Grrrrrrrrrrr! Too many cool LEDs. I just wanna...

...buy them all.

Any LED flashlights that I should absolutely, positively stay away from and why?

As always, thanks in advance!

I would just say that when it comes to Luxeon Stars, choose wisely. There is enough variation of the product from Lumileds that you want to make sure if you buy a LS based product, there will be no issue to exchange or return it if you aren't happy with it. They are also expensive enough that you'll probably only want one.

I don't know if there is an LED based flashlight that you should absolutely stay away from. But the closest I can think of right now is probably the CMG Reactor.

It is cheap. I'll grant it that. But so is dat2zip's BB400/500 mod, and that guy in a m$n$m$g is a whole lot better, and costs only $10-$15 more, and doesn't have to use lithiums, and is aluminum for better heat dissipation, and is more durable, and so on and on...

It's a great, affordable LS-based light by itself, but once you start comparing it to some others, it starts to fall down the pecking order...

I stayed away from the reactor myself due to many negative posts here. luxeons are the way to go though, even considering the variations. the brinkmann rebel's tail cap switch falling off made it a light I haven't found necessary to replace.

I bought 2 Reactors and 2 Rebels. One rebel has an internally misaligned emitter that is partly corrected by the collimater. That one hangs from my headboard, along with my Lightwave Illuminator. Both Reactors were good ones, and I gave one to a friend.

As to staying away from things, be extremely wary of the stuff you see on eBay. Most is cheap PRC knockoffs.

Most of all, you are doing the right thing by asking on CPF. Take time and wade through the topics. It is worth the time and effort to do so.

Thanks for the info.

I second what everyone else here said.

I bought one of the first CMG Reactors, and it was a puke green color (to quote Craig!) and not really bright.

The mod's from dat2zip, Mr. Bulk and Lambda are great! Really bright, nice color!

The InReTECH 2aa drop in module is a really easy install to an existing mini-mag, and is a nice ballance between brightness and run time.

HOWEVER, for a commercially available product, the CMG reactor is something to be watched. CMG is the first VALUE PRICED Luxeon Star flashlight. CMG is a serious flashlight company, and they did, almost immeditaely, improve their product, and now have a Reactor III. It should be interesting to see how the CPF members rate the Reactor III.

ALSO, it should be noted, that there were SOME CPF members that got really nice reactors, and were very happy with them.

While we might bad mouth the original Reactor (the jury is still out on the reactor III), the Reactor III might be the Luxeon Star flashlight that most consumers will eventually purchase. CMG is an established company with a good market presense.

An addendum to the Reactor:

Reactor (2AA): requires Lithium AAs.

Reactor III (3AA): requires Alkaline AAs.

Along the same lines, watch out for any pocket lights that require a squeeze to turn on, and a second squeeze to turn off.

The Photon 3 is a neat little product, but any other setting besides "timed light" is an invitation to have the batteries go dead in your pocket from inadvertantly turning on without your knowledge..

Originally posted by S4MadMan:
Any LED flashlights that I should absolutely, positively stay away from and why?

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">The only ones I would definitely stay away from are any lights that must be squeezed to keep it on, such as the Photon 1 for instance. There are many good alternative lights with a constant-on switch and they are a lot easier to use hands-free or for more than a few seconds.

A lot of shops are now jumping on the LED torch bandwaggon offering very overpriced examples usually powered by a single white LED. They seem to be fairly well made but performnce is often poor Typical prices range from £20 to £50. For a few quid more you can buy a really sorted high quality product from a torchaholic.
So, I would say, don't buy your torch from a shop, buy it from a torchaholic!

For someone looking for a high-power solution (beyond a "microlight", I would say that dat2zip's BadBoys are the way to go... A minimag with a BB runs around the same as a 5-10 Nichia light, and is brighter and more flexible. (Easier to collimate 1 source than 10. This is why you never see Nichia-based lights with collimator optics.)