Everyday use cheapo light - Best bang for buck?

[Brian10962001]

Solarforce L2i's with the low or mid voltage XP-G drop ins. Easy to get batteries for, very well built, nice little lights. Might want to spring 2.50 extra for the smooth bezels.

 

[CarpentryHero]

+1 for any Fenix or Quark in your price range.
Romisen are good too, I like there AA lights

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

I'm surprised at all the recommendations for high output 18650 lights! I don't think they are not suited for this purpose!
IMO the Fenix E21 with lithium primaries is very solid; you won't go wrong with that light.

Second choice up would be the Solarforce L2r with an XP-G 3-mode drop in. It might (emphasizing might) not be as solid as the E21, but it's a little cheaper and I think it will do the job. It won't be 320 OTF lumens though.

The Fenix E21 is rated at 150 ANSI lumens for cool white, but I suspect it may be outputting more based on some people's testimonies, and in my experience, it's not a dim light.

One thing I would like to say about the quarks are that their UI is rather complicated. I think the Fenix E21 UI (tighten head for high, loosen a tiny for low) is the most layman user friendly.

 

[Brian10962001]

"Second choice up would be the Solarforce L2r with an XP-G 3-mode drop in."

L2r is a decent choice as well, I like the L2i because you can upgrade to 18650 later if you choose, and the size and shape is more pleasing.

 

[Gregozedobe]

I agree with LEDninja, AA batteries are the only way to go for a "glovebox" light for non-flashaholics. 18650 or 123 batteries are just not practical.

I wouldn't get too caught up on the brightest or longest throw either. For general car duties 80 -100 floody lumens is plenty. More important is a simple UI, easy to use switching, reverse polarity protection and long run time on Lo.

I'd probably supply it with a battery case with 4 spare lithium AA primaries too, so if they need to use it for a long time they have some spare batteries that have a shelf life of 10 years or more.

 

[RepProdigious]

Akoray AK-16.... It will run any size cell (CR123/16340 - AA/14500 even AAA size with some fiddling) in any chemistry (alkaline, NiCd/NiMH,Li-Ion of all types) and has useable brightness. Too bad it got so expensive tho (over 20 bucks shipped atm)

 

[CarpentryHero]

Also a maglite XL50 might be a good option. Built sturdy, simple UI, runs on 3 AAA batteries.
100ish lumens. I have the Maglite xl100 just because there's lots of campfire fun to be had with that UI
It's not super bright but it's got reasonable flood to throw options, and the head comes off for great floody use.
I put V10 glowinc paint around the emitter of my xl100 for a little extra pizzaz

 

[pri0n]

itp a3 is great for pocket, and the itp sa2 is about 34 shipped from shiningbeam on ebay. They are up to 200l and have 4 modes. Put some energizer lithiums in it and leave in glovebox. thats what I got for my mom.

 

[robostudent5000]

if these lights are for glovebox, emergency duty, it's pretty likely that they'll get minimal use and that, if you live anywhere near your sisters, you'll end up maintaining them for your sisters anyway. so i wouldn't limit myself to AA lights. i'd go with something like the already discussed P-Rocket or the Romisen RC23 XP-E R5 (sku 57539 at Dealextreme) which also takes 2 CR123 batteries. it's only $17 shipped. it looks like it's new, so reliability is unknown. but Romisen generally has a good rep for build quality. all in all, not a bad deal for an R5 emitter, multi-mode, clicky. it'll probably crank out 200+ lumens OTF which should be enough for roadside duty. you'll be hard pressed to find a better lumens-per-buck deal that doesn't use volatile lion batteries.

if your sisters are not conscientious at all about their electronics gear, and you give them lithium AAs (which are more expensive than budget CR123s) they'll likely use them for something else, like a remote control or a clock. at least with 123s, there's no other use that they can waste them on. if they are conscientious, they should be able to handle buying affordable 123s. even if they don't buy online, stores like Lowes have Surefire 123 2packs for $5.

 

[pnwoutdoors]

I am looking for the best bang for buck lights under 6-8in long. I plan to give all of my sisters lights for keeping in their cars or emergencies. What is a good china light with the most lumen output under say 40 bucks? I am pretty new to this and just recently bought my own 65/45w HID from aliexpress.

If looking to stay under $40 max for the light+batteries, I think you'll pretty much need to stick with one powered by CR123A or AA cells. A lot of people seem to like the Quark series of lights from 4Sevens. I just picked up a Quark 123 Tactical with an XP-G R5 LED and powered by 1xCR123A. It's got a good amount of light and is very small. It rivals the puny size of the Fenix P1D's that I also have, which also run on 1xCR123A. Any of these work well for me as a daily-use, utility light. I love the beam profile of the Quark 123 Tactical R5. "Daily" useful.

