What's the best EDC flashlight in 2012 and why?

[herculaneum79]

Surely the HDS Rotary is the best flashlight I bought in 2012 so far. I've been waiting half a year to receive it, but I love my Rotary! Durable, easy to operate, enough output, perfect body.

 

[Southpaw1925]

I find myself carrying my JetBeam RRT-01 the most. I absolutely love that light! Before the RRT-01 usually carried a ZL SC51. I have an HDS Rotary, which is awesome in most every conceivable way, except for its size. My RRT-01 suits my pocket better.

I have a Niteye Eye10 on the way and I almost ordered a Sunwayman V11R. I really like the magnetic control ring, the small size, the explosion of light on high and the incredibly low on low.

Let me know which one you like the most out of the three!

 

[davidt1]

Same two lights I have for a long time: Zebralight H51w and Maratac AAA.

Both are on-person EDC and used as both flashlights and headlamps.

 

[ss355]

For more than 2 years now I've carried a Mini CR2 every day. Three things make it the perfect EDC for me:

- the size of the light makes it unobtrusive for pocket carry; I find AAA lights, even though smaller in diameter, too long for comfortable pocket carry
- the three outputs levels were thoughtfully programmed; I find the output levels very useful
- the low-med-high sequence suits me perfectly

The only things I'd change would be the color temp of my current light (the high CRI version fixes that) and the UI of the Surefire Titan.

 

[Southpaw1925]

I think my current vote would be for the Niteye Eye10.

It's quite small, yet produces a tremendous amount of light with a perfect beam pattern. Easy to use and reliable magnetic control ring that can be operated with a handshake grip. When run on IMR 18350, it's nearly as bright as my Zebralight SC600, yet so much smaller.

Some of the other EDC lights I purchased this year are smaller (Balder HD1, Eagletac D series, Olight S10). Some may be brighter (Eagletac D series). But none incorporate the reliablity and ease of use of the Eye10.

Note that no light is perfect. Each of EDC lights I've tried this year have their flaws. For instance:
(1) Eagletac D25a, D25a Ti, D25c - extremely small with very high output on IMR. Gets hot extremely fast on IMR. And loses access to all medium modes. Occasionally loses access to all except max power mode which makes the light rather useless. Not much point in carrying a light that only has 1 mode and which can only be used on it for 30 seconds before waiting for the light to cool. Also the D25s have no moonlight mode at least on IMR.
(2) Olight S10 - great size. Nice side switch. Good shortcut to moonlight. Downsides: no shortcut to max power. Output is not extremely high and has a greenish tint.
(3) Balder HD1 - great size and feels really nice in hand. Beautiful tint with a very floody beam for up close. Downside: Can be hard to turn off. No moonlight mode. Always comes on in high.
(4) Zebralight SC80 - extremely grippy and feels great in the hand. Perfectly positioned button. Downside: Feels big and heavy for what it does. Bigger than it needs to be for CR123 or AA. Not very bright.
(5) Sunwayman V11R - nice shape. Magnetic control ring and tailcap switch. Downside: larger than some of the other available CR123 lights. Dimmer than the Eye10.
(6) Jetbeam RRT-01 - very similar to Eye10 with grippier body and control ring. Downside: ugly beam pattern and lower output than Eye10.
(7) Jetbeam TCR-01 - titanium version of the RRT-01. Feels great in hand. Magnetic ring is silent. Downside is it's heavier than the RRT-01 with the same beam pattern.
(8) Niteye Eye10 - Brighter than RRT-01 and with a flawless beam pattern. Sells for less than the Jetbeam version even though construction quality is every bit as high. Downside: detentes on grip ring are noisy and reduce the user's ability to precisely adjust brightness. Also the grip ring is only knurled on one side making it somewhat harder to turn than the ring on the RRT-01.

Why do I think the Eye10 is the best? When I grab a light for my pocket the one I'm usually grabbing is the Eye10. It's hard to beat the output, beam pattern and brightness. Is it perfect? no. Personally I think the Eye10 would be better without detentes, with a neutral emitter, and with a fully knurled magnetic ring.

