Hello from Iraq - Need help deciding. Olight vs. Surefire?

[Shawn L]

Surefire E2DL!!

 

[groo01]

Groo here
I wonder why no one has yet talked about the Fenix TK-11
It has a simple on off tactical switch,a high /low setting controled by
turning the Bezzel and takes #2 cr123 or #1 18650 cells..
Also has a 1in body for ring mounts and an optional extended forarm
switch..
About $80 with holster:welcome:

 

[blackbalsam]

You might want to check out an elzetta with malkoff dropin or a malkoff md2 with dropin. Both are very well made...:thumbsup:

 

[wyager]

My 2 recommendations-
1-The HDS/Ra High CRI clicky. Probably the #1 most loved light on this forum. I plan to own one in the future. VERY tough, very advanced.
2-Quark or Quark turbo. (less than) Half your budget, lots of throw, lots of lumens, etc. If you chose the non-turbo quark, you can chose either 1x(R)CR123 or 2x(R)CR123, and the 1x configuration can also run 1xAA, 2xAA, 1x18650, 1x17670 (I think), etc.

Of course, another option is a surefire with a malkoff dropin. These are very popular, and very durable.

 

[NE450No2]

Study the SureFire catalog, and pick the 2 SureFires you like the best.

Why 2, so you always have a spare...

For general use, and to mount on a gun, a Nitrolon with the LED.

For Personal use, the A2 Aviator. While I prefer the incandescent, in the Sandbox I would pick the LED A2, as the bulb will not burn out.

 

[Kid9P]

I own a few models from both Surefire and Olight.

If I'm putting my butt on the line in Iraq, it's Surefire all the way for me.

 

[pjandyho]

You may need to set a more realistic budget if you are going to get one of the most reliable and probably even one of the most useful lights around. I would say in the price range of up to $200 would make your decision making easier. Go for companies that offer a lifetime warranty plus superb customer support. The ones I could think of right now would be Surefire and HDS systems as many have suggested.

If you need throw, Surefire's E2DL and LX2 offers very good throw at 200 lumens. Both uses a TIR optic to project the light forward and has a reasonable side spill. Some find the amount of side spill from Surefire's TIR lights to be negligible and quite useless but I personally have no problems with that. Since you are a medic I am not too sure what you would require in terms of side spill for close up work. If you need complete flood for close range work you could always add on a Surefire F04 diffuser for flood which coincidentally also works on HDS systems' lights.

The 170 lumens HDS clicky is a good compromise to the Surefire E2DL or LX2 being only slightly weaker (really very slight difference only) in power and throw and uses only one battery to operate. It is as tough as a Surefire if not tougher than. Is shorter than the E2DL and LX2 thus making it easier to carry it around in the pocket or belt.

Since you are a medic, I am going to throw the ball in your court and let you decide if you would like a high CRI HDS light (high Color Rendering Index). You may need to see colors accurately, maybe to see if the patient looks pale, or to differentiate blood from ketchup, or whatever reasons you may have. Unfortunately, high CRI LEDs are not as efficient as cool white LED so the one being offered by HDS is only rated at 100 lumens. But it sure is a bright 100 lumens.

You could check out these photos I posted and see for yourself the difference between a high CRI LED vs cool white LED. Hope this helps.

 

[entoptics]

18650 sized lights are not in the OP's best interest probably.

He didn't say "I like CR123."

He said "I have a friggin lifetime supply".

OK he actually said "I have about 200 of these silly little batteries on hand"

I would steer clear of 18650 lights if "relatively pocketable" is a priority.

 

[MrBenchmark]

The 170 lumens HDS clicky is a good compromise to the Surefire E2DL or LX2 being only slightly weaker (really very slight difference only) in power and throw and uses only one battery to operate. It is as tough as a Surefire if not tougher than. Is shorter than the E2DL and LX2 thus making it easier to carry it around in the pocket or belt.

This really isn't a fair comparison at all, is it? The SF will run at 200 lumens for a couple of hours, right? The HDS light will run at 170 lumens for 10 seconds, before dropping down to 120 lumens. There's more to life than just the max # of lumens, but unless you typically need 10s or less of 170 lumen output, there's a decided difference between the HDS and the SF.

Turns out though that for many purposes the HDS approach is just fine. So I also thought about this light (particularly the High CRI version) for the OP. I think the HDS is a good choice - it's a lot more versatile. For example, you might need a very low setting on the light (to check someone's pupils, for example) - this is available on the HDS and *not* on the SF! The light levels for the HDS are fully customizable.

