How are Dorcy flashlights?

[Tiny86]

A friend of mine is looking for a flashlight to take on ridealongs. She found, Dorcy Flashlights. When she asked me how they were I had no clue. I looked at them and I can't really tell that much. So I humbly come to the enlightened for advice. (It kind of seems to good to be true, 120 lumens off of 3 AAA bats?) So please, enlighten me!

She asked me what kind of light she should look for that isn't to big. My first thought was an SF G2L. I figured a SF so if she breaks it, everything will be ok, pulse good run time, and bright enough for anything she needs.
The only thing she knows is that she wants something smaller and bright. Price, $65 max. What else would you guys suggest?

 

[Marduke]

Could you link the Dorcy in question?

 

[Tiny86]

Here ya go. Sorry I left that out. www.brightguy.com/products/Dorcy_K2_414297_LED_Flashlight.php

 

[Avatar28]

They're decent, though nothing spectacular. She could certainly do a lot better with other lights. I have had a Dorcy Super 1W that I used as my EDC until I upgraded to a real light (Fenix P3D Rebel). Honestly, I think she would be better off with something like the 3 watt Rayovac Sportsman Extreme since it has regulated circuitry if she wants fairly cheap (approx $20 at Wallyworld). The Jetbeams are also supposed to be quite good and are comparable in price to the Dorcy and probably would kick the crap out of it overall. Or, better, since you say that she has a budget of $65 max, that puts something like a Fenix into her price range. A Fenix P3D Rebel or Q5 would be great, though at the top end of her price range with the CPF8 coupon. If it's something she can deal with a bit larger and less pocketable with then maybe the L2D, again with a Rebel or Q5 would be right up her alley. You could hook her up with a decent charger and set of AA batts (say the $20 Eneloop + charger set at Wal-Mart or if it will be used fairly often, the Duracell Power Gauge charger has been decent in my experience and isn't overly expensive. It also comes with 4 NiMH cells rated at 1700 mAh that actually perform more like 2500s apparently). Still near the top of her price range, but it would give you probably close to 140-150 lumens out the front (meaning it will put out more light than a 3D maglight), various levels for when she doesn't need that much light and she will find there are times she doesn't. Granted, some people don't like the UI, but it's a pretty minor quibble in my book. I find the various output levels useful, personally. If she just can't deal with having the several different levels an L1T might work.

Personally, the L2D is probably what I would go with for her if she's amenable to spending that much on it.

 

[LEDninja]

I would stay with the Fenix L1T V2.0 RB80 for a non-flashaholic.
For a bigger torch Fenix L2T v2.0 RB80. The 2AA batteries give 1.5X the brightness & 1.5X the runtime on high mode. Might not fit in a small purse.
There is a CPF8 discount code for 8% off.

Commom AA batteries. Less confusing interface than the -D torches.

 

[umberto]

I bought the Dorcy 6W K2 running on 2 123's.....my first LED.....amazingly bright, nice size, like the rubbery cover over the entire light...I would buy another except is $40 at Sears, although I got mine for $25 because of the $15 discount if you take out a Sears charge card (the sales girl suggested I do this...and then just cancel the card later on)

 

[Avatar28]

I would stay with the Fenix L1T V2.0 RB80 for a non-flashaholic.
For a bigger torch Fenix L2T v2.0 RB80. The 2AA batteries give 1.5X the brightness & 1.5X the runtime on high mode. Might not fit in a small purse.
There is a CPF8 discount code for 8% off.

Commom AA batteries. Less confusing interface than the -D torches.

Well the light he linked to wasn't particularly small so I doubt the size of the L2x should be an issue. I really don't understand why people think the UI of the digital Fenix lights is so complicated. It's not rocket science. I mean, if you can use a lamp with a 3-way bulb you should be able to use the D series Fenix lights.

 

[scott.cr]

As Groundskeeper Willie would say... "They're shite!"

Seriously... save your money or get another light. Just to prevent you the pain of paying hard-earned cash for a Dorcy, I'll GIVE you my Metal Gear for free. PM me.

 

[Tiny86]

PM sent

 

[Gunner12]

If you get the light, open it up and pop in a Cree XR-E LED and a driver for extra brightness.

There are a few that are decent, but you could get much better deals online.

 

[Illum]

As Groundskeeper Willie would say... "They're shite!"

Seriously... save your money or get another light. Just to prevent you the pain of paying hard-earned cash for a Dorcy, I'll GIVE you my Metal Gear for free. PM me.

the metal gears a fairly good start as an entry level light...plus it can be easily modded and rather inexpensive just in case you lost it
It puts me off because it uses 3xAAA cells [AKA direct drive using a rather underpowered source of energy], If you want to stick with dorcy, I'd suggest investing in a Dorcy Super 1 watt [cr123A version] widely available in Wally, Target, etc for $20. buy a Seoul star, mod that in [fairly easy to do] and that will double the output

a seoul's less than $20 also I think

 

[Monocrom]

As Groundskeeper Willie would say... "They're shite!"

