Recommendations for first small LED flashlight needed please.

[soulweeper]

This is my first post here, and I found this site last night by accident, and it sure looks like the right place to ask my simple question.

I'm looking to buy a small LED flashlight that puts out a lot of light, and isn't very expensive. Something to take on a walk, keep in the nightstand, etc. By browsing around this site, it can get overwhelming, and I can tell there are a lot of "flashlight enthusiasts", and that's cool. I can relate with other things. Who knows, I may add this to my list of things to obsess on.

That being said, with my lack of knowledge about the subject, I had it pretty much narrowed down to the Maglite XL50, the Maglite XL200, or maybe the Nebo redline tactical flashlight.

Sales Link removed - Norm

I'm going to assume that those 3 aren't mention much here by the looks of it, but maybe I'm wrong. That gives you an idea of what I'm looking for. Basically, I'd like to keep it at about $30 or less, and get as bright of a light as I can for that money. This one seems like it would suit my needs just fine http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?229889-**NEW**-Romisen-RC-2R4-II-R5-LED-flashlight
but any suggestions are welcome. Thanks in advance!

 

[Derek Dean]

Howdy soulweeper, and welcome to CPF,
The Romsien that you linked to is probably not what you want because it uses a specific kind of battery that can be hard or expensive to find, more the kind of battery an enthusiast would use.

You should probably look for a similar type of light that uses either 1 AA or 2 AA batteries, depending on what size light your looking for.

Go to the shiningbeam website listed in that thread and you'll find many AA lights in the price range you mentioned. I'm not familiar with most of them, but if you see one that looks interesting, you can find out what other folks here on CPF think about it by using the Google Search box located at the top left of most CPF pages.

Leave it checkmarked for "CPF Only", then simply enter the model number and hit "search", and it will bring up a page full of relevant CPF threads for you to read.

Also, here are some fine flashlight review sites that you might find helpful:
http://www.light-reviews.com/reviews.html
http://www.flashlightreviews.ca
http://www.lygte-info.dk/review/Reviews UK.html

And a neat site to learn about rechargeable batteries:
Battery University:
http://batteryuniversity.com/

Have fun!

 

[soulweeper]

Thanks for the reply! Yes, I overlooked that detail about the batteries. Not an absolute deal breaker, but something that uses AA or AAA would probably be better for me. The Maglite XL200 would probably be perfect, but I noticed there is no lanyard, and it's pretty easy to see that for around the same money that I can get a brighter flashlight. I didn't look real hard, but I didn't see Nebo mentioned here at all. I'm sure that's considered lower end on this site, but that's o.k. I started at Amazon and ended up finding this site.

 

[UpstandingCitizen]

You can get a brand new Quark MiNi AAx2 for about $35 shipped. It's a fantastic intro light for the casual user IMHO.

Uses common AA batteries, is easy to use, is well-built, and the size is nice for a general purpose light.

http://www.4sevens.com/product_info.php?cPath=297_355&products_id=2423

 

[wildweed]

You can get a brand new Quark MiNi AAx2 for about $35 shipped. It's a fantastic intro light for the casual user IMHO.

Uses common AA batteries, is easy to use, is well-built, and the size is nice for a general purpose light.

http://www.4sevens.com/product_info.php?cPath=297_355&products_id=2423

+1

 

[soulweeper]

Thanks.........nice little flashlight. Another one I saw at the shiningbeam site is the Romisen RC-G2 II Cree XP-G R5
I like the look of that one a bit more....seems easier to grip, if you will.

 

[kreisler]

about $30 or less, and get as bright of a light as I can for that money.

You cant go wrong with Romisen, it's promoted by Shiningbeam, GoingGear and can be ordered from Hongkong or China thru ebay for even less, it's an acknowledged low budget manufacturing site and flashlight brand and i love some specific models with the orange-colored bezels and button switches. The next step coming from Maglites would be Fenix, i would say. But Fenix is more than $30, e.g. Fenix LD10, LD20.
Take your time.
about 1 month ago i was in the same newbie situation and only wanted and needed 1 single allround flashlight ... and now i am ending up with 5 lights, none of which a Fenix or Maglite, but some Romisen, EagleTac, a.o.

Check out the reviews section for popular models.. for starters the Quark Mini's or the Xeno E03 should prove a good point

 

[soulweeper]

You cant go wrong with Romisen, it's promoted by Shiningbeam, GoingGear and can be ordered from Hongkong or China thru ebay for even less, it's an acknowledged low budget manufacturing site and flashlight brand and i love some specific models with the orange-colored bezels and button switches. The next step coming from Maglites would be Fenix, i would say. But Fenix is more than $30, e.g. Fenix LD10, LD20.
Take your time.
about 1 month ago i was in the same newbie situation and only wanted and needed 1 single allround flashlight ... and now i am ending up with 5 lights, none of which a Fenix or Maglite, but some Romisen, EagleTac, a.o.

Check out the reviews section for popular models.. for starters the Quark Mini's or the Xeno E03 should prove a good point

Thanks for the info! Yeah, Fenix is out of the range I want to stay in. It's mainly for around the house, maybe going for a walk.......so I don't want to spend more than about $30. That Xeno E03 sounds like a good deal for the money, but seems to be much better with the rechargeable batteries, and that's something I'd like to avoid right now. I want to keep it simple. That Xeno E03 still sounds pretty bright with just the single AA battery though. I like that it has a glass lens as well.

 

[eh4]

Bite the bullet, double your budget and get a Zebralight.

 

[soulweeper]

Bite the bullet, double your budget and get a Zebralight.

Unfortunately, that just can't happen right now.

If I don't get the Maglite XL200, I'm leaning towards the Romisen RC-G2 II Cree XP-G R5 http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-149/Romisen-RC-dsh-G2-II-Cree/Detail one AA battery, glass lens, lanyard. It says up to 150lumens too, so I'm assuming that's on high, but I wonder how long it will last on high.

I really like the ShiningBeam C-mini Cree XP-G R5 http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-22/SD-Reader-MicroSD/Detail but it takes a CR123A battery, and they are pricey, from what I can see. I'm not too keen on buying $8 batteries for a flashlight. Not for my needs.

 

[airpain]

This post is a bit old, so I don't know what you decided on. If you still haven't bought anything, this looks pretty interesting:

http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-103/ShiningBeam-I-dsh-mini-Cree-XP-dsh-G/Detail

of particular note is:
Power by: 1 x CR123A, 1 x AA alkaline, 1 x AA NIMH, 1 x 14500 Li-Ion
Optional CR123A body tube allows you to use the light in CR123A format
* Digital infinite brightness adjustment from 7 to 260 lumens

 

[MoarCookiesPlease]

Hm, if I were you, I'll go with the Fenix LD/PD series. The PD's take either 123's, or 18650's. I think ALL of the LD's take AA's, or some take AAA's. Good luck finding one!