Energizer Hard Case Tactical Helmet Light

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Written by JT McAvoy

When most people hear that Energizer makes tactical lights they laugh.  I have to admit the idea was intriguing so I approached the idea with skeptical optimism.  When I received the Tactical Helmet Light I remember thinking that it felt like was going to break the thing.  However as the old saying goes dynamite comes in small packages.

The Energizer Tactical Helmet Light is small too.  It is 3” long, 1.5” wide and is only 3.5 ounces.  For its size though it packs quite a punch.  There are four light modes with 3 different types of lights.  There is a high intensity White LED that puts out 35 lumens on high, a Blue LED that is very useful especially for medical applications. Both of these have three different intensity settings. There is also and IR (infra-red) that is used for or in conjunction with night vision optics.  There is also an IR strobe that flashes on the side of the light for the IFF (identify-Friend or Foe) feature, with the blink rate being two per second.  Energizer also has Smart Switch Technology built into the lights.  This gives it a quick-out feature for sudden situations in which you need to become less than visible.  The IR lights have a lockout mode that prevents the other LEDs from operating, this prevents “Light NDs”.

The Helmet Light also comes with two different types of mounts.  The light mounts to either side of helmet with a standard screwdriver and can be rotated in 18-degree increments and locked into place.  There is also a plastic mount that is hard to describe so I suggest you looking at the pictures of it.  This mount attaches to any MOLLE point and with a little imagination can be attached to most anything I have found and be fairly secure.  It will also mount to a Pickatinny system as well, this has some pretty cool uses as well. 

The Energizer Hard Case Tactical Helmet Light also comes with Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries.  This provides the maximum amount of runtime.  It also lightens the light by 33% and is extremely reliable in most environments on the planet save the Arctic or Antarctica.  It also has a 15 year shelf life so long storage and extreme intermittent use.

During the initial testing of this light i found that I wanted to baby it.  This was very unnecessary though as the Hard Case does live up to its name.  The light is supposed to be waterproof to 15 ft, I took it however to 25 with no problem at all.  This is not recommend but it can be done in a pinch.  It is supposed to be able to survive at least a 10 ft fall under normal conditions.  While I did not stand on a building and try this, I will say it was hit and dropped a lot.  It as slammed between things such as cases and aircraft doors and various other things.  The light even if it cut off always came back on. 

It was also tested outside in a “jungle type” environment for an extended period of time.  During the extended op it held up to the environment flawlessly.  So I decided to take it a step further.  So in the training area I decided to simulate dropping the light on the ground, it getting stepped on and then left in the environment for a month.  I left the light on and carefully marked the position with the GPS.  A month later I returned to retrieve it, after a few hours of searching I finally found it.  The Helmet Light looked pretty rough.  It was half buried in the dirt, covered in mud, and had obviously been stepped on by people other than me.  I have been unable to prove it as of right now but I have reason to believe that it had been run over by some type of vehicle as well.  I washed the light off with some water, dried it, replaced the battery and the light cut on.  All of the features worked just like the day I took it out of the box.

There was nothing that I really did not like about the light however there were a few things that I found interesting.  The first thing is the helmet mount is part plastic and part metal and clips secure to the light.  This allows the light not to pop out of the mount under stress.  The MOLLE mount though is all plastic and relies on a plastic part of the light to secure it in there.  I am sure this saves a little bit of weight but it also means that the light can be knocked out of the mount.  This is one reason I did the “lost light” test.  I would say the MOLLE mount needs to be looked at again and maybe some parts replaced with metal ones.  Another interesting thing that I found involves static electricity.  It you build up enough static electricity and manage to shock the light or the metal mount on the light it kills the light.  Now let me be clear on what I mean by kills it.  It makes the light stop working but does not do any permanent damage to it.  If you take the back battery cap off and then screw it back on the light works fine once again.  This is an interesting problem that happened a few times but is not easily reproduced and does not always happen.  At the writing of this it is my understanding that Energizer R&D is taking a look at this problem.  Also the Helmet Light mount is made for tactical and semi-tactical helmets only.  I could not find a way to make this mount fit to a flight helmet.  There are other ways that you can do it but that would be awesome if energizer would either take this in to account and remake the mount or make a separate mount that is an option to buy with or without the light.

Over I was very impressed with this light.  For its size and power source it packs quite a punch.  It is as tough and rugged it not more than any light I have seen or owned.  It was small, powerful, convenient, and has a lot of useful features.  I have not found anything quite like it on the market at this time.  The Hard Case Tactical Helmet Light has an MSRP of $135.  In reality though I have fount it listed anywhere from $93 all the way to $125.  This sounds pretty steep for such a little light and I have to admit that I would see the price and think twice about it.  Trust me when I say though that for as tough as the light is, the fact it comes with two mounting clips, and the ton of features that this light has it is a bargain even on the high end of the price range.  So if you are looking for a small additional hands free light that is worth the money the Energizer Hard Case Tactical Helmet Light would be my recommendation.