Flashlight Trifecta

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Here's my take on the three flashlights everyone should own, based on my recent purchases:

1. Princeton Tec Surge: Bright wide beam, three hour battery time, low price includes batteries. Best buy, and ultra practical. If you can only have one flashlight, this is the keeper!

2. Arc AAA LE: Took this one to a recent concert. At "encore" time, I whipped this out instead of lighting a match. IT LIT UP THE AUDITORIUM CEILING!! Might save your life one day.

3. Streamlight Ultra: Pointed it at an airplane in the night sky, could swore it signaled back! What a beam! Actually too bright for looking at objects less than five feet away.

Runnerups:

1. Lightwave 3000 and 4000: Excellent for interiors in total darkness. 25-30 DAY battery life.

2. Brinkmann Legend LX: Don't own a Surefire 2x123, butprobably as bright. Doesn't impress as super high quality.

3. Princeton Tec Impact: Nice long throw for LED due to optical lens. Not exceptional bright.

 

[sunspot]

Welcome to the board.I have the three you mention as my favorites also with the addition of a SF E2e. A real must have, IMO. Stick around here and watch your collection grow and your cash shrink.
Oh, don't forget to get a Luxeon Star flashlight.

 

[geepondy]

You must buy at least one Surefire before coming to this conclusion.

 

[lightlover]

Y'know geepondy, that's so true I never realised it before ......

Welcome LEDinpants

Soon, you won't be able to narrow your choices down to less than 10 flashlights to own !

lightlover

 

[revolvergeek]

Hmmm tough list to cur it down to just three.... Here is my picks, but i do computergeek stuff and don't hike/camp out much at all.

1) ARC AAA
2) PT Attitude
3) Surefire E2 (but a Brinkman LX would work if you didn't want to spend the money on the E2)

These 3 cover 90% of what I use a light for on a day to day basis.

 

[Blikbok]

I carry a CMG tasklight, green LED;
PT Attitude;
and SF E1.

The CMG is for ultra-low illumination, the Attitude is for white work light, and the E1 for bright light. I'm looking into a Opalec Newbeam to take over from the Attitude, but it works too well to rush that project.

I sometimes carry a LED headlamp if I think I need it, but I usually don't. If I could only have three, the headlamp would replace the Attitude.

 

[revolvergeek]

Blikbok,

I just ordered a green Infinity. Should be here wed or thurs. Roughly how bright is it? I had a blue-green one for a while that i was actually rather impressed by.

 

[DonL]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by revolvergeek:
...
1) ARC AAA
2) PT Attitude
3) Surefire E2 (but a Brinkman LX would work if you didn't want to spend the money on the E2)

These 3 cover 90% of what I use a light for on a day to day basis.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's pretty close to mine. Current quiver includes:

Arc AAA

Surefire E2 or M2 (Actually, any of the 2X123 lights would work for me.)

Surefire 8AX (or one of the other bright rechargables)

 

[RonM]

For me it would be:

1. Photon II
2. PT Attitude
3. LX or another 2x123 light

All are small. All do what they do well. All do something different than the others.

 

[Blikbok]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by revolvergeek:
Blikbok,

I just ordered a green Infinity. Should be here wed or thurs. Roughly how bright is it? I had a blue-green one for a while that i was actually rather impressed by.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I actually ordered a blue-green, but got the green by accident and didn't bother sending it back

I've got a blue-green on the way. The Green is more than bright enough to illuminate the keyhole on the house or car; inside the house with no lights, I can see the entire room with a few seconds of adjustment.

As for the color, I don't like the Green outside-- I prefer my buddy's Blue. But I understand that Blue-Green LEDs (in general) have two features: 1) it has the highest mcd output for the wattage input; and 2) it is closest to 510nm, which is the peak sensitivity of the dark-adapted human eye (Scotopic vision?).