What I'm looking forward to coming up:
Olight S10 Ti satin - very nice look and with a neutral XM-L emitter.
Zebralight SC52 - the SC51 was a classic light and my EDC for a long time. The SC52 sounds like it addresses some of the SC51's major problems. Can't wait for more info to come out on this light.

Has the eye10 ever turn on by accident while in your pocket due to the in switching being the ring itself??

 

[Fireclaw18]

Has the eye10 ever turn on by accident while in your pocket due to the in switching being the ring itself??

Never.

I think the magnetic rings used in the RRT-01, TCR-01, and Eye-10 are virtually impossible to accidentally turn on the pocket. Much more secure than any light using a button.

To easily turn the magnetic rings you have to evenly grip the ring from opposite sides of the light. Easy to do one-handed with thumb and forefinger, but will pretty much never happen accidentally in the pocket.

The Eye10 is even more secure in that only half the ring is textured and the ring has detentes... several of which you must turn through to even turn the light on.

 

[Gravediggaz]

My votes for best EDC of 2012:

- V11R: Maximum versatility. Goes from nightstand light to UFO encounter with a slight twist of the wrist.

- LD01: Compact and powerful.

- T10: Compact AA, 3 mode nightstand light.

I need to get the v11r!

 

[kinsa]

I only have a few lights but my favorite is my k40

 

[mmace1]

A DQG II (or the minor upgrade - DQG III). Tiniest AAA light in existence.

In my mind - and this is from growing up in the country on 6 acres, then living in a city. It's enough. That said - I was in the empty countryside, but not a farm, maybe needs there are higher.

Max is 60 lumens for a little over an hour on eneloops. It's so small it's not noticeable even in a coin pocket. I can't ever imagine in a single day (sans Zombie Apocalypse that hits when I'm away from home/car) - needing more than 60 lumens for an hour. Though the (5?) lumen setting lasts dramatically longer. And that's enough to see where you're stepping at night.

Also - it takes rechargeable batteries - and not li-ions, which require a completely new charger just for my flashlight. And a charger people often advice to "not leave charging when you're not at home". I've used li-ion before but...for home use, that just seems annoying. I also dislike the derogation the cells experience vs. Eneloops. li-ion is more efficent - but again...

60 lumens for an hour everyday. It seems like enough. I've probably yet to use more than 3 minutes of that on the *best* "Oh cool I can totally make this easier with my EDC nobody knew I had" day.

So, that's my favorite EDC. I'm not really one to care about "very smooth threads" though, or other things I think are kind of superfluous for a tool. Decent HA3 (or HA2 - Romisen) finish, and waterproof to a meter or so, and I'm happy. The fact it's LED already means it's shock resistance works for me.

Then - for travel - I take an Eagletac D25A2 as an EDC- an extremely minimalistic 2xAA. It's essentially a copied/improved version of 4sevens Quark Mini 2xAA.

Then (off topic), for ****ing around I have a Fenix TK41...and as soon as something significantly brither, and reasonably-sized that uses standard AA/etc. comes along, I might buy that!

 

[liteboy]

Posts by users without a sig line listing lights you own, in my opinion, mean very little. Everyone has different ownership breadth and experiences, which factors importantly into the recommendations he makes. Knowing that a person who owns an HDS 170, for example, who also says Olgiht S10 is his favorite, says a lot more to me.

 

[flatline]

This year I've either been grabbing my high CRI HDS clicky or my Energizer Tactical AA ($15 at Target).

It all comes down to whether I want to holster carry or clip carry that day.

--flatline

 

[Fireclaw18]

Posts by users without a sig line listing lights you own, in my opinion, mean very little. Everyone has different ownership breadth and experiences, which factors importantly into the recommendations he makes. Knowing that a person who owns an HDS 170, for example, who also says Olgiht S10 is his favorite, says a lot more to me.

