Streamlight 14034 Sidewinder Aviation Flashlight with White, Green, Blue, IR LED and Batteries, Coyote

Pros:Sturdy and well made. What you'd expect (actual mil-spec quality) for the price. Took it surf casting in heavy weather and the weatherproofing was impressive. No moisture was evident on the interior.Cons:The articulating head doesn't pan downward as far as I'd like. When attached to my chest I found myself having to hold whatever I was working on higher than I wanted.The IR light function does not work as a "flashlight" when used with NVG's but rather a signaling LED.Overall I'm happy with my purchase and would recommend it to anyone looking for a durable, dependable, compact light.

Ordered this one as my previous military one died. However, this one is the aviation version, and does not include Red light if you need that. I'll still use it and will probably get their smaller model for the red light, since I always lose my lights during training.Reliable, and if you get the helmet mount, it is great. Better than stretching a headlamp over your helmet.

I received my Sidewinder today. Overall, this appears to be great quality and design. I like how it's small and light, you can hold it in your hand, mount it to your belt if you want to see a trail without having to risk shining a friend in the eyes as you would with a headlamp, or you can even mount it to the brim of a hat (it is certainly small and light enough for this). Let me get to my one "buyer be advised" issue (this is not a quality issue, just an application that people may not understand). There are three model/versions of this sidewinder light--the military tactical, the aviation tactical, and the sportsman tactical. I ordered the aviation version because I preferred how the military and aviation models start off (when you first flip it on) on the lowest of the four power settings of each LED bulb, and toggles up to the highest power setting. The sportsman model, on the other hand, is the opposite (it starts on the highest power and toggles to the lowest). I do not understand why Streamlight did this. I'm a hunter and I prefer the starting power setting to be the lowest, and have the option to toggle up to the highest setting. My reasoning is because you turn your light on, and if it's enough light, why use more power? If it's not enough light, then toggle up to your desired power. Nonetheless, I'm returning the Aviation model for the Sportsman model because the IR bulb (Infra Red) is invisible to the human eye! Apparently this is common knowledge, but I did not know this. I just thought it would be similar to a normal LED red bulb (stupid assumption of mine). Infrared bulbs, are, however, visible with night vision optics (goggles, scope, or camera). With the Sportsman model, I will have the bright C4 white light, blue, green and red; however, I will not be able to start each time with the lowest setting and toggle up to the higher power settings--rather, I am going to simply have to get used to toggling the power down each time I turn it on. Because I found this light to be of such good quality (this is just from playing with it and observing it's construction, I haven't field tested this yet), I don't mind this slight glitch that very well may just be by virtue of my own personal quirk. So, the crux of my review, aside from noting that this is a very fine, well-built light, is so purchasers don't make the same mistake I did regarding the IR bulb. If you reason with yourself that you don't mind just having an IR bulb you don't use (because you can't see it), just be advised that you may leave the IR bulb on and not know about it (because you can't see it on) and drain your batteries (but, apparently Streamlight took this into consideration, as the knob to toggle between bulbs has a nub where the IR bulb setting is to prevent this mistake). Overall, as mentioned, this product appears to be great quality, design and applications--just be advised, if you get those Aviation or Military models because you like how the power level toggles down to up, you'll possibly have one bulb (the IR bulb) that may not have any application whatsoever.

What a great utility light. Press the side button and the light increases and decreases. Super bright!

Works great early in the morning or at night when I need to do my preflight check. I like blue and green light for inflight when I'm reading charts. The IR is useless for me. Overall, gets the job done.