The one "China" (lower cost, lower quality) light that I have purchased is a UniqueFire #3929 XM-L 1x18650 flashlight. It's wonderfully bright, has a great reflector that creates a nicely-focused hot spot and useful spill. At under 6" OAL, the CREE XM-L T6 LED and a great reflector, it's a nice combination. For about $35 plus freight, it's a tick above your $40 limit.

But the ones I constantly find myself turning to are: SolarForce L2 18650 host (for $13); plus an LED drop-in module of my choice; plus 1x18650 Li-Ion battery. It's a bit over $40, but with a cheap-o LED drop-in you can get fairly good output for a good price. For an excellent build-quality, durability, beam profile and output, I've found the more-expensive LED's are necessary in order to achieve the combination of traits I'm looking for. Notably, these include Malkoff Devices (ie, the M61W, M61, M60, M60LL), NailBender (here on CPF), or one of the higher-end Triple or Quad LED drop-in makers (ie, TorchLab, VanIsleDSM or Kerberos0023). From DealExtreme or SolarForce up to the spendy Quads, you can spend between $6 and $300 for a drop-in, depend on what you're looking for. Though at the lower-end, it approaches the $40 price-point you've set.

A couple of my favorites, ranging from $60-$170:

• SolarForce L2 18650 host, NailBender CREE XM-L P60 drop-in module, AW 1x18650-P 2900mAh battery. Very bright and relatively inexpensive, for a well-made and durable drop-in module.
• SolarForce L2 18650 host, Malkoff Devices M61W P60 drop-in module, AW 1-2x18650-P 2900mAh battery. Perfect for daily use, with a great beam profile and warm tint that lights up the true colors of everything.
• SolarForce L2 18650 host, VanIsleDSM 4.2A Quad CREE XP-G P60 drop-in module, AW 1x18650-P 2900mAh battery. Matchless when it comes to up-close brightness, such as that required in a defensive situation.
• SolarForce L2 18650 host, Malkoff Devices M60LL P60 drop-in module, AW 1-2x18650-P 2900mAh battery. With 2x18650 and a spare pair of cells, it'll last for a week-long camping trip in the hills, running the light every night for several hours.

I'd take the SF L2 with appropriate LED module over all of my others, for most any situation I'm preparing for.

If looking for el-cheap-o to keep costs down for purchasing several for around the house and car, then it's hard to beat rooting around DealExtreme. Can't count on the quality, unit-to-unit consistency or long-term reliability in the same way as one can some of the better-made items I've mentioned above, but it's one way to go and keep the price way down.

 

[mesa232323]

:thumbsup: I also own the xl100 by maglite and it is surprisingly bright, it may also be under-rated :shrug:. I would recommend the xl50 because it uses alkaline batteries. It wont be too complicated for an unexperienced user.

Also a maglite XL50 might be a good option. Built sturdy, simple UI, runs on 3 AAA batteries.
100ish lumens. I have the Maglite xl100 just because there's lots of campfire fun to be had with that UI
It's not super bright but it's got reasonable flood to throw options, and the head comes off for great floody use.
I put V10 glowinc paint around the emitter of my xl100 for a little extra pizzaz

 

[Brian10962001]

Solarforce L2i Sand color body (comes in silver and black as well, I got the silver for my g/f and shaved the bezel with a dremel) 7.99
Solarforce R2 3 mode drop in (very nice drop in, modes have memory, easy to use and figure out, lasts FOREVER on Low) 12.99
Solarforce flat stainless bezel (As mentioned above you can shave the crenelated bezel if you get silver or just skip this) 2.50
Land yard (had it laying around, can be found anywhere, not really necessary) 1.50



These run on 3XAAA's, will cost you around $25 each, and you can feel the quality in them. You can probably get them already assembled for around the same price but assembly is literally basic, it would be hard to mess it up ")

 

[fixitman]

Me, I would vote for the KISS lights. AA power, and load them with energizer lithiums. Your sisters probably wont need any more than 150 out the front lumens on high. If its just for car use, 2AA is a good size. I would go for a good 2 mode, or 3 if one of the modes is a sos or strobe. And a clicky switch instead of a twisty. Fenix or Romisen for best bang for your buck.
I was just looking into this subject myself, as I need to set up some family members with emergency kits. If I had the budget, I would go with a Fenix LD25. Pretty much the perfect non-flashaholic light in my opinion.
But since money is tight, I will go with a Romisen RC-N3 neutral white from shiningbeam.com. For $25, its hard to beat. Good quality, 2 very usable modes, not complicated.

 

[Russ Prechtl]

I suggest checking out the Fenix LD15. It's a great light for non-flashaholics.

