looking for a general carry sort of lower max powered edc - - picky - but flexible updated requirements...

[Bradbn4]

So looking for a new flashlight - semi-sort of pocket carry ala edc.with every day use versus tactical mode(s)

updated requirements

Updated status: It is clear I won't find want I want - but I might find something that will still work.... was looking for a few different edc - with focuse on every day use that supported low medium mode configuration. battery types considered, AA, AAA, CR123, and 18650.

Update on search:
I tweaked the 18650 requirements to have a mode that supports about 25 / 100 (ish) - with something, something - other modes I won't use.

I did ordered a few lights to test drive or tried to (out of stock) that was recommended by others to fill my needs..they are:

Pelican 1920B for AAA size batteries
pelican 2350 for AA size batteries
Preon P2 MKIII (out of stock) - this looks to be the new winner
Mini MKIII for the CR123 version - I am still thinking hard about picking up one of these -

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-- old requirements ---
1 - two modes - low around 20, with high maxed out at 100
2 - power source - AA ( and eneloop), CR123(and rechargeable versions), 16850 - 18650 protected (nice if I found one in each battery flavor)
3 - cost - depends on material used - some place between oh 25 - 125 dollars
4 - some protection is needed so if I get stupid tired and put the battery in backwards the hardware is not fried.
5 - and no; don't want to hook a usb cable to the flash light to re-charge it.

Sort of want a larger version of the Fenix E01 V2 Keychain LED Flashlight without bumping the power output in AA.

So what about the MDC HA 1AA Flashlight; dang close - at that price point I don't think I would opt for more than one - if the power settings for high/low (and no more modes) matched. If it did that I would have it on order right now.

what about the Convoy S2+ - No, go away--I did pick up a few of them...and still use them...but I want simple, lower power, and rather not order via Ali-express.

What about two AA, that could work - rather keep it small - but it could work. It won't be that much longer than the 16850

The max power output would provide a good run time; minimal heating issues

If you said I found one at 25, 50, and 100 - I would grumble a bit but if it was the only choice at least pick up one.

 

[scalpel_ninja]

Sorry I don't seem to be fully comprehending… it's been a long day. For your power source, do you mean you're looking for three different lights, one for each cell size? Or one light that takes all three? By 16850 do you mean 18650?

 

[Bradbn4]

Thanks - nice way of saying I need more caffeine - and I do

looking for something in a

power source - AA ( and support for an eneloop), or maybe in
CR123(support for the rechargeable versions), or maybe in
16850 - 18650 protected cell.

just being flexible in the power source for the flashlight. I would be happy to find something that would work in any of those power sources.

 

[bykfixer]

Pelican makes one called 2350. It's about the size of a MDC 1aa. Max output is 178 lumens. Low is 15. From the factory it's hi/strobe/low but a series of half presses like 9/hold at 10 is high only, 11/hold 12 for hi/lo and 13/hold 14 for lo/hi.

New Pelican 2350 LED Flashlight

178 lumens, wonder how long on an Eneloop Pro.

www.candlepowerforums.com

See posts 43+ for descriptions by members here.

 

[Bradbn4]

Hmm, interesting

The Gen 1 would be more in tune with what I want on the power output. Shorter run time than I expected/wanted. The Gen 2 has a bit brighter than I want - but the overall runtime increased.

It's not quite what I want - tho I did toss that one in the in-basket at Amazon...along with the Pelican 1920B LED for AAA side of the house. I like the design a bit better for the 2 cell AAA, max power is way too high; but the low power mode might be worth trying out to see if it would work. They are in the buy it later basket...

So leader board:
Pelican 1920B for AAA size batteries
pelican 2350 for AA size batteries


Current EDC choice in use

Olight S1R II Baton & OLIGHT Baton3 / Baton Pro - lights are mostly used around the house. I keep one light in my backpack/car with the batteries not installed.

Fenix E01 V2 - use this as a toss in the pocket and forget it light.

I have/had a bunch of old AAA "light saber" lights that were nuked due to leaking Duracell batteries. Power on these flashlights was about 90. Those flashlights was my choice when I walked my dog at night. The Pelican 1920B will replace those dead lights.

 

[bykfixer]

The E01 v2 was a bit of a dud here with CPFr's but it is a nice flashlight.

The issue these days is lumens sell. Nobody is focused on the general use aspect with great runtime. Nope it's all about more more more these days.

 

[Bradbn4]

True on the run time versus oh my gosh it can burn the eyes out of a zombie at 50 meters.
My favorite over powered light is made by Olight - and it was one of those limited run, solid copper lights.

