need advice on first purchase

Ive been to this forum before because I am a laserholic but I never thought about flashlights. I was at www.lasercommunity.com and someone mentioned one powerful one he had and I figured maybe I could try and find one that suits me. I am looking for a flashlight around 50 dollars give or take 10 or 20. I also want it to be portable. I like the sleek black metal look but it is not required. I also of course want it to be bright and powerful. Any suggestions? sorry if im picky. The only one im thinking of so far is this http://www.surefire.com/maxexp/main/co_disp/displ/prrfnbr/889/sesent/00

i recently bought the 6Pl, same light with the more practical,more efficient , almost eternally burning LED. great light, no complaints.i'd suggest getting it from batteryjunction,which everyone here wholeheartedly recommennds. they ship for free ( many others also ship surefires free) and include 8 free 123 batteries.
oh yeah, almost forgot........:welcome:

Are you looking for only incandescent or also LED. There are so many options out there, so be patient and do your research before you buy.

Fatvod said:

Ive been to this forum before because I am a laserholic but I never thought about flashlights. I was at www.lasercommunity.com and someone mentioned one powerful one he had and I figured maybe I could try and find one that suits me. I am looking for a flashlight around 50 dollars give or take 10 or 20. I also want it to be portable. I like the sleek black metal look but it is not required. I also of course want it to be bright and powerful. Any suggestions? sorry if im picky. The only one im thinking of so far is this http://www.surefire.com/maxexp/main/co_disp/displ/prrfnbr/889/sesent/00

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the 6P would be a great start there are many options for batteries and drop-in mod's

I'm not a pro like most here but I sure like my Surefire 6P. By the way welcome to CPF & don't tell the wife about the purchase

There are many lights in you price range. There are also many sub $30 light that will destroy $70+ light in performance.

Questions to ponder

Battery type?
Rechargeable or primary?
Size?
Brightness?
Throw or flood?
LED or Incandescent?
Quality?
Performance?
Ease of upgrading(mostly for LEDs)?

:welcome:

More detail on how you'll use the light will help us give better suggestions.
Some questions:
Do you have a preffered size range?
battery type
light source (LED, incandescent, etc)
Welcome to CPF!

D'oh! Gunner12 beat me to it.

:welcome:

If you could provide some more info on what your needs of the light are then everyone can make some great suggestions.

Welcome again, and stick around, you will have alot of fun

There are lots of things to consider.

For example, you can purchase a Fenix fairly cheap. Very bright lights, long lasing batteries, ect. But they aren't very reliable. I would not trust one if your life depended on it.

Also, rechargeable vs. not.

Tactical vs. not



There are literally dozens of good flashlights in your price range. Like others have said, the Surefire 6P is a good "classic" starting highend light. In fact, if you want to start being a flashlight enthusiast or collector, you almost *need* to have one. I also like Pelican and Streamlight. Can't go wrong with anything from those companies. The technology might be a bit behind the curve, but they are far more reliable lights.

Then again...if you just want one to play with or test the water, you certainly can't go wrong with a Fenix.

pfccypret said:

There are lots of things to consider.

For example, you can purchase a Fenix fairly cheap. Very bright lights, long lasing batteries, ect. But they aren't very reliable. I would not trust one if your life depended on it.

Also, rechargeable vs. not.

Tactical vs. not



There are literally dozens of good flashlights in your price range. Like others have said, the Surefire 6P is a good "classic" starting highend light. In fact, if you want to start being a flashlight enthusiast or collector, you almost *need* to have one. I also like Pelican and Streamlight. Can't go wrong with anything from those companies. The technology might be a bit behind the curve, but they are far more reliable lights.

Then again...if you just want one to play with or test the water, you certainly can't go wrong with a Fenix.

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I'm afraid that I cant agree with you on some of those statements. I don't know why, but people constantly wants to make it look like Fenix's lights are unreliable. I don't know if it's cause they want to "defend" bigger traditional manufacturers slower adaption of newer technology or something else. When it comes to Fenix, we're not talking about 10 dollar "hit or miss"-DX-lights here.
Cause in my own experience, Fenix are highly reliable. Judging by my OWN experience they are even more so than the Holy Cow of quality, Surefire. Since my friend had a whole world of problem with his Surefires and I havent had any with my Fenix's.
But that's a very subjective observation which probably doesnt tell the whole truth. But there are A LOT of subjective observations when it comes to the quality of different lights, since noone hasn't come up with a comparative test for reliability, ruggedness etc yet. People say that Surefire are much more reliable since they "feel" much better. I don't buy that, since there are as many Surefire/Fenix-failure threds as there are "My Surefire/Fenix survived..."-threads. I'm not jumping on to any of those bandwagons.

And how reliable does a light have to be really? I don't know how many times I can hear mission critical before my heads gonna explode. My life doesnt depend on whether my lights works or not (allthough there could be much more pain in the *** if it didn't work). If you REALLY depend on having light, carry a backup flashlight. There are no failproof lights.

@pfccypret
I just realized that I went on a rant there, nothing personal against you or your post actually.

@Fatvod
Sorry for the derailing of the thread, but I'm just in one of those moods today. We're usually very nice people here at CPF. You got some excellent advice from gunner12 etc above, fill us in with some more info what you gonna use your light for etc. Cause in your pricerange, there are A LOT OF options.

Oh, and :welcome:

Fatvod said:

I am looking for a flashlight around 50 dollars give or take 10 or 20. I also want it to be portable. I like the sleek black metal look but it is not required. I also of course want it to be bright and powerful. Any suggestions?

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Lots available. Based on the 6P you mentioned, I'd recommend something similar but more advanced. Either the Lumapower LumaHunter M1-R rebel edition (180 lumens)

http://www.batteryjunction.com/lumahunterm1.html

or one of the Tiablo models.

http://www.batteryjunction.com/tiledfla8a8s.html

Just on the assumption that if you're into lasers you might want something powerful. Apologies that they're a few dollars more, but worth it. Hmm... those Tiablo Q5's are downright expensive. I think you'd like them though. All the above can use a variety of battery types which could be fun. cpf2006 code gets you 5% off.

besafe2 said:

I'm not a pro like most here but I sure like my Surefire 6P. By the way welcome to CPF & don't tell the wife about the purchase

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Hah well im 16 so no wife yet. But to answer some of your questions it does not matter to me weather its incandescent or LED but I do like the incans as they dont have that artificial white look of the LED. Really doesnt matter a whole lot. Also im looking for more flood than throw but a balance of both would be fine. And the battery type? I dont quite know the other option. Im guessing its some sort of Lithium ion battery or something of the sort. But the only time it would matter is if its a real battery sucker id rather have a rechargeable then keep having to buy the batts constantly. Also my primary use for it is dirtbiking or going through the woods at night so it should be durable incase it gets dropped/damaged. Thanks for the answers ill pick through them and find one that suits me. Unless anyone else has some reccomendations. And on one last note id rather not have it be over 70 as im short on money after my 100 mW red pulsar laser from wickedlasers :thumbsup:

$70 including batteries?

I'm guessing the 18650 3.7v Li-ion battery would be your best choice if you want rechargeable and good runtime/brightness.

If you don't mind a bit above average quality and LED, you could buy a good Dealextreme light with batteries for under $50. My pick would be the VB-16 Kit(comes with unprotected batteries) with 2 18650 batteries(Longer runtime and safer). If you want shorter, the WF-400 with charger and batteries is also a good combination.

If you want to use AA batteries, the Fenix L2D-CE Q5 or L2T V2.0 is another better choice. Use "CPF8" for 8% off at Fenix Store.

:welcome:

Looks like my choice is the VB-16 Kit. Thanks for the advice also. Ill propably order it tonight. One last thing. It doesnt seem to say how many lumens it is on the sight. Any idea?

I'm guessing bit over a 100. The later lumen levels are hard to distinguish apart. The preceding levels are brighter, just not very noticeable. The light also has a proper low from what I've heard.

I'd suggest buying two extra 18650 batteries for that light(Only one will fit in the light, one in the light and another one on the charger). This is because the batteries with the kit are unprotected and of lower quality. If you don't want to order extra batteries, ask DX to change the included batteries to the Ultrafire 16340 Protected batteries. If they agree, it'll be a free upgrade. The light would have more output on 2 16340/RCR123 batteries but it will run longer on a 18650 battery.

Fatvod...:welcome: hang on to your wallet!! Only kidding.

All brands/manufacturers have its pro and cons. Getting a light is easy, getting the right one for your needs is another matter and is the most important one.

Choosing those that can use rechargeables is :thumbsup:. You get more pleasure when its 'guilt free'. :naughty: Warranty is also another item needs considering. I wouldn't mind spending more for a purchase and having the assurance that the manufacture will back it up.

Buying low cots chinese made lights <$10 may be a hit and miss. Its definitely much cheaper. You can get 10 of them for a single Surefire!. But do you need 10? or do you only need that just one?! So it bores down to personal preferences........and available budget. :ironic:

So getting from a reputable manufacturer/dealer is the best way.

Well I already ordered it last night so I dont know if I can get them to change the batts for free. Well damn. Its alright its just my first purchase. I propably will pick up some batteries later for it. Is their any real risk using the ones it came with?

Send them an email or open up a support ticket.

The main risk is over discharging the batteries(under 2.7v). An overdischarged cell might explode when you try to charge them. Overcharging should not be a problem since the charger charges to around 4.1-4.2v and stops. If the batteries heat up a lot, don't use them.

Gunner12 said:

Send them an email or open up a support ticket.

The main risk is over discharging the batteries(under 2.7v). An overdischarged cell might explode when you try to charge them. Overcharging should not be a problem since the charger charges to around 4.1-4.2v and stops. If the batteries heat up a lot, don't use them.

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Oh so with these batteries do I need to discharge them when they die? damnit I always hated doing that with my RC car batteries. Well whats proper time to charge/discharge them too?

I'd certainly go with the 6PL over the 6P at this point in time. It will give you far longer runtime than the 6P's incandescent bulb. Also, you can always get the 6PL and later purchase a P60 lamp assembly to quickly and easily transform the 6PL into a regular, incandescent 6P, whereas it is not possible to purchase a P60L seperately at this point in time (the LED lamp assembly found in the 6PL) so starting out with the regular 6P will limit you in this respect.

Either way, the 6P/6PL provides an excellent introduction to quality lights, giving you a light that will last a lifetime, with a warranty to match. Furthermore, there are a great deal of aftermarket parts for the 6P, allowing you to mix and match and build the light you really want.

I hope you enjoy your light, whatever decision you make

Regards,
Tempest