Help with 1rst Flashlight Purchase....

hello all, im new to the forum although i have been researching here for about a month now. its time for me to invest in a good flashlight. i'd like some suggestions on my first flashlight, which i need for work purposes. im a child protective services investigator (enter many homes, some low-light & night work) and i also do part-time fugitive recovery (enter many homes, almost exclusively @ night). i want a flashlight that is very durable (drops and/or hiting against something), has temporarily blinding/disabling light, rear thumb clickie button, and small enough to carry in a pocket daily or mount to my shotgun (binelli supernova, 18") if needed. a friend of mine once said, many people are willing to buy a good gun, but then wont by a necessary accessory to go with it like quality flashlight...so here i am.

i research just about every purchase before i spend my hard earned $$$, and have been reading this forum as well as reviews on flashlightreviews.com for my info. i want to keep the price < $90, less is better. im firm believer in buying excellent quality at a very economical price. im not really considering surefire just because they are so expensive and after doing some reading i think that there flashlights out there for less $$$ that are JAG-INB as surefire's nice stuff.

my choices are narrowed down to (no particular order):
-fenix P3D (rebel or q5)
-fenix L2D (rebel or q5)
-lumahunter M1r
-inova T2

im leaning to towards the M1r or the L2D...but really just dont know...there is about a $30 price gap between the two of them. but then the T2 is right there and so is the P3D...ARRGGHHH!!!

thanks for advance for any advice....

on a side note...im really impressed with the flashlight community. you guys are very informative and REALLY like lights. its almost like being over at thehighroad.org and talkin about guns...kool stuff.

:welcome: The Fenix's are a good choice. Good luck with your purchase.

KaliS-Pugilist said:

-fenix P3D (rebel or q5)

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That was my first one. Followed within one day by an OLight T-20 Q5.

I think I like the OLight just slightly better but that P3D rocks.

Might consider the SureFire E2 Defender

If you're going to weapons mount the light, I don't know that I'd do that with a Fenix or Olight. It would work, at least until you actually had to fire. I don't think anyone here will guarantee that it will continue to work after the recoil, because i haven;t read ANYONE saying they've tried it. There is a reason why Surefire costs more. And I'd hate to fire a round off only to have my light go out because I wanted to save $50. Cough up for the Surefire.

MikeLip said:

If you're going to weapons mount the light, I don't know that I'd do that with a Fenix or Olight. It would work, at least until you actually had to fire. I don't think anyone here will guarantee that it will continue to work after the recoil, because i haven;t read ANYONE saying they've tried it. There is a reason why Surefire costs more. And I'd hate to fire a round off only to have my light go out because I wanted to save $50. Cough up for the Surefire.

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I might have to try that with the Fenix just to see.

Now you got me curious.

MikeLip said:

If you're going to weapons mount the light, I don't know that I'd do that with a Fenix or Olight. It would work, at least until you actually had to fire. I don't think anyone here will guarantee that it will continue to work after the recoil, because i haven;t read ANYONE saying they've tried it. There is a reason why Surefire costs more. And I'd hate to fire a round off only to have my light go out because I wanted to save $50. Cough up for the Surefire.

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I guess it's not harder than that somebody tries it for an amount of rounds to find that out. Quite simple actually.

Lobo said:

I guess it's not harder than that somebody tries it for an amount of rounds to find that out. Quite simple actually.

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I await the results of your testing!



Seriously, I'd rely on a tried and true light in a situation like that.

I don't have any way to weapons mount to my over/unders and side by sides, otherwise I'd try it. Well, duct tape, but that's hardy the ideal solution!

For a high quality, very sturdy light at a decent price, you might also look at Wolf Eyes. I believe many are weapons mountable. I love my Sniper 6AX Cree. And don't forget your CPF discount.

MikeLip said:

I await the results of your testing!



Seriously, I'd rely on a tried and true light in a situation like that.

I don't have any way to weapons mount to my over/unders and side by sides, otherwise I'd try it. Well, duct tape, but that's hardy the ideal solution!

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And I'm eagerly waiting for DanielG's verdict here.