I look at the E01 V2 as a trash flashlight that I will buy & use - it does what I need and it don't cost much.

The extended run time "requirement" derived from me walking my dog each day late at night for about an hour. I got tired of battery replacement and then constant battery recharging.

The nice thing about the single AA size light is I would clip it on my ball cap for when I need both hands free.


Well; I dug into the mfg pages and such - and figured that many of the EDC flashlights are looked to be dual hatted with the tactical side of the house. Nothing wrong with that; but limits my options.

 

[Bradbn4]

Updated status: It is clear I won't find want I want - but I might find something that will still work....

Ordered a few lights to test drive or tried to (out of stock)

Pelican 1920B for AAA size batteries
pelican 2350 for AA size batteries
Preon P2 MKIII (out of stock) - this looks to be the new winner
Mini MKIII for the CR123 version - I am still thinking hard about picking up one of these -

Update on search:
tweaked the 18650 requirements to have a mode that supports about 25 / 100 (ish) - with something, something - other modes I won't use

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Well now this info may not be your cup of tea but here goes.
Looks like you will have plenty of smaller lights for odd jobs and day carry.

For every night use, how about going with an 18650 compact? Not sure how long your dog walks are but it is just so nice to not have to charge as often.

Not sure why you want to limit yourself with some model that only gets so bright; sounds like you're the kind of person who can exercise restraint when needed.

The preorder Zebralight SC65 with the Nichia emitter very much sounds quite desirable, if you are ok with a warmer cast. With six light levels easily available, and programmability, you are sure to be able to get the modest light levels you want. And if ever some dark force decides your pet should be theirs, you've got some brightness to contest that decision.

With all the money you are spending on possible choices, the Zebralight is doable, and has a fine reputation for reliability with a solid warranty.

It should be easy to unload it here should it not work out.

Another possibility is an Anduril user interface flashlight; so simple to get the light level you desire. Yes a fiddly individual might mess things up and rereading the eyebrow raising instructions may need addressing, and once again we are counting on you to be wearing your adult pajamas when it's in your hand. Things can get hot and drainy.

Hope you have fun looking for your valued tool.

 

[Bradbn4]

Some of the locations I walk at night is on some trails behind a bunch of homes. I have no need to go as bright as possible. After my fun with Convoy style lights I got fed up with dozen of clicky - click swapping between modes.

For one, AA light really don't have the power storage to run full out for very long. Even then, often the light will bounce into a lower light mode only after using it for a bit. I figure if I just dropped to a safe "max" power mode at a constant amount I would be more happy. My thoughts was to trade max power output for longer run time.

Based on research, my current half dozen of CR123 lights pretty much does everything it should...tho it would be nice if one or two of those would not get as hot as they do. The only new light I see out there that sort of gets me into the kind of like one has been Four Seven's. I do have a real old Four Seven's light - but it had issues and I never followed thru on . warranty.

And I don't want to know how many 18650 style flashlights I have. Way to many in the cheap zone and a few that I just love.

The Zebralight - hmm - not too fond of the visual on the light. I sort of like tail cap access; and I have played with a few that do the tail cap on/off - with the button to cycle.

I was hoping that something that was not pushing the edge of technology would provide a good mix of performance at a cost.


And yes; those cheap old flashlights let me stuff more than a few around in different locations. The max price I paid for a light might be just a tad over $100 - and I was quite happy with the form factor and performance. Right now I am waiting on the Preon P2 MKIII to come back in stock and I think that might wrap up what is new in the smaller battery format for a while.

Thanks on the input all....

 

[Poppy]

I bought a few Convoy S2+ lights with only 3* AMC7135 chips, for the sole purpose of longer run-times while camping. They probably put out about 450 lumens on high.
Each AMC7135 delivers 350ma. I think that you could desolder one or two chips and get lower output, and longer run-times.
If you want a smaller package, you could also get the short 18350 body for it.

 

[bykfixer]

Trouble is not any of the hobby manufacturers make lights with run time in mind over brightness for maximum output selection. I say hobby manufacturers since those are the brands that cater to the flashlight hobbyist. Brands like Rayovac and Energizer cater to the consumer market.

Parametrek Flashlights

flashlights.parametrek.com

Here are some ideas. Again, I don't see anything that maxes out at 100.

 

[LEDphile]

It's a touch larger than the other options and more expensive, but the Malkoff MD2 with the high/low ring and an M61L or LL will get you quite close to what you are asking for.

