budget or fenix?

[Sir Lightalot]

Hi im new to the forums but im fairly well-read on flashlights.
my only real led flashlight is a 3 watt brinkman from target...i baught a slightly better one (rayovac 3 watt) but i lost it so now im stuck with this ageing, underpowered, 3xAAA sucking light... its still fairly bright but virtually feature-less. anyway im looking to upgrade to a AA flashlight because i already have a ton of 2500mah rechargable batteries. im seriously considering a fenix L2p Q5 but seeing these considerable ones on dealextreme and such... what are some good lights that are really noticably brighter than mine (100lumens+) and preferably have some modes but its not mandatory or should i just stick with the fenix which seems to be a great light? (as long as i dont lose it)

 

[greenLED]

:welcome:

My personal philosophy now is to spend a little extra money for better quality items that will last me a long time (even if I have to save up and wait), rather than repeatedly having to buy several cheaper ones. The latter is no way to save money.

My vote goes for Fenix.

 

[SafetyBob]

I will chime in. The Fenix flashlights are good quality but nothing compared to the Surefire that a coworker has. That said, my el-cheapo Ray-O-Vac 3 watt for the 18 dollars I spent for it is a vantastic bargain, but with no adjustments for brightness and not even a clicky for on/off, it is a big disappointment. I use the ROV, it's ok, I like my Fenix....both the 2xAA and the 2Xcr123 I have are great little lights.

Go ahead, get one of the Fenix flashlights. Then start saving for the Surefire. Yes, this is going to get expensive.

Bob E.

 

[Sir Lightalot]

well like i said i don't want cr123 powered lights and surefires are nice but unless u put a drop-in in one of them, not anything special... its a same too cuz there are so many nice '123 powered lights...

 

[xiaowenzu]

:welcome:
My personal philosophy now is to spend a little extra money for better quality items that will last me a long time (even if I have to save up and wait), rather than repeatedly having to buy several cheaper ones. The latter is no way to save money.

Same here. I've saved a lot of money by skipping purchases of cheapo lights and now I proudly own a Novatac 120T, Surefire U2.

It's just like skipping regular hamburger meals to save up for that big fat juicy steak. And that's the essence of a true flashoholic.... a taste connoisuer.

 

[RebelXTNC]

I'd vote for an Olight T15. I don't actually have one.... but I do have the T20 Q5 and the T10 regular. If you want to stick with AA from a US dealer, there's Olight, Fenix, LumaPower and JetBeam to name a few.

 

[Fallingwater]

Go for the budget lights.
They are generally rather good (unless you get the absolute cheapest; stay away from the Simply Cree), and occasionally even better than the branded lights such as Fenixes.
I've heard very good things about this one.

I have a few lights from DX, and the only one that malfunctioned was one of the hypercheap ones. The others are tough and still working despite many falls, bumps and general abuse.

 

[Marduke]

In CPF tradition, buy both. Give the Ultrafire C3 a gander.

 

[Gunner12]

Go with the Fenix L2D-CE Q5, you probably would be glad you made that decision. There is also a 8% off coupon for CPF users at Fenix Store, "CPF8"

Or if you want to go cheaper and multimode, the Candlepower light looks pretty good. or Cheap and singole mode, the 3W Seoul looks good(a tonch).

:welcome:

 

[Avatar28]

I don't think you will be disappointed with a Fenix. As far as batteries, is there a particular reason for not wanting CR123 based lights? If it's the cost of the cells, as long as you're only using a single CR123 based light, try going to the batterystation.com CPF deals page and scroll down to the section for mismatched ZTS cells. You won't want to use them in a multi-cell light due to the risk of explosion due to them being mismatched but for a single celled application they're fine. They have a few left and don't want to throw them out. They're currently letting them go for $30 for a box of 50. A hell of a deal in my book. I would buy a couple of boxes myself if I didn't have a P3D that requires two.

 

[nanotech17]

or one can get this - http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.9741
HAIII + Q5

 

[Outdoors Fanatic]

Hi im new to the forums but im fairly well-read on flashlights.
my only real led flashlight is a 3 watt brinkman from target...i baught a slightly better one (rayovac 3 watt) but i lost it so now im stuck with this ageing, underpowered, 3xAAA sucking light... its still fairly bright but virtually feature-less. anyway im looking to upgrade to a AA flashlight because i already have a ton of 2500mah rechargable batteries. im seriously considering a fenix L2p Q5 but seeing these considerable ones on dealextreme and such... what are some good lights that are really noticably brighter than mine (100lumens+) and preferably have some modes but its not mandatory or should i just stick with the fenix which seems to be a great light? (as long as i dont lose it)

Start with a SureFire G2 or G3, then get new lamp assemblies, rechargeable batteries, LED drop-ins, new tailcaps, etc...

