newbie needs help for light

i have always used a maglight. well couple of weeks ago my friend showed me his new surefire light a think a 6p. well it impressed me. so i am looking for a new flashlight.

now i have taken some classes at the university and it is dark walking to the parking lot. l park pretty far. the maglight does not work all that good in very dark areas. my friend let me use his surefire i was like :wow:.

he is new to flashlight too. i want a good light for when i go back to the university.

which will be somewhere in August. for this situation which flashlight would be better incandesent or an led? it will also be my light that i carry every where.

i am looking for a light that has a clip or a belt holder sheath.

i am looking to spend about $150.

i have looking at this site for a while now. i am blown away by the flashlights and the technology of the flashlights.

i though a flashlight was just a flashlight. but when i saw my friends i was very impressed which brought me to this site.

welcome to CPF, sharkchild!

Spend some time over at flashlightreviews.com and theledmuseum.org -lots of great info on what you're looking for.

thanks, will check it out.

Welcome to CPF! Your wallet will soon be sucked dry.

I imagine you want to have a light that "bests" his. That leaves two options -- plain flat-out brighter, or just "cooler" and perhaps more practical.

For brighter, I'd recommend...
Surefire 9P, at $68 from OpticsHQ.com with discount
Streamlight TL3, for $50 from Amazon.com
Pila GL3pb, for $67 from JSBurlys.com

All great lights, with the TL3 throwing the best, the GL3 being the most robust, and the 9P being the lightest and pretty good all-around.

Then for "cooler"... you could get the...
Fenix L1P, L2P, L1T or L2T, at ~$45 from Fenix-Store.com -- the Fenix is not as bright as the 6P, but is bright and useful all the same. Much smaller too.

or my personal favorite, the versatile...
Surefire A2 at $150 from OpticsHQ.com -- the A2 is as bright as the 6P, but it is also regulated, so it won't dim over time like the 6P would.

I wrote a review on the GL3 and A2, respectively, here:
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=122737
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=107355

I think either the GL3 or A2 would be your best bets, though by far not the only good choices available to you. Keep in mind a 3-cell light will cost you more money to run, unless you go for rechargeables, too. The GL3 is considerably heftier than the A2, but could also probably be used as a club in a pinch.

may i suggest the L1? bright and throwy and only uses one battery

Carrot,

i have a guestion. the A2 says it has a lumen of 3 hours. can you give me an example of a light that has 3 lumen?

the A2 review that you did is very good. you might have just sold me to the A2.

one more qustion, do you think it will be a good light for self defense?( i mean i will be getting my ccw (hopefully) if i have money left over from books and such)

i will be getting a light for my brother too. he goes to the same university. i think i will look at a fenix for him. my wallet is already hurting and i have not bought it yet. j/k

hmm 3 lumens is around the output of most cheap button cell led lights that go on keychains after they have been on for 30 or so seconds. hope that helps

The Fenix L1P is a great gift light. It is sufficiently bright for most people, and uses ordinary batteries. Likewise, the L1T is also a good choice because it has dual-stage. Whether you get the one or two battery model really depends on what you think your brother would prefer.

An example of a light that outputs roughly 3 lumens... the Nite-Ize 3-LED drop-in for the Mini Maglite provides a little more than 3 lumens, probably. (The Nite-Ize has a tighter beam, though.) A Gerber Infinity Ultra is about the same amount of light.

Actually, the A2 provides enough light on low to see about as well as you would with an unfocused Mini Maglite, accounting for the yellowish beam with artifacts and rings, as well as the shadow in the center of the beam. Perhaps even a little better, due to the smoothness of the light output. I personally find the amount of light on low enough to walk around with, and only use the high to see things further away.

For use in conjunction with a firearm, I have had no experience, but I believe OregonShooter on CPF uses an A2 during target practice. It is certainly bright enough to be used in place of one of Surefire's "tactical" flashlights, such as the 6P, Z2 or C2.

thanks Carrot,

i will do a search on the Fenix P1, but do you have an experience with one?

since i carry my keys with me all the time I think that light will be a good back up light. for when the main flashlight goes down. What do you think?

Greetings and Welcome!

For backup keychain style, there's the Arc, JiL, and Photon Freedom LED series.

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

ChC,
is Arc, JiL, and Photon Freedom LED series the brand?

where can i find them.

Yes they are. You can try checking out Lighthound.Com and in the Dealer's Corner of this forum via the main page.

carrot said:

Welcome to CPF! Your wallet will soon be sucked dry.

I imagine you want to have a light that "bests" his. That leaves two options -- plain flat-out brighter, or just "cooler" and perhaps more practical.

For brighter, I'd recommend...
Surefire 9P, at $68 from OpticsHQ.com with discount
Streamlight TL3, for $50 from Amazon.com
Pila GL3pb, for $67 from JSBurlys.com

All great lights, with the TL3 throwing the best, the GL3 being the most robust, and the 9P being the lightest and pretty good all-around.

