New Bigger Budget- $200.00 (For a Tiny Light)

After much thought, I have decided to 'up' my budget to replace the Arc4 I lost in a skirmish at the club I work at this past Saturday night...Needs to be- A) Small-one lithium battery...B) Bright!!!!!!- and will turn on in brightest mode without clicking more than once....C) Push thumb switch on back 'tailcap?' to turn on.....D) Must have pocket clip.....E) Momentary mode not needed
This is not an 'edc' light- just for work to check for ID's, lost cellphones and things and tracking bad people in the crowd- I also carry a Surefire M3 for when I need to REALLY light things up.
In another thread I posted previously <a href="http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=123028"> , someone suggested the HDS Ultimate and other HDS lights, but now I hear the clip isn't so great? And the McLux PD, which I am not familiar with at all.
Thanks you for your help and patience!
Best,
ethan
(Almost scared to work this weekend without my lil powerhouse!)

I think someone mentioned this in the other thread, but have you considered an E1E? It has one lithium battery, the tailcap clicks on to the bright mode, it has a pocket clip, and it is pretty darn bright (comparable to a 2D light). It also costs a lot less that the $200 that you have set aside. With what you save, you could buy a few steak dinners or maybe another flashlight.:naughty: The main disadvantage is the 1.5 hour runtime. How much time will you need this thing to be on? Do you just flash it occasionally or do you leave it on for long stretches of time?

I just only use it occasionally, maybe 5, 10 minutes a night, just need it to be super bright due to the darkness and also tons of flashing lights all over the place!

You would do well to go to the McGizmo forum and check out tht Mclux III PD FAQ. Another option would be the Peak Led Solutions Ranier. Peak is currently offering this amazing flashlight on sale. You want super bright? This light has a very concentrated spot beam. you would need to use rechargable Li-Ion cells to get max brightness. Add a momentary switch to the back for an extra $10 and you're set! Here is a link: http://www.peakledsolutions.net/RAIN.html

Your brightest option will probably be a surefire kL4. Then in the future you can get a EL1 body or a Vital gear one cell body and you can run a rechargeable. It may be a little bright for checking ID's but I will be so bright that it will reflect off the ID and light up the persons face. Plus in a dark club you could blind the poop out of whole groups of trouble makers. In a two cell body this light will give you 1 hour of blinding light and on one rechargeable it will be quite small and give you about 15 min runtime. As you can probably tell this is my favorite light. It was also my first real flashlight purchase

Surefire L2 is pretty useful, bright, great optics.

HDS Basic 60 LE(Law Enforcement) version turns on at maximum brightness with the first click.
Plenty bright.
Quite small.
1 battery(123).
Can be adjusted to lower brightness with additional clicks.
Cost is well under $200, probably about $160.

If you are worried about the clip, then attach a lanyard to it. Even a stretchable "bungee" lanyard, if you might need some extra movement with the light.

I think the HDS Basic 60 LE is the one.

Hello bouncer

Your brightest option would be a multiple one.

Take a look at elektolumens "Little Friend".

Best regards

_____
Tom

Tho you could definitely get some nice lights at that price range such as...

McLux PDIII ~$250
Aleph I, II, or III ~$210+
HDS U60 LE ~$160

I think for your needs, something much lower priced would work fine since you don't care about multi-levels and don't need momentary. Consider the following options that should be a reliable partner for your work while saving you money:

1. Nuwai Q3 - You might get a T-bin Lux3! If not, just get a T-bin to replace it and it is plenty bright. If you run it on Li-Ion rechargables, it will be screaming bright! I estimate my TWOH R123A Q3 to be in the 55lm range!...much much brighter than 3D Mag. Available for <$31 shipped from LED_Experimenter. T-bin Lux3s are on sale right now too with guaranteed flux, tint, and VF.

2. Surefire E1L - as someone already mentioned. This has a spot beam tho so decide if that's ok for you. I'd rather have a useful spillbeam for your work in case you're lighting up someone's face and one of his friends off to the side a bit is coming toward you. The spot beam may or may not provide enough light to light anything else around the target, especially considering the contrast in a dark club. ~$100 (can be had in the $80s range).

3. Nextorch Z1 - it has a momentary tailswitch: press for momentary on, twist for constant. I know you said you don't need momentary, but if you don't mind holding the switch down while it's on, it's a very smooth and reliable switch. The light is bright, about 35-40lms on a primary 123A. On R123A, it's brighter. Relatively, the E1L is 30lms, but all that is concentrated into the spot. ~$38 shipped.

I would recommend a Groovy with NG750. That would be a great light to check IDs with.

I could sell mine if you need it. You could try Photonfanatic.com also for purchase. They have both the 750 and 500 version available.

Good luck.

rob

Was the arc 4 enough light? I think it was less than 42 lumens. Some of the lights people have been suggesting are up to 100 lumens.

I think the HDS EDC Ultimate would be your best bet. You can program the primary setting to whatever you want. The clip isn't as good as the Arc4 but its better than some of the other lights suggested.

E1L with a KL4 head!

Another vote for an HDS ultimate here!

the one, the only, McluxIII-PD!