 

[Oddjob]

:welcome:

My personal philosophy now is to spend a little extra money for better quality items that will last me a long time (even if I have to save up and wait), rather than repeatedly having to buy several cheaper ones. The latter is no way to save money.

My vote goes for Fenix.

I agree with GreenLED. For me I always found that when I bought the cheaper products (not just lights), I always ended up buying the more expensive stuff anyways. Might as well get what you want and be happy. I find setttling actually costs me more in the end.

 

[Luminescent]

Personally for EDC use I like the little Jetbeam C-LE. It's more than bright enough for what I need in an EDC light.

The C-LE may not be for you though, because it sounds like you want more lumens (and are willing to spend a bit more to get them).

Most of the DX lights have serious gotchas. Either the efficiency sucks, or the quality is spotty, or the beam pattern has artifacts etc.

If you want a super bright light with good quality that uses AA's, I would go with either the Fenix L2D RB100 or the new L2D Q5 (the RB100 and Q5 are the two L2D 'premium' options). Some like the color tint a little better on the Rebel version, while there is supposed to be a little more output from the Q5 CREE (just a couple lumens). In the end both output and tint are a bit of a crap shoot so you could probably come up with lot's of examples where Q5's had better color or Rebel 100 versions had more output, so you can pretty safely pick either of these two based on your personal preference for a CREE or Rebel emitter.

I don't want to start any flame wars, but personally, I would stay away from Surefire. Yes thier machineing is pretty. So is the Maglight you can get for 20 bucks (and the switch on the maglight won't break).

 

[Dantor]

+1 for Fenix, but since your here, in no time you'll have em all, so start with a good one! Also get the L1D body and you'll have yourself a Lego light

 

[VidPro]

who is gonna be the first one to say "get both".

get the fenix, its reasonably priced, or a jetbeam, hyperion, or something that would be really reliable but still cheap.
Then with the money you saved from not buying a $200 light, get a few of the best knockoff cheap china lights, and when you cant find the great one, you got the backups.
then you got 3-4 lights , and everything you need.
so you start saving up your money for that surefire and the other 170,000 temptations, and serious forum mods, and new tech miracles that will exist.

only other option here is run

 

[LightJaguar]

The fenix L2D-CE is still one of my favorite lights (Even more then my Surefires). I really like the different modes and the fact that they run on common batteries (free at my job). So far I've bought four of them to give away to family and friends. The one I had for myself got used and abused a lot by me. It worked great until it got stolen

 

[VidPro]

i was thinking about Stolen lights today, and checking out the UI on some of them lights.
did ya ever think about how a highly complex UI on some of these lights with autosleep , lockout, or say using a li-ion, could completly befuddle the crook? they arent usually known for thier cunning electical skills

poor sucker couldnt operate a 20 mutifunction 7 layer menu light, and couldnt charge a li-ion without blowing themselves up, you could just pick it back up out of the dumpster along with your empty wallet later

 

[MikeSalt]

The thing you have to consider is customer support. When you are buying a Fenix, you are buying this assurance.

If you buy one of the cheaper brands, such as Ultrafire or DX special brew, can you be sure that they will be around this time next year if something goes wrong? They probably change their company name every year so there is no paper trail to follow.

Fenix will not disappear from the map anytime soon. It is very safe to assume that in several years, that lifetime warranty will still be honoured.

The amazing thing is that Fenix EXCEEDS its own warranty. Technically, only labour is covered. Cost of parts will be charged. However, it seems that 4sevens (David of Fenix-Store.com fame) is going beyond this, replacing the very few defective units absolutely for free.

I have even seen Fenix-Store replace units just because the customers don't like the tint. Personally, I think this is far beyond the call of duty. LED purchasers have to accept that all LEDs are somewhat of a tint lottery, so I don't think it is quite fair. Yet another example of excellent customer service.

 

[thiswayup]

Start with a SureFire G2 or G3, then get new lamp assemblies, rechargeable batteries, LED drop-ins, new tailcaps, etc...

The guy wants an AA light. The Surefires aren't. There are good reasons to have a light that you can buy batteries for everywhere, instead of relying on ebay. Plus the SF's aren't pocketable in the same sense as an AA.

Anyway, I'd look at a third path - not a Fenix, and not an ultra-cheapo, but a Liteflux LF5, Jetbeam IIR or other single AA that can use 14500 cells. Why? Using a rechargeable 14500, they are as bright than a 2AA Fenix, but a lot smaller. Need to scavenge cells, and they'll take an old AA out of a remote. There is an excellent review of a wide range of AA lights here:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=172434