A Pen Light That Has to Earn the Pocket: Four Questions, and Where the TA22 Fits
Most lights are bought for the job. A pen light is bought for the pocket it will live in — and that is a different specification entirely.
The TA22 is 850 lumens, 95 metres, and the thickness of a marker pen. It is not trying to be the light you clear a building with. It is trying to be the light that is already in your shirt pocket when the panel needs reading, the serial number needs finding, or the power goes out mid-task.
Four questions decide whether that shape of light earns its place. Below is each one, then where the TA22 lands.
The pocket problem, again
A pen light solves a specific failure: the good light is in the truck.
That failure is more common than it should be, and it is not a discipline problem. A full-size duty light is 150 to 180 g and 140 mm long; nobody carries that into a meeting, a service call, or a hospital corridor. So it stays in the vehicle, and the work gets done with a phone torch.
The TA22 exists to occupy the slot between "phone" and "duty light". The question is whether your work has that slot.
Question 1 — Is this your only light, or your always-light?
Be specific about which job it has.
If it is your only light, 850 lumens and 95 metres is a real compromise. It will light a room, a panel, a vehicle interior or a path; it will not search a yard or punch through ambient light at distance.
If it is your always light — the one that is on you when the main light is somewhere else — then 850 lumens is not a compromise at all. It is a large amount of light from something you forgot you were carrying, and the 95-metre beam is enough to walk out of a dark building with.
The mistake to avoid is buying it as a primary duty light because it is easy to carry. Easy to carry is not the same as enough.
Question 2 — Will you always be near a charger?
This is the argument that separates the TA22 from most pen lights, and it is a working argument rather than a spec-sheet one.
The light runs on either the included 10,880 rechargeable cell or two AAA batteries. That means the failure mode changes. A light with a built-in cell and no cable is a dead light; a light that takes two AAA cells can be revived at a petrol station, a front desk, a first-aid kit or the bottom of your own bag.
NEXTORCH lists the dual-fuel capability but does not publish a per-cell runtime table on the product page, so treat the rechargeable pack as the working power source and the AAA path as the insurance. Insurance is the point: it is the difference between a light that is out of service until you get back to a charger and one that keeps working.
If you already standardise on AAA for other kit, this is the pen light that fits that decision instead of fighting it.
Question 3 — Can you change modes with one hand, in gloves?
Small lights usually fail here. A tail clicker on a 15 mm body is a two-handed operation once your hands are cold or gloved, and a side switch the size of a grain of rice is worse.
The TA22 uses a rotating dial instead: Tactical, Duty, Lockout, selected by turning a collar at the tail with a thumb. No clicks to count, no menu, and the position is visible at a glance in the dark because the dial has detents you can feel.
Lockout matters more on a pen light than on a duty light, because a pen light lives loose in a pocket next to keys and pens. A light that switches itself on in a bag is a light with a flat battery when you need it.
Question 4 — Would you trust it in an emergency?
A pen light is a tool of small moments until it isn't. The window that will not open, the seatbelt that will not release, the door that closed behind you.
The TA22's bezel carries high-hardness nano-ceramic strike tips set into stainless steel — the same approach NEXTORCH uses on its full-size duty lights, scaled down. It is rated IPX8 to 2 metres and 2 metres of impact resistance, in an aircraft-grade aluminium body.
That does not make it a breaching tool. It makes it a light you would still reach for if the situation escalated, which is a different and more useful claim.
Where the TA22 answers them
| Question | How the TA22 answers it |
|---|---|
| 1. Only light, or always light? | Always light. 850 lm, 95 m, marker-pen body with a steel pocket clip. |
| 2. Near a charger? | Not necessarily. Dual fuel: included 10,880 rechargeable pack, or 2 × AAA. |
| 3. One hand, in gloves? | Magnetic-style rotary dial for Tactical / Duty / Lockout. Detents you can feel, no click counting. |
| 4. Emergency? | Nano-ceramic strike tips in a stainless bezel, IPX8 to 2 m, 2 m impact resistance. |
Around that core: one-step strobe for defensive use, a body slim enough for a shirt pocket or a MOLLE webbing slot, and a clip that holds it bezel-down without tearing the pocket.