I don't see much purpose in pretending the HDS is something that it isn't - especially when the things that it IS are so fantastic. (For example, if you are going to use the SF on the low setting 90% of the time, the HDS is a VASTLY better choice. On the other hand, if you really need a 200 lumen light 90% of the time, and you'll need it for more than 10s at a time, the SF is a better choice imo.) I would imagine though that for a medic working under many different types of lighting conditions that the flexibility of the HDS would be just ideal.

 

[wyager]

This really isn't a fair comparison at all, is it? The SF will run at 200 lumens for a couple of hours, right? The HDS light will run at 170 lumens for 10 seconds, before dropping down to 120 lumens. There's more to life than just the max # of lumens, but unless you typically need 10s or less of 170 lumen output, there's a decided difference between the HDS and the SF.

Turns out though that for many purposes the HDS approach is just fine. So I also thought about this light (particularly the High CRI version) for the OP. I think the HDS is a good choice - it's a lot more versatile. For example, you might need a very low setting on the light (to check someone's pupils, for example) - this is available on the HDS and *not* on the SF! The light levels for the HDS are fully customizable.

I don't see much purpose in pretending the HDS is something that it isn't - especially when the things that it IS are so fantastic. (For example, if you are going to use the SF on the low setting 90% of the time, the HDS is a VASTLY better choice. On the other hand, if you really need a 200 lumen light 90% of the time, and you'll need it for more than 10s at a time, the SF is a better choice imo.) I would imagine though that for a medic working under many different types of lighting conditions that the flexibility of the HDS would be just ideal.

Henry is working on a software upgrade to allow enable/disable of the "burst mode" right now.

 

[MrBenchmark]

Henry is working on a software upgrade to allow enable/disable of the "burst mode" right now.

Nice to know, thanks. It will badly compromise the runtime won't it? (Not that this is an issue for someone with several hundred primary cells, like the OP.) It won't make much difference to me, the burst mode on my HDS 170T is the least used mode! Still, that is a very nice improvement for people for whom this matters.

 

[wyager]

Nice to know, thanks. It will badly compromise the runtime won't it? (Not that this is an issue for someone with several hundred primary cells, like the OP.) It won't make much difference to me, the burst mode on my HDS 170T is the least used mode! Still, that is a very nice improvement for people for whom this matters.

I'm 99% sure that the specified runtime is at 170 lumens constant. From what I've gathered, there's a special calibration/testing phase where all 23 levels are individually calibrated for each LED and a runtime test is performed on a constant 170 lumens (or whatever the maximum brightness is on your light).

 

[AsianAnts]

18650 sized lights are not in the OP's best interest probably.

He didn't say "I like CR123."


I would steer clear of 18650 lights if "relatively pocketable" is a priority.

may i ask how come??

 

[entoptics]

may i ask how come??

2xCr123 lights are generally significantly smaller, and the OP hasn't even hinted at interest in 18650 options (another $50 on the budget too).

18650 lights also require a spacer tube to prevent battery rattle with 2x123.

 

[MrBenchmark]

I'm 99% sure that the specified runtime is at 170 lumens constant. From what I've gathered, there's a special calibration/testing phase where all 23 levels are individually calibrated for each LED and a runtime test is performed on a constant 170 lumens (or whatever the maximum brightness is on your light).

That's good to know, and really pretty remarkable. Still, it's quite a bit less runtime on a single primary cell, but it's also 1/2 the dang size. I guess with the rechargeable body it would in fact have greater runtime than the SF, but slightly lower output. Still, having options is totally awesome!

BTW, I'm not trying to knock the HDS light - I love mine. I think it is absolutely outstanding, and the design tradeoffs that were made were very thoughtfully and intelligently chosen. (I actually think this is true of both the SF E2DL or LX2 or the HDS EDC lights.) I do think there are tradeoffs with these lights - this is true of just about anything though, and I don't view it as a bad thing. It is what it is. The flexibility and absolutely awesome form-factor of the HDS lights greatly outweighs any other tradeoffs as far as I'm concerned.

 

[biker1]

Imho, when your life may depends on it, Only a Surefire will do.
Plus being in the Military, you will get Absolute Support, Pronto.....from the good ole US of A.
Surefire E2DL is my suggestion..........
I have a few lights, including Surefires, but I like experimenting with brightness, max lumens, etc. In the Military, you don't have time to screw around, and Surefire is about as reliable as you're going to get

On a side note, regarding oodles of CR123A's, are they Panasonics or Surefires?

