Streamlight Flashlights, Headlamps and Lanterns

What Streamlight makes, and what this page covers

Streamlight makes portable lights for work, emergency crews and the outdoors. Its site sorts them into handheld flashlights, headlamps, helmet lights, safety-rated lights, right-angle lights, emergency scene lights and work lights, plus a few others.

This site covers three of those types:

• Flashlights: Stinger, ProTac, Strion, Sidewinder, MicroStream, Stylus Pro and the Waypoint spotlight
• Headlamps: Bandit, Double Clutch, Argo, Trident, Septor, Enduro, ProTac and the HAZ-LO safety-rated lamps
• Lanterns and area lights: the Siege family, Vulcan, E-Flood LiteBox, BearTrap and the Portable Scene Light

That's a big grid, and it mixes lights built for a campsite with lights built for a fire truck. Most of this page is about telling them apart.

Lineup notes: Streamlight flashlights

The Streamlight flashlight is what most people search for, usually by series name. The grid now has most of those series, and the listings sort them into a few clear groups.

Stinger, Stinger DS and UltraStinger: the rechargeable workhorses

The Stinger family is the long, aluminum end of the lineup, and most of its listings show a rechargeable battery. The Stinger, Stinger DS and UltraStinger listings all show strobe, and the DS models add a tail switch, per their listings. The Stinger DS LED HL and the Strion LED HL list a dock or cradle for charging, which suits a light that lives in a truck or by the cabin door. The UltraStinger is the brightest of the family in the grid, and it has the longest listed beam.

ProTac handhelds: the name that crosses over

ProTac is the one name that crosses over: Streamlight uses it for a handheld flashlight line and for the ProTac headlamps further down. Same family name, different job. The ProTac 1L-1AA runs on a single AA, per its listing, which makes it the easy one to keep fed at camp. The 2L-X and HL-X list a tail switch, and the HL 5-X is the highest-output handheld in the grid. Several ProTac listings carry the "tactical" label, which is how the maker names the line. On this site that word means a model the maker calls tactical, nothing more. The tactical flashlight page compares them with other brands.

Pocket lights and odd shapes

The MicroStream and Stylus Pro are the small end: a short aluminum light and a penlight, both low in output by design. Their USB versions add a built-in rechargeable pack. The Sidewinder III is the outlier, a polymer light on AA batteries with a red mode and the longest listed runtime of the lot. The red mode is the one to reach for in a tent before first light, when the rest of camp is still asleep. (Renee says I own more flashlights than she owns shoes. I said I own them for work. She said she owns the shoes for work too.)

Waypoint: the spotlight

The Waypoint is a rechargeable handheld spotlight with a built-in pack and a very long listed beam. It's for scanning a field edge or a lake shore, not for reading a map. Spotlights from all brands are on the handheld spotlight page, and the rechargeable handhelds on the rechargeable flashlight page.

Lineup notes: Streamlight headlamps

Bandit and Bandit Pro: the light ones

The Bandit lamps are the small end of the grid. Streamlight lists the Bandit Pro at 180 lumens on high and 35 on low, with 4.5 and 21 hours of runtime, and a weight of 1.60 oz. It's USB rechargeable, charges in the light in 3.5 hours, and is IPX4 weather-resistant. It comes with a visor clip, so it can ride on a cap brim instead of the strap.

One thing to know: the Bandit and Bandit Pro are among the series Streamlight leaves out of its lifetime warranty. Read the warranty section below.

Enduro, Enduro Pro and Enduro Pro USB: spot plus flood

The Enduro lamps are the middle of the lineup. The Enduro Pro USB is the clearest example on Streamlight's site: separate spot and flood beams, each with high, medium and low. The spot gives 200 lumens on high and 25 on low, the flood 145 on high and 15 on low, with up to 48 hours on either low mode. The maker lists 3.6 oz, a 45-degree tilting head and IPX4.

The other Enduro lamps in the grid split by battery: the Enduro Pro 61421 lists AA power and the Enduro Pro HAZ-LO 61424 lists AAA, per their listings.

Argo, Trident, Septor and Double Clutch: the classic shapes

These are the classic shapes. Streamlight's headlamp page still lists the Trident, Septor and Double Clutch, with the Trident and Septor tagged new. The grid gives 150 to 200 lumens for the Argo, Trident and Septor, with the Trident listing spot and flood. The Double Clutch is a rechargeable lamp at 125 lumens with spot and flood, per its listing. All four list a tilting head.

ProTac 2.0: the bright one

The ProTac 2.0 headlamp is the top of the grid for output. Streamlight lists 2,000 lumens on high, 650 on medium and 110 on low, with beams of 241, 130 and 55 meters and runtimes of 2.25, 4.5 and 25 hours. It weighs 10.48 oz with its SL-B50 battery, per the maker, which charges by USB-C inside or outside the light. It's IP64 rated and 2-meter impact tested.

TEN-TAP is Streamlight's name for its switch programming. On the ProTac 2.0 you pick one of three programs: high-medium-low, high only, or low-high. The older ProTac 61304, 61305 and 61306 lamps in the grid list 635 to 1,000 lumens.

Real talk: 10.48 oz is a lot of headlamp. That's the trade for a battery big enough to run 2,000 lumens. For a two-mile walk in, I'd want to know that before I strapped it on.