What the TA22 does not do
It is not a search light. 95 metres is a corridor and a car park, not a field. If you need to identify someone at distance, this is the wrong tool and the TA30D MAX is the right one.
The headline number is the top mode. 850 lumens is the maximum; the duty levels you will actually work in are lower, and NEXTORCH does not publish a full per-mode runtime table on this page. Ask if the numbers matter to your purchasing decision.
It is small in the hand. That is the point, and it is also the limitation: a short body gives you less to hold onto under recoil, in the rain, or with gloves. The clip and the dial help; they do not turn it into a full-size grip.
The AAA path is insurance, not parity. Two alkaline cells are there to get you home. Do not plan a shift around them.
If one of those answers was "no"
TA21 — $89.99. A compact round light at 1,300 lumens and 160 metres, with white and red light in one body and NEXTORCH's one-step strobe tail switch. The step up when a pen light is not enough but a full-size light is too much.
TA70 — $119.99. Flat, 18.7 mm, 3,500 lumens of tactical burst at 220 metres. If the light has to be carried in a pocket or vest and the work is close to mid-range, this is the pocket light with real output behind it.
TA30D MAX — $137.99. 2,200 lumens, 410 metres, a swappable 18650 and a thermal buffer that holds High mode. The light for distance, carried on a belt.
| TA22 | TA21 | TA70 | TA30D MAX | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $69.99 | $89.99 | $119.99 | $137.99 |
| Max output | 850 lm | 1,300 lm | 3,500 lm (Tactical burst) | 2,200 lm |
| Beam distance | 95 m | 160 m | 220 m | 410 m |
| Battery | 10,880 pack or 2 × AAA | USB-C pack or CR123A | Built-in 1,400 mAh, USB-C | 1 × 18650, swappable |
| Water / impact | IPX8 (2 m) · 2 m | IPX8 · 2 m | IP67 · 2 m | IPX8 (3 m) · 3 m |
| Controls | Magnetic rotary dial | One-step strobe tail switch | Paddle + TAC/DUTY/LOCK dial | Magnetic dual-stage + ring |
| Best for | Shirt pocket, inspections | Compact round with red | Flat pocket carry | Long throw on a belt |
Rough rule: shirt pocket → TA22. Small but serious → TA21. Flat pocket with burst → TA70. Distance → TA30D MAX.
Who the TA22 is for
- Inspection and maintenance work. Panel schedules, serial plates, engine bays, ceiling voids — the light you hold in your teeth-and-thumb while the other hand works.
- Medical and care settings. Gown pockets and lanyard loops; a light that does not read as a weapon.
- Anyone whose main light lives in a vehicle. This is the one that is actually on you.
- AAA standardisers. If your kit already runs on AAA, this is the pen light that agrees with you.
When it is the wrong light
- You need it as a primary duty light. 850 lumens and 95 metres will not answer a distance question.
- You need long high-output runs. Small body, small cell; the top mode is a burst.
- You work in heavy gloves all shift. A pen body is hard to hold when your hands are thick.
- You want one light for everything. This is a second light, by design.
Three habits that make it work
Keep it in the pocket you actually use, not the one that looks tidy. A pen light in a bag pocket is a pen light you will not have. Shirt pocket or trouser pocket, bezel-down.
Set the dial to LOCK when it goes in the pocket. The dial is there so this is one thumb movement, not a decision.
Charge the pack on the same schedule as your phone. If you keep the pack topped, the AAA cells stay what they should be: an emergency reserve that is still full when you need it.
The short version
The TA22 is not a smaller version of a duty light; it is a different tool with a different job. 850 lumens and 95 metres, in a body that disappears into a shirt pocket, with dual fuel so it does not need a cable to stay alive and a dial you can work with a cold thumb.
Buy it as the light that is always there. If you need the light that does the work, step up to the TA21 or the TA70 and keep this one in the pocket anyway.