Browning Blackout 6V Flashlight
Lewis Creek Shooting School 06.11.13
I admit, I’m a flashlight addict–and there has never been such a good time to be a flashlight addict. The new LED technology has spawned a generation of small but powerful flashlights that have amazing run times. My latest acquisition is the new Browning Blackout 6V and it’s the best yet.
With a five-and-a-half-inch-long body and using two CR123 batteries, this little jewel puts out 600 lumens. While the conversion from candlepower to lumens is virtually impossible, I swear this light seems as powerful as the plug-in spotlights that are advertised as 1,000,000 candlepower. Not only is the Blackout powerful and small, it provides white, color balanced light, and the option of choosing three different operational modes. The primary mode is a continuous full power light, the second is a much reduced level that will work fine for ordinary flashlight use, and the third is a full power strobe that could be used to disorient an assailant.
The body is aluminum with a scratch-resistant, optically clear lens. It’s submersible to three feet for thirty minutes. The sealed pressure switch on the rear of the light can work in both momentary and sustained mode and functions to select the three levels. The Blackout 6V will run continuously for 36 hours on the second and lower power setting. It’s drop tested to one meter and the CR123A batteries operate to -40° F and have a 10-year shelf life.
While many uses of a flashlight don’t require the levels of performance the Blackout provides, there are times when a quality light can mean the distance between life and death. This light is powerful enough to negotiate a boat through a tricky waterway in an emergency or serve as a signal light that can be seen for miles. The strobe mode could disorient a threat and allow escape. This is the perfect light for outdoorsmen or for an emergency survival kit. With an extra set of batteries, it could provide all the light needed for survival for days.
Dick Jones is an award winning outdoor writer and a member of the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association Board of Directors. He writes for four North Carolina Newspapers as well as regional and national magazines. He’s hunted and fished most of his life but shooting has been his passion. He’s a former High Master, Distinguished Rifleman, and AAA class pistol shooter. He holds four Dogs of War Medals for Team Marksmanship as shooter, captain and coach. He ran the North Carolina High Power Rifle Team for six years and the junior team two years after that. Within the last year, he’s competed in shotgun, rifle and pistol events including the National Defense Match and the Bianchi Cup. He’ll be shooting the Bianchi, the NDM, the National High Power Rifle Championship, The Rock Castle AR15.com Three Gun Championship and an undetermined sniper match this shooting season.
He lives in High Point, North Carolina with his wife Cherie who’s also an outdoor writer and the 2006 and 2011 Northeast Side by Side Women’s Shotgun Champion. Both Dick and Cherie are NRA pistol, rifle, and shotgun instructors and own Lewis Creek Shooting School.