Then for "cooler"... you could get the...
Fenix L1P, L2P, L1T or L2T, at ~$45 from Fenix-Store.com -- the Fenix is not as bright as the 6P, but is bright and useful all the same. Much smaller too.

or my personal favorite, the versatile...
Surefire A2 at $150 from OpticsHQ.com -- the A2 is as bright as the 6P, but it is also regulated, so it won't dim over time like the 6P would.

I wrote a review on the GL3 and A2, respectively, here:
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=122737
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=107355

I think either the GL3 or A2 would be your best bets, though by far not the only good choices available to you. Keep in mind a 3-cell light will cost you more money to run, unless you go for rechargeables, too. The GL3 is considerably heftier than the A2, but could also probably be used as a club in a pinch.

Click to expand...

$150 A2 @opticshq.com? I looked and it said $195 + the 10% discount for CPF people. Not seeing where it's $150. maybe i overlooked something.

Check out HDS lights, some of them are on closeout, very good EDC in my opinion.

ScottyJ said:

Check out HDS lights, some of them are on closeout, very good EDC in my opinion.

Click to expand...

Good advice, if that is outside your budget then a good starter light at about half the price of a HDS is the Fenix L2P from http://www.fenix-store.com/ It is also available with a L1P body which allows you to use a single rechargeable NiMH AA for a small pocket size package.

Oh, welcome to the light side!

Alin10123 said:

$150 A2 @opticshq.com? I looked and it said $195 + the 10% discount for CPF people. Not seeing where it's $150. maybe i overlooked something.

Click to expand...

Did you sign up for a member's discount as instructed on greenLED's CPF Specials thread? Both TacticalSupply and OpticsHQ offer a discount to CPF members.

sharkchild said:

i will do a search on the Fenix P1, but do you have an experience with one?

Click to expand...

I do not yet have one, but many people seem to enjoy their P1's, as they are very bright, with decent runtime. It might be a little too big for your keychain, but that really depends on the person. Runtime is a little over 2 hours, fully regulated.

The Arc-AAA (Arcflashlight.com) that was mentioned is a good light, (I own its predecessor, the Arc-AA), but considerably less bright. It's also much slimmer than the P1. However, it is bright enough to use as a backup, and I believe the new Arc-AAA Premium should be brighter than the Surefire A2 on low. Runtime is estimated to be 5 hours, and then 5 more hours of dim but usable light.

The Photon series of lights are my preferred keychain lights, as I usually have another full-size backup light on my person. They're not that bright, but they're still useful and very small. I don't see why anyone shouldn't have at least one. The Photon Freedom Micro tends to have a problem with accidental activation, and if you are not careful, you'll find yourself with a dead battery in no time. You can wear one on a string around your neck, and some people find this a convenient way to carry them (especially the Freedom Micro)... some even carry the Arc-AAA around their necks. Amongst any of the Photon lights, I recommend the Photon II for the keychain. I don't remember the actual runtime, but I would guess 12 hours of rapidly diminishing light.

Jil lights are generally well regarded, but not nearly as popular as those mentioned above. I don't know much about them, except that they are shorter than the P1 as they use CR2 lithium cells, and are probably comparable in brightness.

carrot said:

Did you sign up for a member's discount as instructed on greenLED's CPF Specials thread? Both TacticalSupply and OpticsHQ offer a discount to CPF members.

Click to expand...

Hmm... not yet.
When i sign up, will that be the cheapest place to buy surefires?
If i'm a member, do i get an additional 10% off when i use the CPF code to buy surefires?

Would u mind telling me the pricing for an L4 and and an e2e? (HA for both)


thanks

sharkchild said:

Carrot,

i have a guestion. the A2 says it has a lumen of 3 hours. can you give me an example of a light that has 3 lumen?

Click to expand...

Like he said, the 2aa mag is probably the best common comparison for 3 lumens like the a2 puts out.

The a2 has an incredible throw (range), i love it for outdoors, and i am in the same situations as you, late night classes and walking through a creepy college parking lot. Its incredibly bright, more like 80 lumens than the 50 advertised.

I would reccomend the a2, just be careful about the battery life since it wont dim. As the batteries get low you'll notice that before the high power comes on fully you're getting sort of a medium brightness.

i will be saving for the a2. but right now i am going to get a e2e because i am getting two. and batteries and bulbs for me and my brother. but it is scary to walk in the dark.

sharkchild said:

i will be saving for the a2. but right now i am going to get a e2e because i am getting two. and batteries and bulbs for me and my brother. but it is scary to walk in the dark.

Click to expand...

you could spend $20 more and get an e2d... it looks nicer imho, and has a clicky.

http://www.surefire.com/maxexp/main/co_disp/displ/prrfnbr/1132/sesent/00

-David