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7/29/2019 First Light USA Tomahawk NV

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FOG HORN 2013Twobirds Flying Publication

Copyright 2013, Towbirds Flying Publication. All Rights Reserved.

First Light USA Tomahawk NV

By: Sal Palma

First Light U.S.A. was established in 2004

and incorporated under the laws of the

State of Illinois. If the recesses of my mind

serve me well, The Companys first product

offering was its Liberator light. It was a

great concept, departing in significant ways

from Surefires finger ring approach, with

two important features. First, the Liberator

concept allowed full

use of both hands

while the light was in

use; there was no need to develop

specialized techniques for firing a weapon.

Secondly, the operator had complete

control of the lights features and functions

with his or her thumb.

For a bit of nostalgia, the Liberator also

featured 80 lumens of concentrated light -

remember the days when you first got your

hands on an 80 lumen tactical light? I

believe many of my colleagues, in the press,

described them as flamethrowers;


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First Light USA Tomahawk NV 2013

Copyright 2013, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved

certainly days gone by. The technology

available today is quite capable of

delivering 600+ lumens from a compact

handheld light or weapon mounted light. Be

that as it may, this was its beginnings, and

the first rung on a ladder of continuous

innovation and development.

The illumination products industry is highly

competitive and manufacturers must

differentiate themselves. In my mind, what

sets First Light USA apart from its

competitors is their purpose built approach

to product design.

Each of its illumination products is designed

with a purpose or role in mind. The

company does not produce a product with

features you adapt to; instead, they build

lights for specific application whether

tactical, medical, or what have you. First

Light USA will have a lighting product and

mounting arrangement to meet your

specific requirements.

In this review I take an in-depth look at the

Tomahawk NV with the Tactical Retention

System (TRS).

The United States Army has traditionally

relied on the MX-991/U L-shaped flashlight

as its principal soldier illumination tool.

Several years ago, the Army launched its

initiative to modernize its portfolio of

soldier lighting tools; to that end, PEO

Soldier identified a number of contractors

whose lighting products met their

modernization objectives. These suppliers

are approved for use Army wide.

First Light USA holds the number three spot

on a list of Whos Who in the military

lighting business.

This Family of Flashlights (FoF), currently inthe Army portfolio, consists of a Hands-Free

Helmet-Mounted Light (HFHL) capable of

attaching to the Advanced Combat Helmet

and the Modular Lightweight Load-carrying

Equipment (MOLLE) or the Interceptor Body

Armor (IBA), a Handheld Tactical Light

(HHTL), a Weapon Mountable

Light/Illuminator (WML) and a Crew Served

Weapons Light (CSWL).

The Tomahawk NV TRS fits a number of

roles in PEOs FoF. It also provides the same

L-shape configuration as found in the aging

MX-991, familiar to servicemen and

women, but this is where similarity ends.

The Tomahawk NV is a highly evolved

illumination tool capable of delivering 150+

lumens of white light in high power. The

reflector is skewed to the flood side of

things but still generates a reasonable hot

spot with large amounts of peripheral

lighting.


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The LED ring, which surrounds the primary

light LED, is available in a number of

configurations from the company: Blue/IR,

Blue/IR/Strobe, Red/Green/IR, Red/IR,

Red/IR/Strobe or Yellow-Green/IR.

Prior to starting on this review, I spoke with

Josh Harrell First Lights Military Account

Manager Eastern Region to get a handle on

the benefits of the various color

combinations. He explained a red/green

combination, for example, enhances blood

detection making it well suited to field

medics.

Figure 1

The injury shown in Figure 1 illustrates

Joshs point quite well; its no more than a

surface laceration but note how well the

area is illuminated and how well the

subcutaneous blood stands out. Had this

been a more severe trauma, possibly

arterial bleeding, the red/green light source

would help a medic, working in low light or

no light conditions, locate and clamp a

severed artery or perhaps even locate a

retracted blood vessel.

Tomahawks ring arrangement helps to

keep the light compact, and functions to

nicely flood the area being illuminated. So,

its a very well thought out task oriented

function.

My review sample was configured with a

Red/Green/IR ring. Interestingly enough, as

I worked through the review I kept asking

myself why the company provides a red

and green LED yet wont give you discrete

use of red, green as well as the red/green

mix?

I think the answer is no more complex than

theres a limit to what can be done with

three operator controls and still keep the

light easy to use.
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I suppose you can always add more

controls; however, broadly speaking,

increasing the number of controls, onanything, impacts ergonomics and ease of

use.

The Tomahawks functions and features are

all easily accessible through its 3 button

operator interface.

