My Lights

[bf2wesley]

Hi,
New here, this is my first post, so please bear with me. I figured I would start on CPF with a list of what lights I own right now, and what I plan to have in the future; hopefully I'll continue to update this thread as my collection and experience grows.

A little background before I get started, I'm volunteering for Church, and therefore have very, very little disposable income; I plan on beginning to expand my collection when I go to college this fall. Anyway, here goes!

I currently only own a 4Sevens Quark 123^2 Tactical and Preon ReVo, it's a decent start. I've had a bit of trouble with the 123^2, but it's a pretty good light; on the other hand, I LOVE the ReVo, this little guy is a champ.

The next lights I will buy (in no particular order) are a Surefire LX2 Lumamax, almost any McGizmo (the Haiku XPG first), and finally a HDS (or three?). I'd probably get a Malkoff drop in for the LX2, depends a bit on how it throws/spills.


Thanks for reading, and I appreciate any comments or questions

 

[JOHNNY-FLASH]

Sounds like a pretty good start.

 

[angelofwar]

Welcome to CPF wesley! If you want to go the Malkoff route, you'll need to get a different Surefire, as the LX2 has a dedicated LED bezel. You'll need to find a "P60 Drop-In Host...my recommendations are the C2/C3 or the 6P. If you have no specific reason for wanting a Malkoff, the LX2 is a nice light, especially with the two-stage interface and the two-way clip. I'd start off with the LX2, and the get a "host" for a Malkoff later on, since they're available in so many flavours, after owning these other lights for awhile, you'll have a better idea of what drop-in you want. Again, welcome to CPF!!!

 

[cm_mtb]

You could put a VME head on an LX2, and then run a Malkoff in that if you really wanted. You would still have the two-stage interface, but the low would not be as low.

:welcome:

 

[bf2wesley]

Thanks for the input, especially helpful was the info from angel. As for the Malkoff drop-ins, I'll probably get a host body and just fiddle with it

 

[DM51]

Welcome to CPF, Wesley

As you are concentrating on LED Flashlights, I'll move your thread to that section.

 

[tre]

All the lights you want to buy are great lights but if you don't have much money, there are many lights that are 1/3 of the cost of the ones you listed and are brighter and 95% as durable to boot. This is my opinion only, but I find the lights you listed to be a bit over priced for somebody on a bodget. You are not going to miss much (if anything) by purchasing a Fenix, Zebralight, EagleTac, etc and saving a ton of $$$.

 

[bf2wesley]

Thanks DM51 for switching that, I appreciate the help.

In response to tre, I agree that there are many lights that perform almost as well, or even outshine/outlast some of the one' I've picked, but I like the one's I picked for a couple reasons: I personally know the owner of 4Sevens (that's why I got their lights first), and I am totally a "quality over quantity" person (so if I buy only 4 or 5 lights, but they last for years and years and years, then I think I did pretty well). Specifically, each light I chose has a purpose: the LX2 would be my weapon light (on a carbine), the HDS's would be in my EDC bag, stashed around the house, glove compartment, etc, I would EDC the Haiku, and I would get several ReVo's as backups (keychain, backpacks, etc).

 

[Lightman2]

All the lights you want to buy are great lights but if you don't have much money, there are many lights that are 1/3 of the cost of the ones you listed and are brighter and 95% as durable to boot. This is my opinion only, but I find the lights you listed to be a bit over priced for somebody on a bodget. You are not going to miss much (if anything) by purchasing a Fenix, Zebralight, EagleTac, etc and saving a ton of $$$.

Agree

 

[glockboy]

But next year, lights will have double the brightness or same brightness but double the run time, an year after that same thing and ...
Buy a bored Surefire C2 and every year, buy a new drop-in for it.

so if I buy only 4 or 5 lights, but they last for years and years and years

 

[jhc37013]

If you want to get into Li-Ion powered light's look at Zebralight's SC60 and SC600, there both powered by one 18650 battery. The SC600 is new and starts shipping next week but the SC60 is probably my favorite pocket light, the SC600 is not much bigger and is a lot brighter.

http://www.zebralight.com/Flashlight_c_8.html

 

[Lightman2]

I have a Zebra SC51 and really like it but you may want to hold off and save for the Zebra Q50. I am saving now.

 

[flashy bazook]

But next year, lights will have double the brightness or same brightness but double the run time, an year after that same thing and ...
Buy a bored Surefire C2 and every year, buy a new drop-in for it.

Yes, for quality, reliability, AND cost effectiveness, the drop-in route works the best. You get upgradeability. Since you are willing to buy expensive, you can eat up the higher up front cost, and then reap the long term benefits.

One more idea, you can get a McGizmo battery pack (1x123, 2x123, or 2xAA) and a VME head so you can use the Malkoff drop-ins. This also starts expensive, but it looks like you are already deciding to spend the multi-bucks.

Finally, as you are just starting, you can also concentrate on one type of battery. Looks like you are going the 123 route. So you can stick with the 1x123 or 2x123's. Where it gets more complicated is if you want rechargeables, especially the 18650's. Then you have to be more careful, since many of your options don't support that format.

 

[bf2wesley]

Flashy Bazook, I like your idea about the McGizmo and VME head. I may well do that for my EDC light (that would support rechargeables, yes?), but for both the weapon light and back-ups, I'd rather have something simple, to the point, absolutely rock solid, and running primaries. The KISS philosophy is imperative for them, because someone besides myself might be using one of the lights, and even if it is me using the light, it will be under stress, so the simpler the better; also, for those situations, I place output lower than runtime, and I figure as batteries improve my runtime will too. Out of curiosity, which of my options doesn't support 18650's? I think the HDS and McGizmo lights do, right?

My interest is piqued regarding the drop-ins, would the McGizmo drop-in setup be weapon-mountable? Waterproof? Could I get it in flat black? Is the UI built into the body, the head, etc? Thanks