what is the difference between a light that does or does not have the C4?

Have never seen the C4, but the old tried and true TLR-1 is really quite bright for a handgun & have even blinded myself doing house cleaning drills when reflecting from mirrors and glass..

I'd like to see the C4 to compare em.

Ive bought quite a few tactical lights now, and Im never buying one with an incandescent bulb again. You can get a much brighter light AND one thats lasts longer with LEDs. I have a 225 lumen LED that lasts 1.5 hours, and a 65 lumen incandescent that lasts an hour. Some people say the incandescent ones throw through fog and smoke better, but Ive never seen a difference that would warrant going with the dimmer bulbs with worse battery life.

EDIT: Dont get me wrong, I like my surefire G2 and my Insight M3, but my Fenix TA21 and Streamlight Super Tac are FAR superior.

This post has been edited by AnonymousD: October 20th 2009 3:41 AM

I got the TLR-1 with the C4 bulb.

A lot of flashlights are switching over to LED bulbs. They last longer, durable, and super bright. Lets not forget the power draw is much lower than a standard bulb. Also LEDs produce pretty much no heat. You can keep an LED bulb on for days, touch it, and it's still at room temp.


HOWEVER, LED lights are bright, very bright. But on my last camping trip I noticed something. LED lights are great for CQC. Hologen bulbs are great for long distance.

Myself, Brandon, and Megan were out in a field in the middle of nowhere. I had my 2D cell LED mag-light rated at 130lumens. Brandon had a 4D mag light LED rated at 200 lumens. Megan had a 4D mag light hologen bulb rated at 70 or something lumens. Her light could light up whatever we needed to see about 100 yards out. Brandon and myself, our LED flashlights couldn't see more than 50 yards. Huge difference.

So I learned, LED lights are great for close range, and hologen is great for long range. However, mounted on a pistol, an LED lamp will be more than enough. Also very bright, and battery life far better.

Get a Streamlight Super Tac and you will see an LED that will throw further than most regular bulbs.

The C4 is brighter. Much.

bc

I've got a TL-3 - it's much brighter than I thought it'd be. Is it brighter than that?

Yup, I run nothing but Streamlights for weapons lights nowadays including the TLR1 (several) and a TLR-3. The TLR-3 is best for light versus weight on a carry platform, but the TLR-1 w/ Cree C4 LED is far brighter.

This is the problem. Maglight bezel shape sucks, especially conversion bezels. You can have 5,000 lumens and if your bezel is diffusing it, it won't throw for crap.