tjswarbrick
Enlightened
Flashaholics,
I am patiently awaiting the arrival of my Hi CRI Rotary. Henry's not quite there on the spinny-tails yet, so summer will probably begin in earnest before mine shows up.
In the meantime, I sorta need a suitable substitute.
I'm looking for something in a reasonable price range, say under $65 or so, that'll offer me the closest thing I can find to Henry's wonderful beam profile, in a neutral or Hi CRI tint.
For this particular one, flood is probably better than throw, but I like a good mix for a daily carry light.
I like 2 and 3 mode lights for carry - no strobes/flashies required, but a good high or powerful high and solid medium, as well as a nice low for indoors/close-up/not disturbing others.
I'm looking for hard-anodized black aluminum, in a CR123 form factor, with a click (forward or reverse is okay) switch.
Obviously, whatever I get won't have the level of quality or F&F I expect from Henry, but I still want it done decently well.
Ideally, once the Rotary arrives, this will serve in low mode as a vampire to suck every last drop of juice from the CR123's I drain to won't-run-on-high in my other lights (typically 2.7-2.9V remaining via DMM.)
Carry lights I already own, and brief rundown opinion:
JETBeam E3s: Decent flood, good throw, slightly ringy, slightly green, kinda heavy, AA only;
Xeno E03 neutral XM-L: Great flood, acceptable throw, good but not great tint, got the blue one - which is purple (body, not tint), AA form factor;
PhotonFanatic Groovy! P4: Awesome flood, good throw, perfect white tint, gorgeous, smooth beam, not excessively bright, single mode, a little tough to activate - this is the other light that will serve in my primary EDC rotation.
EagleTac P20C2MKII neutral XP-E: Little flood, great throw, gorgeous neutral tint, slightly ringy, nicely hidden extra modes, a little long for EDC, 2xCR123.
Lumintop P2C neutral XP-G: Nice flood, good throw, low is too bright for low but not enough for med (only 2 modes), slightly bulky for pocket EDC, 2x123.
47 Preon2 with modded click tail and Hi-CRI XP-G: Nice flood, acceptable throw, kinda yellow/brown beam, slightly ringy, a little long, not much grip, 2xAAA.
Don't get me wrong - these are all great to superb lights, and I use them quite often, but they have specific purposes and are no longer part of my daily pocket carry.
I've been considering:
Lumapower IncenDio V3 (+ or U) - can't decide XM-L or XP-G, and have heard that even their neutral tints are either cool or just bad;
Quark 123 Tactical - "X" or XP-G, neutral or HiCRI?;
JETBeam BC-10: 2 modes, no neutral option;
JETBeam PC-10: no neutral option, kinda pricey;
Sunwayman V10R: kinda pricey, neutral option?;
Eagletac D25C Clicky: This is the one I thought I was going to get, but recent reviews have brought to light questionable quality and finish issues.
Zebralight SC31w: Is it black? How's the side switch? Do all those modes help or hinder daily use?
SureFire E1B with Z68 tailcap, VME head, and M31 high-CRI: only one mode, and out of the price range since already paid for the Rotary and this will go into backup status once that comes in.
So, which of these, or what else am I missing that, gives me the tint of a Nichia 119 or 219 (or HDS XP-G), high color rendering, a smooth all-purpose/floody beam profile, solid dependability, reliable quality, finish that makes me want to fondle it, nice click switch, attractive black finish, 120-300 lumen high, 1-5 lumen low, and will suck the life out of nearly-dead CR123's, for around $50?
Is that too much to ask?
BTW, I'm happy to build something from parts available from different vendors, but I'm not looking for DX stuff or to try my hand at soldering or LE assembly.
I didn't mention pocket clips because I usually just pull 'em off and deep-carry. If it comes with a nice one - great. If it's crap, or nonexistent, that won't bother me in the least.
Thanks!
I am patiently awaiting the arrival of my Hi CRI Rotary. Henry's not quite there on the spinny-tails yet, so summer will probably begin in earnest before mine shows up.
In the meantime, I sorta need a suitable substitute.
I'm looking for something in a reasonable price range, say under $65 or so, that'll offer me the closest thing I can find to Henry's wonderful beam profile, in a neutral or Hi CRI tint.
For this particular one, flood is probably better than throw, but I like a good mix for a daily carry light.
I like 2 and 3 mode lights for carry - no strobes/flashies required, but a good high or powerful high and solid medium, as well as a nice low for indoors/close-up/not disturbing others.
I'm looking for hard-anodized black aluminum, in a CR123 form factor, with a click (forward or reverse is okay) switch.
Obviously, whatever I get won't have the level of quality or F&F I expect from Henry, but I still want it done decently well.
Ideally, once the Rotary arrives, this will serve in low mode as a vampire to suck every last drop of juice from the CR123's I drain to won't-run-on-high in my other lights (typically 2.7-2.9V remaining via DMM.)
Carry lights I already own, and brief rundown opinion:
JETBeam E3s: Decent flood, good throw, slightly ringy, slightly green, kinda heavy, AA only;
Xeno E03 neutral XM-L: Great flood, acceptable throw, good but not great tint, got the blue one - which is purple (body, not tint), AA form factor;
PhotonFanatic Groovy! P4: Awesome flood, good throw, perfect white tint, gorgeous, smooth beam, not excessively bright, single mode, a little tough to activate - this is the other light that will serve in my primary EDC rotation.
EagleTac P20C2MKII neutral XP-E: Little flood, great throw, gorgeous neutral tint, slightly ringy, nicely hidden extra modes, a little long for EDC, 2xCR123.
Lumintop P2C neutral XP-G: Nice flood, good throw, low is too bright for low but not enough for med (only 2 modes), slightly bulky for pocket EDC, 2x123.
47 Preon2 with modded click tail and Hi-CRI XP-G: Nice flood, acceptable throw, kinda yellow/brown beam, slightly ringy, a little long, not much grip, 2xAAA.
Don't get me wrong - these are all great to superb lights, and I use them quite often, but they have specific purposes and are no longer part of my daily pocket carry.
I've been considering:
Lumapower IncenDio V3 (+ or U) - can't decide XM-L or XP-G, and have heard that even their neutral tints are either cool or just bad;
Quark 123 Tactical - "X" or XP-G, neutral or HiCRI?;
JETBeam BC-10: 2 modes, no neutral option;
JETBeam PC-10: no neutral option, kinda pricey;
Sunwayman V10R: kinda pricey, neutral option?;
Eagletac D25C Clicky: This is the one I thought I was going to get, but recent reviews have brought to light questionable quality and finish issues.
Zebralight SC31w: Is it black? How's the side switch? Do all those modes help or hinder daily use?
SureFire E1B with Z68 tailcap, VME head, and M31 high-CRI: only one mode, and out of the price range since already paid for the Rotary and this will go into backup status once that comes in.
So, which of these, or what else am I missing that, gives me the tint of a Nichia 119 or 219 (or HDS XP-G), high color rendering, a smooth all-purpose/floody beam profile, solid dependability, reliable quality, finish that makes me want to fondle it, nice click switch, attractive black finish, 120-300 lumen high, 1-5 lumen low, and will suck the life out of nearly-dead CR123's, for around $50?
Is that too much to ask?
BTW, I'm happy to build something from parts available from different vendors, but I'm not looking for DX stuff or to try my hand at soldering or LE assembly.
I didn't mention pocket clips because I usually just pull 'em off and deep-carry. If it comes with a nice one - great. If it's crap, or nonexistent, that won't bother me in the least.
Thanks!
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