Your Tan Isn’t FDE

Longtime Truth About Guns reviewer Mike Hardesty has been running HiLight Tactical lights for years, never a failure. When we sent him our new Cerakote FDE finish alongside the old anodized tan, he put them side by side. This is what he found.

The Color That Took Two Years to Get Right

Anodized tan and Cerakote FDE look similar in product photos. They’re not the same material, and they don’t behave the same way on a platform. Anodized tan dyes into an aluminum oxide layer, which means it only covers aluminum, and it approximates earth tones rather than matching them. Cerakote FDE is formulated to a specific color standard and applies uniformly across aluminum, polymer, and steel simultaneously.

The moment you put both finishes next to each other on a real platform, the gap is visible. That’s exactly what Mike’s photos show. True FDE isn’t close to tan. It’s a different finish built to a different standard and getting it right took longer than expected because close wasn’t good enough.

What the Review Actually Covers

Mike received both the Enforcer series and Peak Performance series in anodized tan and new Cerakote FDE, plus the M20 handheld flashlight. Three things stood out across the review beyond the finish upgrade.

First, the laser colors. He’d never encountered a bright cyan or purple laser before his first HiLight sample — and once you’ve run them, standard green-and-red options feel incomplete. Second, the platform architecture: the Enforcer puts one laser directly into the white light bezel for the narrowest possible footprint, while the Peak Performance runs two lasers beneath the body for dual-color capability. Both use sealed magnetic charging and a 700-lumen white light. Third, and the reason Mike keeps coming back, the price. Full dual-laser combos at $60–$100, with no failures across years of real use.

The M20 — A Flashlight From a Weapon Light Company

Mike also reviewed the M20 handheld: 1,000 lumens, 234-meter throw, three brightness levels, dedicated strobe, waterproof to 2 meters, and currently on closeout at $20. His take was straightforward, it’s the best deal he knows of in a carry flashlight. A weapon light company’s quality standard applied to a handheld, at a closeout price.