Friday 7 September 2018

Pelican 7600 Tactical Flashlight





Sixteen months ago, I was fortunate enough to win an Instagram contest conducted by Pelican Professional Products. The prize was a Pelican7600 Tactical Flashlight. I was very thrilled to have won and even more enthusiastic to do a flashlight review after a reasonable period of use. As regular followers of the blog know, a free product does not mean a free ride. I carried and used this flashlight as part of my everyday carry (EDC) and for operational use (military) for well over a year. It has racked up some miles as well and has travelled across Canada, USA and Caribbean. It has been a dependable and rugged illumination tool throughout this period of evaluation.

The Pelican 7600 Tactical Flashlight is larger, yet still pocket-sized, flashlight. The flashlight body is CNC machined aircraft grade aluminum anodized flat black with a removable pocket clip. This clip was my primary means of carrying this flashlight for the evaluation period. It remained secure in my support side pant pocket at all time, even during very active tactical training. The blunt serrating on the bezel and tail cap protected both the lens and the push button switch from hard use trauma. Designed for simple utilization with a single hand, it has a push button switch which allows dual mode use: constant-on and momentary. There is a noticeable and audible click when selecting constant on mode. I may be old fashioned but I find this reduces the learning curve with a new flashlight. It is water resistant with an rubber O-ring sealing the unit's battery compartment.





The Pelican 7600 Tactical Flashlight has four white light modes High, Strobe, Medium and Low. High produces respectable 944 lumens with a 3h 15 mins runtime. Medium produces 479 lumens with a runtime of 4h 30mins. Low produces 37 lumens for 29 hours!!! The Strobe seems to be the same intensity as the High setting. There are five different possible programs for setting up the white light how you want it. The default setting is High - Strobe - Medium - Low. It can be set to High Only, High - Medium - Low, Low - Medium - High or High - Low! Change the programmed order by partially depress the button (momentary press) as specified in the table in the instruction manual. On the final momentary press, hold the light on until the main light flashes. This will let you know that a new program has successfully been selected. Hint: The number of flashes indicates the program number. I will include a link to the electronic version of the instruction manual: here!!

The Pelican 7600 Tactical Flashlight can produce three colours of light: white, red and green. Simply rotate the selector ring on the light head to roman numerals on the flashlight body. I = white LED. II = red LED. III = green LED. This option really stands out among other flashlights for military use. Red light is still used in the interior of naval vessels to reduce the transmission of light over open water at night; helping to reduce detection. Green light is used by aircraft crews so they can see red warning lights. Both colours are required in a flashlight to be truly interoperable. Additionally, for tactical medical work, you can’t detect blood under red light!!


The Pelican 7600 Tactical Flashlight is dual fuelled with a rechargeable 18650 3.7v Lithium-Ion battery or two CR123 batteries housed in a reusable plastic sleeve. The flashlight has a BATTERY LEVEL INDICATOR! A single RGB LED is imbedded in the flashlight body above the USB Charge Post (which is covered by the selector ring when not charging) This RGB LED will light up indicating the level of charge remaining in your battery. Green = 100% - 75% battery life remaining.  Amber = 75% - 50% battery life remaining.  Red = 50% - 25% battery life remaining. Flashing red = less than 25% battery life remaining!! Time to swap out!







Charging the flashlight is a simple affair. Just rotate the selector ring on the light head to uncover the micro-USB charge port. Then plug the USB cable into the light and the other end into a USB port on a computer, USB compatible battery pack or any USB AC adapter. The light will take around 5-6 hours to charge.  The LED Battery Level Indicator between the collar and the head displays the current charging status: Flashing red indicates the light is still charging.  Solid green indicated the flashlight is fully charged and ready for use. Be advised when the selector ring is turned to expose the micro-USB port, the flashlight will not work. Ensure you rotate the selector ring back to the light colour you want before going off to work.




“Is that a flashlight in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”

The Pelican 7600 Tactical Flashlight is little big for discreet EDC. Saying that, flashlights do not really pique the interest of anyone except other illuminerds like me. I have carried this light operationally every day for over a year and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. I recommend and have recommended this light to other military professionals. The long battery life, recharge ability, crisp bright light and ruggedness of the platform making it a real winner.

2 comments:

  1. how can i change the bulb in my pelican 7600.
    battery shows fully charged but cant get it to come on.it was working fine until i charged it

    ReplyDelete
  2. how can i change the bulb in my pelican 7600 light. its fully charged but will not come on. it worked fine until i charged it

    ReplyDelete