check out my first nice flashlight. what's your review?

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...lashlight&Ntx=mode+matchall&N=4958&trueNum=44

this is my first (higher end) flashlight i ever purchased. it has high and low.

it's has me kind of interested in flashlights now. this thing is much brighter than the ol mag light.


what do you guys think of this flashlight. i got the 5 watt one. it was on sale for $42.

i want to take this with me hunting. should i carry a back-up in case the bulb breaks or are these lights hard to break?

Re: check out first nice flashlight. what's your review?

It's an LED (Light Emitting Diode)so there is no bulb to break...however, you should always carry a back up light in case the light fails for another reason. I have no experience with this light but it looks reasonably good.

grass disaster said:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...lashlight&Ntx=mode+matchall&N=4958&trueNum=44
should i carry a back-up in case the bulb breaks or are these lights hard to break?

Click to expand...

You should. Try to find one that takes the same type of battery as the one you bought so that you don't have to carry two types of batteries. Be sure to bring extra batteries.

Looks like a very nice light. For a brighter LED light try one with a Cree led, SSC led, or a Rebel led. Those 3 are the newest/brightest Leds.

Looks like these lights from costco.com. It seems costco prices are better.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Produc...=1&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1

Edit/correction: prices seem comparable.

Howdy grass disaster, and welcome to CPF,
Yes, by all means you need a second light as a backup, and then you need a good keychain light, and then don't forget one for the car, and of course you'll now need one for the little lady, and then Mom and Dad will need theirs upgraded, and...... oh well, I think you get the idea.

For now you could use your old Mag as your backup light, just make sure you have fresh batteries for it, and do take a couple of spare batteries for your new light too.

Then, when you have some time to look around CPF, you can start thinking about any other lights you might need. You will find that hand held lighting technology has advanced quite a bit recently, and with a bit of prudent research you can set your self up with some fine lights for not to much money (or... a lot of money... the choice is yours).

The light you got looks fine, but the newer LEDs do offer a brighter light, with more run time than the older LEDS. Anyway, enjoy your hunting trip, and we will look forward to seeing you around CPF.

Welcome to CPF and as usual - watch for the strange shrinking wallet effect that happens shortly after arriving here. There are lights available in the price range you paid at Cabella's that will blow those away in terms of brightness and features. But those are good to hang on to for now and will probably serve well for a basic light. If you got an actual 5 watt Luxeon (outdated a bit now but still can be a really bright but floody light) then you got a good deal at $42. The Lux V's have stayed high in price despite newer more efficient and longer throwing LED's that are much less in cost. I'm not sure why except possible manufacturer/distributor costs that were originally involved in these.

matrixshaman said:

Welcome to CPF and as usual - watch for the strange shrinking wallet effect that happens shortly after arriving here. There are lights available in the price range you paid at Cabella's that will blow those away in terms of brightness and features. But those are good to hang on to for now and will probably serve well for a basic light. If you got an actual 5 watt Luxeon (outdated a bit now but still can be a really bright but floody light) then you got a good deal at $42. The Lux V's have stayed high in price despite newer more efficient and longer throwing LED's that are much less in cost. I'm not sure why except possible manufacturer/distributor costs that were originally involved in these.

Click to expand...

what are some of those lights in the $40 to $50 range that will blow mine away?

i can almost feel my wallet getting lighter.

Welcome to CPF grass disaster!! In that price range you might check out some Fenix lights here..http://www.fenix-store.com. Good luck and hang on to that wallet!!

that p3d looks nice

Now you are beginning to get the idea.

grass disaster said:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...lashlight&Ntx=mode+matchall&N=4958&trueNum=44

this is my first (higher end) flashlight i ever purchased. it has high and low.

it's has me kind of interested in flashlights now. this thing is much brighter than the ol mag light.


what do you guys think of this flashlight. i got the 5 watt one. it was on sale for $42.

i want to take this with me hunting. should i carry a back-up in case the bulb breaks or are these lights hard to break?

Click to expand...

The deal you got was 'ok' but If you are thinking that it was so good that you need to buy another as a 'backup', I would reconsider.

I have couple older Luxeon lights like the one you purchased [not exactly the same, but similar] and they have been solid performers, but as has been stated, there are lots of newer lights which use newer more efficient LED's that will give you even more output and which have much better battery life.

The recommendation that someone posted to try to 'standardize' all your lights, on the same battery is good advise, the only problem is that I personally think CR123 batteries SUCK. If you buy 'name brand' batteries, they are expensive as hell, and some of the cheap ones have an annoying tendency to leak or even worse to just blow your light all to hell.

I recommend you do some research, and find some nice AA cell lights that you like, then standardize on AA batteries.

Then you can either trade away this CR123 light or just keep it around your house with a coulple fresh name brand batteries as an emergency light for power failures etc. (CR123 cells at least have pretty good shelf life).

There are lots of great AA light options (both single cell and two cell).

I have a Jetbeam C-LE single AA light (only 20 dollars with the CPF discount), that will just about match your light at 80 lumens output, but which runs two hours on a single inexpensive AA NiMH, or standard AA Alkaline battery on high and up to 30 hours on low. They are SOLD OUT at the moment and not everyone likes the 'twisty switch' arrangement used by the C-LE, but it's just ONE out of about two dozen examples you will find if you look around a little.

Here is just one example of one of the newer lights just released using a cutting edge newer LED (Rebel-100). This light should be quite a bit brighter than the light you have now [100 Lumens!], while running on a single AA battery.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.6162

At the highest output level, battery life will only be a little over an hour, but boy is this sucker bright, and you can always switch to a lower power mode to extend the battery life.

