Underrated lights.

Have any of you had a light you never heard anything about, but have no clue why?

I had just picked up a nitecore mh25. Mini usb rechargeable, 900lm, nice general beam profile, very solid construction. Just an all around good light of ended up putting on my mossberg, since I can just plug it in without removing anything. I came here after buying to search for anything about it, and found very little information.

Post lights you guys think should get more respect, or lights that get a bad rep, but you've had good experience with.

You have one of them. Eagletac MX25L3. Until V54 said he liked it, it didn't seem like many people here knew or talked about it.

I still think that light isn't as respected as it should be.
I figured people would love the side and tail buttons, and just the all around quality of it.

I think that's the problem.
It's doesn't have crazy numbers in any one area.

People go gaga over the best thrower , the monster flooder, but no one really hypes the all purpose lights, no matter how good they are.

This is a good idea for a thread.

I'll pick the Sunwayman R02A and R15A. I like the minimal size, low cost and simple UI. These are possibly my favourite EDC lights, but for some reason there is very little enthusiasm about them here on CPF. There seems to be a trend in the last few years for lights with more complicated UI's with more modes, more lumens and more throw but with little regard for practicality.

Foursevens Maelstrom MMU-X3. Sure, it's not as bright as other triples. But it comes in a size that's not too bad when it comes to pocketability. Also, the 1x26650 form factor makes for a light that feels good in the hand (much like a C cell Mag) - certainly much better than those overly fat 3x18650 triples. Light output is a still respectable 1600 lumens. And, although it thermally steps down to levels more similar to high on a single XM-L lights, the beam has a nice, even, floody quality to it that other lights don't have. All of this adds up to a perfect light for night hiking.

Of course, it could also be said that 26650 lights as a whole are underrated. They really aren't that much less pocketable than 18650 lights. Yet, capacity of 26650s actually IS significantly greater than the largest 18650s. Especially now that 26650s have broken the 5000mAH barrier.

That's a good point about lights that are jacks of all trades but master of none.

Most of my lights fall into that range...in that they might be floody out to a range I need, or small enough to carry but strong enough to get the job done.

I think the 47's MMU-X3 kinda gets passed up. Better than average throw and great flood. Long running and compact.

Throw is cool but how far can the eye see in detail anyway?

I've been using it for awhile at work (nightshift patrol officer) and I love it. Showed it off to a few other cops and fireman and now they carry one too.

monkeyboy said:

I'll pick the Sunwayman R02A (..)

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Happen to own one, it's okay but certainly not my favorite. Also bought an Olight i3S a while ago (giveaway to the gf). Which was cheaper, switched modes more reliably, tailstands, and isn't a 'batterycrusher' unlike the R02A. The R02A is a nice light, but imho on the pricey side for what it offers.

I'd like to make another suggestion for this thread: a brass 1x 18650 XP-G(2) light that I got from CNQualityGoods a while ago. Found very few reviews so far. Came in different emitter options, I got one that was advertised as XP-G warm white. Which turned out to be NW rather than WW, but okay... Anyway for some reason I find myself using it a lot, often as a bicycle light. Nice design, compact for a 1x 18650 (though protected cells won't fit ), excellent mode spacing. Too bad I never figured out who designed or manufactured it. :thinking: Apparantly still for sale on FancyFlashlights, and there's a review on that other forum... Google for "brass XP-G 18650" or similar.

I'd say the Pak-Lite, it's very underrated and almost never suggested as an emergency preparedness light.

BIG45-70 said:

I'd say the Pak-Lite, it's very underrated and almost never suggested as an emergency preparedness light.

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Definitely another vote for Pak-Lite as a back up emergency and low level night stand light with used 9 volt batteries. The glow in the dark head is long lasting and good quality overall, including the switch.

but I'm going to be slammed/ignored for this one: the NightStar shake flashlights. Sure, I don't use them but as a last ditch source of light, I think it is a 'must have' for dire emergency purposes. Fact is; I don't know how long lasting they are over the years or how well they stand up to use. The manufacturer claims long life. It's no problem to let kids play with them although they are not allowed to abuse them. And the magnetic nature of the internals needs to be remembered.

You can add many Led Lensers to the list,plenty get a mention and many others do not but still one of the best selling makes in the world due to there supreme marketing skills.I have a few LL,s that get very little attention and to be fair never had an issue with any of them.

Rofis PR21/22. I got it because it is similar in size and output to the Pd35, but costs less. I wanted to try a side switch light and see if you can get a quality light to compete against the PD35, Nitecore P12, etc for less than $50. I think you can. After researching Rofis I think they make a good product, but it's a crowded market. I think it's a great value.

BIG45-70 said:

I'd say the Pak-Lite, it's very underrated and almost never suggested as an emergency preparedness light.

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Another vote for Pak-lite

I'd say the Olight SR96 - people really got bummed out when the throw numbers were released - still in the 30K range with awesome run times, and UI.

SOG Dark Energy lights. They serve a special purpose. I have 2. They look like the head of a oil drill bit. They have very aggressive knurling. put some RCRs in them and they throw like the ****ens. Never opened one up. But will soon.