I have no experience in weapon lightning and curious about how demanding it actually is on lights etc. From what I have been reading LEO, police, hunters etc have been mounting flashlights on guns for ages, even before maglite existed, so if it worked with old frail incans like that, wouldnt most modern leds suffice?

I am a bit suspicious of the light spring in the Fenix lights holding the batteries in contact with the head during the recoil and thus getting an unexpected change in the light beam ( i.e. from turbo to strobe ).

mb

scratched post

Lobo said:

I have no experience in weapon lightning and curious about how demanding it actually is on lights etc.

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Pistols, and even deer rifles, aren't all that punishing on a light with recoil. The muzzle blast of a pistol will gunk up a pistol mounted light quickly if it sticks out at all.

Shotguns are a whole different beast, with belted magnum rifles on the same lines. They beat the snot out of anything attached.

Granted flashlights don't have the same optics requirements as scopes but scopes have to be made for shotguns before you can trust them to not fall apart on a 12 Ga.

Lobo said:

And I'm eagerly waiting for DanielG's verdict here.

I have no experience in weapon lightning and curious about how demanding it actually is on lights etc. From what I have been reading LEO, police, hunters etc have been mounting flashlights on guns for ages, even before maglite existed, so if it worked with old frail incans like that, wouldnt most modern leds suffice?

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I wonder that too. I have a dedicated streamlight weaponlight/laser, however as a general rule my sholder is taking most of the punishment anyway, and if the gun is held correctly it's more of a shove than a hit. Certainly less acute than being dropped on a hard surface.

given your canidates, my humble nomination would be for the Inova. i say humble, because i've never had a inova or a lumapower ( but many problems i've read about lumapower knocked them out of contention with me). i do own one fenix, and another is in the mail. i dig 'em, but doesn't feel like it needs to be bolted to a firearm. also, i've ordered two surefires in the last month ( the "cheap" ones , 6PL & G2L) . the surefires are beefy,rock-solid, mo-fo's. given my impression, and what i've heard and read about them, i'd honestly suggest re-assessing your consideration of surefire. but asuming you're steadfast in choices, my vote was for the Inova due to its stellar reputation as being "tank-like" in quality,with a made-in-usa lifetime warranty. i've read too many posts from UN-happy campers about having to ship something back to bum-F@#K china !! ( keep in mind, this is from someone that may order a dereelight tomorrow !! ) good luck.....

P.S. i love "thehighroad" too, headin' over there now......:welcome:

I would avoid the Inova T2 unless you need the toughest light at a cheaper price.

I would go for the M1R for a simple but bright light or the Olight T20 for a multimode light. The Dereelight CL1H is also another good choice.

I think it might be better to buy two lights in the end, for two reasons. One is in case one fails and the other reason is to have a light that you know will take the recoil of a shotgun.

:welcome:

"I would avoid the Inova T2 unless you need the toughest light at a cheaper price."

LOL !! is that supposed to be a tongue in cheek endorsement, or did you miss the part about him needing an economical, robust work light ? still scratching my head . BTW, not looking for a fight here, just having a few "beverages' and goofing around on the interweb.

Saiga said:

"I would avoid the Inova T2 unless you need the toughest light at a cheaper price."

LOL !! is that supposed to be a tongue in cheek endorsement, or did you miss the part about him needing an economical, robust work light ? still scratching my head . BTW, not looking for a fight here, just having a few "beverages' and goofing around on the interweb.

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I think what was trying to say that the other lights he mentioned will probably take the abuses thrown at then as well as the T2.

In his price range, I would pick the Dereelight over the others. You could buy both modules and have a simple on of light(twist head to change modes) or a multimode light. Quality, from what I've read, is also very good.

okee-doke, fair enough .but,do you think the larger head on the dereelight will allow it clamp on OK to a shotgun barrel ? granted, i'm not up on the latest shotgun weapons-light-clamp technology, the only one i have once had a AA mag-light clamped in. for all i know, they'll hold a D size light now !!

:welcome:

+1 for the fenix L2D (rebel or q5)

This is great for a first light. You can't go wrong.