D10? LF3XT? Other? I can't figure this out

[Simplicity05]

So, first post here, and I'm here asking a question that I thought I had solved all on my own...

First off, I'm no police officer. I'm not a military man, although their equipment fascinates me. I won't be shooting at anyone anytime soon. Especially in the dark. In fact, the only guns I've ever owned (other than pellet guns ha) have been a beautifully engraved browning bottom load/eject 12g that I to this day regret ever selling, and a marlin bolt-action .22 that I put a monster scope on and squirrels feared.

Hi!

Ok question:

I'm searching for my first. I had a 2xAA Maglight at one point and hated it the whole ride. Waste of money in my opinion.

It's been a few years since then. I got watching Man vs Wild, which lead me to loving Survivorman even more, which in turn lead me to start thinking about being more prepared for the muck life likes to throw at you at the worst possible times, leading to edcforums.com leading to CPF! You know, I don't plan on getting dropped off in the middle of Australia with a thermal blanket and a pen and having to survive for a week, but what to do if I blow a tire in the country at 3am? Actual real-life civilian stuff.

I asked for an opinion over at edcf and someone mentioned Nitecore, and up until about an hour ago was set on picking up a D10. Now I read that people like the LF3XT more than that, and that the D10/EX10 suffers from some issues making things difficult. Then I've seen this light, that light, and now my head's spinning.

So I leave it to you LED aficionados - please pick me my first light!

I want to pocket EDC the light (clip preferred, and I can tie my own lanyard for it if I want). I don't need to light the moon but I would like some throw to the light while keeping a useful spill. Color rendition - don't really know. I'm not experienced enough to form an opinion here. Price - try to keep it around $50-60, no more than $100 please. I don't have an actual *need* for a flashlight, just feel it'd be a good tool to have for when the situations arise, so I'm just looking for a good, all-around light.

I really liked the cool UI of the D10, but I'm not going to spend money for a toy that's fun to play with if there's an actual better option in the same price range, however I love playing with things and generally having something fun to use/play with. I'm not so sure I'm down with the CR123's as they're not readily available around here from what I've seen, but if there is no substitute, I'll go with the 123's.

Please sound off and help me spend my money!

 

[PhantomPhoton]

I love my Liteflux lights. Perhaps my favorite brand overall. Yet I rarely recommend them to non flashaholic friends because of the incredibly complex UI. Honestly in your case I think I'd go for the D10 for the simplicity. Unless you're a very technology literate person who loves to tinker and tweak hardware I'd say the LF3 isn't a good "first real flashlight".
Both are good lights. You may end up getting the other one after awhile anyway. But keep it simple at first, especially for a survival oriented light. You want a light that anyone could pick up and use in this case.

 

[Oddjob]

:welcome:
Browse 4sevens.com. There are a lot of choices and you are sure to find something that will suit your needs and they provide excellent customer service. If you want something simple I suggest the Fenix L1T v2.0. Its a simple two stage light. Click for on and tighten the bezel for high and loosen the bezel for low. Unfortunately no clip though.
The D10 has a clip but it is sold separately. It is still a good choice but the issue many have with it is the ramping. If you press and hold the button down (its acually a piston) the light increases in brightness. Let go and the light stays at that level. Turn it off and the light remembers that level. Press and hold the button again and the light decreases brightness. 2 quick taps gives you low and a quick tap followed by a press and hold will give you maximum. The issue is the light does not automatically ramp up from low or down from high regardless of what direction you were previously ramping. Its not a big deal but if you had previously ramped up then went to low, you have to press and hold twice to get it to ramp up. It's best to look at the light as an adjustable single level light instead of a multi-level light.
People here will tell you that you can get CR123's online for less than $2.00 a cell for good cells but depending on your uses and level of interest, a single AA light may be better for you. Good luck!

Good luck, you should get some good recommendations.

 

[Simplicity05]

Well as I said, I don't have a single use in mind for it, and a survival light is low on any list I may concoct

I am very tech savvy. Currently working in digital entertanment sales and service (take that for what it's worth, my company disallows it's employees from talking about where they work online... for some weird reason...).

Currect project is trying to figure out how to correctly port forward my reflashed wireless router through this laptop here that I'm sharing a connection to my xbox 360 so my 360 won't drop me out of multiplayer games of Call of Duty:World at War HAHA. But I'm pretty far off topic (but seriously, anyone that knows how to do that... PM me please haha)

Is there any place that I can read up on the UI? I did a bit of searching, both on CPF and YouTube and couldn't find anything that showed/described the UI.

 

[Simplicity05]

People here will tell you that you can get CR123's online for less than $2.00 a cell for good cells but depending on your uses and level of interest, a single AA light may be better for you. Good luck!

Good luck, you should get some good recommendations.

My only concern with CR's is that I'll burn through them too quickly, or I'll be trying to stock up on them and I'll need to order them online. As I said, if it needs to be it needs to be, but I guess I'd somewhat like to stay away from that. Any local walmart sells Energizer Liths in AA, but I/we're not so lucky with the CR's.

