strobe vs non-strobe light for HD

[platoonDaddy]

Looking at the Streamlight TLR series and was wondering what is the advantages of strobe vs non-strobe?

I want to mount light to my HD shotgun via a 1913 picatinny rail.

[Brimstone]

Besides the disorienting effect of a strobe, it tends to disguise your location more than a solid beam coming from your firearm. The price difference is negligible, so given the choice I would opt for the strobe version. You may never need it or use it, but it is an option that may work in certain situations.

[JohnnyC]

Read the thread about strobes being gimmicks or not. The general consensus is that it's a gimmick outside of some very narrow circumstances, an as a self defense weapon mounted light it's not a feature worth having.

[uwe1]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the strobe version a little brighter? Or, are both the same brightness now?

I just bought another of the strobe version, because I thought it was brighter than the non-strobe, and turned off the strobe.

[ricksterr]

I think having a strobe mode is gimmicky, especially if you're forced to cycle through it to turn the light on/off. I much rather have a tailcap button with momentary on and off only as I can strobe voluntarily if I have to.

[NCPatrolAR]

I was on the strobe bandwagon at first. After getting time with one (and still having one issued to me) I no longer see the need in one for 99% of the time that illumination is needed.

[JSantoro]

I think having a strobe mode is gimmicky, especially if you're forced to cycle through it to turn the light on/off.

Emphasis mine. I think that's the rub. Not so much good/bad, but "is it worth an extra control feature you need to futz with under stress?" I don't think so, but I also think that describing it as a "gimmick" is a bridge too far.

RE: brighter in pulse mode....shouldn't be, that's more of an interpretive effect in your head.

Lasers in repetitive-pulse mode = totally different story, but we're not talking lasers.

[d90king]

I was on the strobe bandwagon at first. After getting time with one (and still having one issued to me) I no longer see the need in one for 99% of the time that illumination is needed.

What were your thought on its ability to help mask your precise position in a CQB or in clearing scenarios.

My understanding is that Southnarc does a demo that is pretty impressive.

I have always thought they were a bit gimmicky, but I'm starting to hear a few positive points about them that make sense in certain roles.

[Cesiumsponge]

My opinion: strobe sucks. Especially true on multi-mode lights. If you've ever had to use short bursts of light to illuminate areas or keep your on times short and move so you aren't a lighthouse (light discipline), you invariably cycle in the multimode features and inadvertently activate alternative modes. I'm hating the multimode "tactical" lights now. Surefire 618 still works swell on my 870.

[Jim D]

My take on things was that a handheld strobe with simple activation (no double taps and BS) was really effective for hunting. I didn't believe it until I saw it, but SouthNarc showed a pretty good way to use it to mask location while hunting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgZzVjhodrk

On a weaponlight, I have no desire for it, and I think the Streamlight "double tap to strobe" activation is awful. I dropped my Streamlight PT1L in favor of a 4Sevens Quark because of the switching difference alone. Trying to double tap it every time I wanted to flashbulb an area while searching was a complete PITA.

The TLR-1s IS brighter than the non "S" version in regular output, they use different lamps in them. The trouble is that a number of people have had problems with repeated recoil simulating some "lock out" procedure for enabling or disabling the strobe (something about doing something 10x in a row to program it somehow). A search here should turn up mention of that issue.

For that reason alone, I'd NOT get the TLR-1s, even though it's brighter.

In a hand held, with straight forward access to the strobe, I'm a fan. On a WML or with crappy access to it, I think it's next to useless.