By Neal Emery
That song is now stuck in your head (you’re welcome), and around the same time it was released, most of us experienced a simple yet significant convenience in our everyday lives—the smartphone flashlight. Suddenly, we all had basic flashlights on us 24/7. Fiddling with house keys in the dark is now a thing of the past. Now when you go to the trendy, dimly lit, farm-to-table gastropub, you can see that “Market Price” listing on that gourmet wagyu burger with truffle aioli, fig jam, and frisée before ordering.
Even with this newfound convenience at hand, there are still some significant limitations. If you’re walking at night and need to see beyond your next few steps, the smartphone light is severely lacking. When things inevitably go bump in the night, and your wife kicks you out of bed with those friggin’ cold feet to go check it out, you’ll quickly realize the lack of lumens with your phone and wish for something better. Going outside where you’re not just trying to light up a room to see what’s making noise requires even more light. Depending on the seriousness of the noisemaker, this is where a better light system truly shines … pun intended.
In the 125+ years of handheld electric flashlights, the improvements have been staggering. Earliest models had batteries that only lasted a few minutes, so the actual word “flashlight” is apropos to flash the light, look, turn it off until you need to see again. While batteries continuously improved over several decades, allowing longer runtimes, incandescent bulbs also allowed for more and more brightness. A generation ago, you could get a huge Maglite with 5+ D batteries and light up the night, and double as a decent club in the process. The more recent LED revolution has created a whole new line of modern EDC options that are measured in hours of use, not minutes. Bulbs never burn out, and brightness (lumens) is outstanding. Unfortunately, if clubbing bad guys is your thing, you’re out of luck with the modern, compact LED lights.
SureFire Stiletto Lineup
I’ve had a SureFire Stiletto Pro in my pocket for a while now. As handy as my phone is, I don’t think I’ll ever NOT carry an EDC option like the Stiletto in the future. For many, a trip to their local 7-Eleven after dark may be reason alone to have a light like this in their EDC kit. While I may not have much risk of running into gangbangers at the Cody, Wyo., Maverik (the risk is never zero …), living near Yellowstone has its own set of challenges. We always have the possibility of grizzly bears anytime we leave the front door. If it’s after dark and I need to check our livestock or simply take trash out to my dumpster, you can bet that Stiletto Pro is out and ready. When hiking or hunting, a headlamp is important, but often you want to see farther than a headlamp allows. A handheld option is absolute money in those situations. With a simple pocket clip, my Stiletto Pro is in one front pocket, while my EDC folding knife is in the other.
How much light is needed? Most people have a basic understanding of lumens: more is brighter. They’re not wrong, but there are a few nuances to work through. Think of a lumen as the amount of light a tiny candle would produce. One lumen would give you enough light to see your hands. A Stiletto Pro has a max setting of 1,000 lumens, so 1,000 candles that fit in your pocket. Beyond that, the light can be directed or concentrated, rather than just shining in all directions like a lantern.
How much is too much light? When you’re outside, there’s almost no such thing as too much. Sure, there may be reasons in warfare to limit giving away your position or the like, but we’re focused on defensive situations here. The max light limitations that do apply to a defensive scenario are typically inside a house or building. In that scenario, too many lumens can cause excessive bounce-back of light, which can work against you. With a handheld like the Stiletto Pro that features multiple brightness options, you can cater it to your particular scenario.
When it comes to handheld flashlights, SureFire has around 20 different options ranging in size and lumens, from $125, 600-lumen handhelds to maxing out at the crazy-bright UDR Dominator with its 4,400 lumens—which is big and expensive (retail is around $1,500) for EDC. The Stiletto lineup is sized and shaped for easy and comfortable carry. It looks a bit like a taser, which could actually come in handy if you need to bluff your way out of a fistfight. Current offerings are the Stiletto Pro (tested) and the Stiletto Pro II.
Go Pro in EDC
The Stiletto Pro has a sleek, easy-to-carry shape with a pocket clip and body made of aerospace aluminum, measuring 4.5 inches long and weighing just 4 ounces. It has three different power levels, the max of 1,000 lumens which can last a full hour, a medium setting of 300 lumens that will give you 1.5 hours of use, or the low 25 lumens setting which lasts an outstanding 23.5 hours. The battery is as easy to charge as a phone with a USB-C cable. The light is consolidated and directed in what SureFire calls their MaxVision Beam, essentially giving you a tried-and-true beam of light to work at maximum output. There are two buttons on the main, flat body that allow you to cycle through the three power levels and a strobe option. There’s also another option to get quick, max light by holding the flashlight in your fist and pushing in a button on the base of the light with your thumb. This essentially works with the Harries Technique—flashlight in one hand, handgun in the other along with the flashlight hand under your gun hand while pressing the back of your hands together for more stability.
The Stiletto Pro II offers more light in a slightly larger form. Maxing out at 1,500 lumens (with 500 and 25 lumen options and similar battery life) it is 4.87 inches long and weighs in at 5 ounces. It also has a Hybrid Beam with the extra lumens meant to punch even deeper into darkness.
Like anything, practice with your EDC light. If you’ve never shot your defensive handgun at night, with a flashlight, you’ll learn things about your setup that you won’t learn any other way. There are several different techniques that are worth learning. See what works best for you and your equipment.
Price: Street price of under $250 for the Stiletto Pro, around $350 for the Stiletto Pro II.
Pros: Easy EDC pocket clip carry and USB-C charging; 25, 300 or 1,000 lumens; built tough and reliable.
Cons: For some, it would be the cost. There’s a million cheap foreign knockoffs out there—but, can you rely on them? Max of 1 hour runtime on highest setting. To have a light that easily fits in your pocket, there are bound to be physical constraints on battery size.