Oh but of course they sell C2's and 123's, just not CR123s... *sigh*

 

[HKJ]

To get an idea about the LF3XT and LF5XT, see this thread: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=202526&page=2
It has a manual for LF5XT and the LF3XT is very close to the LF5XT (But not the same).

The LF5XT is CR123 battery, LF5XT is AA battery.

Your could also look at Dereelight, they have some very good flashlights with a simple user interface (The C2H is a small pocket light), but they require rechargeable LiIon batteries. Your can get batteries and charger from AW.

The D10/EX10 are nice lights, but the piston drive makes the button a bit hard to press.

Your can also do, as many here does, buy all of them .

 

[PhantomPhoton]

Here's the second part of the discussion thread for the LF3. You'll have to search on your own to find info aobut the UI but there likely is plenty in there.

For good prices on CR123s you just need to order them online. Retail stores are a ripoff. Grab 5-10 to start yourself out. They have ~10 year shelf lives so there's no harm in stocking up.
Personally I'm not a big fan of CR123s but they do get the job done.

Sounds like you may fit into the Lite Flux programming after all. Unfortunately there's no clip for them. But you'll soon realize there's no perfect flashlight, there's always a compromise somewhere.

 

[Me+Light=Addiction]

Hey,

I think you should take a look at: thephotonshop.co.uk
Sells all Fenix lights for a good price + no shipping costs + batteries included. Great company. I could recommend the LD10 for you. Uses 1 AA batterie and can last 1.5 hours on 120 lumens. Lowest setting is 9 lumens for 34 hours, perfect light for you and only costs 38.95 pounds whitch is around $57. Also I can recommend the nitecore EX10 or any other model. Take a look there aswell at nitecore.co.uk. I hope you will find the perfect light for you!

Cheers!:wave:

 

[Dave_5280]

Consider the [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Romisen RC-N3 CREE Q5 LED at shiningbeam.com for $25. It takes 123 or is convertible to 2 AA's, has a clip, one level light.[/FONT]

 

[madi05]

HI, well i am awaiting the lf3xt and the reason i bought it , is for the technology and fun factor ,, also that is is small to edc ,, also that i can use rechargeable 123 or regular , and also there is talk about a extension in the future to use AA ,, i dont know where u are from but every walmart in NC carries cr123 , they are around 10 bucks or 12 for two but if u are in a pinch they are there ,, where i live they are just about everywhere cameras are sold basically

madi05

 

[Toaster]

All small 1xAA lights generally have floody beams and don't throw very well. They simply don't have enough power or a large enough reflector to make it happen. You need something a bit bigger or something that runs on CR123s if that is a big concern. Otherwise as long as you understand that limitation the Nitecore D10 is a perfectly fine choice. In fact one of the only choices as most decent 1xAA lights aren't available with a clip. Just make sure to order from a decent vendor as the smart PD system can be a bit finicky.

 

[oldpal]

Hi Simplicity05, I have a D10 with a clip, it's a great light. It is very bright on high and the low is just right for getting out of bed and walking around the house in the middle of the night. But like you, the LiteFlux LF3XT interests me a lot. So to solve my interest, I have ordered a LF3XT. Also, I am not crazy about using the CR123s. I have some SureFires that burn them, but don't use them very much. I do expect to use the LF3XT quite a bit.

I don't believe that you should worry any about the UI of the LF3XT, I'm not. You will be happy with the D10 and I think the LF3XT as well. Good luck.

HL

 

[Simplicity05]

Thanks a lot for the advice guys! I really appreciate the feedback, thank you! I see I have a lot to consider here.

i dont know where u are from but every walmart in NC carries cr123 , they are around 10 bucks or 12 for two but if u are in a pinch they are there ,, where i live they are just about everywhere cameras are sold basically

madi05

So, are the packs of Energizers that are labeled simply as "123" the same as the CR123, as in the far left unit pictured on this page?

If that's the case, a light using them would definitely work for me then.

So far I'm still leaning towards the LF3XT or LF5XT, and if the 123 = CR123, I think the LF3XT will be my first at this point.

I guess it should be asked - can anyone speak to the durability of the LF3XT/LF5XT? Or generally speaking are all these lights winners in the "beat 'em like you mean it" category

From what I saw of the D10 at first, I really enjoyed the demonstration of the UI. However, I think I'd get annoyed quickly if I was scaling the brightness up last and I wanted a dimmer light, and to get to that I had to go all the way up before I could get it to turn around. And I'm also concerned that if I get the D10 + the LF3XT that I'd pick one over the other and the other would sit unused. Being that I'm not a collector at the moment, $60 spent on an unused light would get me what, like 30 123's online?

Where's the preferred place to source these torches online? I found 4sevens on my own, but the don't carry Lite Flux. Found EliteLED as well. Anywhere else that can be recommended?

