Suggestion for practical every day carry light

I have 4 cell mag LED's for the house and the car... great for that purpose, and while they aren't the brightest or most expensive, the focus beam is infinitely useful, they run forever, and they are solid blunt objects... So that's covered. Problem is I don't carry the mag with me on any given day... I work in downtown Philadelphia and have to commute via subway and walking some dark streets at nighttime... Have had 2 run-in's in my life, both in this city, and they were enough to wake me up to be 'aware'. I have my permit and a glock, but I don't carry, nor do I prefer to on a normal work day in normal work clothes. What I'm looking for is a proven name pocket-able LED that takes normal batteries (AA's AAA's, etc) but doesn't look like an obvious weapon... Some of them have an obvious jagged front and rear's on them, and while that would do the trick, I don't want something so obvious... Don't want any trouble with Johnny law, especially in the rare occurrence I'm in NJ or another state in general... I want it to be something I can carry anywhere pretty much without too much bulk or too 'offensive' of a style. I'd guess that 180+ lumens is enough to do the trick if it ever came down to it followed by whatever method works after?

Anyway, Surefires are too expensive for me, but I like the Fenix LD20.. The PD32 is sweet too but takes those batteries that you can only order online. They have that 'balanced' look to them where you know it can be used as a weapon, but it would be easy to convince anyone that it's not made for 'that'. Know what I mean?

How is the LD20 grip? Enough to get a solid grasp? (looks kinda thin) 180 lumen enough to serve my purpose?

Any suggestions would be great... price range under 80 i'd guess.

Sorry in advance if I blew past any common posting practices for these forums... a search didn't seem to help.

Thanks!

SPC Smith at your service of a recommended light: First off, alkalines are easy to get and pretty affordable... but the actual shelf life ie storage life is only up to two years. Plus your battery performance is no where near as long, as bright, as solid regulated power of a CR123 lithium ion battery. i understand your qalm in buying these kinds of batteries over the counter as they are expensive... For your purposes in a one time go around,would suggest if $80ish is your limit and you want something pocketable like an EDC: JETBEAM PC10 $70/ Tenergy RCR123 charger kit @t batteryjunction. no im not a salesman, i just get my stuff from them and they are solid. just so you know, the light i just reccomended to you is one that i want to get for myself.. soon anyway=( lol. it has an output (RCR123 only) of 550 lumens* though it is considered an EDC (every day carry) it can be used as well for tactical purposes.. ruining an attacker night adapted vision EASILY! So yes theoretically you will have an advantage with this light in the enevitable scenario. With all that being said it does not constitute itself as weapon.. and.. you will not know what to do with yourself after buying Jetbeam PC10... Flashaholism will have struck you!

BTW.. the Tenergy charger that i listed above comes with two Rechargeable 123 cells. you will have everything you need with that setup and not have to buy CR123 SF's or camera batteries at the store.. your welcome:thumbsup:

Just a heads-up, the self-defense aspect of flashlights has been covered in prior threads - most of them closed due to the fact that this topic does not work well. Please feel free to find more info on this subject via the CPF-only 'Google' search function. That topic does not need to be revisited ad nauseum.

In the interests of promoting a useful discussion, I have renamed the thread title.

Best regards,

Look into the Sunwayman V10A XM-L T5 or CREE R5. If you run them on 14500 then you will get 400+ lumens for XML T5 or 280 lumens for the R5. If you run them on eneloops the R5 will have more output than the XML-T5. The XML-T5 really needs the 14500 to reach max output. Either one will use any AA in a pinch, alkaline, NiMH, lithium primary, lithium rechargeable. Rear click on/off, brightness control ring falls nicely in place for adjustment.

Both are very pocket-able no rough edges. The provided clip and lanyard I do not use for daily use to much bulk. I recycled an old cell phone hand strap and fashioned a connector from cotton beading cord, the cord does not chip or scratch the finish. Over all less bulk and no scratch. I carry it in the zipper thigh pocket of my trousers.

=D~~ Kilted

dang the sunwayman V10A XML sounds pretty good and universal for all battery type.. thank for the heads up on that one kilted!

I'll give the devil his do, that sounds like a pretty good light considering it uses as, nimh, lithium primary, lithium RCR! I'm check in to it:wave:

I'm a fan of a Zebralight SC51 running on a single AA Eneloop (rechargeable NiMh) battery. Small, good output on Hi, but other levels available via one of the best UIs in the business.

Gregozedobe said:

I'm a fan of a Zebralight SC51 running on a single AA Eneloop (rechargeable NiMh) battery. Small, good output on Hi, but other levels available via one of the best UIs in the business.

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i do love my sunwayman V10r, but i EDC a Zebralight SC51w, i just cannot find a better light for my every day tasks. but i do carry 3 everyday
SWM SC51w
Thrunite Ti
4Sevens Quark HCRI CR2

lumintop L2A, jetbeam PA20, fenix LD20, eagletac P20A2

Apparently Mag just released new "Pro" series AA mini's, and they are coming out with "tac" lights as well. I will wait and see what they have coming. I saw a leaked image, and one looks like a hand grenade grip. Awesome. I love Mag and if they are going to update their stuff, I'll give them a look first... I love the brand and feel good about keeping money in our economy, especially these days...