Help needed for a LED flashlight ~ 50 bucks

[hoohoo88]

Hi to all out there,

I am looking for a flashlight, LED white, with a budget of somewhere around 50 bucks. Would like it to be as bright as possible, and the brands I've heard of so far are Surefire (too expensive), streamlight, and inova. It would best if it had the Luxeon Star LED. But any suggestions?? Or would a non-LED be better suited for my purpose? Battery life's not that big an issue. Main criteria would be to be as bright as possible. Checked out this 69 buck Inova at Sharper Image, and I thought it was good, but a little too expensive. Any ones you guys recommend?? Thanks!!

 

[AW]

Get a Nuwai QIII . You'll have a nice bright small LED light and some change.

 

[Cornkid]

If you can get the longbow micra or the longbow mini.. they are nice lights.

-tom

 

[nethiker]

Welcome to cpf hoohoo88 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink2.gif

Seems the QIII is hard to beat in your price range.

Greg

 

[hoohoo88]

Thanks guys!! I am a newbie. Just got all interested in flashlights. Always thought my maglite was among the best, UNTIL my friend's CATEYE headlamp shadowed my maglite's beam. So I decided I had to get a new one.

 

[Cornkid]

Yah.. Did the same thing in scout camp.. To bad for the other person I had a G2 with P61 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

-tom

 

[hoohoo88]

So a QIII is bright-*** bright?? I think I might just settle for that then =)

 

[cheapo]

well, I think its a no-brainer; the Pelican M1 comes out in a few weeks. It is a luxeon I LED around 4 inches long. It goes for $35. THATS A GOOD DEAL. anyone want the spec sheet? if so, PM me.

-David

 

[AW]

People still buying Lux I lights ?! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowlaugh.gif

 

[Cornkid]

They arent THAT bad.... I do use a LuxIII new KL1 head, though...

-tom

 

[cheapo]

what kind of comment is that AW? The Q3 is not a good light, its just a flood light. Yes, the M1 is a lux I but it has more throw than the Q3 that AW sugested. Anyway, the M1 is great for its small size (yes, I know that the Q3 is small too).

-David /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif

 

[cheapo]

what kind of comment is that AW? The Q3 is not a bad light, but its just a flood light. Yes, the M1 is a lux I but it has more throw than the Q3 that AW sugested. Anyway, the M1 is great for its small size (yes, I know that the Q3 is small too).

-David /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif

 

[vtunderground]

My personal vote would be for the Pelican M6 LED ($46 here), but if you like the INOVA lights, Batterystation.com has good prices on those too ($50 for the XO3, $55 for the T3).

 

[cratz2]

The Inova X03 and T3 definately have a decent bit of throw to them. If you're wanting throw, they are good choices but they have limited spillbeam.

I thinl the Q3 is a great choice in this price range. You can even get hand-picked tints so there's no Luxeon lottery.

Not to pick on cheapo, but keep in mind he's recommending a ligh that presumably he hasn't used yet. Not much of a testamonial. Don't get me wrong, I've recommended products I've never used, but I usually say something like 'This has potential' or 'several sources say...'.

[ QUOTE ]
well, I think its a no-brainer; the Pelican M1 comes out in a few weeks.

[/ QUOTE ]

 

[hoohoo88]

what is throw and spillbeam? All I managed to find out after reading sites on lumen and candlepower are that they're different. Does throw refer to the range and spillbeam the radius of the beam?

And I really appreciate ALL your suggestions, and I am considering all of them right now.

 

[Mike Painter]

[ QUOTE ]
cheapo said:
what kind of comment is that AW? The Q3 is not a good light, its just a flood light. Yes, the M1 is a lux I but it has more throw than the Q3 that AW sugested. Anyway, the M1 is great for its small size (yes, I know that the Q3 is small too).

-David /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

That would depend on the use. My, just a flood light QIII, was used a while back to light up the roof of a house. Granted the 4D Mag was much brighter but the light had to be moved to guide the person while he walked.
95% of the time when I use a light flood is far more important then how far it will reach. Since to date we have never found anybody in our searches outside the immediate vicinity of the scene, 100% of the time the flood has been most useful.

Get a QIII if you want a good general purpose light. Spend the rest on rechargable batteries for more brightness.
If you want to be the brighest buy a Thor.

 

[Turt]

You could get a surefire G2 at batterystation and have money left over for about a dozen batteries after tax. It will be brighter than any of the LED's mentioned but runtime is about 45 minutes or so before you'd wanna change the batteries.

But this is not an LED. I'm just looking at your priority for a nice bright light. For LED I would probably go for the QIII.

 

[hoohoo88]

Nuwai is manufactured in taiwan. Nothing against Taiwan, but do they manufacture flashlights that great? And how about tektite or Gerber?

And one more question. Is Inova a good brand? It's made in this country. And I like that better actually. No offense meant to anyone on this forum.

 

[enLIGHTenment]

Throw is how far the light shines. It's measured by the brightness at the center of the spot. Spill (technically penumbra) is the width of the beam outside of the spot.


What light to get depends on your requirements. What do you want it to do?

 

[hoohoo88]

i suppose throw and spill's a tradeoff then? If so, I'll probably settle for spill. I just really need it to light up as wide an area for searching or viewing in darkness.