DX is a budget dealer, but I have ordered lights from them, and they did arrive and did work.

If you are willing to spend about 42 dollars as you just did, and want a top-notch name brand light I HIGHLY recommend that you check out the Fenix lights. Fenix is market leader, with great build quality, and top notch customer support.

Here is a light you should be able to buy for about 42 dollars SHIPPED at the Fenix-Store web site if you use the 8% discount you are eligible for as a member of this forum (just use the CPF8 discount code when you order).

This light is only rated at 90 lumens, but that's higher than the rating for the light you have now and Fenix is very conservative on such things.

https://www.fenix-store.com/product...d=334&osCsid=132299e3814047b1b1aeb779af6538f9


I hate to tell anybody, 'this is the light you should have bought', but you will notice that this is a VERY high quality name brand light that also has two levels, runs on a single inexpensive AA battery, and actually has more output. The 1.5 hour run time on high is probably very very close to what you will actually be seeing on your light in high (two CR123 batteries can only put out a full 5 watts for maybe 1.7 hours, after that the light output has to drop), and remember this is on ONE inexpensive AA battery not TWO very expensive CR123 batteries. Also if you are on the road on a hunting trip, you can get AA cells at any seven-eleven or gas station market, where CR123s are just a little trickier to find (and MUCH more expensive when you do find them).

Also with 2 CR123 lights you have to be pretty careful not to let the cells get discharged at different levels or one of the batteries can literally explode [no kidding].

LED lights have reached the point that even a tiny 1 AAA light can output as much light as we are used to getting from a standard 2 D-Cell mag light, so I find that I rarely need a two cell light.

grass disaster:

You have wandered into the mystic realm of hopeless flashaholics — those who have an infinite fascination for all things flashlight and an incredible ability to rationalize the purchase of new flashlights, whatever the cost.

The lights you have chosen are good and you are wise. But your journey is only beginning.

Welcome to our world.

grass disaster said:

what are some of those lights in the $40 to $50 range that will blow mine away?

i can almost feel my wallet getting lighter.

Click to expand...

Not to disappoint you but there are lights in the $20-$30 range(or $30-$40 for some if you include batteries and charger) that will blow you light away. Namely, Dealextreme and Kaidomain Cree/Seoul lights(some have 120+ lumen out the front, I'm guessing you flashlight is about 60-80 lumen out the front). Cree XR-E(P4-Q5 bin), Seoul P4 and Luxeon Rebel(80 and 100 bin) LEDs are about twice or more efficient the the previous generation of Luxeon I, III, V and K2 LEDs. Dropping a Seoul P4 into your light should about double the output of you light.

The light you purchased is a pretty good light but there are much better ones out there for the same price.

Once you start on the track of enlightenment, there is almost no way of going back.

If you would like a backup light just in case, how about the 1AA Ultrafire C3?

Welcome to CPF!

alberto said:

those who have an infinite fascination for all things flashlight and an incredible ability to rationalize the purchase of new flashlights, whatever the cost.

Click to expand...

LOL so true.

BTW and not to change the subject but I do keep seeing people recommending Dealextreme in this thread.

Not picking on any retailer particularly but I would search the Jeers section grass disaster before buying from any retailer just to see what experiences other CPFers have had. The Jeers section can be a great resource and it might keep you from being burned.

Very few dealers here have avoided a Jeer altogether. I've been happy with Dealextreme after at least 8 or 9 transactions there. I can think of only one dealer I've never seen a Jeer about.
You'll also see here the AA crowd and then on the other side of the field the CR123 crowd. Although there is also rapidly becoming an 18650 crowd. I personally really like the CR123 format because they make for shorter lights with very little increase in diameter and rechargeables are so readily available for them included protected batteries. Rechargeable Lithium Ion batteries make for a huge savings if you use your lights quite a bit. And unlike many AA Nicad or NiMH they have very very little self discharge and even over a long period of time they even maintain power well. The one exception is the Eneloop AA's which are a low self-discharge NiMH hybrid I believe but still not as low as Li-Ion batteries. Just take a look around at some of the dealers here and if you want to really get lost in choices I say take a cruise through Dealextreme.com and your eyes will surely glaze over before you are done there.
And regarding 'Jeers' - read carefully and try to see what is really going on and who the person making the jeers is. I've seen some totally bogus ones coming from people with 1 post here or ones from people here who seem to never be happy with anything. A number of jeers have been resolved so don't just read the thread titles. Do your research well and read between the lines when the situation dictates it.
On the other hand if you want really fast service and the only dealer I'm aware of here who has had nothing but cheers try lighthound.com.

how about this light?

this looks like the best of the best.:twothumbs

https://www.fenix-store.com/product...d=315&osCsid=6d581872fa1ddcbb691e2d38d2c21fd3

Can't go wrong ordering it from the fenix-store. David and staff are top notch to deal with and he does not charge for shipping.

A Fenix P3D Rebel100 from Fenix-store.com would be a great light to have around, even if it is back up. It's been reviewed to have about 150 lumens out the front (200 lumens at the emitter), and on LOW it's rated for 65 hours (some have gotten 70+ hours) on a pair of CR123's. In a survival situation that would give you plenty of usable light for hours a day (night), for many days. If you order from fenix-store.com, as a candlepowerforum member, be sure to use coupon code CPF5 for a 5% discount. Their service and support is top notch. There is a CPF8 for 8%, but I believe that is only for pre-order items.