Seriously... save your money or get another light. Just to prevent you the pain of paying hard-earned cash for a Dorcy, I'll GIVE you my Metal Gear for free. PM me.

Far from $#^%.... All the Dorcy lights reviewed by Quickbeam on flashlightreviews.com got an average of 3 stars out of 5. Not great, but far from $#^%. Clearly, some Dorcy models are better than others. But I can honestly say the same thing about Streamlight.

Most of the Dorcy lights I've owned have been solid performers. I have a Metal Gear too. Not much to write home about. But definitely a good light, considering the price.

 

[Luminescent]

The short answer is that the Dorcy lights look ok, until you see better.

My past experence with Dorcy lights is that the machine work is fairly nice (they are designed to look good hanging from a peg at a department store), but the performance is usually lackluster by current Rebel/CREE/SSC light standards.

For example, many Dorcy lights use 3 batteries, because this lets Dorcy use a simple current limiting resistor instead of a more costly driver circuit. Unfortunatly this does not give very good output regulation. Some Dorcy 3 cell lights may now use a regulated constant current driver based on the 7135 chip, but I haven't seen any yet, so I would want to see the runtime plots.

As alternatives I would suggest the Jetbeam C-LE v2.0 or the Fenix L2D RB100.

The Jetbeam C-LE V2.0 is a nice little single AA light, which performs as well as most much larger Dorcy lights. The C-LE v2.0 is out of stock now, but more should be available shortly. The C-LE is a solid performer in a TINY single AA package for about 32 dollars (I think they are only about 29 bucks with the CPF discount). I have read street signs with the C-LE from 50 feet away on high, and it has a low mode, that's great for reading at night, that will run for about 24 hours on a single AA.

If you need LOTS of light, have about 65 dollars in the budget, and would like a 2AA sized light, then I think you can't go wrong with the Fenix L2D RB100. The L2D will outperform ANY Dorcy light (in fact it's pretty much the brightest 2AA light ON THE PLANET).

With either the C-LE or L2D, your friend will be absolutly amazed at the brightness vs. the size. The little C-LE is as bright as a standard 2 D-Cell incandescent Maglight, and the L2D is brighter than most multi-cell Maglights.

 

[Avatar28]

The short answer is that the Dorcy lights look ok, until you see better.

Bingo. I though the little Dorcy Super 1W I had was good until I got a Fenix. That light is not much smaller than my P3D and they're not even in the same zipcode.

For example, many Dorcy lights use 3 batteries, because this lets Dorcy use a simple current limiting resistor instead of a more costly driver circuit. Unfortunatly this does not give very good output regulation. Some Dorcy 3 cell lights may now use a regulated constant current driver based on the 7135 chip, but I haven't seen any yet, so I would want to see the runtime plots.

I think some of them may use a boost circuit. I'm pretty sure the 1xCR123 model I EDC'd did. Another big problem I had with that one is that it kept turning on in my pocket, draining batteries. The boost circuit also wasn't great, it dropped noticeably from initial brightness, but kept it reasonably bright until the battery was almost flat and then it dropped to almost no output, probably not more than 3-5 lumens.

As alternatives I would suggest the Jetbeam C-LE v2.0 or the Fenix L2D RB100.

The Jetbeam C-LE V2.0 is a nice little single AA light, which performs as well as most much larger Dorcy lights. The C-LE v2.0 is out of stock now, but more should be available shortly. The C-LE is a solid performer in a TINY single AA package for about 32 dollars (I think they are only about 29 bucks with the CPF discount). I have read street signs with the C-LE from 50 feet away on high, and it has a low mode, that's great for reading at night, that will run for about 24 hours on a single AA.

If you need LOTS of light, have about 65 dollars in the budget, and would like a 2AA sized light, then I think you can't go wrong with the Fenix L2D RB100. The L2D will outperform ANY Dorcy light (in fact it's pretty much the brightest 2AA light ON THE PLANET).

With either the C-LE or L2D, your friend will be absolutly amazed at the brightness vs. the size. The little C-LE is as bright as a standard 2 D-Cell incandescent Maglight, and the L2D is brighter than most multi-cell Maglights.

You could also look at the P2D if you want something smaller. Just buy a few CR123s online for $1 or so each and as long as you buy several, the shipping doesn't really jack up the price that much. If size isn't a concern, though, I would go for the L2D for the longer runtime and easily available batteries. As far as brightness, somebody posted the output of the various size Mags. You would need at least a 4D Maglight to give the same brightness as the L2D on turbo and that would only be for the first few minutes. You would have to use alkalines to accomplish that and once they started dropping voltage you would lose a lot of that brightness. The Fenix, on the other hand, has awesome regulation and will give you pretty much dead flat output until the batteries are exhausted, about 2 1/2 hours on the highest setting.

