Help me make the plunge into flashaholism

So I found this site :wave: and now I want to upgrade my current arsenal of lights. :devil: Things to keep in mind is that Im a college student so money is an issue. I dont really need the brightest flashlight on the block either. Anyhelp with cheaper prices is greatly appriciated.

Keychain:
Currently have - Maglite Solitaire stock Rechargable AAA
Upgrade to - Solitaire with lt-3 ($19.95 at LED-Replacement) Rechargable AAA eneloop
Usually use it for finding the keyhole in the dark and occasional low light note taking
Saw the ARC aaa but at $30 I was put off

Mini:
Currently have - Maglite mini AA stock Rechargable AA
Upgrade to - Maglight mini AA w/TLE5EX ($25.95 at LED-Replacement) Rechargable AA
Usually use this for in the house at night stuff
Any other suggestions? I would like a light that is long and slim like 2AA and has adjustable beam

EDC:
Currently have - None
Upgrade to - Fenix P2D CE ($52.00 at fenix-store) RCR123
I like the different brightness settings and the small size
Other suggestions?

Regular:
Currently have - Brightstar Industrial 2D
Upgrade to - Maglight 2D or 2C w/ROP
Used for outside the house stuff
I like the bigger size of 2d or 2c but it dosent have to use 2d or 2d, I also like the adjustable beam.
Is 200 lumens easily attainable for this size?

welcome you have done good research


keychain - fenix LOD , its really worth it for $42 fenixtsore coupon "cpf8" 8% discount....but if you insist the solitaire upgrade is ok

mini- the 5ex is good just make sure to get the seoul version not the cree or K2-TFFC ....again though i recommend the fenix L2d

edc- good choice or even L1d that use aa , cr123 are pricey unless you use recharchables

regular- choices are endless here but i use 3d or 4d mag with Malkoff

:welcome:

Keychain:The Fenix LOD is an impressive light for your kechain, if you want single mode the Tiablo A1(Battery Junction or Lighthound) is nice.There is also a two mode version of the Tiablo available.Personally the only lights I actually keep on my keychain are Photon IIs(less than $10 at Battery Junction),

Mini:For a bit more money you can get the Lumapower LM31.Two modes low/high and only uses a single AA.This type of light will perform the best with Energizer lithiums but should work with alkalines.

http://batteryjunction.com/lumapower-lm301.html

EDC:The P2D is what I usually carry :thumbsup:

Regular:2C Maglite is a good place to start.Magled replacement or 3XCR123 conversion are inexpensive ways to make this a decent performer.As mentioned before there are many options here.The INOVA T1 and T2(2008 versions) are my favorites in the CR123 form factor.

Buy CR123 batteries online in quantity to save $.I would stick with the name brands even though they cost a bit more.

:welcome:

Keychain:
The SMJLED is much better than the TL3.
http://theledguy.chainreactionweb.com/product_info.php?cPath=48_52_82&products_id=861
Fenix has discontinued the E0 but Eliteled still seem to have some natural ones in stock. They also have some E1.
http://eliteled.com/products/flashlights/fenix-e0.html

Mini:
2AA is not that popular among flashaholics as 1AA is almost as bright or a CR123A is same brightness but much smaller.
You can look at the minimagLED 2AA or the Fenix L2T v2.0 RB80.
If you can put up with the shorter 1AA length The MTE 1xAA SSC-P4 42180-U or Romisen RC-G2 are reasonable quality low cost lights.
Indoors a flood light might be more useful than a spot/spill type beam. Take a look at the Zebralight.

EDC:
The Fenix P1D/P2D do not work properly with RCR123A (you lose all the low modes). The Tenergy LiFePO4 cells which are 3V should not be used either as they are 550 mA max and the P1D/P2D turbo is ~700 mA. You have to buy special 3V versions of the RCR123A. Or stay with disposible CR123A.

