Been out of the game for a while...

So I just started to get backing into collecting...

I am an old-timer (not literally) and have been around since Luxeon first came out. Lux V and Lux III were just starting to come out in the flashlight market...

Anyway, I have Streamlight Jr Lux, XM-3, and one old and one new Arc AAA-P (my EDC).

I just bought that CREE P4 XR-E LED from kai domain and will be buying the Arc LS when it comes out since I never got one before.

Anyway since I stopped monitoring LED tech after Lux V, what did I miss??? What lights have gotten popular? HDS / Surefire still around?

Start here:
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=147393&highlight=cree

I like:
Draco
Orb Raw NS
L1D CE
Considering a D-Mini
Rexlights are cheap

HDS is now www.novatac.com but they don't have any lights yet.

Surefire folded in late 06

Welcome back!

Surefire is definately still around. I guess their Cree lights will be coming out around July.

HDS is now NovaTac, but I haven't heard if it was a merger or a buyout or an investment from an outside source that wanted a different name. They have a ~150 lumen light coming out in the next several months. Some folks have been modding their HDS lights for more output and/or longer runtimes.

Be sure to have a look over at flashlightreviews.com and ledmuseum.org to see what has been going on. Doug/Quickbeam doesn't review quite as many lights as he used to, but still has very informative reviews of 'important' lights. With the Cree and SSC frenzy, Huntlight, Lumapower and Jetbeam are some of the bigger players these days that are recent additions to the line of quality lights. Fenix is still big.

There are new LEDs as you have noticed, Cree and Seoul, and Luxeon will be coming with a new LED named Rebel.

Lumapower has been getting lots of attention
HDS is coming out with a new flashlight to use the latest technology
Surefire is coming out with Cree lights
Gatlight now has a Seoul LED
Dealextreme and Kaidomain have been selling cheaper Cree lights
Fenix is now well known for making relatively inexpensive but good EDC lights
Quickbeam has partially retired from flashlight reviewing

Edit: Forgot Huntlight, Terralux Seoul Mag upgrades, DRACO pocket rocket, Electrolumen now offers Cree and Seoul lights, Aspherical lenses are now used to make Cree LEDs throw.......

cratz2 said:

Surefire is definately still around.

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Very true, I just put that in to see what he'd say

Welcome back, The lights have improved so much in the last 6 Months

A screenshot from the NovaTac website "about us" - looks like HDS was bought by NovaTac.

It looks like a came back at a good time. From what I have read it looks like I may have to replace my EDC from an Arc AAA-P to a Fenix L0D CE but I would hate to do that.

Anyway, it seems I have to spend a few to get back caught up in the game since the last light I bought was an XM-3. The Fenix L2D CE and Fenix L0D CE seem like good places to start.

I am glad to see that most of the manufacturing companies are still around. Good too hear the older names as well as some new ones (Lumapower, Gatlight). As for Fenix, yea they were just starting out when I left. I am glad to hear that they made it big. About HDS, I just remember their prices being through the roof. Lets hope its not the same for their new light.

I see the cell of choice has also changed. When I left the big thing was the re-chargeable CR123A and Lithium AA's. I hear a lot of talk about the 18650 now. Glad to hear that we are improving all aspects of LED lights.

Thanks for all of the updates.

-spidey

The new HDS's are supposed to be U.S.$150

Gunner12 said:

The new HDS's are supposed to be U.S.$150

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The new Novatec is supposed to be around this price, and will sell like crazy if it in fact is. I don't think HDS/Novatec could sell their lights for the incredibly high prices that they did when they first released the U60 series. Mainly because back then they had very little competition (if any) and the competition they did have was selling for very high prices as well.
Ever since Fenix has come out companies like it are making similar performance lights to the HDS and selling them for much lower prices. I realize people will say that HDS is a more quality light (which it may be) but how much more money is build quality worth if the performance is very similar?

If I were you I would check out the LODCE if you are looking to replace the AAAP on your keychain. You will be completely amazed when you see how much light comes out of this light. It has three levels of output plus a SOS and strobe mod. On high it is over 50 lumens and produces that much light for over an hour with a L91 cell.

http://flashlightreviews.com/reviews/fenix_l0dce.htm

There is the review, check it out.

spideyfan said:

From what I have read it looks like I may have to replace my EDC from an Arc AAA-P to a Fenix L0D CE but I would hate to do that.

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I bought a Arc AAA-P when they were first released, and had been EDC'ing it ever since. I was tempted to replace it with one of the Fenix AAA lights a few times, and even gave the L0P SE a try for a few days, but was too attached to the Arc to retire it. But, the L0D CE was too much to pass up. I miss the build quality and look of the Arc, and I could do without the Fenix's strobe and SOS modes, but the light output is fantastic.

dammitjim said:

Start here:


Surefire folded in late 06

Click to expand...

LOL OMG that was so mean!!!!! I would've read that and been like "WHAT THE???" LOL

Have you checked in with Electrolumens lately?

He has replaced the XM-3 with the
Lucidus-XR2 2AA 2X brightness and the
Lucidus-XR3 3AA 4X brightness

He's also got a small (for him) flashlight DeCree using 18650 batteries.

http://www.king-cart.com/cgi-bin/cart.cgi?store=elektrolumens&product=Flashlights&cart

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For me the biggest change has been the availability of 1AA & 1AAA luxeon lights a year ago and the upgrading of these lights to the Cree XR-E or SSC P4 this year. Bad part is they all seem to come out with super complicated user interfaces with a zillion modes.

I got the Fenix L0D-CE. It is a little bigger than the Arc AAA.
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=150892
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/fenix_l0dce.htm

Quickbeam said:

The shear volume of light produced is amazing for a single AAA cell light. My readings show that on the "high" setting the L0D-CE is producing more light overall than a 3-D Maglite. On "medium" it produces more light overall than a common 2-D cell light. All this from one AAA cell.

Click to expand...

http://fenix-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_55&products_id=191

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MillerMods is making a 2 stage Cree mod foe the Arc AAA You can select your own levels. Warning: the signup list is awful long.
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=138285

But theres that damn PWM bullshyte on low...

The LiteFlux LF2 looks interesting... not as much guts as the L0D-CE but seems to have a non irritating low-mode, and it's user programmable (good AND bad thing)