Oh and FYI I live in Wisconsin, USA

 

[StandardBattery]

So far the LiteFlux lights have proven to be very solid. No problems there.

EliteLED is a good place to buy LiteFlux, they are great. You can also buy them in a sales thread in the dealer section on marketplace (cpfmarketplace.com).

Despite the CR123 battery source the LF3-XT is maybe a little nicer for a beginner because it offers the CUI interface as well as the FUI interface. However, the LF5-XT has the advantage of the AA batteries. If you can manage to program it the way you want, I don't think you'd miss the CUI very much. You can use a standard NiMH rechargeable (eneloop recommended though), and have no batteries worries. With both of these lights (LF5 more), it might take a little time to adjust to their switch operation.

These lights however are pretty advanced, but I think you can handle it. Otherwise look at Fenix, solid performance, dependable, good pricing.

In your industry I would think EDC light would be great for checking connections, fine adjustments in dim light, system wiring... etc.

Now get out quick or you'll be back asking about your second light.

:welcome:

 

[Henk_Lu]

As others said already, the LF3XT is a CR123A light ad has a very complicated UI, unless you limit yourself to the CUI, where it is quite easy to operate, but still... There are lights around which offer more power for the same price, but not the same smooth beam.

Fenix PD20 : CR123A, easy to operate, very small, tight hotspot
Fenix LD10 : AA light, I have the L1D which is quite nice.
Olight T10 : CR123A, memory function, special reflector, tight hotspot

I don't know the Nitecore and their piston drive though...

 

[Mundele]

I'm planning to buy a D10 myself. there's a link somewhere (on 4sevens.com I think) to a youtube video done by Mr. 4Sevens. You can probably find it on youtube as well by searching for nitecore d10. Anyway, it does a great job of showing you how the UI works.

--Matt

 

[Flying Turtle]

Welcome home Simplicity05. Since you've already done a good job studying these lights, like a true flashaholic should, the LF3XT will be a piece of cake. You know if you go for a "lesser" UI you will always wonder if you're missing something. I was having the same dilemma trying to decide between the LiteFlux and the EX10. Got the LF3XT and am now a dancing turtle, too.

Geoff

 

[PhantomPhoton]

Yes 123 cells are the same as CR123. The CR is just the prefix used in the crazy naming scheme of things. We on CPF have been buying Liteflux for the past couple years from khoo in the marketplace. Just recently EliteLED became our US based retailer. Buying from either source is fine.
Enjoy the light and let us know how you like it once it arrives.
:thumbsup:

 

[kitelights]

You've obviously done your homework. For a newbie you've made an excellent choice of two lights to decide between.

I had decided to get either a D10 or a EX10, the choice is really whether you prefer an AA or 123 format. The 123 has an edge over AA for primary cells, but if you go with Li-Ion, the difference is nil.

I have two Liteflux AAA models and they are excellent lights, but because of the complexity, I don't use them much. The new LF3XT seems to be different. It can be as complex or as simple as you want. I've decided to get it, but I have no problems with 123 lights. I have tons of primary cells and a few rechargeables.

I'll give you some advice that I got when I got into stunt kites. I spent months looking for the perfect kite. I figured if I was going to spend $100-150 on a stupid kite - it better be the right choice and do everything for me. One of our seasoned flyers gave me the advice of just, "pick one and buy it, 'cause you're gonna buy another dozen of them in the next year or two."

The same holds true here - you will not buy just one flashlight. And if you get one that you really don't like, or simply need to sell to fund another purchase - that's what BST is for.

The D10 is very respected for it's affordable PD style and all of the comments that I've read from owners of the new LF3XT have been more than favorable. You can't go wrong with either one or in the famous spirit of CPF - buy both.

 

[Simplicity05]

Yes 123 cells are the same as CR123. The CR is just the prefix used in the crazy naming scheme of things.

That's huge for me, as I wasn't able to figure that one out solo - thanks a ton! That means that now I'm not worrying about the whole load card/send payment/wait/wonder/receive process if I don't want to!

Now I'm between the EX10 and the LF3XT, and still leaning towards the LF3. I think this will be my first light. I just can't leave my hands off of something once I get it. Was already planning on the slotted piston to stick a 2x8 trit vial in, so I think the complex UI is perfect HAHA!

Yeah, I tend to lurk a lot and only register/post when I can't figure something out

I'm still looking for more input as it'll more than likely be when I get paid next before I can pick the LF up, so perhaps as it's happened with the D10/EX10, something else will make me go "OOOOO SHINIER!" and jump towards that. God I'm terrible.

Oh and I hate everyone here already. In the best way possible

*peers into crystal ball* Oh what do I see? Ah crap... Ramen noodles. At 3 in the morning. With my Flashlight to see what I'm doing.

Thanks guys and I look forward to a lot more reading, much to my Girlfriend's dismay haha!