Looking to buy two flashlights: Fenix, 4Sevens, Zebralight

[CPFBiology]

What two flashlights should I buy? I am planning on two more, so maybe one from Fenix, or 4Sevens, and one from Zebralight.

I have AA and 18650 rechargeable batteries currently.

Fenix is gonna have a TK21 released which is around 468 lumens.
4Sevens has the Maelstrom X7.

Zebralights. How reliable are these lights? Do they rank up with Fenix, and 4Sevens? Are they close to Surefire and HDS?

Have any of your Fenix, 4Sevens, or Zebralights failed you? I don't really know the purpose for these lights that I am going to buy, maybe as a complement to my other lights for hiking. I would like bright...I guess that's sorta the right thing to look for here on CPF...bright, bad and beautiful :naughty:

 

[mrlysle]

I have a ZL SC60w and it's a fabulous light for the money! 1x18650. Your other two choices are fine as well. You'll be happy with them all! If you want something smaller in 1xAA format, Zebralight has the SC51, SC51w, and some headlamps as well in 1xAA. I'm just now ordering a H51Fw for myself, to compliment the SC51 and SC60w. Have fun in your search and good luck!

 

[wingspar]

I have four Fenix lights and it just doesn't seem possible to go wrong with Fenix. I hear good things about 4Sevens lights, but my only experience with 4Sevens is that I bought all my Fenix lights from them. No experience with Zebralight.

 

[huan00102]

Overall, surefire is the big boss of the flashlight producer. Fenix is the big boss of the Chinese LED flashlight producer and Fenix flashlight is expensive than any other Chinese flashlight but cheaper than surefire. As you use the flashlight on hiking, TK21 would be a good choice. It's available at present at the price of about 120USD. Generally speaking, Surefire is most reliable(what price, what goods), but if you budget is not very large, may be Fenix is the best. 4Sevens? Virtual unknown. However, my words are for your reference only.

 

[skyfire]

Ive owned about 6 quarks, 5 ZLs, 3 fenix, 7 surefire, 1 clicky.

I would say ZL quality is on par with fenix and quark. I would rank ZL, and Fenix build quality, machining, and cutting better than quark. lets remember that ZL and quarks are more compact than fenix lights in general, so impact resistance differs.

HDS quality is in a league of its own. and everybody that owns a surefire can easily tell the difference in quality from most other makers.

all lights will fail eventually. ive even had a surefire defective on arrival.
from my experiences, I havent had any problems with my ZLs
1 fenix defective on arrival.
2 quarks acting funny. both were about mode changing when twisting the bezel.

 

[srfreddy]

M....Fenix TK41, and the Zebralight H51Fw. Uber thrower+very useful light.

 

[AaronG]

For hands free I'll second the vote for H51Fw. If you want in hand go with the SC51w. Or if you don't mind taking a loss in lumens SC51c with high CRI LED.

Fenix makes quality lights too. There's lots to choose from so just look for the one that fits your requirements (size, battery type, etc..)

 

[Russ Prechtl]

+1 for the Zebralight SC51. I also really like the Fenix LD10.

 

[redorblack]

I have a Zebralight H51F (floody) which makes a nice tiny EDC that had a thread with all sorts of ways to carry (wide shoe string to make is a necklace or headband in a couple of seconds). Runs about a 1/2 hour straight on high using eneloop AA battery. I would get most of a day out of it at work, usually changed batteries once (I'm a mechanic).

I got a SC60 with it and once the 18650 cells showed up from Deal Extreme, the H51F went in my toolbox. Amazingly bright for such a small light and lasted a long time on a cell. But, I have a downside... mine died after about a month. First it was turning itself on at random like some other people reported and then it just stopped working all together. I got an RA and instead of having to ship it back to Texas where mine came from, I had to ship it to China. Just got it back after a month this week... no note, and it still doesn't work. I've sent a message to Zebralights through their website and haven't heard anything back yet. So I love their lights, but am a bit concerned about customer service at this point.

 

[Zatx Woopyoax]

Overall, surefire is the big boss of the flashlight producer. Fenix is the big boss of the Chinese LED flashlight producer and Fenix flashlight is expensive than any other Chinese flashlight but cheaper than surefire. As you use the flashlight on hiking, TK21 would be a good choice. It's available at present at the price of about 120USD. Generally speaking, Surefire is most reliable(what price, what goods), but if you budget is not very large, may be Fenix is the best. 4Sevens? Virtual unknown. However, my words are for your reference only.

4Sevens an unknown? Wow they are on the cutting edge of flashlight development. If you want the newest hottest LED's in many configurations, for a cheap price. They are the true kings.

 

[srfreddy]

4Sevens an unknown? Wow they are on the cutting edge of flashlight development. If you want the newest hottest LED's in many configurations, for a cheap price. They are the true kings.

The cutting edge is why I don't have a single one of their flashlights. They always jump onto the "brighter is better" bandwagon, getting sickly green tints and refusing to make neutral runs.

 

[Lighteous]

I have two 4Seven lights. I wouldn't consider 4Sevens to be an unknown. I have a Quark 123-2 with an XPG-R5 LED and a Quark AA-2 with the S2 emitter. Both lights are very bright on high with a very useful range of settings all the way down to a "firefly" mode. The AA-2 does have a slightly green tint because of the S2 emitter. If I had a choice, I would opt for that light with an R5 instead. Per its website, as the S2's sell out 4Sevens will go back to R5's. Both lights are solidly built with suburb fit and finish. I have no reservation with recommending either of these lights and I will probably buy others.