I have to say, I usually am quite skeptical when I see the word “tactical” anywhere, like a “tactical”… cigarette-lighter??, but the TM30 is actually geared towards “tactical” use, vs usual EDC (everyday carry) lights. That said, the TM30 actually comes across as “tactical”.
Just opening up the blown-poly carrying-case, you have the foam inserts that hold everything: the light, two (2) cells, charging cable, lanyard, charger, extra O-rings, holster, probably something else that I’m forgetting. But you’re all set, no need to buy anything else. And having 2 cells is a nice touch. Have the second one charged and ready to go if you run down the first no waiting.
First, the holster. Very nice! Stitching is perfect, material seems top-notch, and enough room to carry the light lens-up or lens-down. That’s a first that I’ve seen, with wider-head lights (vs tubelights). It also has a dual system for simple belt-carry or Molle system (with snap). Nice!
The charger is quite nice, but has a glitch, at least on mine. Being able to quick-check the battery level with the 4 LEDs can come in handy, at least for a ballpark idea how much juice a cell has left. A quick press on the side-button lights up 1-4 LEDs as a quick “gas gauge”. The glitch? The slider. It pushes back easily when done parallel to the slider, but when pushed at an angle, eg, with the negative end of the cell, it binds tightly and won’t slide back. I had to push it all the way back with my finger and then put the cell into position. Kinda clumsy in practice, but I’m hoping it was only mine and isn’t common to all chargers.
The light itself has flawless ano, a nice semigloss black. No nicks or bare spots anywhere. I hate clips, so I immediately removed this one, so can’t really comment on it. Also, I hate “tactical rings”, but removing mine leaves a small gap between tailcap and battery-tube, so I put it back. I generally hate lanyards too, as they just get in the way, so again I removed mine. I just want a simple bare light, no “flashlight bling” at all. But, hey, people like them and use them, so go crazy. They work, no complaints.
I can see purple coming off the front glass, telling me it’s AR-coated (anti-reflection, better light transmission). A really nice orange-peel reflector gets rid of any artifacts and smooths out the beam, and I’m a fan of OP reflectors, so yay! No greening of the beam because of the AR-coating, either!
There are two switches on the light, a tailswitch at the end (on/off), and a selector switch on the side of the tailcap, the first I’ve seen. That’s perfect for me and anyone else who holds the light “icepick” style, or if you use the blasted “tactical ring” by holding the light “cigar style”.
With the light off, pressing the selector switch immediately goes into strobe. I know, I know, I hate strobe, too, but for a tactical light, if you want to annoy your target to death, use the strobe. It’s there, even from off. Revel in it.
With the light on, pressing the side-switch changes modes, 4 levels, from “turbo”, to high, medium, low. I’d personally tweak the mode-spacing, as turbo and high are very close in brightness, and low can always be lower. But turbo is, as I mentioned, hella bright.
Tint is on the cool side, 6500K if I had to guess. I prefer warmer, but cooler tints usually provide more brightness vs warmer tints, so the aim being Massive Light Output™, Odepro went with cool-white, which is understandable.
So, to quickly wrap up…
Pros: it’s hella bright, everything is included, two cells vs one or none, nice “gas gauge“ on the charger even without needing external power, top-notch holster, instant access to strobe if/when you want it, built like a tank, and even looks pretty, really handy-dandy carrying case.
Cons: binding slider on the charger, mode-spacing could be more evenly spaced, tint could be at least neutral- instead of cool-white, tac-ring isn’t removable without leaving a gap.
All in all, it’s The Whole Package™. Nicely thought-out, it does the job and does it well, and as long as you keep in mind that it’s a tactical light vs everyday-carry, it ticks all the boxes.
Nicely done!
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