I really need a new CR2 flashlight

And the only ones I can find seem to fit into one of the below categories:

1. Old Lux III - why buy an old light?
2. Type II Anno - it's for my freakin keychain, so it needs to be HA or plated (nickel silver, whatever)
3. Much larger than it needs to be (LiteFlux LF4)
4. Too full-featured for a light that should just be SMALL (LiteFlux LF4)

Lights I've found - LED - size - coating
Smartfire CR2 - Lux3 - 5.7cm x 2.0 cm - Type II
F&L J1 - Lux3 - (Most likely 6cm x 2.0cm) - Type III natural
Luxogen 3W - Lux3 - ?? - Type II
Ultrafire 2AA/CR2 3W - Lux3 - 6cm x 2.0cm - Type II
Ultrafire WF-606A1 - Cree P4 - LARGE head and long - Type II assumed
Mini-Clicky 3W Cree Flashlight - Cree P4 - 7 cm x 2.0 cm - Type II
LiteFlux LF4 - SSC P4 - 6.9cm x 1.9cm - HAIII
Orb Raw NS (not CR2 but for comparison) - Cree - 4.5cm x 1.8cm - Nickel Silver
Orb Wee (not CR2 but for comparison again) - Cree Q4 - 3.4cm x 1.5 cm - nickel silver


I want something closer to the small end - 5.7-6.0cm with a nice cree or SSC LED and type III/metal coat - can someone help?

does it really have to be cr2? may i ask why?

Is the ION a CR2? Pricey but looks nice with the upgrade from Fenix Store!

How about this one? Might be some still available.

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/165593

Orb RAW is a very nice CR2 light...bare aluminum but easy to polish out the scratches.

You could get a P4 Peak LED Solutions Pacific on the CR2 pocket body. I suspect they'd sell you that light (instead of the stock aaa body) but the body is less than $10 if you get both.

Unfortunately I have my Pacific on the AA body today (usually use the CR2 for EDC) or I'd give you some measurements. It is small, however, and light if you get the aluminum version. HAIII, very well machined, an efficient driver, nice beam with a useful hotspot and spill, and a very reliable twist mechanism that preserves the size. The reflector is fairly deep or it would be smaller but the beam is nice. Lots of options in terms of power/runtime (4 choices if I recall, low power, high power, ultra power and super power (I think that is the really high level). Runs on 1.5 or 3v with the 3v giving more output and runtime.

A great little light.

PM sent.

Mike

Several of those you listed are easily modded with Seoul emitters and would be minimal cost, I have a couple and I'm going to mod mine eventually. If you can find a Ion in Aluminum Bronze or Ti that would be a good choice. Problem is they aren't cheap and the people that have one aren't selling them. Peaks would probly be your best option, stainless or brass.

Let me try to answer everyones questions in one go:

Dr. Glock27: CR2 batteries are small, can sustain pretty good power output, and are very widely available for a low price - the rechargables used in the Raw NS / Orb Wee / Draco are non-standard and expensive.

re: ION - too expensive for something that has a high probability of being lost because of how small it is

re: E-Micro - Nice! but again, too expensive

cryhavok: I completely overlooked the plain-old Orb Raw CR2 - and now that it's been Cree XR-E'd it will fit the bill nicely! Thanks


Gatsby: also going to look into this - would appreciate a measurement on that one the next time you have the cr2 body on it - I actually didn't see the cr2 body on the web page but wasn't really sure what i was looking for - i will check out their mfg forum in cpf market now

mikeyx: thanks! pm replied

marnav1: I actually have one of the little ultrafire CR2 lights that was modded with a seoul P4 and I love it - the problem is the type II anno is crap and its scratched to hell now, just not impressive little pocket light like it used to be


thanks everyone for your suggestions. My actual dream flashlight is a JetBeam C-LE with a tube cut down for CR2 use, but i'll have to get by with the rest of these for now

It looks like the dimensions of a CR2 are 16 x 27. Only 7 mm or 20% smaller than a CR123 at 16 x 34.
I have a Hyperion CR123 that is 70 mm long. If it was reduced by 7 mm to 63, that wouldn't be much of an improvement in size, and the runtime would suffer. It has a very nice looking finish (not plain) that also feels very nice (much like the Jetbeam). In the CR123 category there are a lot more choices.

You don't want a Type II finish because it's not impressive, but plain unfinished aluminum is?

