Recommendation for noobie

I'm looking for a lightweight flashlight to use for late night beach combing. 3 hours is probably sufficient before changing batteries. I think I want a light that uses 2 123 lithium cells. I need a wide area to be illuminated and the brighter the better. I am looking to stay under $75. Any help from you gurus would be greatly appreciated. Also I am located in NC and I need it shipped to me by Friday July 14th 2006.

Greetings and Welcome to CPF!

There's the SureFire L2 Digital LumaMax that puts out a wide flood light and does use two (2) CR123s—but is double the price than you seek.

Try looking into the Inova series.

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

Thanks for the reply. I would love to look at Surefires but they are a bit out of my price range.

I also wanted to mention that I used a Brinkmann Legend LX last year and it did a good job but the runtime is too short. I have dug out my Lightwave 4000 but I don't think I want to carry 3 D cells for 3 hours.

Thanks for any suggestions.

First you have to decide why you want to use 123 cells. There arent many lights that will last 3-5 hours like you want with this battery. More like 1-2 hours. Unless you are going to buy 1/2 dozen rechargables and carry them around it will be expensive to get 5 hours of light.

You may want to consider the following AA lights that will last around 5 hours.

Fenix L2P or L2T (2AA) about 45 lumens nice moderate center and corona $40.00 or SL PP 4AA LUxeon

If you go with the Streamlight Propolymer 4AA Luxeon about 45 lumens but get the 4AA Luxeon definataly in YELLOW!

But I may be predjudiced! I got 2!

Incredible throw for the size and money. and decent spill in my opinion.


I bought mine for $28.00 from David Swards at
http://www.dlsenterprises.citymax.com/page/page/1718926.htm

877 829 8022 (Toll Free)


and would highly recommend him because he is a small 1 owner business and will talk to you as long as you want personally about lights on the phone. Excellent service. His shipping is less expensive than Fox's so it turns out about the same. I will order again from him! I am sure you could get it by the 14th.

Rechargables work well in both.

I have both of the above.

The review of the new Inova XO seems to show a match to what you want. FlashlightReviews.com has it. There is also a thread here.
Greg

There's the Brinkmann's that uses (3) AAA and is LED (Luxeon?:thinking that's available at Wal*Mart. It's almost about the size of the Brinkmann MaxFire Xenons, but with a tad bit more "girth" to it. It's priced under $30.00 I believe. Other than that I don't know much about this light. There's also the Dorcy Super 1 Watt lights that are single and double cell CR123.

Hello Treyster

Welcome at CPF

3 hours runtime, 2x123 cells, floody bright and under 75$,hmmm.......Nuwai ALX 352-L. It has 3brightness levels and you can get perhaps about 3 hours in level 3. But that's not very bright:thumbsdow.

I think there is no really bright light for 75$ which fits all your needs.

Good luck and best regards

_____
Tom

+1 vote for Streamlight Propolymer 4AA Luxeon

First off, welcome to CPF! Keep a tight grip on your wallet!

I would recommend to you either the Fenix L2P or L2T if you want to use alkalines... or the Streamlight Propolymer 4AA Luxeon as other people recommended if you don't mind a bigger light...

But since you ask for a 2x123 light, I recommend the Inova T2. It runs for nearly 6 hours (5 hours 50 minutes, according to Flashlightreviews.com), is bright, and has a nice big hotspot. Not much sidespill, but in my experience, a lack of sidespill is not really a problem, especially outdoors. It should cost you $50-60 for the Inova T2. As for a seller, based on reputation, I'd recommend Brightguy.com, with fast service and fair prices.

See the review of the T2 here: http://flashlightreviews.com/reviews/inova_t.htm

The other lights mentioned above are also featured on Flashlightreviews.com.

Inova X0 or T2. The X0 has a lot more side spill. Good for beach combing probably.

