skigt's Full Review: Streamlight Stinger Led Flashlights Led Rechargeab...
I purchased this light as a duty replacement for my 10 year old Xenon stinger, that I finally had to send back to Streamlight to have the polycarbonate lens replaced because it started to bow and crack from use.
I was interested in switching to an LED a while ago, but I didn't want to drop to an 80 lumen LED from a nice 125 lumen xenon. I didn't care if the run time was 2x longer. Then when Streamlight came out with the C4 model and I saw it was rated at 140 (or 165 of some sites) I went to the officer store in Coatsville, PA and tried it out and boy was I impressed. Even during the day I could see the light across the store. Then when I tried it out on my midnight shift that night, I was overwhelmed at the range it had.
This light easily outshown my xenon stinger. It is like having a mini search light on your belt. If you are using during a traffic stop, the light is a little on the bright side, unless you turn it down to medium or low power. Unless you like to watch your driver and passengers squinting against the light.
For use on DUI checkpoints it works awsome. I hated always burning through two or three batteries for the xenon. With this all you have to do is crank it down t o low power and it will last the 5-6 hrs.
Also I love the strobe feature. It really gets the driver's attention when they go have thier brain fart and forget to start slowing down as they approach the funnel lanes. (We've all had those people that almost hit us because 'they didn't see all the officers', cones, stop & slow signs . . .).
The bad things about the light I have found are if you use it for room searches, and you like to flash and move, it really messes with your vision since LED flash much faster than regular bulbs. Plus the super bright lights toasts your whatever night vision you had before the flash. If you keep your light on during your searches, then your better holding on low power. Personally, I keep my xenon on my belt just for searches because of this.
So in summation, The light is bright as the sun and that is great, but in some instances it can be too bright. The switch still uses the dead man activation for flash and move which is good, but if you use it when you get out of the car for a traffic stop, you have to click and hold it until it dims to where you'd like and if you pass the level you want it will cycle around all three levels continuously until you release it.
The strobe function is activated by a quick double click, then a single click to deactivate it. The strobe is only lit with high power, but it will still stay on for 5+hrs.
Streamlight indicates the metal C4 stinger is rated at 140 lumens (18,000 candela), and the polystinger C4 at 185 lumen. I emailed them about this difference and they indicated that the polystinger uses a more efficient reflector. I don't understand why they don't use the same reflector, but hey, it's bright enough they way this is, plus I'd rather have the durability of an aluminum body as to plastic.
Plus i never liked the rubber grip on the handle since it makes it a tough draw out of a flashlight holder, and I have seen older stinger XTs start to pull off and curl. hopefully this won't do the same, but time will tell.
This light is about an inch longer than a regular stinger, so if you have a holder that has a cover flap, it probably won't fit. If you have an open-top or loop, you should be ok.
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