I'm pretty sure CR2's are 15mm diameter - i just tried and my cr2 flashlight will not accept a cr123 into the barrel (width-wise). The key for me is that pocket space is already at a premium with my keys, remote for the car (lock/unlock), so every 1cm is important. oh yeah, and i bought a box of like 30 CR-2's.

and that is correct - a black type II finish that scratches off any time it touches my keys (exposing bare metal) is actually less appealing to me than starting with unfinished aluminum on the whole flashlight, at least when you scratch off the unfinished aluminum there's just more unfinished aluminum color underneith =)

i saw those hyperions but looked like people were concerned about the amount of juice getting shoved through the LED, were those issues ever taken care of?

I do, too!

I just don't get it. I love the smaller size of CR2 as opposed to CR123 lights, some of which are as big a AA models. Wonder why we're really not getting much development in this size.

I really like my Nekomane CR2 tube with tritium that was for the first generation Fenix lights. Alas, it doesn't work with two stage lights. Wish I could get a new version for the Fenix L1T 2.0.

I loved my Jil CR2...before I lost it. If they made a Rebel version I would buy another in a heart beat. They are a sweet light.

I love my Lime ION for cr2 and after reading this post I just ordered an orb raw.....DOH..... oh well winter is getting near and we need light! hope my orb comes soooooon! all of the rest of my lights are 123's but the cr2 size is soo sweet my ION stays an my keychain all of the time.

How about an Ultrafire J1? I think its at $20 and its HAIII. Not a cree though but good enough I suppose...

You could also try buying a Fenix L2D Rebel100 and buy a CR2 body for the L2P.

Dr.Glock27 said:

You could also try buying a Fenix L2D Rebel100 and buy a CR2 body for the L2P.

Click to expand...

How do you mean? Do you mean buy a CR2 body for the L2D? Which body?

MYK - the Peak Pacific with CR2 pocket body is 59mm long and 18mm wide. Pretty compact. The Pacific come standard on a 1xAAA body, but there are several other bodies available which I believe are - 1xAA (in both keychain and pocket styles), CR2 (in both keychain and pocket style) and 2xAAA (keychain only). The keychain styles have a screw out lug on the bottom which adds around 5mm I'd guess to the length, but it does allow use of a momentary switch that Peak sells which some folks really like. I admit I don't have one of those as size was my primary consideration, but I might get one just to try it out.

The website is, by their own admission, rather poor. Your best bet is to call them and you'll be pleasantly suprised as you'll likely talk to someone who really knows the lights and options and can talk you through them. There is a nice review of the high power LuxIII Pacific at http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/peakled_pacific.htm with some runtimes for different body/battery configurations (1xAA with lithiums is the runtime king, something like 12+ hours). ThisIsNascar also has a nice review here https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/112315&highlight=pacific with more runtime info. As far as I know these were all the LuxIII versions (which are still for sale at a $10 discount but I don't see why you wouldn't go for the P4 for $10).

It's a sweet little light and the performance is interesting - in 3v you get twice the output and twice the runtime, and like I said on a AA lithium you get a bit less output but really long runtime. Not quite like multi levels, but the different battery packs provide lots of options for different performance levels, more brightness, more runtime, etc... I use my AA primarily as a backup but it is nice to have that kind of runtime at my disposal in an emergency - it rides mostly on the CR2 body. Peak also sells a cap so you can use the extra bodies as a battery carrier, which if you're rotating CR2 and AA that might make sense as you can keep the cap on which ever body you're not using and not risk losing it. I might have to get one of those as well but I just have a rubber band around it right now which is cheap and works.

You also have a lot of options now with different power levels. Peak is pretty honest in their testing and runtimes (in the Peak forum there is a thread about the Pacific and their runtime data fairly closely mirrors those in TiNs thread and Dougs') so you can trust that what they tell you about performance is likely going to be close to what you'll really experience.

The lack of a website that is really helpful is a nuisance from a research standpoint, but I think they'll send you a catalog if you ask and that might have more information, and their phone service is quite good.

onthebeam said:

How do you mean? Do you mean buy a CR2 body for the L2D? Which body?

Click to expand...

fenix use to have a cr2 body but i cant remember if its for an L2D or L2P...:thinking:

I have 3 Pacifics 2 brass) and use them with AA and CR2. The Cr2 body is actually a bit thinner than the 18mm that is the head of the light.

The HA from Peak is hard and will stand up. I like the lights and especially like the Ultra power CR2 if you want brighter - I get about 300 cp from the high power in CR2 and over 400 in the ultra. I don't think that the CR2 does more than reduce the size and brightness compared to the AA body. Runtime is longer with the AA, but the light is much larger. My lights are all luxeons, and I am tempted to get another HA in CR2, but Seoul.