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Streamlight Microstream Sucks

1K views 6 replies 2 participants last post by  Flash 
#1 ·
I'm a SureFire flashlight guy, been carrying them over 25 years and they all worked and still do work flawlessly.

I started carrying a Microstream in my pocket for those times when my SureFire was either too much or not enough. It does 1,200 lumens on high and 5 lumens on low but for some tasks it just didn't make it, thus the Microstream.

I bought the Microstream around 5 years ago, probably have around an hour of runtime on it all together. Mostly just a quick on and off when I changed pants after a shower and once in a while I used it to find things I'd dropped on the floor in the house.

Well, I changed pants and checked it as always and it's dead. Put in a fresh battery and it's still dead. Jiggled the on/off switch and no joy.

Did an internet search and it turns out this is a common problem with the Microstream and people have sent it in to get fixed and it breaks again before long.

So I bit the bullet and ordered a SureFire Titan Plus to replace it. Three output levels, 300 lumens, 75 lumens and 15 lumens. I fully expect it to be just like the other SureFires I have owned.

I'm thinking that a click on/off tail cap is probably a weak point for pocket flashlights as SureFire avoids them and the Maglites I carried for years also avoided them. FWIW, my 25 year old Maglites still work fine but I like the newer technology even though I converted them to LED a long time ago.
 
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#2 ·
I love pocket flashlights. I've carried a few Maglites for a number of years, but they always seemed to fail at the most inopportune times. I switched over to some of the more budget friendly brands like LuxPro and have been happy with them for most uses, but the ones I have, do not put out much light past about 20 yards. Last May, I bought the shown two pack of Wow-Lite's. They are supposed to put out 1200 Lumens and I have no way of knowing, but compared to other pocket lights I have had...it is damn bright. It has an adjustable beam and at the highest zoom I can easily reach out to my barn and front of my goat pens which are right at 115 yards away.

I paid a tad less than $17 for the twin pack and for the price, I cannot complain at all. A couple of Caveats though!! I have misplaced the Lithium Ion battery adapter and am currently on the hunt for it. I had a large number of AAA batteries which this model takes 3. It sucks the life out of good quality Alkaline batteries very-very quickly. If I am up in the night or when I wake up (very early), I usually go out and do a sweep of the property. I get an idea of deer movements and any area raccoons movements (I've trapped and killed over a dozen the last couple of years). I have also picked up this contraption that I can easily attach these lights onto any of my rimfires. I have a 17 HMR and a 22 Mag which are both heavy barrels that it works quite nicely on. The light does not quite match up to those as they are scoped. I only have one rimfire 22 that is open sights and its range is limited (an old Winchester "Boys Rifle"). I'm still playing with it.

Good luck with your new light.

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#3 ·
Just a short follow up on my OP.

Been carrying the SureFire Titan Plus for a while now, use it every evening and every morning when I go out with the dog and she does her business. You kind of have to go out with your animals around here as there are Coyotes and Javelinas and other assorted critters out and about...including Roadrunners, one of my favorites.

Anyway, it works extremely well, the 15 lumens is just about perfect for letting the dog out, and 75 lumens for when she gets 30 or so yards out. The 300 lumens works well, but this flashlight is more of a flooder than a thrower, so it illuminates wide areas but doesn't have a ton of throw, which is okay as my other SureFire with 1,200 lumens has a lot of throw and not so much flood.

Plus, it uses one AAA battery with an advertised life of 1 hour at 300 lumens, 2 hours at 75 lumens and 7 hours at 15 lumens. Don't know yet how accurate those runtimes are as I'm still on the original battery, but I'll know soon.
 
#4 ·
Okay, replaced the AAA battery this morning after walking the dog in the dark.

Still had output, I'd guess 5 lumens or so, but no 75 or 300 and so I replaced it.

It lasted 7 weeks of daily use walking the dog, sometimes twice a day plus searching for something I lost once.
 
#5 ·
I just had my other Streamlight product break on me Thursday morning. 5AM, taking the garbage can out in the street and using my not too old Streamlight headlamp for light to find my way. Just got past the garage and the light went out and I felt something slide down my cheek.

Pulled out the SureFire I always carry and finished up, then went inside to see what happened.

Turns out the plastic battery latch on the Streamlight broke off. Looking at the broken off end, there's a void that fills most of the latch area, maybe 3/4 of it and the remaining part decided it was time to let go. The thing going past my cheek was the 2AAA batteries.

I think the lighting Gods are trying to tell me something so I'm done with Streamlight.
 
#6 ·
Flash. Give these a try. I have been really happy. They do suck battery life, so if you have the 3.7 V Lithium rechargeable battery it helps. At ~$17 bucks for two they're not a bad price either.

 
#7 ·
Thanks, but I'm 100% SureFire now. I started buying them over 20 years ago. I've got 6 of them as I bought a new one every time the light output doubled so I could actually see a difference, and all 6 work just like they did when they were new.

I trust them and that's important to me after being stranded in a BART subway car under San Francisco in the dark in 1998.
 
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