Which to buy

Ok this will sound exceedingly cheap perhaps, but neither my father, not my father-in-law know anything about flashlights and generally end up using a cleap plastic job from the grocery store. So, one of the things I am going to pick up for their birthdays, both in the next month, is a better flashlight.

I could do the Minimag thing and they would be happy, but I want to introduce them to LED light benefits, and see if it sticks, but I am NOT going to spend much for either, in case they stay in their same old routine of losing or wrecking flashlights.

So with this in mind, I have been following the posts for some of the more reasonable quality flashlights, and I think I have narrowed it down to 3 , Rock River AA, and the Sam's Club Element, and Inova Radiant AA all of which are available easily around town and can be returned easily, in the case of "user error".

Never having used or even really seen the Element, can someone compare the the beams? My dad would probably use his for hunting as well as general use. I have seen the Radiant but never seen one used or the beam.

Any better suggestions?

The River Rock 2AA beam is almost useless. The Inova would be my choice of those. If you can find a Dorcy Super 1 Watt that would be a decent choice as well.

double post. sorry. Why can't I delete my own posts? This is the only forum where I ever see double posts. I don't know if the server is slow or the software sucks or what. sorry for the rant, but yikes it gets old....

For about $12 each, batteries included, the Sam's Club Element is a high value Luxeon light. If you could spend a bit over twice as much, the Streamlight Propolymer 4AA Luxeon is much better. Either of these would be good introductions for the non-flashaholic.

Well out of the three you mentioned (I have them all) the Sam's element is going to be the brightest of the bunch but it is larger and according to Doug P. will have the shortest runtime. The Element on fresh cells is sweet but it does dim down over time, perhaps more so than the other two. I haven't been able to get a pair of the new and improved but there is a thread discussing them. Good luck!

Oh if they have a habit of losing their lights do the gas station restroom thing and chain a hubcap to it!

I second The StreamLight Propoly 4AA Luxeon, If thats too big or hard to return then go for the Dorcy super 1 watt at Sears. They were on sale for $19 including battery, not sure if they are still on sale.

Mclux III PD.

Sorry, I just have it on the mind.

I too think that either the ProPoly 4AA or 3C would be a good transition from the 99¢ 2D lights. Both use commonly available batteries, though the tailcap switch might take a little adjustment.

The drawback is that neither of these lights seem to widely available in brick & mortar stores, so it would require an online order.

If you were thinking in terms of MiniMag prices, then the RR 2C from Target would probably be the best choice for the price (and has a long enough run time. I think the 2AA model might go through a set of batteries a bit too quickly for a couple of 'regular' guys.

Gerber Trio - not insanely bright, but good enough for all around work, 3x5mm LED's.

Brighteyez said:

I too think that either the ProPoly 4AA or 3C would be a good transition from the 99¢ 2D lights. Both use commonly available batteries, though the tailcap switch might take a little adjustment.

The drawback is that neither of these lights seem to widely available in brick & mortar stores, so it would require an online order.

Click to expand...

Unless there is a store nearby http://www.streamlite.com/locator.jsp that has a good selection/price.

Like what the others mentioned regarding the Streamlight dbA ProPolymer Luxeon. That way they'll get a "taste" of LED driven flashlights. I've seen the Dorcys and some other "el cheapos" around but have not seen what their output is like. There's also the Coast LED Lensers, since these are cool looking and within wallet reach.

Hope you find what you're looking for and Enjoy!

Sounds like you need a 2 pack of Sam's Club Elements for $25. Batteries included. I gave one to my Grandpa and he loves the switch.

I too vote for the Streamlight Propoly 4AA.

Greg at Brightguy (www.brightguy.com) sold me on last year. I have a bunch of Surefire, Gladius,UK lights and Greg said I needed a flashlight at a reasonable price for the dirty jobs.

Last week I taped the Propoly to a garden hose and pushed it up the sewer outlet of my house to find a root invasion that was blocking the pipe. Worked just great. Greg was right, it is the flashlight for the "dirty job," as well as a flashlight for the cleaner chores.

There on sale at www.brightguy.com for $28.95 this week. Buy one, you can't go wrong.

Father and Father in law will thank you. Better get one for yourself also.

When giving away flashlights as gifts I try find something that uses common batteries. Most are happy to get a flashlight as a gift but prefer not hunt down uncommon or expensive batteries. I would recommend something that uses AA batteries but has some good power and brightness to it. The Streamlight Propoly is a great choice or one of the Streamlight Twin Tasks that use common batteries. I loaned my wife my Streamlight Propoly 4AA for her trip to the Galapagos. She also took it to Africa with her. No problems what so ever, in fact according to her it's no longer my flashlight.