help picking flashlight

[sky1pip]

i work in security on nights need a flashlight that will temporally blind and will be good as a club if i need it plus will light the night up like it day got to be cheep around £30 hope someone can help me find one
sorry if this is in the wrong place new to site

 

[Gunner12]

Do you need throwy or floody?
Battery?
Multimode?
How big?
What kind of use/abuse will it see?

Do you have a Surefire or a Maglite? If not, what do you have now?(there are drop-ins available for many lights)

Sorry for the questions but they would help narrow down the selection.

Looking at your price range, most of the lights that might fit would probably be found on Dealextreme. Look in the Cree/Seoul/Rebel section(current gen LEDs) for lights getting good rviews. Shipping would take a while though. The longer lights like the SmartFire M-504C, Ugsby D3(no reviews though), WF-800(You'll need different batteries though) and a few others might work well.

:welcome:

 

[sky1pip]

Do you need throwy or floody?
something that will do both
Battery?
recharable if posible
Multimode?
dont no what you mean
How big?
about 8" to 10" long
What kind of use/abuse will it see?
alot of out doors all weathers ,clubing not alot i hope

Do you have a Surefire or a Maglite? If not,
just my eyesat mo

hope this helps more

 

[Notsure Fire]

from the information provided i can infer that you want to use regular batteries easily obtained from any local store such as D cells
a maglite 3d flashlight would probably be a perfect light for your purpose because it is long enough to smack people on the head and is sturdy enough to light up after that
a maglite 3d goes for around 30$ with shipping on ebay so it would probably be 35-40$ for you if you are in the uk
that almost reaches the limit you would like to spend but if you want it to also be efficient and light up like day then you would want to invest in a drop-in led upgrade bulb from terralux
that would cost you almost the same as the flashlight itself around 35$ but the combination would fullfill all of your demands
the total would be about 50 euros for you



Notice how I used your style of writing to respond.

 

[Gunner12]

By multimode I mean it has different light output. At least a low and a high.

No light would throw and flood at the same time. A throwy light and a narrow beam and a floody one has a very wide beam. Most focusing mechanisms don't work well(maglite as man example). Flood = ringy beam, throw = narrow bean that is too bright and small for close range.

Would a light with good spill(the light around the hotspot/main beam) work?

If you are allowed to carry a club with you, I'd suggest buying a smaller light along with a club. If not, then a bigger light might work.

The Romisen RC-T5(batteries and charger would cost you an additional $20 USD), SmartFire M-504C, Ultrafire WF-502D(batteries and charger addition $20 USD, I'd also add a brighter drop-in), and MX Power 3-Cree(batteries and charger, you'll need at least 2 sets of batteries).

For most of the above lights, I'd recommend a backup light along with it if you foresee the light being used as a club.

Some chime in with better recommendations.

 

[Lightraven]

Mag Lite 4 C cell (lighter, thinner, easier to swing) for defensive use and a brighter, smaller light like a Surefire G2 for lighting up an area.

Please be careful in using a Mag Lite as a weapon. I had to physically prevent a security guard from striking a college student on the head (who refused to return to his dorm room! It's a free country!) with a Mag Lite. It could have killed him and sent the guard to prison for a long time.

 

[kramer5150]

I'm not a LEO (consider this a noob response). You'd think someone would make a dedicated tool for this job. A baton with a high power flashlight built into one end. maybe a solid billet... 12-inch long twist-switchcap to extend a 6P (for example) into a baton.

A 4-C mag with an LED dropin would be my suggestion.

 

[sky1pip]

ok forget the club if it comes to it getting that bad i will just run for it and get help what would be good for me ,would like one that has ajustable beam and is very bright the led ones sound intrestring to me could you recommed one that you think will do. told you am new to this hope am not getting on your nerves with this thread sorry if i am

 

[Notsure Fire]

Don't know how many lumens you consider is bright. If you have never seen anything brighter than an old 5mm LED flashlight, then a 2AA minimag with an upgraded led and mop reflector might suit all your needs.