KITROBASKIN said:

but I'm going to be slammed/ignored for this one: the NightStar shake flashlights. Sure, I don't use them but as a last ditch source of light, I think it is a 'must have' for dire emergency purposes. Fact is; I don't know how long lasting they are over the years or how well they stand up to use. The manufacturer claims long life. It's no problem to let kids play with them although they are not allowed to abuse them. And the magnetic nature of the internals needs to be remembered.

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I'm not sure if they still make the nightestar, and a couple of years ago they were a bit more expensive than other shake lights. I bought a couple shake lights, none nightstar, but the capacitor ones were as bright as they were going to get (not too bright) and dropped off pretty quickly. The others had NiMH batteries in them, but it took a LOT OF SHAKING to charge those babies up.. certainly more than 30 seconds.

From my limited experience, it seems that the dynamo (crank) type takes less human energy to create stored energy than the shake type.

I'm not sure what they are advertising, something like 20 minutes of "useable" light for 30 seconds of shaking. Maybe reppans will find it useable, but I'd bet they are talking sublumen at the end of a 20 minute run.

I don't want to slam you on this, but question whether it should really be listed as an under-rated light. Do you have a nightstar? Is it really MUCH better than the others, and since they don't list the lumens level of output, can you give us an estimate?

It seems that the Convoy brand of lights are highly rated by it's owners, but yet are not often recommended at this site.

One of my favorite lights is the Convoy S2. It is a cigar shaped 18650 light programmable into either 3 modes or 5.

Another never mentioned light is the Rayovac 2 AA EVB2AALED-B $1.50 at walmart, batteries included. Rated at 12 lumens / 23 hours. 12 lumens will very nicely lite the lavatory during a power outage. It can tail stand, and at that price you can have many all over the house, and not be afraid to give them away.

I think that as a group the Streamlight lights get very little recognition. A few posts about the Scorpion, and some recommendations for hazardous conditions lights is about all I ever see. I have owned several Streamlights, and have liked every one. They aren't fancy, they don't lead the industry in performance numbers, they just work. Most of them are focused on a specific niche in the market, as can be seen on their website. They are like the old Timex slogan, "Takes a licking, keeps on ticking (shining)!" Another is the Malkoff MD series of hosts. Gene makes some of the best drop-ins around, and the MD hosts carry on that reputation. They seem to be very well built, good quality, and work as good hosts for any of Gene's drop-ins (or anyone else's too).

I have a larger and a smaller Nightstar. Both are sealed (said to float) with magnetic switches. There is what some would say an optic (magnifier) over the very blue, very weak emitting LED. The bigger one is brighter initially but both go dim pretty soon. I checked out their website a few months ago (appliedinnotech). They sell different models than what I bought, maybe 6 years ago. After the initial shaking, it does not take much to bring them to their full brightness, but if you leave them alone for many days, you will be at square one. To me, having batteries in a shake light does not perform their function. The manufacturer has said that if the capacitors are kept fairly cool, they could last more than a decade (I think). In the latter 80's, I worked security and tried different lights. I tried a Japanese, then a Russian, and then a Chinese dynamo powered light. That is, if you stopped squeezing, they soon went out. They were all using incans and the plastic gears on all of them failed after not that much regular use. My boss at the time chided me for making so much noise because of the light. I had a backup light of course. Now maybe those more modern dynamo lights that you crank to wind up a spiral spring mechanism and a flywheel does the spinning might be more viable than a shake light. Since it has gears and such, it seems the shake light might last longer but I do not know. Comparing a Nitecore TM26 XML lowest setting (3 lumens) to the biggest (Nightstar 3), I'm guessing maybe 5 lumens, but as you said, it goes to sub lumen, I would say, after a few minutes. The smaller (Nightstar CS2) is maybe 3 lumens at maximum. I just think they may come in handy in dire circumstances. Perhaps a loaner in times of need. No batteries, no gears or springs. Maybe I've been duped.

Years ago on Saturday Night Live, the guy who now sits in Johnny Carson's chair did a skit with a shake light, copying the act of masturbation. Not a very funny skit and I can tell you the proper method to charge the capacitor is to hold it horizontally, and not shaking so hard as to slam the repelling magnets on both ends.

Now, I can only hope a moderator does not summarily delete this post for such apostasy.

Poppy said:

I'm not sure if they still make the nightestar, and a couple of years ago they were a bit more expensive than other shake lights. I bought a couple shake lights, none nightstar, but the capacitor ones were as bright as they were going to get (not too bright) and dropped off pretty quickly. The others had NiMH batteries in them, but it took a LOT OF SHAKING to charge those babies up.. certainly more than 30 seconds.

From my limited experience, it seems that the dynamo (crank) type takes less human energy to create stored energy than the shake type.

I'm not sure what they are advertising, something like 20 minutes of "useable" light for 30 seconds of shaking. Maybe reppans will find it useable, but I'd bet they are talking sublumen at the end of a 20 minute run.

I don't want to slam you on this, but question whether it should really be listed as an under-rated light. Do you have a nightstar? Is it really MUCH better than the others, and since they don't list the lumens level of output, can you give us an estimate?

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I'm not entirely sure if it's underrated here, but the Olight i3S is my favourite AAA flashlight and the best one to give to non-flashaholics. It gets negatively compared to the Maratac AAA a lot, but for $26 AUD you get a waterproof torch with multiple modes that can be put onto a hat.