How to carry an EDC flashlight

Most people who buy an EDC flashlight stop carrying it within a month. The light is not the problem; the carry method is. A light that prints through a pocket, snags on a seat belt or sits at the bottom of a bag will be left at home.

Clip orientation, and why it is the whole argument

Two conventions exist and they are not interchangeable.

• Bezel-down (head at the bottom). The tail switch sits at the pocket opening. You draw and the light is already the right way up in your hand. Most tactical lights ship this way.
• Bezel-up (head at the top). The head is exposed at the pocket opening, which allows using the light without drawing it fully. Common on keychain and small side-switch lights.

Bezel-down is the better default for a light with a tail switch, because the draw and the grip are one motion. Bezel-up is better for a light with a side switch. Reversible clips let you choose, and a light that ships with one is telling you it was designed by someone who carries a light.

Deep carry or standard

A deep-carry clip puts almost the whole light inside the pocket, leaving a small tab visible. It is less obtrusive and less likely to catch. A standard clip leaves the tail proud, which makes the draw faster and the light more likely to be noticed and to snag.

For daily civilian carry, deep carry is almost always the right answer. The half-second the standard clip saves is worth less than not catching the light on a car door for the hundredth time.

Which pocket

The bottom row is the one that catches people. A light in a bag is a light you do not have when you step out of a building into an unlit car park, which is exactly the moment it exists for.

Size is the real constraint

Roughly 110 millimeters is the length above which a light stops being comfortable in a front trouser pocket for most people. That is why the 16340 format exists despite holding a quarter of an 18650's energy, and why the Fenix E18R V2.0 gets carried while a PD36R Pro sits in a bag.

If you want both, carry both: a small light clipped and a bigger one in a bag or on a belt. It is a more honest solution than pretending a 21700 light is pocketable.

Lockout, and why you want it

A light that switches itself on in a pocket is dangerous as well as annoying. A 1,000-lumen emitter in an enclosed pocket gets genuinely hot, and it will be flat when you need it.

Two mechanisms exist: an electronic lockout, usually a double or triple click, and a mechanical lockout where you loosen the tail cap a quarter turn to break the circuit. The mechanical one is more reliable and works on any light with a threaded tail. Use one of them.

Lanyards

A lanyard is worth more than it looks on any light you use over water, at height or with gloves. It costs nothing, weighs nothing, and it is the difference between dropping a light and losing one. Most lights ship with an attachment point and no lanyard; a short loop of cord is enough.