PMCI - September 2021

pmcimagazine.com
KIT: ASP RAPTOR DF
from leading flashlight companies began to discuss the need
for an industry trade organization. This led to the creation of
the Portable Lights American Trade Organization, or PLATO. The
consortium now has approximately 36 members, representing
a wide variety of manufacturers such as Energizer, Coleman,
Streamlight, SureFire, and of course ASP.
In 2016, PLATO celebrated a huge achievement in that they
developed and released the revised ANSI/PLATO FL 1 Standard,
to promote quality, accuracy and packaging transparency.
This standard was again updated in 2019, and is regularly
reviewed and updated as technology evolves. This shows PLATO
members’ commitment to aligning accurate product claims
with actual performance metrics. Through voluntary in-house
and third-party testing, PLATO provides self-governance and
industry oversight.
Let’s light it up now that we have learned about the
standards and how ASP has gone above and beyond it in order
to bring quality products to the field. As I mentioned earlier,
I was pretty excited to have the opportunity to put this light
through some testing and see how it did in comparison to some
of my other lights, to include other ASP lights that I have carried
and still carry today.
What I like about the Raptor DF and other flashlights that
are being designed for the Law Enforcement/ Security/ Tactical
world is that they incorporated the light activation switch on the
tail cap, which makes life a lot easier when having to deploy the
flashlight with a firearm. With the Raptor DF, the user presses
the tail cap switch once to activate the primary/high setting.
By double tapping the switch, the user can then activate the
user-programmed alternate level. I thought this was ingenious
and as the first test I did with this flashlight is to see just how
easy it was to program the alternate level. ASP prides itself on
innovation and ease of use, so I figured “let’s see.”
I was rather impressed at the ease in which this task can
be accomplished, the directions were clear, concise, and the
application of the instruction was painless. A user simply has to
twist the bezel open to activate the programming mode. When
you open the bezel, you will see a gray selector button, the
charging port, and battery indicator levels. You simply press the
selector switch to pick which of the 3 alternate levels that you’d
like to use, which will be user/ mission specific as to which
you’d like. Then you close the bezel to lock in your selection, it is
just that easy. The tail cap has a 3-position twist selector which
allows activation in intermittent or constant-on modes or switch
it to lockout in order to avoid accidental battery drain.
I carried an ASP
Turbo CR for years which
is approximately 900
lumens and has about
an hour run time and
used CR123A batteries.
This light was my every
day carry for about 5
years before I retired. It
is slightly smaller than
the Raptor DF and had a
few less functions as well
as not being as bright.
I compared these two
lights side by side and
it was easy to see how
ASP continues to improve
and upgrade their lights.
Although the Raptor DF is
about 4 ounces heavier,
I did not mind it as the
balance of light feels good in your hand.
TRUE PERFORMANCE
When it comes to performance, the Raptor DF lasted longer than
the Turbo by over 45 minutes. I charged the Raptor fully and
placed new batteries into my Turbo and activated them on their
highest settings. The Turbo made it to just over an hour where
the Raptor gave me about 1.75 hours, which was slightly over
the manufacturer’s runtime of 1.5 hours. I did notice that the
Raptor became quite hot which is typical for constant running of
a light. I did not notice however a significant drop in brightness,
either before or after the 30 second mark of the FL 1 standard.
I don’t have any type of equipment however to say what
the output may have dropped to; I will say though it was over
an hour with the Raptor before I noticed any type of dimming
and even in the case where it dimmed. The light was still a
bright clean white light.
After charging the Raptor DF again, it was time to take it
to the range and go through some firing positions and low
light shooting. For those that don’t use a weapon mounted
light, I will say the Raptor DF should be in your bag as your
everyday carry or if you do carry a weapon mounted light, this
light should be your backup light. On the primary setting 1900
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