front sight. The replacement clamp will allow you to offset mount a light

Although news of the Glock 43’s existence didn’t hit until last week, accessories are appearing with rather impressive speed. One comes from Lasermax in the form of their Centerfire WeaponLight. The light was launched at SHOT last January for the Glock 42 and, according to the company, fits the Glock 43 as well.

BCM is introducing three new KeyMod mounts for lights: 1913 KeyMod, Scout KeyMod, and One Inch KeyMod.

Single AAA flashlights have been of great interest to me of late, so much so that I spent days torturing a bunch of inexpensive 5mm LED AAA lights in another forum – just to see how the lights would hold up under the abuse.
AAA lights have a lot going for them – batteries are cheap and plentiful; the lights are often inexpensive and rugged; run times are relatively long; the lights are small enough to have in your pocket, on your keyring, or just about anywhere. Just like any other tool or a firearm, the one you have with you when you need it is the most useful!
So the timing was perfect when Streamlight offered up their Protac 1AAA light for evaluation.
The details: