Looking for a High Power Flashlight? Pelican 7000 LED Flashlight Review

"We all walk in the dark and each of us must learn to turn on his or her own light." -Earl Nightingale

Flashlights are seemingly simple devices charged with a straightforward task of providing light on demand. The new Pelican 7000 LED flashlight is my favorite for three reasons: brightness, toughness, and size. Pelican says this pocket-sized flashlight puts out 602 lumens of intense LED light. In fact, this is the first tactical light from Pelican to break the 600 lumen output barrier. I don't have a way to test for lumens and frankly, I'm not sure what a lumen even is. But what I do know is that this flashlight is seriously bright. In fact, bright enough to be used for a spotlight. For some perspective, two other very impressive lights I've tested in the past (Inova XO3 and Streamlight Waypoint Spotlight) put out 200 and 300 maximum lumens each respectively. So the Pelican 7000 is indeed very bright.

Pelican 7000 LED Tactical Light

And it's perfect for use on a sailboat because it carries an IPX7 waterproof rating, meaning it can withstand being submerged to 3.25 feet for 30 minutes. While it does have an integral belt clip, I'd like to see a lanyard so I could keep it securely attached to my PFD during deck work. Build quality feels and looks excellent. The aluminum case and polycarbonate resin lens make this a durable yet very lightweight (5.6oz w/ batteries) pocket-sized (5.31" in length) light.


I suppose this is also a "smart" flashlight too since it has four programmable modes: high, medium, low, strobe. I'll probably just keep mine programmed to simply turn on in "high" mode with the single push button on the bottom of the flashlight. There's also a battery status mode to check how much juice you've got left, but accessing it requires an awkward sequence of half-presses of the button. Speaking of batteries, the Pelican 7000 LED is powered by two CR123 Lithium batteries. These aren't exactly cheap and possibly not always readily available in foreign ports, so you might consider switching to rechargeable CR123s depending on where you'll be cruising.

Programmable modes and the lack of a lanyard aside, if you seek a bright flashlight that's as tough as your crew, the Pelican 7000 is up to the task. This isn't your Harbor Freight or Dollar Store variety LED flashlight, so it shouldn't come as a shock that the Pelican will set you back ~$70.

Ready to get your own Pelican 7000?

Get it here on Amazon and support SFLF.

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