Hard to list everything off-hand. Still, the question is "what is the best EDC of 2012?", not "what is my best EDC?". Looking at my 2012 lights offhand:

Jetbeam RRT-01
Jetbeam TCR-01
Sunwayman V11R High CRI
Olight S10 Baton
Balder HD1 neutral XM-L
Zebralight SC80 cool white
Eagletac D25c neutral XM-L
Eagletac D25a neutral XM-L
Eagletac D25a Ti neutral XM-L
Niteye Eye10
DQGIII mini neutral SS

Of the bunch I think the Niteye Eye10 is probably the best. It's control ring is very simple and easy to use, its OP reflector gives a better beam profile than the Jetbeams. And at 660+ lumens, it's the brightest light of the bunch, with only the Eagletacs coming close. It's also fully functional on li-ion and can run on an 18350 cell.

1. The Jetbeams are nice (especially the TCR-01), but the Eye10 pulls ahead in beam profile and raw output.
2. The Olight S10 has a greenish tint, lacks a shortcut to high, and doesn't have the highest output, but otherwise is a really cool little light. Olight should have made double-click the shortcut to high rather than strobe.
3. The Balder HD1 has a beautiful floody neutral beam and feels great in the hand, but lacks runtime, can be hard to turn off, and lacks sufficient low modes.
4. The Zebralight isn't very bright and the body feels too thick and heavy, though the switch and interface are excellent.
5. The Eagletacs are very small and simple, and are super-bright on IMR cells, but they lack full support for li-ion. On li-ion, they'll get too hot to hold within a minute, lose all medium modes, and half the time will also lose low mode. The result is a light that only runs reliably on high for less than a minute a time.... definitely not sufficient for EDC.
6. Sunwayman V11r High CRI - orangish beam is a bit too warm tinted for me. Nice light. Feels good in the hand with a good interface. Inferior to the Jetbeams and Niteye though because the light has to be flipped in the hand to manipulate all the controls.
7. DQGIII mini neutral - tiny light with 2 well-spaced modes. Nice tint and excellent floody beam profile. However, the head wobbles and there appear to be insufficient threads holding it to the body. If I carried it in my pocket on my keychain I expect the head would fall off and get lost within a month. This doesn't exactly inspire peace of mind as a keychain light, but it's really too small to carry loose in a main pants pocket.

Of the EDC lights listed above, when I grab one for my pocket EDC at the start of the day, the one I'm most likely to grab is the Eye10.

Of course 2012 isn't quite over. I have a couple more lights on order. Perhaps one of them will dethrone the Eye10...

1. Olight S10 Ti satin - nice titanium finish. Neutral XM-L emitter should fix the S10's green tint problem, but the lack of a shortcut to high and lower max output will still remain.

2. Zebralight SC52 - looks awesome. The SC51 was a true classic. It did so many things right and was a great EDC. The SC52 looks to be even better... fixing some of the biggest of the SC51's issues (lack of recessed switch, low output, too-smooth body). This could be the light to dethrone the Eye10 from my pocket!

3. Zebralight SC52c - I don't have one on order, but I've always thought about getting a neutral zebralight. This might be my next purchase...

 

[cyclesport]

Hard to list everything off-hand. Still, the question is "what is the best EDC of 2012?", not "what is my best EDC?". Looking at my 2012 lights offhand:

Jetbeam RRT-01
Jetbeam TCR-01
Sunwayman V11R High CRI
Olight S10 Baton
Balder HD1 neutral XM-L
Zebralight SC80 cool white
Eagletac D25c neutral XM-L
Eagletac D25a neutral XM-L
Eagletac D25a Ti neutral XM-L
Niteye Eye10

Of the bunch I think the Niteye Eye10 is probably the best. It's control ring is very simple and easy to use, its OP reflector gives a better beam profile than the Jetbeams. And at 660+ lumens, it's the brightest light of the bunch, with only the Eagletacs coming close. It's also fully functional on li-ion and can run on an 18350 cell.

