First post... Recommend me a light!

[TFin04]

I know you guys probably get a ton of posts like these. First, a little background:

I'm a forum junkie. I also like other fine tools such as guns, knives, motorcycles, trucks, and various other things. (All those mentioned I'm a member for a forum for )

Anywho: I'm looking for a nicer light. I owned a Surefire a while ago (It was a CR battery model, took two batteries). I traded it for an ASP baton a while back.

I like the run time of LED's, but the throw of an Incan. What is a good middle of the road light like that? I currently have one of the $10 "Police" lights from www.lighthound.com, and it provides about enough light that I'm looking for. I would just like a slimmer, higher quality, longer lasting version of that kind of light power. I have quite a few CR batteries on hand, so something that takes that (or a popular size such as AA) would be nice.

Please try to stay under $50. With this forum I've discovered there are many more brands than the popular Surefire, Inova and Fenix.

Thanks in advance, pics are extremely helpful!

[CLHC]

Greetings and Welcome to CPF!

How about checking out the eternaLight?

Hope you find what you're looking for and Enjoy!

[greenLED]

Welcome to CPF!
I usually send people over to flashlightreviews.com and theledmuseum.org - there's so much info out there that you're sure to find a light that fills your needs. Otherwise, every other person will recommend a different light (one *they*, not always what is best for you).

Once you find what you're looking for, a quick stop by my CPF Specials thread (sticky on the dealer's forum) may save you a buck or two.

[carrot]

I think you'll be hard-pressed to get better runtime with incan on 2x123. Thus, my recommendation to you flies way over your budget, but I consider it well worth it. The Surefire A2. With its combination of LEDs and a powerful incandescent beam, you'll have great runtime, and plenty of light when you need it. It's available for $150 from Mike at OpticsHQ.

[TFin04]

I think you'll be hard-pressed to get better runtime with incan on 2x123. Thus, my recommendation to you flies way over your budget, but I consider it well worth it. The Surefire A2. With its combination of LEDs and a powerful incandescent beam, you'll have great runtime, and plenty of light when you need it. It's available for $150 from Mike at OpticsHQ.

Thanks. Maybe down the road a bit I'll look into that.

I currently have a bunch of different lights that I use for various tasks.

I have:

MiniMag w/ "extrabrite" or whatever they call it bulb on my nightstand for misc things around the house.

Lighthound.com's "Chinese" Incan in my truck for basic lighting needs

Generic 5LED 3xAA in my truck as well, though it never gets used except when I jog at night. The 3 AA's last me forever, and it is enough light to see where I'm going.

Mag Lite 4C in truck when a little extra weight might be needed, if you know what I mean.

Should I just stick to my $10 lighthound incan? It's a 2xCR123 model and does put off a decent amount of light. I just wanted something a bit slimmer and with a lanyard hole. Does anyone know the run time on this light off the top of their head? I will say, for $10 it's the best light I've ever purchased. It's only a bit dimmer than my $80 Surefire I used to use. Granted, it isn't as high quality, I've dropped it on pavement and concrete, used it in the rain, and it keeps coming back for more. I'd recommend everyone to have at least one, it's a great misc light.

Thanks guys! This is a very friendly welcome, much more so than other forums I visit.

[carrot]

Runtime should be roughly 60 minutes. If you just want a slimmer light, you can get the Vital Gear F2 for only $64. It's got the same output, if not slightly better, than your "Police" xenon. Runtime should be about the same, though. http://www.lighthound.com/sales/vita...flashlight.htm

Btw, welcome to CPF! Watch your wallet. I used to think a $150 light was expensive... now I consider it "not a bad price."

[TFin04]

I appriciate all the help so far.

After some reading on flashlightreviews.com and lighthound.com, I've narrowed down my choices:

I need a light powered by 2 or 3 CR123's or AA's. I would prefer it to be as slim as possible, simple looking is fine (Probably looking for an LED I assume?). It needs a lanyard hole, and the longest possible run time. If the bezel is able to be adjusted such as the MiniMag to create a flood/spotlight that would be great. (Do they make those in LED lights?) It doesn't need to be crazy bright, but a good light is a must.

Thanks!

[carrot]

Again, the VG F2 is one of the slimmer 2x123 lights available. There's also a Surefire knock-off brand called Ultrafire that you can find on eBay and elsewhere; they have lights that are similar in size to the E-series Surefires. (But I don't really recommend clones... I don't trust them.)

If you don't mind putting together a few pieces yourself, the TL3 Minimag hotwire mod would be a really good choice for you. It runs off rechargeable cells (14650?) and is *brighter* than your current "Police" xenon. I think you get less runtime (40 minutes, maybe?). According to my numbers, it should cost you about $50. Details here: http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/show...+minimag+guide Edit: There may also be a few other (simple) Minimag mods you might want to consider, such as the Terralux drop-in or one of the LED sandwiches (available pre-built).

You need the ceramic bulb socket and metal replacement reflector, available from AuroraLite http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=104127

[rikvee]

Welcome to CPF, TFin04!

Slim, longer runtime....the Fenix L2P?
Lighthound has the same for a dollar less or only $3 for a 1AA tube as well!

[TFin04]

Thanks for the help guys, I know I'm here, I appriciate your input

I've narrowed it down to either an Inova or a Fenix light.

Fenix seems to offer some nicer options (such as two different light levels, I would really enjoy that feature, as well as using AA batteries).

I'm debating between the Fenix L2T or the Inova X5.

Thoughts?

[carrot]

You saying something about looking for alternatives to SF, Inova, and Fenix threw me off. ;p

Rikvee made a great suggestion; the Fenix lights are very good, especially for the price (excellent for that price).

If you want throw, the X5 will not do that for you -- you'll want an XO or XO3 if you want an Inova that throws. The X5 is very floody, making it great for up close work, but not for illuminating objects further way from you. But since you want a slim light, I'd have to concur with Rikvee's suggestion of the L2P (or L2T if you so prefer). My L1P (which has a very similar beam to the L2P) throws very impressively for its size.

[TFin04]

Sounds good. I've been doing a ton of reading while talking to you guys tonight, and I've decided on the L2T as long as they're available.

Lighthound.com says they're shipping on May 16th or sooner, but I sent them an email asking for their expected time. If it's a long wait, I may just go with the L2P. If you guys haven't dealt with lighthound before I would recommend them. Great service, quick shipping and very comprensive website.

Thanks again Carrot, Rikvee and others. I'll let you know how I like the Fenix when it arrives.

[rikvee]

mmm, that L2T has a 2-stage switch by turning the bezel....
that's much more user-friendly than the original 2-stage mod, which makes the on-off a twistie and the low and high selected by the clickie...
So yeah, the L2T, 3W and 2-stage, less than $50, all good

[VJJ]

Hmmm, for your budget you might just try some LED upgrades for your maglites.

I love the 3 watt diamond luxeon led replacement bulb for my 3-D cell Maglite. It is designed for 3-C or D cell lights only. But you can buy a "dummy cell" for it to work in 4 cell lights. It's super-bright, focus-able, & the batteries last a really long time. The 1 watt version is still pretty bright for even 3 times the battery life than the 3 watt version. They also make colored versions of the bulb. The 3 watt luxeon 3-D cell MagLite is my favorite super-bright big light & heavy club combo. There's supposed to be a 6.5 to 8 watt version of it if you want to give someone a sunburn, blind someone, & don't mind a much shorter battery life.

For 2xaa MiniMags you should try the TerraLux 1 watt Luxeon LED bulb for the brightest mini mag around. It's also focus-able. These higher powered LEDs will extend your battery life a lot, but not as much as dimmer traditional LED MagLite replacements will... which are not focus-able BTW.

Nite-Ize make one of these dimmer 4-LED non-focus-able bulbs for 2Xaa MiniMags that put out quite a bit of light for about $7-$10. The batteries last incredibly long because they draw a lot less power than a bright Luxeon LED light. It's been said by twisting the MiniMag on & off hard, you may break the LED replacement, so I recommend the LED bulb & tail-cap switch combo they make for about $9-$12.

TerraLux also makes a bright MicroStar1 LED replacement that will fit both the 2xAAA & the 2xAA Mini Mags. It puts out a whopping 20 lumens of light... pretty good for any MiniMag. It's also somewhat focus-able. But with that kind of power you can only expect about 4-5 hours of useful light with 2 AAA cells, & about 15-18 hours of good light with 2 AA cells. They also make a MiniStar1 4-LED replacement for 2-AA MiniMags, which is not focus-able or as bright, so don't confuse the 2.

Just within your budget is a really cool light, the Arc AAA P (premium edition). It's a solid metal, olive colored, super-bright LED light that runs on a single AAA battery! I leave mine on my key-chain most of the time. I found out the hard way, because of it's tiny size, & color, it's very easily lost! I carefully ground the olive coating off the front & back so there's something shiny to see if I lose this one. It runs down to 50% brightness in 5 hours, but believe me, at 50% it's still pretty bright for such a tiny light. With a 1000mah good rechargeable AAA in it, it still put out some usable light after 8 hours of running thanks to it's booster/regulator circuit, but petered out just short of the 9th hour. It's about the smallest bright one that can get you through the whole night without changing the battery. The regular Arc AAA is a little dimmer, but a single cell lasts even longer in them.

If you want maximum battery longevity, you won't find a super bright small one with extra long battery life. More light requires more power, which means a shorter running time, or more, or larger batteries. For maximum useful battery life in a small light, check out the single AA & single AAA Shorelite dimmable LED flashlights. They're also pretty cheap. Most LED "purist collectors" around here don't like them, but I love them. I always throw a few of them in a case or backpack when hiking or camping. I have a few laying around in drawers, & in my shop. They get used all the time.

Their single AA version has 4 brightness settings & 2 almost white LEDs (blue tint). The top 3 brightnesses are bright enough for most small light uses. The lowest setting is just barely usable, & wouldn't want to follow a trail at night in the forest on that setting unless I had no other choice. It's a great nightlight setting. With a single 2700mah rechargeable AA in it, on the high setting, it stayed at almost full brightness for well over 24 hours before dimming thanks to it's built in booster/regulator circuit. On it's lowest setting it stayed the same brightness for almost SIX days! It has a non-adjustable clip to clip on things or your hat.

Their AAA version has similar features, with 4 brightness settings. It uses a singe LED. It has a focusing lens (but not adjustable) in front of the LED to make a little tighter beam than you'd usually get from a standard LED. It comes with a removable, fully adjustable clip. It's also small & light enough to fit on any key-chain. With a single 1000mha AAA in it, on the high setting, it ran for 9 hours before noticeably dimming. On the lowest setting it ran for 3 days! These make great book-lights & laptop lights if you clip them onto something above or behind you. These are so light you can even clip them on a small nail, screw, or large tack sticking out the wall.

Shorelites are made of plastic but are well made & very durable... until you have to get them apart to replace the battery. They're very fragile when apart, & I can see having an accident with them that way. Fortunately the battery lasts so incredibly long, you won't have to replace them often. When they're back together proper, they're pretty solid, but I wouldn't step on one with heavy biker boots. These are not super bright lights, but very useful, long lasting, economical, & fun. Toss a few to the kids to play with too... they'll hold up.

On a budget the Streamlight Stylus is quaint for about $12. Brighter than most other standard, cheap, single LED lights, it runs on 3 AAAA batteries. It's about the size of a pen, but slightly longer. The 3 AAAA alkaline batteries can be obtained cheap from many sources. Amazon has a 6-pack of them for about $6-$7. If you tear off the metal around a "copper top" alkaline 9 volt battery with a couple of pliers you'll find 6 aaaa batteries inside. But beware... the AAAAs inside the 9 volt battery have the polarity reversed! So you must put those in your Streamlight BACKWARDS. You should also stretch the light's tail-cap spring out a little for a tight fit & better contact. This won't effect it if you go back to ordinary batteries, just make sure to get the polarity right.

I used to take the light everywhere, & was always with me at work (I use other lights more now). As an engineer, I used it several times daily for over a year with the original batteries. I thought it might be getting a little dimmer so recently put fresh batteries in it. Although it got brighter, not significantly, so I put the old batteries back in. This light just won't die. It fell 14' from a ladder onto solid concrete, into puddles, snow, & got paint & glue on it. Using harsh chemicals & scraping to get all the paint & glue off, it still looks & works like brand new. I don't know what they used to paint that light with, but there's not a scratch on it anywhere... no dents yet either.

The stylus light is not electronically regulated, but current regulated by a simple resistor. It's a simple, but durable, handy, cheap light.

All this stuff can be found at Amazon, & you'll find customer reviews on them. But I'm sure some on this forum can point you to a place that might have some better prices.

[VJJ]

Oh I almost forgot, for your price range, if you want a really bright small light with a fair runtime, on cheap regular AA or AAA batteries you'll just love the light & throw of the Fenix lights at Lighthound. I bought the L2P AA 1 watt LED luxeon for when I need a lot of small portable light, It will stay at full constant brightness for about 5 hours thanks to it's booster/regulator circuit, when using 2700mha rechargeable AA cells. I keep it in my smaller tool box for when I'm travelling light (probably why I just forgot about it). You'll love the Fenix line & it's right in your price range. It's solidly built & bright!

The L2T is supposed to be even brighter, at with a 3 watt Luxeon LED, but also has a bright enough, low setting to make the AA batteries last about 24 hours!

[greenLED]

The Surefire A2 Aviator. You know you want one.

I can't hear you!

[batman]

Give the Brinkman Maxxfire a try, it'll suprise you for only $20 max. Riding shotgun, I used one to find my friend's car once (unmedicated bi-polar recluse) and my friend driving could not believe how bright it was.

[C4LED]

Give the Brinkman Maxxfire a try, it'll suprise you for only $20 max. Riding shotgun, I used one to find my friend's car once (unmedicated bi-polar recluse) and my friend driving could not believe how bright it was.

The Maxfire is one good option for an incand.

And the Golston is another for an LED that's pretty close also. Here's a link:

7W Golston® 2xCR123A Waterproof Super Bright
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=103057

[TFin04]

Wow, tons of info there!

VJJ- That must have taken you forever to write. I really appriciate all the input.

I think I've decided on the Fenix L2T for a basic "all around" light, and may compliment it with a few choices of both bigger and smaller lights (Such as a modded C or D cell Maglite). I already have a few Photon clones on all my keychains, I love em!

[Alin10123]

Definately checkout flashlightreview.com
I personally recommend the Inova series. I carry around an inova T2 and i love it! It's great and lights up pretty well with plenty of throw. Very nice beam too. Or... you could probably build yourself an ROP for under $50 that's REALLY bright.

The size is of a 4D maglite. If you want a smaller version (2C) be sure to click on the "lithium edition" link on that page to the right.

http://lights.lightrefineries.org/?page_id=9

[VJJ]

That must have taken you forever to write. I really appriciate all the input. I think I've decided on the Fenix L2T for a basic "all around" light

Fenix are really good lights for the price. I like the dim feature on the LT2, & 10 lumens on dim is pretty bright, but makes the batteries last a lot longer when you don't need a superlight. Don't forget to upgrade your MagLites cheap. A 3 watt luxeon in a D cell MagLite has an impressively bright light with a really long battery life (I use rechargeables in everything but clocks & remotes).

I make 75% of my income just typing stuff on the internet.

I own dozens of forums, & over 100 pages (I lost count) on 3 servers I lease. I hear something on the news, & I write about it, I buy something, & write a review. Then other people just join in the conversation. If they're interesting, I give them their own page, forum, or forum section, or put them in charge of some of it. I've been doing it for 11 years just for fun & a hobby, but it was only almost a year ago I learned I could make a decent living at it.

Google, Yahoo, Chitka ads write my biggest paychecks now.

Before that, I was an electronics engineer. But now that's only about 25% of my income because I make more just typing from a nice soft chair, sofa, or bed. I also build & repair home computers, am a ham radio operator, & dabble in the sciences, astronomy, camping, & hiking as hobbies. I used to VJ nights/weekends too. So I always got plenty to type about. I've gotten good & quick at it too.

Although I've had no professional typing lessons I could have typed that article in about 10 minutes but I didn't.

I spent 10 minutes copying & pasting it out of other articles I wrote, a couple minutes fitting it all together & adding a few things so it makes sense all together. That's how I forgot about Fenix, I didn't write anything about that, because I haven't used it that much yet. I also had to go back for a minute to correct a mistake I made.

I'm not a flashaholic, but rather someone who has to use flashlights a bit for work & hobbies, so I don't write many flashlight reviews. But when I do, I won't waste my time on old fashioned incandescent lights... More into the practical hi-tech miracle lights. I just buy lights when I need them, not to collect or play with them. but once I do buy them, I do catch myself playing with them, or modifying them too.

I come to places like this to take a break or vacation from internet job.

I just timed this, by the time I press submit, it will have taken me just over 6 minutes... & I didn't copy any of it from something else I wrote.

