Hi everyone! Here is a little background on myself, I am a 19 year old, male, college student. My interest in high quality lights was sparked when in December(?) of 2011, very fast winds hit the area I live in and the power was knocked out for about half a week. My family only had those old 99 cent flashlights that barely lit anything so I set out to buy a light that would actually be useful. So, I went out to my local Target and bought a Mini Maglight LED. I was fascinated of how bright and cool it was but unfortunately, a few weeks after the power came back on, I had dropped it and it became difficult to turn on (it was hard to twist). Now that I look back, some lubrication on the o-ring probably would have fixed that. Well, since I was so fascinated by modern lights, I decided to do some research and bought the Fenix LD10. I was super excited about the 100 lumens and the compact size! But it seemed like it had a defect so I got a replacement and that one also had a defect (The medium(?) mode would flicker as if it was having difficulty maintaining brightness but when I would go to the max mode, it did not flicker and this bothered me). So I decided to give the LD10 to my dad to use. Then I purchased the Surefire LX2 Lumamax and was excited because of the throw on it. What bothered me about the LX2 was that it does not have much of a spill and the size was kind of big. I also did not like the momentary on switch and to have constant on, you need to twist. I really liked the throw, 200 lumens, and how the clip was easy on my pants. Then I discovered the 4Sevens Quark Tactical 123x2 and it's 360 lumen max output and it was programmable! What bothered me about this light was that it did not have much throw or hot spot on it's turbo mode and it feels like it is hard on the pants because of the knurling and how tight the clip is. Now recently, I decided to get the Surefire P2X Fury + a $25 dollar clip from darksucks. I absolutely love the 500 lumen max and the throw on this. What bothers me about the Fury is the low (15 lumens) does not go very far and it's size. The size of the head is larger than I expected and it is quite noticeable in my pants. The Fury would be PERFECT if it weren't so huge and if it had further throw (on low) and a more noticable hotspot. So, in 9 months, I bought 5 lights. I am rather picky
So here is what I'm looking for:
-a light that will last me a couple years (I want this to be the last one I purchase in a long time, this is extremely important!)
-a multi-mode light (2 or 3 modes)
-a good hotspot but with a good spill as well (the hotspot preferably being very noticeable)
-a good mixture of flood and throw (1 being a lot of throw and 10 being a lot of flood, I would prefer something around 4)
-a lot of lumens!
-easy on clothes and not very noticable (the Fury creates a huge bulge and the Quark seems tough on my pants with it's knurlings)
-easy to use UI.
My main purpose for this would be mostly for utility, fun, and to impress friends. My other purposes would be for possible self-defense because I take the bus to and from school sometimes and it gets late sometimes (not for hitting, just a bright illumination of the possible attacker).
TL;DR:
1) How would you prefer to purchase the light?
I will be mail-ordering or buying online, so this doesn't matter.
2) Budget: An easy question, but you may change your mind after answering the rest!
Less than $150.
3) Format:
I want a flashlight.
4) Flashlight-specific format/size:
Every day carry small (2-4 inches).
Every day carry medium (4-7 inches).
5) Emitter/Light source:
LED (known for efficiency, longevity, and compactness)
6) Manufacturer:
I want to buy a light from a traditional mass producing manufacturer that is ready to go out of the box.
7) What battery type do you want to use?
I intend to use lithium primary batteries (CR123, CR2, Energizer Advanced/Ultimate Lithium AA/AAA)
8) How much genuine out the front (OTF) light do you want/need? Sometimes you can have too much light (trying to read up close up with a 100 lumen light is impossible).
I want to navigate a dark room or read a map (0-10 lumens).
I want to walk around an unlit rural area (50-150 lumens).
I want to illuminate my entire backyard or a campsite (150-300 lumens).
I want to illuminate an entire field, the neighbor's front yard several houses down, impress my friends and neighbors, etc. (300-700 lumens).
9) Throw vs. Flood: At what distance will you be most likely to use this light? Select all that apply.
Less than 5 yards/meters (looking for something inside a dark shed/garage/basement)
5-20 yards/meters (check out a noise in the backyard)
30-50 yards/meters (I have a big backyard)
50-150 yards/meters (I live in a very rural area/farm with wide open spaces)
150+ yards (I want maximum throw possible)
10) Runtime: Not over-inflated manufacturer runtime claims, but usable brightness measured from first activation to 50% with new batteries (Measured on maximum output).
90-120 minutes (Runtime is moderately important, but still not critical)
11) Durability/Usage: Generally the old phrase "you get what you pay for" is very accurate for flashlights.
Very Important (Camping, Backpacking, Car Glove-box).
Critical (Police, Fire, Search & Rescue, Caving, Survival).
12) Switch Type and location (choose all that apply):
I want a forward clicky (Helpful for momentary activation and signaling).
I want a momentary switch (Predominantly for use with signaling and short bursts of momentary light only).
I want a tail mounted switch (found on the majority of today's high end lights).
13) User Interface (UI) and mode selection. Select all that apply.
I want multiple light levels. (Some lights have 5-16 light levels.)
14)Material/Finish/Coating
Anodized Aluminum – either type II or III (Hard Anodized) (Aluminum, specifically HA, is the most common material/finish for today's flashlights).
So here is what I'm looking for:
-a light that will last me a couple years (I want this to be the last one I purchase in a long time, this is extremely important!)
-a multi-mode light (2 or 3 modes)
-a good hotspot but with a good spill as well (the hotspot preferably being very noticeable)
-a good mixture of flood and throw (1 being a lot of throw and 10 being a lot of flood, I would prefer something around 4)
-a lot of lumens!
-easy on clothes and not very noticable (the Fury creates a huge bulge and the Quark seems tough on my pants with it's knurlings)
-easy to use UI.
My main purpose for this would be mostly for utility, fun, and to impress friends. My other purposes would be for possible self-defense because I take the bus to and from school sometimes and it gets late sometimes (not for hitting, just a bright illumination of the possible attacker).
TL;DR:
1) How would you prefer to purchase the light?
I will be mail-ordering or buying online, so this doesn't matter.
2) Budget: An easy question, but you may change your mind after answering the rest!
Less than $150.
3) Format:
I want a flashlight.
4) Flashlight-specific format/size:
Every day carry small (2-4 inches).
Every day carry medium (4-7 inches).
5) Emitter/Light source:
LED (known for efficiency, longevity, and compactness)
6) Manufacturer:
I want to buy a light from a traditional mass producing manufacturer that is ready to go out of the box.
7) What battery type do you want to use?
I intend to use lithium primary batteries (CR123, CR2, Energizer Advanced/Ultimate Lithium AA/AAA)
8) How much genuine out the front (OTF) light do you want/need? Sometimes you can have too much light (trying to read up close up with a 100 lumen light is impossible).
I want to navigate a dark room or read a map (0-10 lumens).
I want to walk around an unlit rural area (50-150 lumens).
I want to illuminate my entire backyard or a campsite (150-300 lumens).
I want to illuminate an entire field, the neighbor's front yard several houses down, impress my friends and neighbors, etc. (300-700 lumens).
9) Throw vs. Flood: At what distance will you be most likely to use this light? Select all that apply.
Less than 5 yards/meters (looking for something inside a dark shed/garage/basement)
5-20 yards/meters (check out a noise in the backyard)
30-50 yards/meters (I have a big backyard)
50-150 yards/meters (I live in a very rural area/farm with wide open spaces)
150+ yards (I want maximum throw possible)
10) Runtime: Not over-inflated manufacturer runtime claims, but usable brightness measured from first activation to 50% with new batteries (Measured on maximum output).
90-120 minutes (Runtime is moderately important, but still not critical)
11) Durability/Usage: Generally the old phrase "you get what you pay for" is very accurate for flashlights.
Very Important (Camping, Backpacking, Car Glove-box).
Critical (Police, Fire, Search & Rescue, Caving, Survival).
12) Switch Type and location (choose all that apply):
I want a forward clicky (Helpful for momentary activation and signaling).
I want a momentary switch (Predominantly for use with signaling and short bursts of momentary light only).
I want a tail mounted switch (found on the majority of today's high end lights).
13) User Interface (UI) and mode selection. Select all that apply.
I want multiple light levels. (Some lights have 5-16 light levels.)
14)Material/Finish/Coating
Anodized Aluminum – either type II or III (Hard Anodized) (Aluminum, specifically HA, is the most common material/finish for today's flashlights).
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