HAZ-LO lamps: built for work sites

HAZ-LO is Streamlight's name for its intrinsically safe lights. The grid has the 3AA HAZ-LO, the Enduro Pro HAZ-LO and the USB HAZ-LO headlamps. Streamlight's safety-ratings page explains the idea: a light used where flammable gas, dust or fibers may be present should be tested and approved for that location, and the rating says which hazards and how likely they are.

As an electrician, I'll say it plainly: that rating is for refineries, mines and confined spaces, not for a tent. If your day job needs one, it'll tell you which class. For deer camp, a HAZ-LO lamp works like any other headlamp with the same specs.

Lineup notes: Streamlight lanterns and area lights

Siege AA and Super Siege: the camp lanterns

The Siege family is the part of the grid that belongs at a campsite. The Siege AA runs on three AA batteries, per Streamlight, with white light at 200, 100 and 50 lumens for 7, 15.5 and 37 hours. Two red LEDs give a low night-vision mode and a flashing SOS. It's IPX7 rated and, the maker says, it floats. It weighs 8.8 to 9.1 oz and has a hook for hanging from a rope or a pipe.

The Super Siege is the rechargeable version. Streamlight lists 1,100 lumens on high for 5.75 hours and 125 on low for 36.25 hours, plus red modes. It's IPX7 too, and it doubles as a power bank: the maker says it can charge a smartphone four or more times from its USB port. It weighs 1 lb 14 oz.

Vulcan, E-Flood, BearTrap and Portable Scene Light: fire-crew gear

These are lights built for emergency work, and the specs show it. Streamlight calls the Vulcan 180 a firefighting and utility tool. It lists 1,200 lumens, a 180-degree articulating head, 2.47 lb and a charging rack, with hazardous-location ratings. The grid's Vulcan Clutch, E-Flood LiteBox and BearTrap listings are in the same family of heavy rechargeable lights.

The Portable Scene Light II is the extreme end. Streamlight lists 10,000 lumens, 2 hours at full output, IPX7 and 15.56 lb. That's not a camp lantern. That's a light tower in a box.

Will one light up a camp? Sure. You'll also carry it from the truck, and at 15.56 lb that's the ice math all over again. (Renee keeps a list of what I've hauled. It's long.)

How to read the Streamlight spec numbers

Streamlight publishes a plain explainer of the ANSI/PLATO FL 1 standard. Light output in lumens is the total light a lamp puts out. Beam distance is how far the beam goes before it falls to 0.25 lux. Runtime runs until output drops to 10 percent of the starting value, measured 30 seconds after you switch it on with fresh batteries.

Two practical notes from that. First, every runtime number belongs to one mode, so read the mode table, not the headline. Second, Streamlight's page says reporting under the standard is voluntary, so a dash in the grid means the listing didn't give the number, not that it's zero.

How to choose within the Streamlight lineup

Pick the battery first

Streamlight's grid splits cleanly on power. The Siege AA, the Argo, the Septor, the Enduro Pro 61421, the 3AA HAZ-LO, the ProTac 1L-1AA and the Sidewinder III run on AA or AAA, per their listings. The Bandits, the ProTac 2.0, the Stinger DS and UltraStinger, the Super Siege and the big lanterns are rechargeable.

The U.S. Fire Administration says not to charge lithium-ion batteries below 32°F or above 105°F. At a cold camp, charge inside the cabin, not in the truck overnight. A charger on a frozen porch is a job for nobody.

Then the job

• Walking in and camp chores: a Bandit or an Enduro, 125 to 200 lumens, light on your head
• Field dressing after dark: a lamp with a flood beam and a tilt, like the Enduro Pro USB
• Tracking or scanning a field edge: the long beam of a ProTac 2.0 or the Waypoint
• A light for the truck or the cabin door: a Stinger on its dock
• Lighting the camp table: the Siege AA or Super Siege, hung from the hook
• A power cut at the cabin: the Super Siege, which also charges a phone

Then the weight

My one opinion on this page: for anything you wear on your head or carry uphill, read the weight before the lumens. The reason is in the maker's numbers. The maker's weights run from 1.60 oz on the Bandit Pro to 10.48 oz on the ProTac 2.0 for headlamps, and from about 9 oz on the Siege AA to over 15 lb on the scene light. For anything you carry on your head or up a hill, that column matters more than the lumens.

Headlamps across brands are compared on the headlamps page, and lanterns on the camping lantern page. AA and AAA lanterns are on the battery operated lantern page, and the rechargeable ones on the rechargeable lantern page.

Charging and battery care

Charge lithium-ion lights inside, at room temperature, with the cord or rack the maker supplies. The U.S. Fire Administration lists the signs to stop using a battery: an odor, a change in color or shape, too much heat, leaking or odd noises. Keep spare batteries away from anything that burns, and out of direct sun.

Streamlight warranty and company facts

Streamlight's warranty page lists a limited lifetime warranty against defects, except batteries, bulbs, abuse and normal wear. Rechargeable batteries, chargers, switches and electronics carry two years. The Sidewinder, KeyMate USB, Pocket Mate, QB, Bandit and Bandit Pro series are not covered by the lifetime term. A claim needs proof of purchase.

From Streamlight's about page: the company has designed, manufactured and marketed lights for more than 50 years, and it's based in Eagleville, Pennsylvania, with its manufacturing plant there too. That's a little over two hours down the Turnpike from Scranton, traffic permitting, which it never does.

Battery type, weight, the mode you'll actually use. Check those three, pack the matching spares in the same bag, and 5 a.m. goes a lot smoother.