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POLICE EQUIPMENT NEWS FLEET MANAGEMENT SENIOR MANAGEMENT ADVERTISER INDEX PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT TerraLUX® 650-Lumen TT-5 Tactical Flashlight Brighter really is better. By LAW and ORDER Staff www.terralux.com TerraLUX® just introduced a full line of ruggedized, LED tactical fashlights. The fagship of the new line is the TT-5. Per ANSI/NEMA industry standards, this is a 650-lumen fashlight…an honest 650 lumens. Three Levels of Light The TerraLUX TT-5 has three output settings: 650 lumens, 150 lumens and 10 lumens. As it should, the TT-5 defaults to the brightest output of 650 lumens each time it is turned on. LED fashlights for patrol use have typically been under 100 lumens. Brighter is always better. The 650 lumen output from this 6-inch-long handheld light is perfect for patrol use. The TT-5 has a beam reach of 220 yards…from alley search to warehouse search to woodland search. The TT-5 comes on at a brilliant 650 lumens because when we need light, we almost always need a lot of it. Cleverly, after three minutes of continuous use, the TT-5 automatically backs off to 455 lumens. This is still a once unheard-of amount of light from something easy to carry on the duty belt. At 650 lumens, the TT-5 has a runtime between 2.2 and 2.7 hours, depending on the milliamp rating of the various available batteries. With the light turned on, push the smaller MODE button once. The light output falls from 650/455 lumens to 150 lumens. The runtime at this dimmer setting is 7.3 hours. This amount of light is suitable for many patrol tasks. But the transition from 650 lumens down to 150 lumens is also a reminder how far handheld LED police lights have come in the past few years. At the 150-lumen level of output, push the smaller MODE button one more time. The light falls to just 10 lumens. This is perfect for reading, and the runtime at 10 lumens is 295 hours. That is 12 days of continuous operation. Many lights marketed to police have a single light output. Using the Keep It Simple philosophy, push the button for the light. However, there is nothing simple about police work. More than one light setting is a strong advantage in a patrol light. It can be Hi/Lo or Hi/Med/Lo, whatever. But a police light should have at least one extremely bright setting and one dimmer setting. The Strobe Switch A police fashlight should arguably have a strobe feature. Here is where Keep It Simple is a real street advantage. Rather than try to remember the combination of button pushes in a number of seconds, or cycling through a variety of steady light options to get to the strobe, or toggle a switch to get the strobe to work, how about 64 LAW and ORDER I June 2013 a strobe button? The TT-5 has just such a button. The tail cap of the TT-5 has a larger, round, more prominent button for the 650-lumen steady light. The tail cap also has a smaller, oval (but still very accessible) button for the strobe. The offcer can go from light-off to strobe-on in just one button push. The strobe is also 650 lumens, and the strobe has a runtime of 4.4 hours. The offset, oval button that activates the strobe is the same MODE button that dims the light output once the steady light is on. With the light off, push and hold the MODE button for the strobe function. From one of the steady light levels, push, hold and release the MODE button. With the TT-5 it is easy to get to strobe from any condition. On Patrol The TT-5 is focused into an intense center beam and a relatively bright halo. Think traffc stop. From the door of the squad car, all of the back glass and side windows of the violator vehicle are lit by the 650-lumen center beam. The entire car and a few car-widths on either side are lit by the halo. The TT-5 is machined from aircraft-grade 6061 aluminum, which is then hard-coat anodized. The TT-5 also uses a doublespring battery system in the light head ensuring maximum contact with the battery and reduced chances of failure. The TT-5 is powered by two CR-123 batteries. The TT-5 has important auxiliary three features. First, the large body fange (ring) easily allows the syringe hold when shooting a handgun. Second, the TT-5 has a removable, stainless-steel strike bezel. Third, the light comes with a police-oriented nylon carrier, which has a fxed belt loop, a Velcro® closed belt loop, and a D-ring attachment point. The TerraLUX TT-5 tactical fashlight has an MSRP of $140. LaO Post your comments on this story by visiting www.lawandordermag.com