Please help me find a flashlight

[bahama99]

I am looking for a flashlight to use outdoors/woods only. I want something that will not only light up the immediate surroundings but also light further up the trail. don't want to get eaten by lions/tigers.
so i need flood and throw both, on a budget. Is it possible? i am looking to spend around $25.

I was redirected her from DX and told that this is the best place to ask for help.

below are some pictures of different ones i saw on fonarevka.ru that seem to match what i am looking for. which one would you recommend for me based on the pictures below?

 

[joe1512]

Your main problem is that most of the cheap bright lights use special batteries, either CR123s or rechargable ones such as 18650s which require special chargers.

Just batteries +charger eats your 25 dollar budget.

You could order CR123s by the box for 1 dollar each, but for a much-used light, it will chew thru them.

So 2xAA lights are probably the best choice. A shorter-fatter 3xAAA one would work too.

Ideally look for one that uses the latest XP-G emitter which is the brightest and most efficient. An 'orange peel' reflector with a fairly small head will give you a good mix of flood and throw.

Its really hard to judge from those photos since exposures are probably different and even positions are off. The trail terminates so its hard to judge the throw.

The first one you can see has a good flood, but also a noticable hotspot for throwing a bit further.


A Romisen is a good choice as they make budget lights with better quality. I like itp too.

Note however that DX lies about their stats. Many XP-G AA or AAAs are really XP-Es. Read the forum notes to see the truth.

For example, this looks like a good option:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.44460

but read the forum notes.

 

[TwinBlade]

You really need to up your budget a little bit, but I bought our son a Romisen RC-N3 for Christmas last year and it takes AA batteries AND CR123. You just have to add an extention tube which it comes with. It will throw light 300' fairly easy, but that is the best you are going to do in that budget. You may be better off saving up and spending twice that looking at the used lights at the Candle Power Forum Marketplace.

I knew there was a brief review on it...

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=202569

 

[bahama99]

how about $40. does that fit any decent light into the budget?

i am going crazy reading about all different lights, reviews etc...


what about a P7? does that match the pictures?

 

[carl8190]

Fenix TK12 or PD30r4 good lights! Budget lights tend to fail

 

[bahama99]

i can only spend upto $40 this time. so i am trying to find the best option in that much money.

 

[sol-leks]

I think the Fenix E21 might be up your alley. Not quite as bright as what you are looking for but still plenty bright and its available in a neutral tint that will be good for the outdoors.

Another good option might be the Skyray SR5 sold on DX. Not a neutral tint, but it is nice and white and very bright, around 250-300 lumens. It's also only 20 bucks so it will leave you some money for some 18650's and a charger or some cr123's depending on what you want. It is also a p60 host which gives you the option of future upgrades.

In the budget category, I am also very fond of the Romisen variable focus lights which aren't that bright but have great versatility.

I would also go and check out shiningbeam.com if I were you they have a ton of romisens and ITP lights all within your budget.

 

[RedForest UK]

Get yourself a Fenix TK20. Quality wise it is way above your average dx light, and if you shop around ebay it can be had in your price range.

It doesnt use the lates xp-g emitter, but as it uses an xr-e it does throw a long way 'down the trail' as you mentioned. Also the neutral white colour temperature is great for outdoors especially in the woods where it's better rendition of green and brown hues is invaluable.

It runs on 2xAA cells, so once you have a little more in the bank you can invest in a 4 pack of eneloops and a basic smart charger, then you will have a great outdoor light setup which will last you for decades. :thumbsup:

It's how I started, and while I got sucked back into buying new lights, when I take out my TK20 I really do wonder if I would have been any less happy just stopping at that.. It really is a great light, and at the prices you can get it now I cannot recommend it enough.

 

[^Gurthang]

Bahama,

Looking at the pics you reference I'll guess that most of those are multi-emitter or MCE / P7 based bike lights. All of them are putting out a lot of light compared to a simple, single emitter XP or XR Cree emitter. Anyone else recognize those beamshots and what lights are being compared?

 

[MannyDLights]

how about $40. does that fit any decent light into the budget?

i am going crazy reading about all different lights, reviews etc...


what about a P7? does that match the pictures?

Hey Just Got a killer one shipped for $31.50 ..... See The Details Under this thread: Then Scroll down until you see the images....

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=276212&page=2

 

[MannyDLights]

Bahama,

Looking at the pics you reference I'll guess that most of those are multi-emitter or MCE / P7 based bike lights. All of them are putting out a lot of light compared to a simple, single emitter XP or XR Cree emitter. Anyone else recognize those beamshots and what lights are being compared?

Yeah.... I read the models and saw the images on that Russian site..... These guys are professionals that test lights in the caves and tunnels in Russia, they also do reviews..... in return they get the lights free ....

I read the terms for reviews they keep the lights .... What does that mean? That the cheapest lights I saw tested were around $130.00 all the way up to the Polarion PH50 around $2,500.00 ......

The power on the images you showed are from TK40 and above ....... The one I just got Puts out some serious light for around $30.00 ......

 

[PerttiK]

It looks like a P7 or MC-E light would be what you are looking for but these lights usually use 18650 batteries to get decent performance and as mentioned earlier that would eat $20 from your budged to get batteries and charger.
And what comes to most DX lights you really have to be prepared to tinker and tune them to make them work good, I'd rather have a reliable light than a bright light.
I would suggest getting a quality light, even if it is not the latest and greatest.
I would too suggest Fenix TK20 or E21.
TK20 is a bit over budget but is really solid light that is hard to break.
E21 is within budget, while not as throwy as TK20, has better runtimes and choice of cool or neutral white emitters.
If you're going to use your light frequently, then you should consider rechargeables too, for everyday use you can get good performance from regular nimhs and don't need pricier eneloops or other low self discharge nimhs.

 

[bahama99]

Here are the lights in the screenshots:

UltraFire MCD-WF-2000F

UltraFire RL-2088

UltraFire WF-1300L

Stasikoff 3 MC-E

UltraFire WF-1000L 20MC-E

Wolfeyes Super Storm

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Manny, what is the model# of that flashlight?




yes, this flashlight will be used for everyday use, in an outdoors/woods environment, mostly pitch black, so some sort of rechargeables will be nice!

 

[bigfish5]

Spend a little more and get a quality light. My suggestion would be an eagletac p100a2. Fantastic light with medium and high modes. Very bright with good spill and alot of throw. Get rechargable nimh or eneloop aa batteries and your good to go. Bright led goodness for 39.00 dollars. Look up reviews and check out the beamshots.