Another approach is to just accept that the difference between 100 lumens and 25 lumens isn't huge, and split the difference with a single output around 50-60 lumens. For this, the Malkoff M61NLL and M31LL (get it from Illumn) work very nicely - pair the M61 with an 18650 or 2x CR123 host, and the M31 with a single CR123 or AA host (a single L91 works well with an estimated 4h of runtime, dual L91s is iffy, but dual NiMH AAs is also a good choice). For hosts, there are several options, with the Malkoff VME head and MDC bodies being a convenient one. Yes, it's a bit more than what you've stated as your target budget, but it doesn't get much simpler or more robust.

 

[Bradbn4]

You are not wrong on the max power rating from oh lets say 80 - 140(ish) would work fine; I picked a solid number of 100 which I have used and enjoyed. Pretty much anything lower than 20 for me would be too low to be considered a prime time mode.

Hmm; very good idea about mixing parts from the same people to get one more in tune. I did not see what the head would run; so going to think about that. Max cost can be higher - esp for a device that "calls my name".

 

[Bradbn4]

Trouble is not any of the hobby manufacturers make lights with run time in mind over brightness for maximum output selection. I say hobby manufacturers since those are the brands that cater to the flashlight hobbyist. Brands like Rayovac and Energizer cater to the consumer market.

Parametrek Flashlights

flashlights.parametrek.com

Here are some ideas. Again, I don't see anything that maxes out at 100.

So based on this website I guess I am a convoy fan boy - but good site - thanks for sharing.

 

[Kayaker530]

These are worth looking at:

Streamlight ProTac 1L-1AA. Officially this runs on 1 AA or 1 CR123A, but it will also work on 1 AAA. The TEN-Tap programming lets you set it up in Low/High only without a strobe. The output levels are not an exact fit for what you want, with AA it is about 40/150 Lumens. It has a decent two-way clip. We have two of these and they work quite well.

ProTac® 1L-1AA | Handheld Flashlight | Streamlight®

Convoy T3. Set in Mode 10, you will get about 30/140 lumens. I have been carrying one of these quite a bit and really like it. I give these away as gifts to friends and family. I can configure the light to a close fit to what they want before I give it to them.

I have made several orders with Simon at The Convoy Flashlight Store. No issues at all. I do use PayPal for a bit of fire walling my payment information from Ali Express. Other than the garbage emails from Ali Express, no problems.

 

[Bradbn4]

Convoy T3

Power values seem to be good - love the limited number of modes that produce what I like.

Convoy hmm is best I will say - but that mode will win me over for sure.

 

[Bradbn4]

I will say - using some of my older devices that fit the power I was looking for - I would be happy with 50, 100, 150 range.
When my budget says ok; I will pull the trigger on the Convoy T3...

 

[Bradbn4]

Well; I did some cleaning up around the house and found my old Fenix e12 that would seem to fit the bill; not sure about the later versions of said hardware. It has been beat up a bit, but still works wonders. Based on the config I think it was an earlier V2 version right went it came out. As expected the high is a bit too high and the low is a bit too low while the middle setting is about right walking the dog at night.

SC65c HI 18650 4000K High CRI - was good ball park - too bad the low end really was too low of a power setting.
medium & high could be set to acceptable values.

I could not pull the trigger on the Convoy T3; I really don't like the color selection and the programming for low was not acceptable.

I did get my goal of stocking up on cheap car flashlights but not something I like better than that Fenix E12.

 

[Bradbn4]

And the final entry into my quest was the Zebralight - picked up two supporting the 18650

SC600Fd IV Plus SC600Fd Mk IV Plus 18650 XHP50 Floody 5000K High CRI Flashlight and SC64c LE SC64c LE 18650 4000K High CRI Flashlight Limited Edition

The only minor issue is that the low might be too low for what I want; but I can set the other modes to something that will work well for me. I should be getting the flashlights delivered today or tomorrow.

For walking the floody will work best; and I picked up the LE for grins and giggles.

[added] - I did not one unprotected requirement for the 18650 but you can't buy want you can't find - that is a flashlight like zebra light that takes those type of cells.

[more added] - I picked up 6 of their 18650 batteries and doing the oh - so slow charging them up for some use. While I was blowing this years budget by a bit; I ended up buying an AA flashlight of theirs.

Summary: Both styles work better than I thought based on the stat level of power output. The run time on high for the AA was more of a hand warmer after about 5 mins. Both the 18650 & AA units would work well using the medium mode. I was a bit surprised that the low end mode was a bit brighter than I thought it would be. I have kept the lights in the default configuration as shipped.

If I remember correctly; I can drop the highest mode down to its lowest setting and it should keep power usage and temps more under control.