[mdocod]

have you considered a rechargable solution...?

check this out.. buy a 3 cell tactical light like this one... $23 shipped..
http://www.qualitychinagoods.com/ult...ded-p-385.html
then buy 2 protected 17500 type lithium-ion cells from CPF member AW over in the dealer corner: $24.50 shipped.
Also buy 1 DSD charger from AW: $13.50 shipped
total cost: $61
2 17500 cells fit into the same space that 3 CR123 cells fit- and they come off the charger at 4.2V each, 8.4V fresh off the charger with less voltage sag under a load than regular lithium primaries means it runs the bulb with equal brightness... but with more steady output throughout the runtime...

A rechargable solution like this- will pay for itself after a handfull of recharges. The Ultrafire light supports Surefire type 26mm tactical lamp assemblies.... is interchangable with the surefire P90, and many other offerings from other makers, (wolf eyes, G&P etc)...

[carrot]

... almost a year ago I learned I could make a decent living at it.

Google, Yahoo, Chitka ads write my biggest paychecks now.

You've gotta teach me the secret...

[VJJ]

No secret. Just start a few sites & boards on free or cheap hosts for kicks, doing what you want, typing what you want, but not getting too lazy at it. Try do good at it even though it's for fun or a hobby. A few years or a decade later, a few million are reading the stuff. Then you put it all on a few decent servers to handle the extra volume & bandwidth, upgrade, add cool features, & run google, yahoo, & chitika ads at the top, & side for your paycheck.

Just search google about it, lots are doing it. Not much of a blogger though, which is where the big money is "supposed" to be at it. I suspect all those google & YPN "bloggers" are only making 10% of what they brag they do just to get you to click on their ads... or had to crank out over 1,000 blogs just like it to pay their bills.

I build boards & sites from scratch, or from basic boards that I heavily modified. No blogs... yet. Just like my shop & engineering job. Most is built from scratch, or custom modified, & unique.

Don't get me wrong, once you decide you want to try to make more than a few hundred a month legally, & respectably on the net, it becomes a real job with a lot a work to do, & some headaches... full time.

But I gotta stop coming here on breaks. I don't have the time or life to be a flashaholic. I like my lights because I need them for my other work or recreation, & search out the sensible ones.

Sure, I used to play with my lights occasionally, even as a kid. But after every time I visit here, I catch myself playing with my lights more, or too much.

BTW, what's up with the board? When I first joined everything worked fine (except for being surrounded too many annoying animated gifs as I type this to post). Now no matter what spell & grammar check I use, it malfunctions or crashes my post, search don't work well at all anymore, & my space key occasionally malfunctions.

It's done this in Firefox, opera, & explorer, even if I'm here in WinXP, Win98se, or Linux red hat. The board wasn't so buggy before, what happened since winter?

[Blades]

TFin04,
Welcome to CPF!!!
Fenix makes a very nice light. I have 2 L1P's myself.
Inova also makes a nice inexpensive light, but for what you said you wanted I would recommend the Inova T3, instead of the X5. The T3 has alot more throw then the X5, but the X5 has alot of flood. Also the X5 is great for sucking the juice out of "dead" 123a batteries.
Let us know what you decide!



Blades

[Flash Harry]

Quote of the week.

Btw, welcome to CPF! Watch your wallet. I used to think a $150 light was expensive... now I consider it "not a bad price."

I didn't even consider LED until I came here. Now, I could probably spend that much or more on my next one. I think most of the good stuff you will see recommended is extremely well made and will probably last a lifetime. Hence the big dollars. On the other hand, there are bargains to be had and these blokes will know where most of them are.

Me? I think an L2P wouldn't be a bad buy. Maybe one of the Millermods?

[cuervoblur]

I found this one when looking for something new that won't break the bank:

http://www.rexfordtools.com/

One place has it on sale for $99.00 this week. Can someone please buy one and tell us how cool it is?

It looks cool, but I can't judge a light by it's shiny. I need 1 pro opinion before breaking out the plastic.

[nbp]

This thread is more than 5 years old, and probably not the place you will find info on that light. Try the search bar at the top and see if anything comes up. If not, why don't YOU buy the light and tell US how cool it is.

[cuervoblur]

Good Point. I need to watch the dates and let sleeping threads lie.

Actually there is a review on the light posted here:

http://www.rexfordtools.com/ProductD...tCode=RTC-X580

I'll take the plunge, post a review, then get flamed for being a noob. LOL.