1. The Jetbeams are nice (especially the TCR-01), but the Eye10 pulls ahead in beam profile and raw output.
2. The Olight S10 has a greenish tint, lacks a shortcut to high, and doesn't have the highest output, but otherwise is a really cool little light. Olight should have made double-click the shortcut to high rather than strobe.
3. The Balder HD1 has a beautiful floody neutral beam and feels great in the hand, but lacks runtime, can be hard to turn off, and lacks sufficient low modes.
4. The Zebralight isn't very bright and the body feels too thick and heavy, though the switch and interface are excellent.
5. The Eagletacs are very small and simple, and are super-bright on IMR cells, but they lack full support for li-ion. On li-ion, they'll get too hot to hold within a minute, lose all medium modes, and half the time will also lose low mode. The result is a light that only runs reliably on high for less than a minute a time.... definitely not sufficient for EDC.
6. Sunwayman V11r High CRI - orangish beam is a bit too warm tinted for me. Nice light. Feels good in the hand with a good interface. Inferior to the Jetbeams and Niteye though because the light has to be flipped in the hand to manipulate all the controls.

Of the EDC lights listed above, when I grab one for my pocket EDC at the start of the day, the one I'm most likely to grab is the Eye10.

Of course 2012 isn't quite over. I have a couple more lights on order. Perhaps one of them will dethrone the Eye10...

1. Olight S10 Ti satin - nice titanium finish. Neutral XM-L emitter should fix the S10's green tint problem, but the lack of a shortcut to high and lower max output will still remain.

2. Zebralight SC52 - looks awesome. The SC51 was a true classic. It did so many things right and was a great EDC. The SC52 looks to be even better... fixing some of the biggest of the SC51's issues (lack of recessed switch, low output, too-smooth body). This could be the light to dethrone the Eye10 from my pocket!

3. Zebralight SC52c - I don't have one on order, but I've always thought about getting a neutral zebralight. This might be my next purchase...

I agree with your Eye 10 assessment Fireclaw18, as I too believe it's the best small EDC light (in beam quality/tint and UI) of any light I own, and I have several from your list. Your comments re: the Eagletacs interested me in that you state that half the time they lose low mode using Li-ion's? Are you speaking about IMR's in particular or do you include standard 16340 ICR's causing the loss of low as well? Are you speaking of both the D25C and D25A losing low?

I ask because I have two D25C's w/XM-L U2 emitters (Alum. & Ti) and only use 16340 ICR's and although they do get hot very fast, I only lose medium and have found that even with the heat dissipation to my hand, I can still use them on turbo/max for a few minutes without any emitter/driver damage (which is usually longer than I need that that kind of output for anyway). Plus the small form factor with such a high output (even w/CR123 3v primaries they still output almost 400 lumens) I find then to be my second most carried lights recently.

 

[Southpaw1925]

Of the bunch I think the Niteye Eye10 is probably the best. It's control ring is very simple and easy to use, its OP reflector gives a better beam profile than the Jetbeams. And at 660+ lumens, it's the brightest light of the bunch, with only the Eagletacs coming close. It's also fully functional on li-ion and can run on an 18350 cell.

I thought the eye10 only reaches 260 lumens??

 

[cyclesport]

I thought the eye10 only reaches 260 lumens??

That's just with 3v primaries. Subwoofer's CPF review measured it at 563 lumens with std. ICR 16340's and 662 lumens on IMR's...

 

[HaileStorm]

Of the bunch I think the Niteye Eye10 is probably the best. It's control ring is very simple and easy to use, its OP reflector gives a better beam profile than the Jetbeams. And at 660+ lumens, it's the brightest light of the bunch, with only the Eagletacs coming close. It's also fully functional on li-ion and can run on an 18350 cell.

660 lumens? Wow... I gotta get me one of these. Been checking it out for awhile. Can anyone else confirm this? What's the runtime at 660lm?

