How To Pick The Right Tactical Light

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I go over 8 must-consider factors when choosing a tactical light, whether it be for a pistol, a rifle or just everyday carry.

Until we learn to use sonar, or genetic manipulation gives us the means of thermal ID, we need light. But because this is America and there are lots of options … well, that doesn’t mean they are all correct.

You have to choose—and you have to choose wisely. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Enough But Not Too Much

The idea of a megawatt light source makes some of us a bit giddy. I mean, who doesn’t want to be wielding 2,500 lumens of tactical light or even more?

Well, try doing anything indoors with that light.

Room-clearing would be an awful experience, yes, but just plain searching for the blasted blankety-blank thing you need when the power is out would be a chore. In truth, 2,500 lumens will blind you when it hits those developer-approved Navajo White walls you are fond of.

Show some restraint when buying a light. We were all agog when SureFire came out with its first handheld tactical light. “Sixty lumens? Oh my.” That was considered blinding back then.

So, if you need a pocket light, consider one with selectable lumen outputs. And if it’s to be mounted on a pistol, keep a hand on your impulses and “settle” for a “mere” 500 lumens—max.

2. More Than One

I know what you’re thinking: Oh, right, the two becomes one, one becomes none adage, right?

Well, yes and no. If you’re going to depend on lights, you need backups. But, you also often need more than one tool. Two examples come to mind: dogs and dropped items.

Each night, when I take the dogs out for their last walk of the day, I’ve got three lights on me. One is a 2,000-lumen blaster. If there’s something moving out there in the dark, I want to do more than just see it. If it might be a hazard, I want its little retinas to fairly sizzle when I light them up.

But when it comes time to pick up dog poop (I’m a responsible dog owner, and the city requires it even if I wasn’t), I don’t need 2,500 lumens. So, I have an adjustable-lumen light clipped to my pocket programmed to start on “Low.”

No dogs?

OK, how about this: You’ve walked to your car, and at the car you fumbled and dropped something. Are you going to pull out your concealed handgun, turn on your weapon-mounted light and search for it? If you are, I will disclaim any knowledge of your existence. “Bob Smith, the light-on-his-gun-in-the-parking-lot guy? Nope, never met him.”

Such things are at the very least going to get you talked about. And if anything at all goes awry, you could find yourself in some serious trouble. Have a regular light so you can see dropped things, find the keyhole on the lock, etc.

3. Know Your Beam

Lights come with reflectors, and they determine the shape of the slight spread. If you’re going to be putting a light on a rifle in the country to deal with varmints and hogs, yes, you want power. But you also want a “hot” center, lots of throw with a lot of those lumens in the center of the beam. The measure of that is the candela power, and for reach you need a hot center.

But, if you’re going to be working indoors, you want a wide spread so you can see things not in the center. Oh, you’ll want a hot center also, but you need spread as well.

So, do your research and buy accordingly. That wide beam doesn’t help when trying to hit that coyote at 100 yards, and the high-intensity hot beam is a big fail indoors.

4. Control the Controls

Light only helps if you can call on it when needed. Learn the controls of your light, and practice until you can do them by “I need this” and it happens.

On handguns, that means learning the controls so you can do momentary or continuous. You can select strobe if you want, and you can turn it off easily. In the dark, under stress, is no time to be learning the controls or trying to remember what you read in the owner’s manual, once. On rifles and shotguns that also means training yourself to where the controls are.

Well, first you have to mount them where you can reach them. Then you learn to reach and control them. So, mount the light and its switch (if that is cabled to be remote) and then practice. If the practice just isn’t working, try a different location. “But that’s where the SEAL team guy who taught us mounted his.” 

His light was mounted where it was for a reason. That reason might have been good, or it might have simply been required. His reasons and requirements may or may not be the same as yours.

Mount yours where it works for you.

5. Backup Your Batteries

“Backup” means backup lights and back up batteries for all of them. Your light might come with a battery or batteries. Great. But your practice (and need I remind you to practice?) will use up some of that juice. Buy more now before you need them.

And here’s a hint: Buy in bulk. Why? OK, a common battery for lights is the CR123A. I did a quick search and found six-packs for $13 or so. Hmm. That’s $2.16 per battery before we even get to shipping? That seems like a lot.

The last time I bought CR123As, I bought a tray of 100 of them. With shipping, it was around $120. So, $1.20 per. Yes, that’s a lot of batteries, but they do not go bad sitting on the shelf. I have a multi-year supply, and if prices go up (they never go down), my deal gets better and better.

Store yours in a warm, dry place that won’t get stuff spilled on it. Label the box. Keep an eye on it if you have friends or relatives who might dip into your supply. You’re set.

6. Know the Law

Actually, pay attention to the law, because in this regard the law is pretty much the same everywhere. Pointing a loaded weapon at someone is an assault, and doing so could bring consequences.

We’re back to that search in the parking lot situation. So, there you are, scrambling in the parking lot or the parking structure, using your one-and-only source of illumination, your pistol light, to find what you dropped, and someone asks “Need some help there?” Reflexively, you turn the source of light to see who is talking, and you have just committed an assault.

Will they notice? Will they care? Will they scream for help? Call 911? The responding authorities are not necessarily going to be understanding.

You might get a warning; you might get more. It would not be unusual in some jurisdictions for you—at the very least—to lose your CPL and not get it back. Or, you might get it back after much legal hassle. So, know when you can use it, and if you do need to, have already worked out the details and processes with your attorney.

7. Know the Company

If you break your light, can it be fixed? Will the company stand behind their warranty? Do tire tracks and hammer marks void the warranty?

Oh, let’s stop beating around the bush. Why are you buying a tactical light made out of chinesium? If this is important, it is important. So, buy good gear. The adage “buy once, cry once” comes to mind. Cry over the high price and the performance it brings, not over the failure because the cheap, crappy light failed you when you dropped it, once.

I expect a light, when dropped, to show the marks but still keep working. If I drop a light (hey, we all get clumsy, tired, have our hands full), and the light doesn’t work … hmm. The maker gets one chance to fix it. If they can’t, won’t or it fails again, I don’t use it. And I won’t show it in an article. (No, I won’t send you a list.)

8. Learn the Lingo

Last on this list, but first in your efforts: Learn the lingo. Learn the difference between lumens and candela. Learn the difference between flood and throw. Get a sense of the performance parameters to be had out there. If a new company offers a light that has just as many lumens as the big guys, but promises twice the runtime, be suspicious.

Know what things mean before you are standing at the counter of your local gun shop, perusing tactical lights.

It’s your money, after all.

But then again, it’s your safety, after all, too.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the November 2025 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.

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