Streamlight’s Wedge Brings Pocketknife Versatility to Flashlights

You never know when you might need a flashlight.

Which is the idea behind low-powered keychain devices as well as battery-powered penlights that can fit in a pocket. The catch is that many of them aren’t very durable, and you never know how long the batteries are going to last.

Streamlight, a leading high-performance light supplier, addresses those flaws and more with the Wedge, a line of everyday carry—or EDC—lights with a thin, flat compact design that enables it to go almost anywhere you do as well as a USB-C port for charging.

Waterproof and made of anodized aluminum, the light “has a shape and feel similar to a pocketknife,” says Aaron Freund, director of sales for Streamlight’s industrial and fire divisions. “It’s a compact flashlight that you’re going to be able to grab and go, using it to illuminate any sort of situation, whether you’re examining a CNC machine or inspecting the ceiling for a leak.”

Everyday carry lights can be an important tool in reducing workplace accidents and deaths, especially those attributable to slips and falls, experts say. The number of preventable deaths in U.S. businesses climbed 5 percent to 4,695 in 2022, according to the National Safety Council, while injuries that required medical consultation totaled 4.53 million.

Already, many companies are working to reduce those numbers, in part by encouraging employee participation in safety initiatives.

Some of them, in fact, have begun buying Wedge flashlights with their company logo to use as awards rather than traditional plaques and medals.

The original Wedge provides 300 lumens of light, roughly three times the capability of the two AAA batteries in a typical penlight, for up to three hours of continuous operation. It has a beam distance of 69 meters (about 226 feet) and can deliver a 35-second burst of 1,000 lumens in THRO (temporarily heightened regulated output) mode.

That’s a more focused light than the diffuse illumination of a smartphone flashlight, which people regularly carry with them but often find to be incapable of brightly pinpointing specific areas.

“The Wedge allows you to have usable light that’s focused,” Freund explains. “We think of the smartphone as doing everything, from taking photos to handling email and anything in between, but it’s not always a sufficient flashlight. You need to have the right light for the right application and the right job.”

Streamlight introduced an even smaller version of the Wedge in 2023. The Wedge XT is 4.25 inches long, about an inch shorter than the original, and offers up to 500 lumens for two hours on a high setting and 50 lumens for 11 hours on a low setting.

No More Stockpiling Flashlight Batteries

Rather than the Wedge’s toggle switch, the Wedge XT features a tail switch that gives users tactile control of the momentary or constant-on modes, Streamlight says. A Five-Tap lockout feature prevents the flashlight from being turned on accidentally inside a pocket or bag.

The Wedge has won avid fans among recreational users, nabbing a 2024 “Best Overall” rating for everyday carry lights from Field & Stream magazine, and it has even more applications in industrial settings, Freund says.

“Workers in many plants and facilities carry flashlights all the time in case they experience a power outage, have to work in a dark area or need to inspect something,” he adds.

The Wedge is the ideal tool for those versatile demands because it’s durable and waterproof, Freund says, plus it “fits nicely in a shirt pocket, pants pocket or a tool bag.”

Rechargeability, which adds to that convenience, is an increasingly desirable option for flashlights since it eliminates the need for stockpiling batteries.

“For a long time, people were apprehensive about rechargeable flashlights, but now that we live in a world where we’re plugging in our smartphones, computers, tablets and other items, people are far more comfortable with a flashlight that uses a USB-C recharging base,” Freund says. “It fits easily into their daily routine.”

How do you use everyday carry lights in your workplace? Tell us in the comments below.