Outdoors:
Can you give more details of what you will be using the light for?
In the country/at the cottage you will probably need throw to see landmarks at a distance. (e.g Malkoff)
In the backyard you are better off with a floody beam. (e.g Elektrolumens MT-III)
See Ernsanadas outdoor beamshots bottom of post 1
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/188845

A 2C/2D magLED is 52 lumens. 6800 lux (82.46M throw)
A3C/3D magLED is 66 lumens out front.7500 lux (86.60 throw)
A malkoff is 194 LED lumens in a 2C/2D mag & 240 LED lumens in a 3C/3D mag. A Malkoff 2D is 10,000 lux (100M throw) and 3D is 12,580 lux (112M throw)
An Elektrolumens MT-3 is 600 LED lumens. 5900 Lux (76M throw)
An ROP can go from 300-600+ lumens out the front (500-1000 bulb lumens).

Keychain:
Currently have - Maglite Solitaire stock Rechargable AAA
Upgrade to - Solitaire with lt-3 ($19.95 at LED-Replacement) Rechargable AAA eneloop
Usually use it for finding the keyhole in the dark and occasional low light note taking
Saw the ARC aaa but at $30 I was put off

Not worth it, spend the extra and get the arc, or a fenix e0 from lighthound for $20... you'll thank us...

Mini:
Currently have - Maglite mini AA stock Rechargable AA
Upgrade to - Maglight mini AA w/TLE5EX ($25.95 at LED-Replacement) Rechargable AA
Usually use this for in the house at night stuff
Any other suggestions? I would like a light that is long and slim like 2AA and has adjustable beam

Plenty of other options unless you're really stuck on upgrading the Mag, I believe lighthound has a cheaper led upgrade as well, although the tle5x is a good upgrade.

EDC:
Currently have - None
Upgrade to - Fenix P2D CE ($52.00 at fenix-store) RCR123
I like the different brightness settings and the small size
Other suggestions?

So many options I'm not gonna comment

Regular:
Currently have - Brightstar Industrial 2D
Upgrade to - Maglight 2D or 2C w/ROP
Used for outside the house stuff
I like the bigger size of 2d or 2c but it dosent have to use 2d or 2d, I also like the adjustable beam.
Is 200 lumens easily attainable for this size?[/QUOTE]

ROP builds typically put out 500 out the front lumens. Decide if you want LED or an incandescent first

Fenix L2D and skip everything else for now - the only one "still pocketable" light one "needs"

(except for a good led light - multistage of course - that runs on a single 18650 in the near future)

If you run a P2D on RCRs you will lose all but high mode. A cell usually lasts me a long time in it though, so it's not that expensive to run.

200 lumen is technically attainable in 1 AA size(runtime would be short). So 200 lumen at 2C should be easily attainable.

Dealextreme and Kaidomain have great current gen LEDs(Cree/Seoul/Rebel) for a good price, just go for the ones getting good reviews. Shipping would take a while though, usually 2 weeks to a month.

Trust me, unless the adjustable beam is with a good optic, all you will get is rings and holes. Multimode or a diffuser would be better.

you can buy a bunch of these and use them as keychain lights. There's also a drop-in for the Soli.

For the Minimag replacement, I'd recommend the RC-N3. Would 1 AA multimode work? For around the house, you don't really need a lot of output, so the MJLED Drop-in might work.

If you are getting a P2D, get the Rebel 100 or Q5 version. Brighter(low mode is around the same output as the minimag, and this is with the dimmer P4, normal, version). 8% off coupon from Fenix Store is "CPF8". Check DX(dealextreme) if you'd like something cheaper.

What's you total budget?

Check here for reviews of many budget lights.