 

[sky1pip]

Don't know how many lumens you consider is bright. If you have never seen anything brighter than an old 5mm LED flashlight, then a 2AA minimag with an upgraded led and mop reflector might suit all your needs.

would that temporally blind so i could run and get help

 

[Gunner12]

Depends on the drop-in for the minimag.

The Romisen RC-N3 with a RCR123(3.7v) rechargeable might be good. I pick the RC-N3 mostly because of the forward clickie(has momentary on).

The RC-F4, RC-M4, or many other CR123/18650 powered lights should work.

 

[Notsure Fire]

It depends how lit up the area is. If the "suspect" is used to seeing only through moonlight or a very dim light, and then you shine your flashlight right in his face, then probably it would blind him for a minute.

There are hundreds of flashlights available that would blind the suspect no matter if it's day or night, a few like that even within your price range, but almost none of them have even adjustable focus.

http://www.lighthound.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2560
This would upgrade a 2AA minimag to 140 lumens as opposed to the almost single digit lumens that you would be getting out of it normally.

Focusing would look like crap with the stock smooth reflector. If anyone knows where he can get an mop reflector for a minimag, please link.

 

[warlord]

Do you have an idea of how bright the new LED lights are? You should check out this quick vid by Doc from Glowgadgets. He sells flashlights in the UK and the short vid will give you a good idea how the newer LEDs fare versus the traditional maglights.

Keep in mind he does love the Fenix brand. Let us know what you want in terms of brightness after you're done. Also notice the multi-mode that he demonstrates (strobe) it might be something you'd find handy.

Link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isfuJ8ru7Xk

edit: Oh, I should mention that the vid is about a year old and just about every flashlight he shows is availible with brighter leds in them now

 

[Chrontius]

when it's focused tight, it throws a good spot. On the other hand, it's really only impressive compared to stock stuff, current Inova XO from target has a better overall feel (and runtime, probably). I don't think it's quite the advertised 120-140 lumens.

A stock MagLED won't be too terribly bright either, but is still pretty sturdy, and the AA MagLEDs have surprisingly high quality reflectors. Still doesn't adjust to a wide beam all that well, but it's better than the Terralux (if maybe not as bright).

Oh - the standard Mag sized reflector won't fit a Terralux, would have to be a textured reflector made specifically for the Terralux dropin.

 

[sky1pip]

had a look see now what you mean been looking around and seen this , the UltraFire FMR1 by Rebel i think or the p4 , what do you think to them i know there smaller than i asked about but like the look. think am getting the bug now.

 

[generic808]

Since you're budget is limited and you want a longer light which would serve as a good "club", I would suggest something like this: ULTRAFIRE_G120. You can always upgrade with a strike bezel, P60 LED drop-in, and longer running rechargeable batteries.

 

[warlord]

re: UltraFire FMR1 ~very good brightness but very short runtime on high. Multiple modes which should be handy. It only uses one cell, which explains the short runtime. If you're working nights you may want something similar that uses more batteries, or just carry spares.

Ultrafire according to the reviews has been a bit hit-or-miss as far as quality lately. I'd say go with Romisen if you want to get the best bang for your buck. Something Like the RC-F4 will blow your mind. Gunner12 also suggested some good ones.

The Romisen RC-M4 is one that's high on my list right now. Uses the p60 drop ins and is again of outstanding quality.

 

[starburst]

A Q5 Cree LED direct drive on 18650 is pretty bright!!!

A 2 or 3C cell Mag ROP would probably put a pretty good pop not on someone, and is very bright!!

 

[sky1pip]

just looked at the exchange rate and could go to about $60 for a good one that will do me ,more help please .thanks

 

[Gunner12]

I think you should get a RC-N3, RC-F4, or RC-M4 first and see how you like the light.

Out of those, I'd take the RC-M4(together), along with this charger, these batteries, and either the RC-N3(2 lights are better then 1), or this drop-in(currently out of stock, more output). This one(drop-in) works too but can be hard to use, instructions here, or neither if you choose. With the RC-N3, price is around $58 shipped. With the drop-in, price is around $53. Keep in mind that shipping would take at least 2 weeks.