The light starts in one of two states, locked

or unlocked. In the locked condition, the

white light source is disabled; however, theoperator can still use the LED ring by simply

pressing the constant-on control (I/O) twice

in rapid succession. The action places the

LED ring in a constant on condition; you

can also change the LED rings brightness

level by depressing the cycle control.

By the way, the concept of a lockout

emerged prior to First Lights entry into the

market, and all of its competitors offered

lockout features requiring backing down the

tail cap. First Light was first on the block

with an electronic lockout, which is by far

the more elegant approach.

I suppose its

possible to forget

whether your light

is locked or

unlocked, so the

company providesa simple solution

to that dilemma. Pressing any one of the

controls in a locked condition will give you a

red lock indication. At this point Ill

reference a continuously flashing lock

indicator signposts a low battery condition.

Accessing the lights full functionality

involves unlocking it, which is easily done by

depressing the (I/O) and cycle controls

concurrently.


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If successful, youll see the lock indicator

change from red to green signifying the

light is now unlocked. While unlocked,

youll have access to its full set of features,

which includes momentary and constant on

illumination from all sources.

Operating the Tomahawk is surprisingly

simple given the number of features and

functions available. For example, from the

unlocked condition, click the (I/O) control

once and the LED ring illuminates. You can

then use the cycle control to set the desired

intensity. If you want to engage the LED ringmomentarily, simply press and release the

cycle control. In all cases, the light

remembers the last intensity setting for any

source and comes up at the last intensity

setting for the given source, so you dont

need to constantly cycle through low,

medium or high to get back where you

were! This feature is available for

everything except momentary use of thewhite light source and IR source. They both

come up in high intensity.

Mastering a product of this sophistication,

means spending quality time with its

operators manual. Theres no substitute for

that approach, if you want to derive full

benefit from this highly evolved illumination

tool. I strongly suggest it.

IR light is essential in any military flashlight.

I remember moving down the side of a hill

with my handy-dandy MX-991 and a poncho

over my head to maintain light discipline. I

dont miss it one iota!

The emergence of an IR LED was and still is

a significant technical achievement.

The lights IR feature is concentrated in the

LED ring.

IR is activated by pressing the (I/O) and

momentary controls simultaneously. Youll

need to hold those down for about 2

seconds. Youll know youre there when the

lock LED flashes red twice.

Before attempting to enable IR functions

make sure the light is in a locked condition.

Once in IR, all other light sources aredisabled.

To use momentary IR lighting, press the

momentary control; the IR source will light

in high power. To use IR continuous, press

the I/O control; at this point, youll be able

to control IR light intensity using the cycle

control. I found Tomahawks IR LEDs perfect

as a task light or navigation light.

The last IR feature is the strobe, which is an

IR beacon at one second intervals.

You can watch a short video clip of the IR

strobehere.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG2NP3TjZuU&feature=youtu.behttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG2NP3TjZuU&feature=youtu.behttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG2NP3TjZuU&feature=youtu.behttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG2NP3TjZuU&feature=youtu.be


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Ergonomics are truly exceptional. For

starters I really do like the L-shaped body, it

makes directing the light beam very natural.

Simply grasp the tube, insert your index

finger through the finger loop and use your

thumb to operate the light. It just does not

get any easier.

Operating the light with a gloved hand

offered no particular challenges.

In prior years First Light used a spring steel

clip on the battery housing to make possible

MOLLE attachment. Candidly, it worked

better as a belt clip than a MOLLE

attachment. The company overcame the

weakness when it introduced, late in 2012,

its TRS or Tactical Retention System, for the

Tomahawk lights.

The TRS attaches to PAL webbing using two

malice clips. The Tomahawk light then

mounts to the TRS which allows for a full

180 of articulation. Dismounting the light

entails you depress the retaining plunger,

which allows the light to slide in or out. The

TRS can be oriented vertically or

horizontally for total flexibility.

In addition to the MOLLE TRS, First Light

offers a belt mount and magnet mount

system. All of the TRS mounts MOLLE, Belt

and Magnet use the same light interface, so

the operator will experience a seamless

transition from vest to belt or vest to

magnet.

All things considered, one is hard-pressed

to find a mil-spec light as versatile and

robust as the First Light USA Tomahawk NV.

It performed brilliantly, no pun intended,

across its entire feature set. With the

addition of the TRS, the aggregate solution

leaves nothing to be desired.

-SP

Manufacturers Specifications
http://www.first-light-usa.com/sites/default/files/First-Light-USA-Tomahawk-Line_3.pdfhttp://www.first-light-usa.com/sites/default/files/First-Light-USA-Tomahawk-Line_3.pdfhttp://www.first-light-usa.com/sites/default/files/First-Light-USA-Tomahawk-Line_3.pdf