:welcome:

Great post,now I realize that the p1d dosent use its lows on rechargeables...I'm really impressed with 180 lums out of 1 cr123,thanks for the input:twothumbs.

to Led Ninja
So the P2d will not work with this battery?
RCR123A 3.0V 900mAh Rechargeable Li-Ion Battery - RCR123A-900

Also for the outdoors I live in a typical suburbs, so a flood light will be better i guess. (theres a snake living somewhere on the property, I don't want to meet him in the middle of the dark )

As for the DX and KD lights why are they so cheap yet they seem to have the performance of the more expensive brands? I have read about how some have a flicker and some have bad threads and some that have bad clickie's.
While looking around I am interested in these 2 lights
DealExtreme: $17.95 Mini 3W Cree 1xCR123A Flashlight
DealExtreme: $11.50 Romisen MXDL RC-G2 Cree Flashlight Black (1xAA)
I have dealt with DX before but that was something non flashlight related and I think I waited 1 and a half months for the product to arrive.



Budget would be
key chain $20
mini $30
EDC $50
regular don't know yet

I don't really know if these are reasonable budgets.

The P2D should work with those batteries.

As for DX lights, many of them are probably cheaper because they don't have the same quality as the more expensive brands(Romisen seems to have the best quality, some say better then Fenix). Those that do might not use the best binned LED, they might not have spent money on R&D(as in they are clones/copies), they have no warranty.

But if you pick well, you could get a good light for under $20 that would serve you for a many years without problem. They do take a while to ship though.

The RC-N3 could be a good "Mini" light. One of the few that have a forward clicke and a clip. Quality seems to be good and price is also pretty good.

As for keychain, the Fenix E0 would be a good choice, though they aren't made anymore.

For EDC, the Olight T15 or T10 would be good. With the coupon, they are a bit under $48 shipped each.

Gado said:

I don't really need the brightest flashlight on the block either.

Click to expand...

Your mindset will change as you venture deeper into flashaholism :duh2:

I would combine your "keychain, mini, and EDC" categories into one, and satisfy all 3 of them with the LOD Q4 for about $42 shipped. With AAA Eneloop, you will not be disappointed.

The LOD on medium is probably far brighter than any light you currently own. And there is still a high mode after that.


A MagLite 2D is capable of 700-1000 lumens with the right LED dropin or hotwire setup.

i think an LOD would cover his edc & keychain needs but hes gonna need an L2d for much needed runtime and output that would cover his mini and regular needs and he could always pick up an extra L1d or p2d body tailcap and hes set

i would combine the first three also....p1 or p2 fenix q5.....with
https://www.all-battery.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1877 so you can keep all your modes
and pick a regular that uses rcr123 so you won't have so many different batteries....like a surefire 6p/9p or g2/g3 with whatever drop-in suits your fancy

With your budget, I think the Olight T10 and a Fenix L0D-CE would be a great pair.

The Olight would for the mini and EDC light. The L0D-CE Q4 would be the keychain EDC.

So I ordered the Fenix L1d Q5 black as my EDC since I have like 10 nihm AA that are left over from when I switched my RC transmitter to Eneloops. This way I dont have to get a new charger and battery. I'll see what my next purchase will be after the light arrives.

Thanks for the help. :thumbsup:

Gado said:

So I ordered the Fenix L1d Q5 black as my EDC since I have like 10 nihm AA that are left over from when I switched my RC transmitter to Eneloops. This way I dont have to get a new charger and battery. I'll see what my next purchase will be after the light arrives.

Thanks for the help. :thumbsup:

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Excellent choice Gado! I just received my L1D Q5 today and it's a wonderful light that will serve most....if not all your needs.

You may still want something very small for your keychain at some point, but you're going to love the L1D! Let us know what you end up with next!:twothumbs

yellow said:

Fenix L2D and skip everything else for now - the only one "still pocketable" light one "needs"

(except for a good led light - multistage of course - that runs on a single 18650 in the near future)

Click to expand...

Just got one of these. (the Cree Q5) and it was the best $57 I have ever spent on a flashlight. Its pocketable bright like you cant imagine coming from such a small thing and with Lithium batteries very light at the same time. can't go wrong with one.

I also have an Arc-P while the are a bit spendy the thing is a tank. Been on my keychain for a year and still looks good as new and always around when I need it.

I hope you like the light!