 

[Fireclaw18]

That's just with 3v primaries. Subwoofer's CPF review measured it at 563 lumens with std. ICR 16340's and 662 lumens on IMR's...

This.

You can find subwoofer's review in the flashlight review section on CPF. On IMR 18350 the Eye10 is VERY bright. Almost as bright as my much larger Zebralight SC600.

 

[Fireclaw18]

...Your comments re: the Eagletacs interested me in that you state that half the time they lose low mode using Li-ion's? Are you speaking about IMR's in particular or do you include standard 16340 ICR's causing the loss of low as well? Are you speaking of both the D25C and D25A losing low?

I ask because I have two D25C's w/XM-L U2 emitters (Alum. & Ti) and only use 16340 ICR's and although they do get hot very fast, I only lose medium and have found that even with the heat dissipation to my hand, I can still use them on turbo/max for a few minutes without any emitter/driver damage (which is usually longer than I need that that kind of output for anyway). Plus the small form factor with such a high output (even w/CR123 3v primaries they still output almost 400 lumens) I find then to be my second most carried lights recently.

My problem is with the D25 on AW IMR cells. Due to the high current involved I have not attempted to run these lights on ICR cells as I expect the current draw would exceed the maximum safe discharge rate for ICR 14500 cells.

On li-ion cells, the D25 loses all medium modes. This leaves two modes: direct drive (with the bezel tightened) and low (with the bezel loosened).

If the light reliably worked like this it would still be usable. Unfortunately, at seemingly random moments, usually after touching the bezel, the light will arbitrarily lose the "low" mode and ONLY run in direct drive max power.... no matter how much I loosen the bezel or how many times I half-press the button to cycle through all modes. Low literally disppears completely. Sometimes I can get it back. Sometimes I can't.

This problem occurs with all 3 of my D25s. But seems to occur more often on my two D25a lights rather than my D25c.

The only way to get reliable multi-mode operation at anything other than max power mode seems to be to not use li-ion cells. My conclusion is that the D25a and c models are unsuited to EDC carry with li-ion and should only be used with lower voltage cells. Li-ion can be trotted out occasionally to show off to friends, but are too unreliable for pocket carry in those lights.

 

[cland72]

What did you use every day in your pocket, and why? Perhaps the best 2 or 3?

Everyday is a QMini123 HCRI (corporate workplace, can't carry on hip or clip to pocket)
When I can go bigger, E1L
When I can go even bigger, E2DL
If I'm walking in an extremely dark area, I'll grab my M6 but it is hardly my "EDC"

 

[cyclesport]

My problem is with the D25 on AW IMR cells. Due to the high current involved I have not attempted to run these lights on ICR cells as I expect the current draw would exceed the maximum safe discharge rate for ICR 14500 cells.

On li-ion cells, the D25 loses all medium modes. This leaves two modes: direct drive (with the bezel tightened) and low (with the bezel loosened).

If the light reliably worked like this it would still be usable. Unfortunately, at seemingly random moments, usually after touching the bezel, the light will arbitrarily lose the "low" mode and ONLY run in direct drive max power.... no matter how much I loosen the bezel or how many times I half-press the button to cycle through all modes. Low literally disppears completely. Sometimes I can get it back. Sometimes I can't.

This problem occurs with all 3 of my D25s. But seems to occur more often on my two D25a lights rather than my D25c.

The only way to get reliable multi-mode operation at anything other than max power mode seems to be to not use li-ion cells. My conclusion is that the D25a and c models are unsuited to EDC carry with li-ion and should only be used with lower voltage cells. Li-ion can be trotted out occasionally to show off to friends, but are too unreliable for pocket carry in those lights.

Pity...guess I'm lucky my D25C'c have kept all modes (including disco and moonlight/low) except medium on Li-ion's. I think I'd contact Eagletac about it, since even though they do go out of regulation on 3.7v ICR Li-ion's, Eagletac's website clearly states they accept this as a power source.