Oh, and back on topic: I agree everyone should have at least one Surefire, the E1 or E2 seems best. I can't operate without a quality white LED light around me, and I love feeling like a sneaky spy when I whip out the colored low-intensity LED's.

 

[Bucky]

There are only two must-have lights in my opinion: the SureFire E2(e) and the Arc AAA (LE). My nominations for a third light would be: any good rechargeable, a Photon, and a bigger SureFire.

Really though, almost any situation could be tackled with an Arc and/or an E2. The previous statement will only become more true as the high and low output lamps for the E2 are released (hopefully).

Bucky

 

[Sean]

My Trifecta:
(recommended practical flashlights)

1. Surefire E2(e)
2. ARC LS
3. PT Surge

And if you have extra cash get an Ultrastinger, M3, M4 or M6 to top it off.

 

[kalengkong]

mine:
1.mag solitaire (couldnt find ARC AAA in sydney

)
2. DB4AAA 6V mod (lightweight,bright,cheap batteries)
3. SF 9AN (although is heavy to carry around at uni, just in case a demon show up, i'll blast his darkness with this one )

 

[Joe Talmadge]

1. Arc LS. In the small, long runtime category, it was between the LS and the LE. LS won, it's bigger, but bright enough to be incredibly generally useful.

2. Surefire E2. Tiny package, "tactical"-level brightness and quality light.

3. Surefire M4. Well, that's the one I have. The M6 is a fine choice, too

The point being, a 200+ lumen light with at least an hour of runtime is a must in any collection, IMO.

 

[B@rt]

I guess I'm one that doesn't need a whole lot of light, so for me it is:

1 Arc LE
2 Lambda Illuminator
3 Infinity (yellow)

This, at least for me, covers about all the lighting needs I have, the Infinity is used for reading and night time walk-around-without-hurting-my-toes. the Arc for medium range tasks and color rendition, and the Illuminator for things a bit further away.
Oh, did I mention no more bulbs to blow?

 

[Spork]

I just got my ultra and the only other incandescent worth keeping is maybe the uk2l for a backup light. led's have replaced most standard flashlights in my opinion. I have a opalec on the way and it should be great for uses around the house. I also have a arc on my keys and thinking about putting the infinity in the car with a lithium battery.

 

[Quickbeam]

My take on the "trifecta" for the average "Joe". (the first one listed in each category is my selection, the rest are in no particular order)

1) A single LED light - Photon 2/Inova Microlight/Arc AAA for pocket/everyday carry.

If that's not enough light, use:

2) A multiple LED light - Opalec NewBeam/Streamlight Trident/Trek 4/Lightwave 2000/3000/etc. for long battery life & a little extra light when needed. Your choice depending on size/carry requirements.

If that's not enough light, use:

3) A 6 volt incandescent - E2/Mag 4D/Legend LX/Scorpion/Surge (or other equivalent type 6V lights) when you need lights with some "punch".

If that's not enough light, use:

If you need more light than that, get a 110 volt spotlight and hook it up to the mains or use your car headlights! Sheesh! (I'm talking the everyday guy here!)

 

[Silviron]

If I were a "Normal" person and could only have TWO lights, I'd go with a SF-E2 and an ARC AAA. These two lights give you coverage for just about any short term situation you might need, and are compact enough to always have with you. The world's brightest or longest lasting light doesn't do you much good if you don't have it "on" you when you need it.

Three lights gives you more "lifestyle" choices- Depending upon what you normally would expect to use, you might want a Photon or a Surge or an ARC LS.

If you really want to Be Prepared for anything, including LONG blackouts, a 3-D MagLight / Luxeon Star conversion would be hard to beat.

If you are an emergency worker, You might want a super bright long range light like a Light Cannon, a 9 or 12 V Surefire, a rechargable Streamlight etc.

I really like the idea of a 1 or 2 white Nichia LED / 60+ lumen Halogen hybrid. One that has a choice of battery packs- say, (2) X 123 for compact use, 2 C cells or (3) 4/3A rechargables for "normal" use.