I want throw

[isubarui]

I am looking for a flashlight for use during hunting and to double at home for self-defense. I have been looking at a few flashlights, mainly surefire, fenix and jetbeam's, but I am not sure any of them have everything I want. It's probably best to mention that I am new to flashlights and know very little about them right now.

I am looking for a light that (listed in order of importance):

Is powerful (600+ lumens)
Throws a tight beam
Waterproof
High quality construction
Batteries can be recharged
Strobe (defense strobe not SOS)

Flashlights I have been looking at:

Surefire M3LT-S
Jetbeam M2S & RRT3
Fenix TK30

Any other options or opinions out there? Custom setups?
Thanks.

 

[billcushman]

The JetBeam RRT-3 has excellent throw and its eight light levels give lots of flexibility in output vs. battery life. The unique strobe is multi-frequency and causes lots of vision artifacts. For more detail please read the following thread.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=278573

 

[CarpentryHero]

Tiablo A10 with the aspheric, not sure onthe brightness though.
Could get the Solarforce Masterpeace pro head, I think it'll thread to a Surefire 6p.
Solarforce are Surefire clones and take the same P60 bulbs as Surfires. The battery compartment in a Solarforce comes ready to go for an 18650 rechargeable were as Surefires need to be bored out to 18mm. Overready sells bored Surefires ;)
Sst-50, MC-E or a P7 would give out enough lumens but are really floody, I think if they were in the masterpeace pro head it would suit your purposes

 

[Ilikelite]

The rrt-3 is a good flashlight. I personally think the catapult throws better though and with the rrt-3 having the ability to use a pressure switch I would think it wouldn't meet the criteria of "waterproof".

 

[isubarui]

Jetbeam says that the RRT3 is IPX8 waterproof.

I have read a couple of places about surefire's not being able to accept rechargeable batteries but are there any rechargeable batteries out there that could be used in the M3LT-S?

I have also been looking at the Olight M31. It doesnt appear that this flashlight can take rechargeable batteries as well. Is this true?

Thanks for all the replies so far.

 

[isubarui]

Double post.

 

[CarpentryHero]

For surefires, it's the bulb that dictates wether or not it can handle rechargeables. Most Rcr123's are 3.7v when fresh instead of 3volts.
Times that by two for a 6p size light and it's 7.4 volts for a 3-6 volt P60.
I don't know much about there weaponlights.
If it takes p60 bulb assemblies though, there are lots of options for voltage and color.

 

[bullettproof]

For surefires, it's the bulb that dictates wether or not it can handle rechargeables. Most Rcr123's are 3.7v when fresh instead of 3volts.
Times that by two for a 6p size light and it's 7.4 volts for a 3-6 volt P60.
I don't know much about there weaponlights.
If it takes p60 bulb assemblies though, there are lots of options for voltage and color.

And your wrong about voltage output. Fresh RCR123's are 4.20V fully charged not 3.7V so 2 batteries in RCR123 18650 18500 17670 17500 etc are 8.40V

Lifepo batteries are 3 volts and Ive seen those charge to 4.1 volts as well dont use them there unstable.

 

[bullettproof]

When it comes to quality Surefire is where it is at period. Jetbeam quality control has diminished considerably over the past 2 years. When you want real quality only 2 brands come to mind Surefire and RA lights. All the rest are a few steps below regardless of claimed output.

 

[CarpentryHero]

4.2v each? Wow

 

[levelflight]

isubarui,

It seems like about half the manufacturers have been represented in this discussion so far. Not meaning to offend or upset anyone, I sure don't understand what the dedication is to SureFire, given the excellent alternates, and considering that most of what they sell require disposable batteries.

FWIW I've recently been using the Tiablo A50 which throws a lot of light in a fairly tight beam. Well built and waterproof to 15 feet, it does a great job of illuminating the other end of the football field bleachers 175 yards away. Has a very nice tactical switch and a green-glow o-ring inside the reflector which makes it easy to locate. And best of all you can configure it to run on either one or two 18650 batteries by removing or adding the supplied extension tube. Solidly made but won't pull your pants down when you're running away from bears.

The tube (or handle) is about 1" diameter and feels a little skinny to my hand so I bought a nice, high quality bicycle grip, cut it and installed it on the tubes. With one tube it works really well and with both tubes installed they join together and you can't see the seam, so it looks like one solid grip. I can post some pics if you like (haven't checked out how to do that as yet).

With the flashlight, charger, and two Greer 18650 batteries it's priced at about $225, so it's worth considering (http://kit-tronics.com/xcart/product.php?productid=4210&cat=174&page=1).

 

[phantom23]

I have also been looking at the Olight M31. It doesnt appear that this flashlight can take rechargeable batteries as well. Is this true?

Yes, it takes two 18650 cells. It's also the brightest and furthest throwing flashlight mentioned here.

 

[FlashKat]

How is it that Jetbeams quality has diminished? I own the RRT-0 & the Jetbeam III M and the quality is there on both models.

When it comes to quality Surefire is where it is at period. Jetbeam quality control has diminished considerably over the past 2 years. When you want real quality only 2 brands come to mind Surefire and RA lights. All the rest are a few steps below regardless of claimed output.

 

[Grubrunner]

When it comes to quality Surefire is where it is at period. Jetbeam quality control has diminished considerably over the past 2 years. .

Really? Care to give an example or two.... ?

When you want real quality only 2 brands come to mind Surefire and RA lights. All the rest are a few steps below regardless of claimed output.

Surefires are top of the food chain, without a doubt. But to claim that "...all the rest are a few steps below..." is an inaccurate remark. I can rattle off on the top of my head almost one-half dozen manufacturers who are [at the very least] on par with Surefire in every way.

But hey, it's your opinions and you know what they say about them.....