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.
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.
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??
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).
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.
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.............