Jeff

New XO looks like the ticket. If you get it tell us what you think.

http://flashlightreviews.com/reviews/inova_xo-r.htm

http://www.brightguy.com/detail.php?Sku=EMINXOMTWB

Or check out:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/123952

It might run as long as you want on medium or low but no runtimes have been done from what I understand.

http://www.opticsplanet.net/bushnell-led-flashlights-100200c.html

Nuwai's Quantum 3 (Q3) is an excellent light but uses a single cell. It handles rechargeables fine. You can get a charger kit with 2 protected cells and the light from Lighthound.com for just over $50 plus shipping. They are very fast.

Thanks guys. Here is my shortlist so far:

Inova XO
Bushnell 3 watt waterproof LED
Streamlight 4AA Luxeon LED Propolymer 4AA Luxeon
Nuwai Quantum 3
Fenix L2T
Fenix L2P
Dorcy Super 1 watt
Inova T2


All of these seem like they would do nicely. I am leaning toward the Inova XO or the Bushnell. I wish there was more info on the web about the Bushnell. I may pick up a streamlight as well just as a backup (larger and heavier).

Treyster said:

Thanks guys. Here is my shortlist so far:

Inova XO
Bushnell 3 watt waterproof LED
Streamlight 4AA Luxeon LED Propolymer 4AA Luxeon
Nuwai Quantum 3
Fenix L2T
Fenix L2P
Dorcy Super 1 watt
Inova T2


All of these seem like they would do nicely. I am leaning toward the Inova XO or the Bushnell. I wish there was more info on the web about the Bushnell. I may pick up a streamlight as well just as a backup (larger and heavier).

Click to expand...

I would pick up the Streamlight 4AA Luxeon. It is an incredible light, and one of the best lights for under $50. The new Inova XO looks really nice as well, but I don't have any experience with it.

Might also take a look at some of your local bargain basement outlets places like Biglots.
I picked up an aluminum 3 cr123 light (non led) there that is quite bright and has just the soft and wide, artifact free beam needed for beachcombing.
I found it for 7.99 at Biglots a while back with batteries included.
Runtime is only 1.5 hours at best, but just keep an extra one of these flashlights with you in a baggie to keep going with.

Whatever light you end up with, I would recommend using a regular high performance filament style bulb instead of led for beachcombing in this case.
Most beach sand seems to be that same sandy, incandescent color.
Good luck.

A couple of others that you may want to add to that list are the Brinkmann 1 and 3 watt lights using AAA batteries (at Target) and may be the Dorcy Metal Gear (Wal*Mart). For an incandescent, the Brinkmann Maxfire LX (Target $17 and Wal*Mart $20) will give you a lot of light, but it will only give you about 45 minutes of runtime on a set of batteries.

Treyster said:

Thanks guys. Here is my shortlist so far:

Inova XO
Bushnell 3 watt waterproof LED
Streamlight 4AA Luxeon LED Propolymer 4AA Luxeon
Nuwai Quantum 3
Fenix L2T
Fenix L2P
Dorcy Super 1 watt
Inova T2


All of these seem like they would do nicely. I am leaning toward the Inova XO or the Bushnell. I wish there was more info on the web about the Bushnell. I may pick up a streamlight as well just as a backup (larger and heavier).

Click to expand...

Another recommendation for the Streamlight 4AA ProPolymer LUXEON flashlight! :thumbsup:

For the best pricing on the Streamlight 4AA ProPo LUX, check out Fox International in the Dealer's Corner of this forum.

the new princeton tec genesis has about 3hrs of runtime, at about $75, and puts out about 50 lumens.

-David

You may want to look at flashlightreviews.com and read up on various models...

Long John said:

Hello Treyster

Welcome at CPF

3 hours runtime, 2x123 cells, floody bright and under 75$,hmmm.......Nuwai ALX 352-L. It has 3brightness levels and you can get perhaps about 3 hours in level 3. But that's not very bright:thumbsdow.

I think there is no really bright light for 75$ which fits all your needs.

Good luck and best regards

_____
Tom

Click to expand...

I tend to agree with you about the 2x123 limitation. The ALX-352L is one of the best buys for money. On high, it is a real lumen pusher, but less than one hour runtime.