Recently, as of a few months ago, I decided that there wasn't much of a good reason to go through the fall, winter, and spring with just a handheld light on the pistol I am most likely to carry with me. I happened upon a picture posted by Sage Dynamics that was captioned "No excuses" and it showed a Glock 43 with a TLR-6 on it. I was confused at first and found that it had been out for a while, but with the more popular and expensive model actually having a laser on it as well. After much research and debate with myself, I decided to get it. If you have a single stack pistol, you may find that Streamlight has a model for your gun as well, and you may want to invest due to some of the information and reasons I am going to share with you here.
FEATURES
The TLR-6 has unique features that make it perfect for these small single stack pistols. First of all, the light is just as slim as the the pistols it attaches to and fits flush with the muzzle. That is pretty convenient for making holsters for it, but more on that later.
The one feature that may not be too popular with people is the fact that this light has buttons on either side as the on/off switches. You press and hold for temporary and quickly press and release for it to stay on. Many people prefer to push a lever down and have the button very close for one handed operation. I will talk about my experience with it later down the article.
A feature that many people appreciate, including myself is the fact that this light attaches and detaches easily. 3 screws with Allen key heads are needed and Streamlight includes an Allen key in the box as well as a set of batteries to start. After much practice, the batteries are still working for me after months by the way. There is also a latch at the bottom of the light that not only holds the batteries in, but is useful for holding the 2 light panel walls together, even if the screws come a little loose.
When you get a small light, it is only reasonable to understand that you are not going to get 1000 lumens or 60,000 candela. This light, with 2 new CR1/3N batteries, will be able to offer up to 100 lumens. That is still enough to make a positive identification of your target, and thankfully the light has a generous sized hotspot and a wide spill that drops off abruptly. Though, the light does spread out quite a bit and covers a wide area pretty well. The picture below is the pistol sitting on my little charcoal grill about 15ft/5yd from my garage. I measured the coverage to 14ft wide. As you can see, plenty of good coverage for positive ID even in the spill, back to 30ft/10yd. Over 25ft of coverage from the spill with a nicely diffused hotspot. Remember that these batteries are not even at their freshest, and are in fact probably closer to death than full charge. Luckily the batteries last a while, are easily available, and are not too expensive to stock up on.
HOLSTER OPTIONS
The fact is that weapon lights are being more popular, though the holster makers are not really up to speed on making the variety of accommodating holsters unless you are in the market for a trendy combo like the donkey dick X300 on a Glock 19X in an appendix rig that doesn't actually conceal. However, Alien Gear Holsters is the only manufacturer that makes a good holster for the TLR-6 with good retention options. I like the idea of having a weapon light and a holster, but I don't want a single attachment point holster that moves around. Many pure kydex holsters can't offer a solid lock retention on guns with a light attachment.
A hybrid holster like the Alien Gear can be adjusted just right and gives you long lasting comfort for all day carry, also, all I needed to do was send Alien Gear my old holsters and they upgraded me to the most current model with the shell for my pistol with the TLR-6, but for a small fee under $10. Mind you, this is just my opinion, but I like that it was inexpensive to get a good holster from a company that takes care of it's customers and appreciates feedback from their clients.
MY EXPERIENCES AND REALIZATIONS
I have harped on and on about the importance of putting in a snap cap and getting good practice in. I put on my holster often and conduct draw practice with this pistol/light configuration. One of the problems I often have with this configuration is reaching the light switch. I have found that the buttons are quite sensitive, and they have a nice cutout that helps guide your finger to the button. If I really reach with my trigger finger, I can barely touch the button and activate it with a light push. This works fine if I truly have only one hand to work with. In all my practice, the light screws have not come loose, and I intentionally left them lightly tensioned to prevent them getting stuck and to test them. They have passed so far after a few hundred rounds, but that could change after a thousand booms. The light has also not ceased to function after shooting hundreds of my stout reloads. That is good, but I wonder if that would change if this light were attached to the .40S&W version of the Shield. The .40S&W seems to be the enemy of the Streamlight TLR-7 weapon light, so that is a curiosity of mine since I might switch to a .40S&W Shield in the future.
I would say that I learned a few things while practicing on the range and in clearing close quarters. In my experience, this light is more of a secondary option right out of the holster. I would recommend starting out a close range engagement one handed using your handheld light due to the challenge I have had in reliably and quickly activating the weapon light. When you get a chance to go two-handed, you can activate the weapon light and stow the handheld. For clearing, I feel that the light controls can be used to acceptable affect. Though I am not a fan of momentary on since you are asking too much to hold the button down while firing these smaller pistols. Just turn on your light, search, and turn your light off before moving again. This will take long enough to justify constant on while conducting momentary searching, plus the simplicity of engagement if your activation of the light reveals a necessity to fire. But these are just examples of what I have discovered for myself from constant trial and error in my practiceroutine.
MY FINAL OPINION
I know that I am jumping the gun on calling this my final opinion since I intend to review this light down the road after a few battery changes and stress tests....once ammo is more available. Until then, this short term testing has left me feeling confident the TLR-6 is a good option for those who agree about the need for a weapon light in addition to your handheld data-collector. It is just easier to use a weapon light since it gives me the ability to solely concentrate on tactics and light usage. It complicates things when you have to juggle tactics, light usage, and handheld light position planning and implementation. The TLR-6 eliminates the extra burden, and therefore it is a no-brainer option that only adds to your preparedness and capability.
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