Today, the tactical flashlight is a staple of military and law enforcement agencies. However, the penlight has now been augmented into a tactical design that also provides advantages.
What is A Tactical Penlight?

While most people are familiar with the standard penlight, the ones made for tactical purposes offer some significant differences that make them a popular choice for law enforcement and military personnel.
Hardened Casing: The tactical versions of penlights provide a casing crafted from hardened materials such as aluminum that make it lightweight and usable as a weapon if needed. However, the benefits of the improved casing are more along the lines of corrosion resistance and better overall wear.
Brighter Light: A tactical light is designed to blind a potential attacker temporarily, giving you more time to react. Most penlights of this type offer a burst of powerful light as well as a much lower setting when you need to navigate in the darkness.
Convenience: The small size of the penlight makes it very easy to use so that you can store it comfortably as well as hold it with other objects if needed.
The Benefits of a Penlight:
There are plenty of advantages that the best tactical penlight will bring, especially if you are out late at night where assistance may not be so readily available.
Bright, Blinding Light: If you are approached by someone that may be a potential attacker, the brightness setting allows you to blind them temporarily so you can take additional action. Whether you chose to flee the scene, call for help, or try to subdue the assailant this type of penlight will give you the time needed to accomplish your task.
Versatile: One of the niftiest aspects of this type of tactical light is that it offers some features all in one compact design. The different settings for the light can be used to navigate in the darkness, a signal for assistance, or buy time by temporarily blinding a potential attacker. It can also be used for self-defense purposes.
Handy: Penlights are small, simple devices that can be used at a moment’s notice. This means that you can store it in your shirt or pants pocket, in a pouch on your belt, or in your jacket or coat so that it can be retrieved quickly and easily.
Differences in Tactical Flashlight and Penlight:
Although similar in size, there are differences between standard penlights and tactical versions such as the night armor pen plus light. The main differences are as follows;
- Harder Casing
- Grip Features
- Brightness Settings
The casing for tactical lights used by the military and law enforcement agencies is harder, stronger, and more durable than standard penlights. They are designed to be used as a weapon if necessary which is why they most often have surfaces where it is easier to grip the light. Also, they offer multiple settings that include a low light for navigation and bright light for blinding a potential attacker.
Plus, some tactical lights have other settings such as flash, red light, or strobe that will get people’s attention if needed.
All in all, this type of penlight is highly useful for law enforcement, military, and in many civilian uses.
2 Comments
It is important to be ready in any situation especially when natural disasters strike. I was looking for flashlights to buy for emergency purposes when my mom told that there are such things as penlights. So I stopped checking out flashlights and researched about penlights first. It appears that these are the small and handy source of light that can be stored in any pocket that can be easily retrieved when situations arise. Thanks for the information!
I wasn’t aware that a penlight enables you to signal for assistance, self-defense, and navigating in the dark. My family just underwent a very long power outage, and I think that these flashlights would have been perfect. I think that I might look into military-grade lighting in case this happens again.