Thank you for your service, and stay safe out there.............

 

[Double_A]

No doubt at all, Surefire.

For mission critical applications Surefire is the only Manufacturer that has designed and tested their products for the most extreme conditions AND the has a lengthy reputation.

I've been here for a long time and even longer when you include Surefires Forum with Ken before Surefire shut it down.

During that time I've bought over $1500 worth of Surefires (M6, M3, C3, C2, G2, 9P, E2e, E2W, E1B, E1e). (Actually maybe more than $1500 since I bought 10 E2e's for my crew alone.)

I've also had probably a $1000 worth of others, heck my Spy's lights including Spy 5 are worth near that much.

I'm trying to say in my years of experience, if I was in your situation I would pick a Surefire as my primary light.

BUT

I would also think of a getting at some point a headlamp for hands free use, just loosely hang it around the neck.

and

a tiny AAA light running off a single cell, on a break-a-way lanyard. This is the light you always have, so you can find your other lights in the dark.

 

[pjandyho]

This really isn't a fair comparison at all, is it? The SF will run at 200 lumens for a couple of hours, right? The HDS light will run at 170 lumens for 10 seconds, before dropping down to 120 lumens. There's more to life than just the max # of lumens, but unless you typically need 10s or less of 170 lumen output, there's a decided difference between the HDS and the SF.

Turns out though that for many purposes the HDS approach is just fine. So I also thought about this light (particularly the High CRI version) for the OP. I think the HDS is a good choice - it's a lot more versatile. For example, you might need a very low setting on the light (to check someone's pupils, for example) - this is available on the HDS and *not* on the SF! The light levels for the HDS are fully customizable.

I don't see much purpose in pretending the HDS is something that it isn't - especially when the things that it IS are so fantastic. (For example, if you are going to use the SF on the low setting 90% of the time, the HDS is a VASTLY better choice. On the other hand, if you really need a 200 lumen light 90% of the time, and you'll need it for more than 10s at a time, the SF is a better choice imo.) I would imagine though that for a medic working under many different types of lighting conditions that the flexibility of the HDS would be just ideal.

You just said so yourself. The OP is a medic and how often would a medic need his light at max lumen output? If I were to make a guess it would be used for spotting an intruder while out in the field and 10 secs of burst is good enough to spot anyone walking into the perimeter. Don't forget that the lumen output after the step down to 120 lumens is so minimal that most people just don't notice it happening because our eyes are logarithmic and would need a 40% decrease in brightness for one to notice much difference in brightness. With that said, I do feel that this is a fair comparison taking the job nature and possible needs of the OP into consideration, unless of course the OP specifically said he would need his light at full output all the time.

To the OP, the reason why HDS lights are designed to drop output by a step is more for the purpose of conserving battery life. It is stated in HDS' website that we only need about 10 secs to spot something far away and keeping your light on at full power is a waste of battery run time. I know you have 200 batteries to burn but if your hands are engaged you wouldn't want to have to worry about changing batteries. A longer runtime is definitely more beneficial.

 

[BaileyMoto]

Imho, when your life may depends on it, Only a Surefire will do.
Plus being in the Military, you will get Absolute Support, Pronto.....from the good ole US of A.
Surefire E2DL is my suggestion..........
I have a few lights, including Surefires, but I like experimenting with brightness, max lumens, etc. In the Military, you don't have time to screw around, and Surefire is about as reliable as you're going to get

On a side note, regarding oodles of CR123A's, are they Panasonics or Surefires?

Thank you for your service, and stay safe out there.............

Wow, I wasn't expecting this much support/suggestions. Thanks everyone. Been watching this thread and researching everything mentioned.

In response to the above, they are all Duracell Ultra - model CR17345

I think what this thread HAS helped me to realize - I need at least 2 lights - heh. Soooo, I just bought one of those 4Seven's Preon 2 Pen lights (2.2/22/160 lumens) for a true EDC and flight suit pocket. Took a hard look at those HDS lights, but I think I will settle on a Surefire, at least for my first 'expensive' purchase. I believe I have settled on the E2DL, but I'm giving the LX2 some thought as well. Beyond that, I'll probably hang around this board and figure out what I want to get for a 'less serious' light.

Thanks everyone.

 

[nick-nack]

Damn you and your pile of batteries!!!

I have an E2DL and its a great light. Solid and easy to use interface. You get max brightness at first click then you get the lower setting. And I'm loving the forward clicky - which allows for momentary.
And definitely pick up the F04 diffuser for it - makes it an amazing choice for up close work.