Looking for a inexpensive cree mini light

[737mechanic]

I need a small bright light for work and I see many on ebay but not sure what the quality is like. Has anyone bought any of the mini Cree lights off ebay and if so which one did you get and has it been a good light so far.

Any feedback would be great.

 

[bessiebenny]

Check out my review for some budget ideas on what's out currently.
There's heaps more on the market but I don't have them all to review. =P

If you want "high" quality ones, they can be had from Fenix store website.
But some budget ones are excellent and are about quarter of the price.

 

[beautifully-stupid]

737 mechanic...

I guess it depends on your intended use, and specific requirements. Then I'm sure people would be ready to provide suggestions

1. How Big? You mentioned small... do you want something pocket-able, or on your belt?
2. Power source: Rechargeable, Alkaline, lithium. AAA, AAA, CR123
3. Intended use: Do you need battery life, or brightness? How much of each? ie. do you want to be able to light up an aircraft tail from the ground, or do you want tons of spill for close-up work? how long do you need the light to operate between battery changes?

Right off the bat, I'll recommend the Jetbeam C-LE, but I suppose another important question is ... What's a realistic price range for you?

 

[737mechanic]

bessiebenny That is very helpful, thanks for taking the time to do such an awesome job. That helped me tons.

beautifully-stupid The light will be for work and I like the Mini lights that fit in a pocket.

I will use rechargables.

I like brightness over battery life since I will be using rechargables and will always have plenty of batteries on hand..

Now for a couple questions.

1: Does a 2 cr123 light give more light than a 1 cr123 light.

2: What does EDC stand for.

Thanks

 

[bessiebenny]

Now for a couple questions.

1: Does a 2 cr123 light give more light than a 1 cr123 light.

2: What does EDC stand for.

Thanks

1. With single-LED lights, generally, no. With multi-LED lights, yes.
2. Every Day Carry. =)

if you want really small CR123A lights and don't mind twisty switch, consider following:
Romisen RC-C3 - See some beam shots here.
Ultrafire 602D or cheaper non-HA version.

 

[jasonsmaglites]

for aaa go with ultrafire 602c
for aa go with mte seoul

both avail from dx for $20 or less
both are good quality and bright contenders for single battery configs

 

[Marduke]

From a real store, I would say the 2xAAA Energizer Hard Case Inspection light, it uses a Cree.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=180431

 

[Gunner12]

The WF-606 looks like a Minimag.

Do you need multimode?

Whenever I see a lower priced Cree light on eBay, I check Dealextreme first because they probably have the same light for cheaper.

 

[TORCH_BOY]

The Fenix L0D-CE

 

[Gaffle]

How "budget" is your budget?

 

[europium]

I just ordered a bunch of these for gifts:

UltraFire B3 Luxeon PWT Flashlight (AAA)

But the LED is not a cree ....


Eu

 

[BigD64]

Lumapower 303 or 301 would fit the bill but their ssc not cree.

 

[RecycledElectron]

+1 for the Jetbeam CL-E.

+1 for the Ultrafire B3. It's just as bright as the Ultrafire 602c on a Nimh, but better focused. With a Duracell 1000 mah AAA, if that's all you have at hand, you're not too badly off.

+1 Ultrafire C3 single mode - if you get a good example. Quality control has suffered recently.

+1 DX MTE Seoul, I believe the skew is 1995.

If I could have only one, I'd go for the CL-E. I EDC a v1.2 with a v2 head in my left front pocket. It has a excellent low and a good high, most are well focused. Runs over 2 hours on a Kodak PreCharged LSD Nimh on high.

 

[Jadepp]

Get the Fenix L2d, I personally know of 3 airline AMT's and a Captain using the L2d for work and they love it. They especially like the tint of the Rebel100. Anything smaller than a L2d is actually too small for a work light. The L2d uses common AAs and puts out more light than a stinger.