In today's world of tactical flashlights, a company doesn't have to lead the way to be successful; they just have to make a decent product. The demand for quality high-performance tactical lights has grown as two circumstances have been recognized: 1) Law enforcement works in the dark a LOT and it's typically our most dangerous environment, and 2) our military does more work in cities now than it does in the open field. Both circumstances have lead to an increased need for a durable light that's versatile. Welcome the ATN J68 to that group. Here's why...
The American Technologies Network (ATN) Javelin 68 (J68) is the "little brother" of the line of lights in this series. As you would expect from any "tactical" light that isn't polymer, the J68 is manufactured from aircraft grade aluminum and, in this case, has a black finish. It uses two 3V CR123 lithium batteries to drive light from its halogen lamp assembly. The prefocused bezel and lens support the lamp in producing 68 lumens of light.
jAs you can easily see in the photo to the right above, the J68 has a twisting tail cap design that is common in today's tactical light industry. It has a push button touch-activation, or you can turn the tailcap all the way clockwise to get it to stay on. There is a hexagonal (so as to be different from a different member of this manufacturing community) anti-roll collar around the base of the lamp assembly. The lamp assemly itself has a forward edge that is quite aggressive. How aggressive?
Well, it's no secret that these scalloped shaped bezel designs serve well if the light must be used as an improvised weapon (otherwise commonly called a "weapon of opportunity"). Would they work? Well... as I was playing with this flashlight in my hotel room one evening after SHOT Show had exhausted me, I managed to cut my thumb on one of those edges. The scalloped cuts are off-set as you go around: shallow, deep, shallow, deep, shallow, deep. You perverts get your mind out of the gutter! I don't know if there is a purpose for this pattern of the scalloping but they do look aggressive and I can personally attest to how well they will lacerate. Bare in mind this: it's a halogen lamp assembly. If you hit something hard enough with it you will break the lamp assembly easier than it if was an LED. Then again, it wouldn't surprise me if ATN didn't have some LED models up their sleeve yet to be announced.
As I mentioned, the J68 is the little brother of the series. There is also the J125 and the J169W. The J125 pushes 125 lumens of light from the same size package as the J68 using the same two 3V CR123 lithium batteries. Obviously the run time is less but the light output is far more tactically useful.
The J169W was specifically designed for weapon-mounted application. It comes with a remote pressure pad activation switch and mounts for a picatiny rail system. It uses three 3V CR123 Lithium batteries to push 169 lumens of light through its halogen bulb. It has almost triple the light output of the J68 in a package that is only 25% longer. I kinda like that.
I've obviously used the J68 as it was designed and I've beat it up some. Since it's a haolgen bulb (and I don't want to have to buy replacements) I've not TRIED to break it. It's been dropped, packed, beat up. It's impacted a piece of scrap sheetrcck I found in my shed a few times. I've gouged out chunks of the sheetrock and managed to punch out a circle the size of the bezel. The light still works. 68 lumens is near the bottom limit I'd consider for "tactical" work, but it's a LOT better than 30 lumens or less from an inferior light. Now for the really interesting part...
ATN's website lists the MSRP for this light at $129.00. I did a Google search for "ATN Javelin J68" and found an LED version online for $69.75. With an LED lamp assembly the bezel can be used to break glass (or bone). It comes with a two-year warranty on the site were I found it. So look around and you can find a good deal on a good flashlight.
Stay Safe!