 

[march.brown]

I am looking for the best bang for buck lights under 6-8in long. I plan to give all of my sisters lights for keeping in their cars or emergencies. What is a good china light with the most lumen output under say 40 bucks? I am pretty new to this and just recently bought my own 65/45w HID from aliexpress.

Stick with AA Energiser Lithiums ... Mine are dated March 2023 ... Buy enough to also give each of the girls two spares .. The spares can easily be kept in the glove box of their cars along with the torch ... Tell the girls to test the torches for a few seconds perhaps twice a year ... At Xmas and on their birthday (easy to remember) ... I do the ones in my car at least once a year.

As for the torch , I would recommend an ITP A2 which runs off a single AA battery ... It is three mode ... This torch has the added advantage that it will easily fit in a small handbag (purse) if needed.

If a smaller torch is needed , then the ITP A3 is great ... It can be the simple single mode or the slightly longer three mode version ... These torches use the AAA batteries ... Again , I would recommend the Energiser Lithium batteries ... I carry an ITP A3 on both of my keyrings and an ITP A2 clipped into my pocket and find that they are very reliable torches ... If you choose the A3 single mode , you can get a different (pretty) colour for each of the girls to avoid any mixup.

Whichever torch you choose for your sisters , make sure that you give them the spare Lithium batteries in plastic boxes ... This prevents them from rolling about in the glove box and perhaps coming into contact with something that would cause a short-circuit.

If you (or they) would prefer a larger torch , then the Solarforce L2i which uses three AAA batteries or the Solarforce L2r which uses two AA batteries would be OK ... With these two torches , you would need to also buy an LED dropin for each torch ... The dropins can be single mode or the three mode ... I wouldn't go for the five mode as it is too complicated if the torch isn't going to be used much.

All-in-all , I would suggest an ITP torch based on my experience in their reliability.

Good Luck in your choice.
.

 

[agedbriar]

For my car I picked the Romisen RC-D5 at $12.82 shipped from DX.

1*AA-powered (I put in an Eneloop low self-discharge NiMH battery), not too bright for close-up work (decent runtime to carry out a car fix), no clickie switch to fail, a magnetic tail to hold it in place.

 

[TechnoMage]

I have one of the RC-N3's and my WIFE just asked me to buy a couple more. Romisen has an updated version called the RV-235 that uses the same XP-G R4 emitter as the RC-N3 that I'm thinking of trying but ITP has the SA2 that is in the same price range that uses the XP-E R2 emitter.

Me, I would vote for the KISS lights. AA power, and load them with energizer lithiums. Your sisters probably wont need any more than 150 out the front lumens on high. If its just for car use, 2AA is a good size. I would go for a good 2 mode, or 3 if one of the modes is a sos or strobe. And a clicky switch instead of a twisty. Fenix or Romisen for best bang for your buck.
I was just looking into this subject myself, as I need to set up some family members with emergency kits. If I had the budget, I would go with a Fenix LD25. Pretty much the perfect non-flashaholic light in my opinion.
But since money is tight, I will go with a Romisen RC-N3 neutral white from shiningbeam.com. For $25, its hard to beat. Good quality, 2 very usable modes, not complicated.

 

[underscore_]

I am looking for the best bang for buck lights under 6-8in long. I plan to give all of my sisters lights for keeping in their cars or emergencies. What is a good china light with the most lumen output under say 40 bucks? I am pretty new to this and just recently bought my own 65/45w HID from aliexpress.

One thing I didn't think of when buying a glovebox light for my nephew was he didn't have a flashlight for home use at all. Since it wouldn't see much use I bought him an inexpensive Dorcy light that takes 3 AAA batteries (shower head type) for Xmas and put lithium primaries in it. I later found out he started using the light daily at work, not the best choice of light for that use lol. I ended up ordering him a Quark 1 AA Regular for his birthday which meets his daily use needs much better.

So basically you may want to consider 2 lights for each of them, one just for auto use & one for general/home use, that way when they really need a light stuck on the side of the road they'll have one available. Just something to keep in mind.

 

[aim54x]

Go to Shining beam and pick out a Romisen that uses 2 AA batteries

I have one of the RC-N3's and my WIFE just asked me to buy a couple more. Romisen has an updated version called the RV-235 that uses the same XP-G R4 emitter as the RC-N3 that I'm thinking of trying but ITP has the SA2 that is in the same price range that uses the XP-E R2 emitter.

I have an Romisen RC-N3 and a Romisen RC-G2...both are great lights (mine are via DX, but shining beam would be a better source due to the reports that DX has been shipping a mixture of single and multi-mode RC-N3's - a friend bought one, and then another within a few weeks and he ended up with a multi-mode and a single mode, last year).

 

[velociraptor]

wow this thread is very useful. Thanks everyone for the info.