 

[Tiny86]

Thanks for the input guys. I like the look of the Fenix L2D. Is there at least a little throw with that small of a reflector? Like maybe 50 fee or so?

 

[Luminescent]

You could also look at the P2D if you want something smaller. Just buy a few CR123s online for $1

Multi-cell CR123 lights have a nasty habit of blowing to hell if the cells are not matched up properly (which I feel makes them a no-no for novice users).

Even with single cell lights, I have a hard time recommending CR123's, because not everyone wants to deal with on-line purchaseing the batteries, so they just hit the nearest department store and WHAM!!! they get nailed for 11 bucks per battery (then they wonder who the hell the idiot was that suggested a CR123 light to them).

A nice little single cell light like the P2D RB100 or the super compact P1D Q5 'twisty' running on one RCR123 rechargable wouldn't be too bad if it weren't for the fact that there are issues with these lights staying in regulation on rechargable RCR123 batteries because of the slightly higher voltage.

The new Jetbeam MKII-R light comes with a single AA battery tube, but if Jetbeam makes a single CR-123 battery tube available, it might be a great choice because it has circuitry rated for up to 4.2 volts.

All in all, for now, with standard AA NiMH cells pushing over 2000mAh and low self-discharge batteries like the Rayovac Hybrid or Sanyo Eneloop's available for applications where the light is only used occasionally, I find that NiMH batteries are my preferred choice for flashlight applications.

 

[john46268]

The LumaPower LM31 is a nice light.. It has two levels, low and high and is very well built. It runs on the most commonly available battery, an AA.
It's small enough for a pocket or purse and feels good in the hand.
It's on sale right now for $31 plus shipping -%5 CPF discount.

LumaPower LM31 80 lumens 1 x AA with Seoul SSC P4 LED

http://www.batteryjunction.com/lumapower-lm301.html

Battery Junction - 5% off code: cpf2006 :twothumbs

 

[scott.cr]

Far from $#^%.... All the Dorcy lights reviewed by Quickbeam on flashlightreviews.com got an average of 3 stars out of 5.

I used the simple answer for the purposes of humor.... I know, if this was a Surefire thread, some heavy-handed opinions would be coming down. ;-)

For the money Dorcy wants for their lights they are a complete rip-off. At one of my old jobs we had a Dorcy wholesale price list and I couldn't believe the markups. They're low-quality Chinese-made lights that fetch $19.95 MSRP when their cost to the retailer is under $10. And you can't tell me Dorcy uses that money on marketing.

 

[Monocrom]

For the money Dorcy wants for their lights they are a complete rip-off.

....They're low-quality Chinese-made lights....

Going by personal experience, I can't agree that Dorcy lights are a rip-off. Do I think they'd be able to compete well with Fenix lights if they were offered on-line? No.... but Dorcy LED lights are a step up in quality from cheap, no-name, LED cluster lights. And they still cost less than other compareable brands sold in B&M stores.

I've owned low-quality, Made in China lights..... Dorcy doesn't fit into that category. In terms of quality and based on what I've owned, Dorcy lights aren't even close to the low-end side of what China imports into the U.S.

 

[Avatar28]

Multi-cell CR123 lights have a nasty habit of blowing to hell if the cells are not matched up properly (which I feel makes them a no-no for novice users).

Even with single cell lights, I have a hard time recommending CR123's, because not everyone wants to deal with on-line purchaseing the batteries, so they just hit the nearest department store and WHAM!!! they get nailed for 11 bucks per battery (then they wonder who the hell the idiot was that suggested a CR123 light to them).

A nice little single cell light like the P2D RB100 or the super compact P1D Q5 'twisty' running on one RCR123 rechargable wouldn't be too bad if it weren't for the fact that there are issues with these lights staying in regulation on rechargable RCR123 batteries because of the slightly higher voltage.

The new Jetbeam MKII-R light comes with a single AA battery tube, but if Jetbeam makes a single CR-123 battery tube available, it might be a great choice because it has circuitry rated for up to 4.2 volts.

All in all, for now, with standard AA NiMH cells pushing over 2000mAh and low self-discharge batteries like the Rayovac Hybrid or Sanyo Eneloop's available for applications where the light is only used occasionally, I find that NiMH batteries are my preferred choice for flashlight applications.

Well if you read my whole post, you would see that I recommended the L2D over the P2D if it's size wasn't a concern. I only recommended the P2D if he needed something small and impressive.