List the BEST/WORST flashlight purchases you have made.

[Dr. Tweedbucket]

Best:

Fenix PD35TAC ... super bright, 5 modes, looks great.

Worst:

Eagtac something or other ... it's not terrible, but I don't like the twisting the head at a certain speed to change modes


Really worst:

Ultra Fire 8 mode piece of crap from the DX store. 4 modes work randomly, you never know what you're going to get. Lens is foggy around the edges. There is dirt inside the lens.

Really really reallyreallyreally worst and even worse than that! :duh2:

Some cheesy, thin aluminum chinese thing I bought at a flea market for like $2 .... it has like 12 LEDs and maybe three of them still work and they actually suck light out of the air when you turn it on if it comes on at all

 

[wle]

best:
XTAR WK42 - great 16340/CR123 light, tiny, pushbutton, 3 bright levels, strobes hidden mostly
on ebay for like $18 free shipping from the xtarstore
it is my EDC
VERY small

worst:
about the only thing you can say for these is that they can be cheap
they are not always though
features sound great
the light is super cheap though
tiny LED, poor battery efficiency, flimsy focus mechanism..
they have a lot of brands
tell tale is the focus ring

 

[AMD64Blondie]

New best light I've bought: My Elzetta Charlie.

 

[H-Man]

Worst: NIMH cells that weren't eneloops.
Best: Eneloops.

Why? I couldn't ditch alkaleaks until I had cells that could be ready to run without having to charge the night before.


Didn't have high speed internet until late 2009 so I didn't have a chance to buy overpriced trash online before I found here and I didn't feel that the lights in store were worth what was being asked for them. Found a streamlight ultrastinger and bought the charger cradle for $10, that should count as my first real flashlight barring stealing the 3cell bulb out of my dad's coleman flashlight and putting it in a 4AA winnie-the-poo lantern that had NiCd cells in it when I was 5 (yes, it was bright, I tried that setup again a few years ago and it was bright until I left the light on lens down for 2 hours. Did I mention all plastic parts?

 

[puravida]

Best:
My Nitecore TM11 still impresses to this day. I love going on evening hikes with it and it became invaluable during a recent week long power outage.

Worst:
Although not awful, I no longer have much use for my Inova X5. It's slippery, doesn't tail stand, and is rather dim compared to the latest crop of lights. It offers a nice reminder of how far along flashlight tech has come along.

 

[jameykini]

Best: Zebralight SC600W or SC600W Mk II for working in tight quarters neutral tint is spot on with little to no glare coming back at you while providing a ton of useful floodlight in a really small package.
Best light that started the craze: Gladius Night Ops, that I bought for $200.00 when it first came out. Still have it, modded it once several years back but it's a shelf queen.

Worst purchase recently, Army Tek, Doberman ugly hot spot and spill. I should have done more research on this purchase, Oh Well, gave it to my son.....

 

[Boosted98gsx]

I'm kind of a novice when it comes to lights, but this one is by far my favorite torch. I believe I purchased it at $35, it has since then gone up. The DGX-600 dive light.

https://www.divegearexpress.com/led-dive-lights

 

[seery]

Worst #1: HDS Ra Clicky

Worst #2: Surefire Minimus

Worst #3: Surefire P2X Fury

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Best #1: Fenix TK35 Ultimate Edition 2015 (2,000 lumen)

Best #2: Fenix HL55 Headlamp

Best #3: Muyshondt Aeon

 

[awyeah]

Best: Tie between my eagletac Ti D25C clicky and my Zebralight SC62w. Both excellent EDC lights.

Worst: Foursevens Mini-ML. It's a perfectly good light, but it kept coming apart in my pocket so I had to stop carrying it.

 

[bykfixer]

Worst purchase:

A flashlight online with a credit card.

It's about like being an alcoholic with a keg-or-ater in the kitchen....
Eh, just one more...no more, well just this once....

When you get an email from the big A saying "where ya been?"...that's a bad sign.

 

[delus]

WORST: Nitecore MH2C with usb charging. Ended up costing about $2.50 per day of use before it died. But it holds a fond place in my heart because it brought me to CPF just in time to be among the first to get....

BEST: Elzetta with AVS Head. Now I have four of them (when I get two back from Oveready's boring service) and they are worth every penny.
I use my EDC Elzy for demonstration purposes. "Go ahead, toss it down the street as far as you can. All that's gonna happen is a scratch." It's been tossed at least a dozen times and I've only had to file off a burr once. That one also spent a few seconds at the bottom of a five gallon bucket of paint. I just hosed it off and stuck it back in my pocket. It doesn't even look all that beat up.
I don't know what more someone in my line of work could want.

 

[ForrestChump]

Best:

MALKOFF MD2 - M61L - Hi / Low

HDS - 325 Executive - Zombie Green

Worst:

( Old Models - Excellent performance, crap reliability )

Nitecore

Zebralight

 

[P_A_S_1]

Worst #1: HDS Ra Clicky

Worst #2: Surefire Minimus

Worst #3: Surefire P2X Fury

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Best #1: Fenix TK35 Ultimate Edition 2015 (2,000 lumen)

Best #2: Fenix HL55 Headlamp

Best #3: Muyshondt Aeon

Your selection of the worst is unusual as those lights are so highly regarded here on CPF (ok maybe not the Minimus so much). Having the first two I have my criticisms of them myself but for you to list them as your worst purchases is interesting.

 

[lightlover]

WORST: Nitecore MH2C with usb charging. Ended up costing about $2.50 per day of use before it died. ...

delus,

Please explain?
I like my MH2C quite well, (yeah, not an ideal light), but how did it cost you?

 

[Sun Boy]

Best: SWMD40A - small and powerful abad best of all runs on my many Eneloops!

Worst: Dolphin - purchased as needed something for the boat that would float. It ended up sinking when it first wen in the water.

 

[GatorMedic]

Best

Fenix PD35 ... Great duty light with modes for every situation, dropped a million times and still dependable as ever, trust my life with it

Worst

Thrunite ti3 ... Had high expectations of it, doesn't feel or twist as well as Olight i3s, the delay drove me crazy, gave it away