The best of the rest

[Sefrican]

Hi this is my first post.

I am now fed up with Mag-Lite's owning 3 of them and losing 2 LED emitters without them even having worked much. I need to now embrace the new technology, but I have a load of questions?

Besides Surefire, Fenix, O-lite and such like, which is the best of the rest. Are there any of the other Chineese manufacturers that produce a good quality flashlight at lower price then the aforementioned.

In my mind quality means that I will not end up with a switch packing up, or a battery not fitting or the electronic packing up when I drop it. Smooth finishes and quality knurling are less important than the functionality of a good reflector with a premium Cree emitter.

Is there any manufacturer that you can recommend?

Are the Cree Q5 emitters the current state of the art in terms of brightness and are there different grades of Cree emitters?

If there are different grades, which emitters are the brightest?

Can someone post me a link to a shootout of the various flashlights lined up next to each other.

Regards Sefrican

 

[Oddjob]

Welcome! The Quark lights are new but were brought out by respected CPF member 4sevens. They have been well received and are a good value. Nitecore light are well recommended. 4sevens.com has a lot to offer you and customer service and support are great. Although not Chinese, Ra lights makes a very durable light. Here's a good review site: http://light-reviews.com/

 

[Cigarman]

Also dont forget Solarforce lights from HK. Good for cost effective LED or incandescent every day jobs. Definitely keep in mind some of the 18650 lithium rechargeable kinds since it cuts costs down on batteries. If you can swing the cash get a Surefire....wont let you down and the company backs up their products.

 

[Flying Turtle]

You should definitely check out the offerings from LiteFlux. Not the cheapest, but with features that rival the best for much less. Made in Taiwan.

Geoff

 

[berry580]

is it me or has no one mentioned Jetbeam?!
they're not exactly cheap, but for the price, you do get pretty damn good quality
never had any problems with JB. Their customer service is excellent as well!
Their IBS system makes their torches very sophisticated.
They specialise in variable outputs, so if high output efficiency is your top priority, then you might want to look elsewhere as regulation by PWM (variable output) is inherently less efficient than current controlled (a few set brightness levels).

Eagletac is pretty good if u're looking for output/runtime efficiency, they well known for having their lights driven heavily. Very very high output!

 

[hyperloop]

Fenix is a brand that is known for durability, check out this torture of a fenix light.

At the end of the day, things will fail, but buy cheap, GET cheap..cheaper workmanship, cheaper parts, if reliability and durability are your must haves, get a surefire couple that with a malkoff drop in, all that can be had for under $100 if i am not wrong ($55 for a malkoff and somewhere above $35 for a Surefire G2, the most basic surefire of all).

There ARE cheaper lights out there, i own a few Fenixes and Jetbeams (they're pretty durable too) and to be honest, i would rely on my Fenixes and Jetbeams more than my other brands, i recently lost a Surefire G2 but another is on the way

 

[Sefrican]

Thanks for the info so far. There is a huge amount that I still have to read up about, more so there there is a confusing array of lights out there.

Understandably there are the expensive flashlights, but I was wondering more in terms of the lesser known brands from the literally hundreds of different manufacturers in China.

Obviously there will be some good, some better and some really bad. Afterall Fenix which has a great reputation is manufactured in China.

http://www.farray.com.cn/product_view.asp?id=466

http://www.sunsfire.com/

Somewhere out there, there must be a bubling under "Fenix manufacturer" waiting to hit the market

Can someone please post me a link so that I can gain some understanding of the various Cree Emitters in terms of brightness.

Kind thanks!

Sefrican

 

[shark_za]

Howzit boet !

I'm also in SA up in JHB.
I have also just recently expanded my collection of lights from a bunch of Maglites and my trusty incandesent Surefire 6P to add some more cutting edge LED models.

I got a Surefire LED for my 6P (very expensive in SA, R700) and then another stock LED 6P Defender because I wanted the bezel and clicky.

But I leave those pretty much stock. I got hold of a Solarforce L2 and a good regulated LED from Lumens Factory, what a combo. Mix that up with extenders from solarforce and rechargeable cells and I have a winner.
The Solarforce can handle 18mm batterys like the 18650.
How does a good few hours at around 200 Lumen for "free" sound?

I am also getting a Lumens Factory Seraph P6 setup with the same regulated R2 LED. A few extenders, the turbo head to take D36 lights, etc. Clicky and twisty.

Go onto the CREE website and download the spec sheets for the binning of the LED's.
The quality and color of the XR-E is rated and binned accordingly.
Others like the MC-E are a whole new ball game.

Message me and we can chat on e-mail.
A local guy imported a bunch and I can put you in touch with him.

My choice for a good working light would be the Solarforce or the Surefire G2 with a Lumens Factory Cree R2 in it. Upgrade the G2's plastic bezel with a Solarforce one too.

I am going to look at multi mode LED's for my Solarforce 2x 18650 blaster but for now it off/on with great power and long runtime.