Noma vs. Dorcy

[Fast Eddie]

Hi everyone - I'm new to these forums, just looking to spend roughly $50 on a good CREE flashlight. My brother recently was in Canada, and purchased a Noma brand High Output Cree 3W flashlight for approx $40. It's a pretty nice light, plenty of throw. Rated at 140 lumens.

I want to purchase the Dorcy 41-4289 (rated at 200 lumens). Does anyone out there know if these lights (the Noma and the Dorcy) are comparable? Which has more throw?

And, a newbie question: Are 200 lumens really that much better than 140 lumens?

PS: My main use of this light will be for backpacking/camping.

Thanks for any info you guys may have.

Fast Eddie

 

[ZMZ67]

I am not familiar with the Noma brand but many Dorcy lights are unremarkable.Might be worth your while to do some reading in the reviews and LED lights section.Things like tint,runtime,batteries and other factors may change your mind about what you want.The Dorcy for example is 3XAAA so runtime is likely to be short and output claims are typically overated.If you can expand your budget $15-$25 it opens up a much wider selection of quality lights.I'm not trying to put down the lights you mention,I have a number of Dorcy products myself,but there are probably better choices at or near your price point.Look into some of the popular brands on CPF- Quark,Fenix,Nitecore,Lumapower......

 

[ragweed]

I have a Dorcy 45 lumen Metal Gear that I like vey much. It lights up an apple tree 50 yards away from the house. Good enough for me anyway.

 

[mcnair55]

Have a butchers hook (look) at the TERRALUX CREE XRE LED FLASHLIGHT 220 LUMENS TLF3C2AAEX it would fit well within your budget,in fact you could buy nearly 2.

I have the lower powered 100/50 lumens 3 mode version and love it,performs well and is regulated and I paid £20 UK with postage.

Have a look on there web site and read there catalogue,I know one of our vendors on here sell there range so you can get your CPF members discount.

 

[kramer5150]

Hi everyone - I'm new to these forums, just looking to spend roughly $50 on a good CREE flashlight. My brother recently was in Canada, and purchased a Noma brand High Output Cree 3W flashlight for approx $40. It's a pretty nice light, plenty of throw. Rated at 140 lumens.
I am not really familiar with that brand. Probably a Canada only release. At $40 its most likely a chinese re-brand of something else.

I want to purchase the Dorcy 41-4289 (rated at 200 lumens). Does anyone out there know if these lights (the Noma and the Dorcy) are comparable? Which has more throw?
I am not familiar with the Noma. Avoid that Dorcy. 3xAAA, direct drive lights are not that great. For $50 there are far better options in the 2AA, 1AA format.

And, a newbie question: Are 200 lumens really that much better than 140 lumens?
IMHO yes, 60 Lumens is a noticeable difference. The problem with cheap 3AAA lights like these is they are severely over-rated. So, disregard the published lumen spec. I am guessing that this particular 3AAA dorcy is no more than ~120L OTF, given the limitations of the 3AAA power source and their claimed 3 hour run time. You should also be aware that Dorcy over-rates their run times.

PS: My main use of this light will be for backpacking/camping.

Thanks for any info you guys may have.

Fast Eddie


Sure a far better $50 option is a Fenix Tk20. Its a legit ~140L OTF, built like a tank and feels great in the hand. A TK20 and some Lithium AA primaries is an excellent outdoor-rugged setup. If you can stretch a little the Fenix LD20 is a killer light too.

Eagletac also has some great 2AA lights that you should consider, right around the 150-200L range.

If you want something smaller, easier to carry, around 110L there are some nice 1AA choices in the $50 range too.

FWIW, I have always found throw-centric lights almost useless camping. Flood lights with low output modes are by far and away my personal preference around the camp-site.

 

[Fast Eddie]

Thanks for the input fellas, it sure helps. I think the idea of stepping up to the $75-85 range will help dramatically. I'll do some checking of comparisons on these forums. I was looking on amazon.com and saw the EagleTac T20C2 Tactical (380 lumens). Looks like an amazing light!

PS: I've had very little experience with "good" flashlights. Last summer I was hiking the Pacific Crest Trail out here in Oregon, and had nothing but a small led that probably put out about 10 lumens. It was kind of freaky in the middle of the wilderness - jet black with a crappy little throw away light!

 

[Flashfirstask?later]

Hi everyone - I'm new to these forums, just looking to spend roughly $50 on a good CREE flashlight. My brother recently was in Canada, and purchased a Noma brand High Output Cree 3W flashlight for approx $40. It's a pretty nice light, plenty of throw. Rated at 140 lumens.
I am not really familiar with that brand. Probably a Canada only release. At $40 its most likely a chinese re-brand of something else.

Noma branded flashlights are sold in Canadian Tire stores and online. They are mainly re-branded Brinkmann flashlights.

The only Noma branded light (actually of almost light carried there) at Canadian Tire that may be a good light to have even though it is pretty basic in construction, is the compact looking version of that old Maxfire but uses a 1AA and has a Cree XP-E (for some $20) however CT never listed it online for some reason, same with Brinkmann site. If they ever went on sale for 40-50% off I may snatch one or two up but not for $20.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=237106&highlight=Brinkmann+1AA

Noma lights at (though some are not listed like the 1AA) http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/3/HouseHome/SafetySecurity/Flashlights.jsp

 

[Black Rose]

Searching the Canadian Tire site for "Noma Cree" turns up a 140 lumen 3xAAA flashlight.

 

[Fast Eddie]

Thanks again for the info. I actually went whole hog and purchased an EagleTac M2XC4 MKII. One heck of a lot more $$ (about $140), but man, what a light!:thumbsup: