etc
Flashlight Enthusiast
I realized a while ago that I only wanted to deal with D and AA sized lights so that's what I standardized on.
Left to Right:
Maglite 4D 3W
It is a 4D turned into LED with the MagLED 3W module I got from Home Depot. I've had it for a long time but haven't really used it. It's kind of beat up, the plastic glass needs to be replaced. It's pretty impressive with the new module. The light has very good throw and will light up objects at least 75 meters away, 100m even. The spot is very good, throw is A+ and there is lots of spill so that it lights up the entire room. I have to say it's my brightest light. Run time? There is a pretty good review on the forum, I think it's 30+ hours? If so, I am happy. I haven't seen reduced brightness due to heat, but I did take out the module and it was warm.
I did drop it, it stopped working, not sure why, the LED would come on with a very faint glow, I took it out, put it back in, same with batteries, and it worked again. Probably some connection inside shook up. I did leave it in the car for months without use, when it was incan, and some batteries leaked in it ... now it has a new life. I think it will do better once I replace the old messed up plastic lense.
It's not a light you want to use inside... with its reach it's good for outside.
I recommend the module, it's nice, needless to say, it's not even in the same league as the incandescent lite it was. (Thought I did put the old bulb in the tail cap) I give it 4.5 stars thus far.
ElektroLumens blaster 1R 1W
It has been obsoleted and replaced by better lights, all these 3W cool ones, but it's good. It's not that bright (about the same level of brigthness as 3AA MagLite or StreamLight Junior even) but the focus is good, run time is supposed to be good, at least 8 hours, which these AA lights cannot say. It's compact and neat. Not as bright as Maglite I heat Elektrolumens makes much better heat sink. I expect to keep this light for a very long time. The only thing I don't like is it's a bit heavier than it should be, I wouldn't take it camping with me, but keep in the car or around the house.
I give it 5 stars.
StreamLight Twin Task 2D
I've had it for a while and used rarely. I got it for high run time. I am not sure it met the expectations or not. I find it's design poor, as you have to cycle through the modes to turn it off. I.e. 5LED to 10LED to Xenon to off and all over again. I would very much prefer to have just the 10LED mode, I don't ever use Xenon. It's yellow with short run time. My other wish is to have 3D or 4D instead of just 2D. I hardly ever use it.
I find it annoying that you cannot quickly turn it off, or quickly get to the mode you want.
On top of that, being an idiot, I crossthreaded the cap and now it won't twist at all. I wrote to them without a reply... and rightly so, I will try to fix it somehow.
StreamLight came out with much better lights, all these Task Lights.. I would like to have some, but they don't really offer me anything that I don't already have.
I give it 3 stars.
StreamLight Twin Task 3AA
Pretty much the same thing as above except that it has 3LEDs not 10. You still have to cycle through the 2 modes to get to what you want, which is poor design. Fit and finish is A1. I will probably end up giving it to someone, as Xenon is really yellow and thirsty while LEDs aren't really useful for anything other than maybe reading. It's a good light to keep in your car to subject it to cold, heat and moisture and leave your good ones at home.
I give it 3 stars.
Maglite LED 3W 3AA
Much has beed said about the new MagLite LEDs and I shall not be redundant here. It's a great lite, but I will list the shortcomings. It's kind of intermediate, too long to carry but too weak for the really serious work when you want 3D. I think it's a great lite to keep in your car, if you don't want to the weight of a big lite. Also nice around the house. It does fit into my jeans without a problem but still kind of long, and I find that a 2AA unit fits much better overall.
Also construction is a bit flimsy, the alum seems paper-thin and far inferior to the construction of StreamLight Twin TAsk 3AA (notice the diameter difference) I think I could bend it if I tried hard enough. OTOH, it's much easier to carry than SL TwinTask, and probably will last for years.
I also hear that MiniMagLites have better heat sinking than their full size counterparts, if this is true, I don't know. This light does not get even warm.
It has really good output given it's size.
I give it 4 stars.
Mini MagLite 2AA 3W
Much has been said about it, it's neat and easy to carry, great spot, flood, etc. Definitely weaker than 3AA. But for the size, I cannot complain.
This is the light you want if you need to look inside the computer case, or adding coolant to the car at night, or something. It really doesn't compete with bigger lights, 3AAs or D's. But it does well in its niche, when compared to StreamLight Jr. Lux. Nothing exceptional, but competetive. That's why it's called Mini MagLite.
I give it 4 stars.
StreamLight Jr. Luxeon 1W 2AA
This is my first Lite. I've had it for a long time and it has seen extensive use. I carried it with me everywhere. I still like it. It's pretty bright. It's only serious down side is poor run time, I only get maybe 1 to 1.5 hours at best, although Lithiums do increase it, and the lumens considerably. It's light, handy, compact and neat. No focus adjustment. Clickie works well, and momentary-on also works. The plastic lense is scratched up beyond salvaging. I will now keep it as a backup to MiniMagLite, which is better due to focus and throw. Fit and finish is equal on both.
I give it 4 stars.
Gerber Infinity
I've actually had this light for 6 years but used very little. It's yellow and I found out that the green one is the brightest. This is the older Gen, and the new ones are supposed to be brighter. The virtue of this light is extreme run time. It's very dim as to be useless for just about everything, except maybe rearranging things in your tent, or map reading. It has no throw of course. The craftsmanship is A1, it's very solid with seemingly no parts to fail. A very neat light in its niche.
I give it 5 stars.
Princeton Tec Yukon HL
This is probably the most practical lite I have. It is a 1W/5mm LED combo. With 3AA in the back, it's really necessary if you are stuck in the middle of nowhere and need to replace the car tire, or a battery. I previously used to hold mini-Maglite in my teeth, but this is much better. This is the light you want in a power outage, giving you use of your hands. It's not exceptionally bright or anything, but keep AA as spares and you are set. This is the light I would take camping. Perhaps backed up by some big light, like 4D Maglite, or maybe the 3AA version to keep batteries the same.
I give it 5 stars.
Left to Right:
Maglite 4D 3W
It is a 4D turned into LED with the MagLED 3W module I got from Home Depot. I've had it for a long time but haven't really used it. It's kind of beat up, the plastic glass needs to be replaced. It's pretty impressive with the new module. The light has very good throw and will light up objects at least 75 meters away, 100m even. The spot is very good, throw is A+ and there is lots of spill so that it lights up the entire room. I have to say it's my brightest light. Run time? There is a pretty good review on the forum, I think it's 30+ hours? If so, I am happy. I haven't seen reduced brightness due to heat, but I did take out the module and it was warm.
I did drop it, it stopped working, not sure why, the LED would come on with a very faint glow, I took it out, put it back in, same with batteries, and it worked again. Probably some connection inside shook up. I did leave it in the car for months without use, when it was incan, and some batteries leaked in it ... now it has a new life. I think it will do better once I replace the old messed up plastic lense.
It's not a light you want to use inside... with its reach it's good for outside.
I recommend the module, it's nice, needless to say, it's not even in the same league as the incandescent lite it was. (Thought I did put the old bulb in the tail cap) I give it 4.5 stars thus far.
ElektroLumens blaster 1R 1W
It has been obsoleted and replaced by better lights, all these 3W cool ones, but it's good. It's not that bright (about the same level of brigthness as 3AA MagLite or StreamLight Junior even) but the focus is good, run time is supposed to be good, at least 8 hours, which these AA lights cannot say. It's compact and neat. Not as bright as Maglite I heat Elektrolumens makes much better heat sink. I expect to keep this light for a very long time. The only thing I don't like is it's a bit heavier than it should be, I wouldn't take it camping with me, but keep in the car or around the house.
I give it 5 stars.
StreamLight Twin Task 2D
I've had it for a while and used rarely. I got it for high run time. I am not sure it met the expectations or not. I find it's design poor, as you have to cycle through the modes to turn it off. I.e. 5LED to 10LED to Xenon to off and all over again. I would very much prefer to have just the 10LED mode, I don't ever use Xenon. It's yellow with short run time. My other wish is to have 3D or 4D instead of just 2D. I hardly ever use it.
I find it annoying that you cannot quickly turn it off, or quickly get to the mode you want.
On top of that, being an idiot, I crossthreaded the cap and now it won't twist at all. I wrote to them without a reply... and rightly so, I will try to fix it somehow.
StreamLight came out with much better lights, all these Task Lights.. I would like to have some, but they don't really offer me anything that I don't already have.
I give it 3 stars.
StreamLight Twin Task 3AA
Pretty much the same thing as above except that it has 3LEDs not 10. You still have to cycle through the 2 modes to get to what you want, which is poor design. Fit and finish is A1. I will probably end up giving it to someone, as Xenon is really yellow and thirsty while LEDs aren't really useful for anything other than maybe reading. It's a good light to keep in your car to subject it to cold, heat and moisture and leave your good ones at home.
I give it 3 stars.
Maglite LED 3W 3AA
Much has beed said about the new MagLite LEDs and I shall not be redundant here. It's a great lite, but I will list the shortcomings. It's kind of intermediate, too long to carry but too weak for the really serious work when you want 3D. I think it's a great lite to keep in your car, if you don't want to the weight of a big lite. Also nice around the house. It does fit into my jeans without a problem but still kind of long, and I find that a 2AA unit fits much better overall.
Also construction is a bit flimsy, the alum seems paper-thin and far inferior to the construction of StreamLight Twin TAsk 3AA (notice the diameter difference) I think I could bend it if I tried hard enough. OTOH, it's much easier to carry than SL TwinTask, and probably will last for years.
I also hear that MiniMagLites have better heat sinking than their full size counterparts, if this is true, I don't know. This light does not get even warm.
It has really good output given it's size.
I give it 4 stars.
Mini MagLite 2AA 3W
Much has been said about it, it's neat and easy to carry, great spot, flood, etc. Definitely weaker than 3AA. But for the size, I cannot complain.
This is the light you want if you need to look inside the computer case, or adding coolant to the car at night, or something. It really doesn't compete with bigger lights, 3AAs or D's. But it does well in its niche, when compared to StreamLight Jr. Lux. Nothing exceptional, but competetive. That's why it's called Mini MagLite.
I give it 4 stars.
StreamLight Jr. Luxeon 1W 2AA
This is my first Lite. I've had it for a long time and it has seen extensive use. I carried it with me everywhere. I still like it. It's pretty bright. It's only serious down side is poor run time, I only get maybe 1 to 1.5 hours at best, although Lithiums do increase it, and the lumens considerably. It's light, handy, compact and neat. No focus adjustment. Clickie works well, and momentary-on also works. The plastic lense is scratched up beyond salvaging. I will now keep it as a backup to MiniMagLite, which is better due to focus and throw. Fit and finish is equal on both.
I give it 4 stars.
Gerber Infinity
I've actually had this light for 6 years but used very little. It's yellow and I found out that the green one is the brightest. This is the older Gen, and the new ones are supposed to be brighter. The virtue of this light is extreme run time. It's very dim as to be useless for just about everything, except maybe rearranging things in your tent, or map reading. It has no throw of course. The craftsmanship is A1, it's very solid with seemingly no parts to fail. A very neat light in its niche.
I give it 5 stars.
Princeton Tec Yukon HL
This is probably the most practical lite I have. It is a 1W/5mm LED combo. With 3AA in the back, it's really necessary if you are stuck in the middle of nowhere and need to replace the car tire, or a battery. I previously used to hold mini-Maglite in my teeth, but this is much better. This is the light you want in a power outage, giving you use of your hands. It's not exceptionally bright or anything, but keep AA as spares and you are set. This is the light I would take camping. Perhaps backed up by some big light, like 4D Maglite, or maybe the 3AA version to keep batteries the same.
I give it 5 stars.
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