Best EDC Flashlight?

Whenever we discuss every day carry gear the question of flashlights always comes up. What flashlight should I get? What flashlight do you carry? Should I carry a flashlight? You get the idea, the questions are numerous. Both Ben and Noah do carry a flashlight as part of their Every Day Carry, and recently they both settled on what they think may be one of the best options for an EDC flashlight: the Streamlight ProTac 1L-1AA Duel Fuel. 

The ProTac line always makes the list list for quality lights, in fact Ben own several of them. In fact, at first glance this flashlight may not even seem special, it is the "Duel Fuel" part that makes it so attractive. The 1L-1AA stands out because you can operate the light with either a single AA battery or a single CR-123 battery. Again other lights on the market can do this, but you have to change the tube, or have an insert. This means if you are not carrying the extra part with you, then you can not make the swap. The 1L-1AA allows for immediate use of either battery with nothing extra. We have even run the light off a AAA battery!

The CR-123 batteries always seem to fail at the most opportune moment and are much more difficult to source. Like us, you probably carry spares just because of this issue. With this flashlight, if your CR-123 fails, you can just grab a AA and "click" back in business. Check out the video below for our review of this fantastic flashlight, or skip on down below for some of the more standard information about the Streamlight ProTac 1L-1AA Duel Fuel.

Now for all the boring specs on the flashlight: The 1L-1AA Duel Fuel has a .85" diameter black annodized aluminum body. The weight of the light varies, based on the battery option selected, between 2.4 and 2.8 oz. The C4 LED has a 50,000 hour lifetime and produces 350 lumens on high with a CR-123 battery and 150 lumens on high with a standard AA battery. The ProTac 1L-1AA has 3 modes, high, low, and strobe. Streamlight's TEN-TAP programmable switch allows the user to program the flashlight modes to there specific need. The light is waterproof up to 1 meter for 30 minutes. It features a tail switch that let's the user select the modes as well as use it in a temporary mode. 

Run time will depend greatly on how you use it. If used constantly on high, the spec sheet says you will get 1.5 hours out of a CR-123, but plan on only getting maybe half that at any significant lumens. It will continue to run and give light but the brightness will begin to decrease significantly. Most people use a mix of the modes and you can safely figure you will be able to get a weekend of use out of a battery on a camping trip as long as you don't stay up all night reading. Also, if you run the 1L-1AA on AA batteries you will get pretty much half what you get from a CR-123. This makes sense as the CR-123 batteries are 3v and the AA are only 1.5v. Just don't think you will get the same results with a AA.

The light does come with a nylon "holster" and is serialized by Streamlight. The light also has a removable pocket clip that can be mounted on the brim of a hat for hands free use. The pocket clip can bend out of shape very easily and become virtually useless. This is the biggest issue with the flashlight and is common across the Streamlight brand. It can be fixed with a simple zip tie, but know that it can slip out of your pocket. 

Overall the Streamlight ProTac 1L-1AA Duel Fuel flashlight meets virtually every need a person would have in a EDC flashlight. Compact, light, bright, good run time, and easy to find batteries for. If you are looking for an every day carry flashlight, you can not miss with the Streamlight ProTac 1L-1AA Duel Fuel.