Every now and then our editorial team receives an item to test that they’ve never heard of before; nor have they heard of the manufacturing company. Such a situation tends to add to skepticism as they go into the testing process. In this case, the skepticism was entirely unjustified. Enter the Badger Flaslights BX1500 Tactical Flashlight.
When we received this light for testing it took us by surprise but, as usual, the first thing we did was look it up online. The published specifications are as follows:
· LED: Luminous SST-20
· Max Brightness: 1500 Lumens
· Peak Beam Distance: 500 yards / 456 meters
· Peak Beam Intensity: 53,500 cd
· IP Rating: IP65-Waterproof
· Impact Resistance: 2m
· Dimensions: 6.1”Lx1.28”W (bezel)x1”H(body)
· Weight: 5.5oz with the battery
Like most tactical lights, the BX1500 is activated by way of a push-button end cap. You can turn it on temporarily just by touch pressure, or you can CLICK it on and then CLICK it off. On the side of the light, just at the base of the bezel is a blue button that allows you to change the lighting mode. The BX1500 has seven different modes: five for light levels, one for strobe and one for signaling SOS.
When you first turn the light on it defaults to the maximum power setting of 1500 lumens. On a full charge, the flashlight will produce that light for a published 60 minutes. In our testing it delivered on that without fail.
With one push of the blue button on the side it reduces to Level 2: 600 lumens and will produce that light for just under two hours. The published material says one hour 48 minutes and our testing showed that to be accurate within a few minutes.
Another push, another reduction to Level 3: 400 lumens and about 2.5 hours of run time.
Another push, another reduction to Level 4: 150 lumens for six hours of runtime. Bearing in mind that you rarely have your light on for a steady six hours, that “six hours” could well be several shifts.
Another push, final reduction to Level 5: 35 lumens and a full two days of run time. Yes, that says two days – 48 hours of run time on that ECO setting.
Keep in mind that the top four levels of lighting are all sufficient for law enforcement use. 400, 600 and 1500 Lumens of light, even shined in the face of a person with their eyes closed, is enough to make them turn their head. It can be darned uncomfortable. Even 150 lumens of light was once considered enough for tactical work. The 35 lumens of light is more than enough to see where you’re walking and to find that lost item in your cruiser trunk.
After you turn on the light, the strobe mode is entered by “double-tapping” the blue button. The strobe flashes the light at a rate of 10/20Hz and at the full power 1,500 lumen light level. It’s quite disorienting when pointed in someone’s face (as several office staff members discovered quite unhappily). The strobe mode, if used continuously, will last for two hours.
By pushing the blue button after you have the light in strobe mode, you put it in SOS mode. The light will then flash a steady pattern of three short flashes, three longer flashes and then three shorter flashes. The SOS flash mode is also at full power (1,500 lumens) and will last for five hours.
That is a lot of functionality in a reasonably small package, but we had some questions. If I want it to come on in a different power level than max output, can I do that? Testing showed that we could. The light would turn back on at whatever light level it was in when we turned it off. With that in mind, we put it in the 3rd power level (400 lumens) and turned it off. We didn’t see the need for more than that in most of our other testing.
One question we always try to answer is, “How much abuse will it take before it breaks?” In this case the published material says that the light will withstand being dropped from 2 meters high and is waterproof to an IP65 rating. (We had to look that up.) The IP65 rating means that the light will withstand “Water projected by a nozzle against enclosure from any direction shall have no harmful effects.” With that in mind, we didn’t submerge it… but we did spray it with a hose for the full fifteen minutes allotted for the test. We sprayed it from every direction with our nozzle set at the highest pressure setting. The light showed no ill effects. That was when we chose to go ahead and “shake” the water off by drop testing it. We dropped it from about six feet (just under two meters) twenty times. It did not fail although the aircraft grade aluminum body did show some marks and scratches.
The light was provided with a nylon carry pouch, lanyard and a USB recharging cord. The Badger Industries BX-1500 Tactical Flashlight page lists an MSRP of $99.95, which is impressively low given the maximum brightness and variable functionality of the light. A quick Google search found… that we can’t find them for sale from anyone but Badger Industries. Badger Industries shows them available in four finishes: black, gun metal gray, dark earth and multicam black. If you’re still looking for something to get your law enforcement spouse for Christmas, this is your solution.
