Where would you keep your best light?

Say if you have three lights, A (high performance), B (medium performance), and C (low performance), and they are similar in size, battery choice etc.. You will choose one for each place, your EDC, your vehicle, and your home. How would you arrange them?

For me I would use A as EDC, B in vehivle, and C in house. Reasoning being if I have access to C, I would probably have access to A and B as well. If I have access to B, I would probably have access to A as well. If A is the only light I have access to, I would probably be happy to have the best performing light with me.

jzmtl, what do you mean by high, med, low performance?

I have a few lights arranged in places and used or choosen for specific tasks becuase I feel they are all "high" performance for that place/task, even though they differ in the character of thier performance greatly.

Well for simplicity, I guess performance would be defined as brightness, and assume everything else being equal. Or if you prefer, pick another criteria that's most important to you and assume rest being equal.

I keep a Novatac as my bedside light for reasons of its ability to offer "low" performance as its got a nice low low, which when you get up in the middle of the night and you are night adapted is actually "high" performance as it saves me getting beaten up by my girl when I go to check CPF in the middle of the night!

The Mule on high is a fairly bright light but is in no way comparable to my other lights becuase it has such emormous spill with no hot spot - making it a great for an area light but useless for illuminating anything at distance.

The 7 Cree M876 Skalomonster is........a Monster, but low perfomance as a bedside or close area light, but a wicked outdoor flood with some a useful throw.

All high performance in my eyes but totally different.

Brightness, spill, throw, runtime, size, UI, battery type et al are all performance measures in my book.

Sorry if this takes this thread somewhere you didn't want it to go, just my view.

Cheers
Hodsta

I keep my surefire at home, cos its expensive, only bring it out when i specifically need it.....
generally i will chose a EDC, thats not too expensive if i can avoid it, to bring around that has still good performance.

current EDC is P1D-Ce q5
If i get the LOD, it will probably change to that
as above mentioned, it really depends on what youre using the light for, and that defines where you will leave it. A Police officer might keep a Beast II in his car, but normal people would keep maybe a spare g2, or some other cheaper light thats still got performance

Crenshaw

jzmtl said:

Say if you have three lights, A (high performance), B (medium performance), and C (low performance), and they are similar in size, battery choice etc.. You will choose one for each place, your EDC, your vehicle, and your home. How would you arrange them?

For me I would use A as EDC, B in vehivle, and C in house. Reasoning being if I have access to C, I would probably have access to A and B as well. If I have access to B, I would probably have access to A as well. If A is the only light I have access to, I would probably be happy to have the best performing light with me.

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High performance: Home (will be big)

Medium: EDC (U2/L1 size)

Low: Car

Considering the lights being of equal size(for EDC):

A- EDC as long as it isn't too expensive.

B-At home

C-in the car.Probably the most likely to get stolen or loaned out.

Is this some kind of trick question? 3 lights? I have more than that in my bathroom!

Lightfantastic said:

Is this some kind of trick question? 3 lights? I have more than that in my bathroom!

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CHEERS!!!!

Back in the olden days, my wife had candles in every room just in case the power went out. Well, the candles are all gone now, having been replaced with LED flashlights scattered everywhere. Until reading this post there was only one in my bathroom, but I've seen the light!

As for the posted scenario: High power by my bed for when I get the urge to check out CPF or hear a bump in the night; medium in the car; and an Arc AAA-P always in my pocket.

Surefire G3 as EDC - I have it either in my carry bag or my belt in holster and when I am back at home - it stays on the bedside.
2 Mini Mags - One in the Kitchen and another in the bath room
One LED made in China - I keep as back up on the bedside

Lightfantastic said:

Is this some kind of trick question? 3 lights? I have more than that in my bathroom!

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That's sorta what I was thinking. I don't know how to answer....:huh:

All of my lights are in the bedroom. I choose which one to three I am going to carry each day based upon expected weather, what I am doing that day, and the "best guess" probability of any activations based upon the weather and other events that may be occuring on any given day. I do carry a couple of lights with EverLED drop ins and traffic cones in the car for traffic control, but beyond that my carry lights are chosen based upon need.

Patriot36 said:

That's sorta what I was thinking. I don't know how to answer....:huh:

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Agreed...........:thinking: I have right now just in my room three G2L's, Three ROP's in process of being built, Sam Club HID, Tigerlight, Vector 1 million CP, hold on a sec wait yep,

Two SF 6Ps, Inova Microlights everywhere, five A2's in the safe with other high end SF's.

Back to the room, Polystinger, UltraStinger, two more A2's in pelican cases in a drawer, A few Fenix products in another drawer.

Yeah so I have way to many just lying around here in my room and I live in a one bedroom apartment........my A2 problem is why I live in a one bedroom apartment. :shakehead

I have the NovaTac in pocket (for now) since it is so versatile, dim, bright, and so on.
Currently nothing in the car, twenty below freezing now, and getting colder.
Bedside, usually a mix, commonly the HDS and/or ARC-aaa and more.

I only have two in my bathroom, .... Should I have more?

My best light stays on my hip(HDS EDC). My car light is not that nice but is durable and reliable (Surefire G2). All the rest stay at home. I have enough lights and batteries to get me home (even if I have to walk).

At home I keep at least one bright incandescent by my bedside for "bumps in the night". Other lights are spread throughout the house.

redsfairlane said:

I only have two in my bathroom, .... Should I have more?

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Yes, no less than three at all times in the bathroom.

I'm going to answer this question theoretically, instead of based on my own use.

Home:
1 very bright light with dominating throw, runtime not very important. Keep bedside for things that go bump in the night. ROP excellent for this use.

1 bright light with excellent flood and good runtime (can be headlamp). This is for general household purposes where you might have to work in the shed or under the deck, etc, and throw is not needed.

1 dim light with a soft beam and rechargeable cell. Used for reading in bed (stay away from blueish LEDs) and for retaining night vision on a trip to the bathroom

Car:
1 relatively cheap light with alkaline or lithium primary cells for a long "shelf life." This light must be cheap enough so you are not sad if it gets greasy, scratched, broken, or forgotten on the side of the road. However, it must also be durable enough to take the abuse of being banged against metal and dropped on asphalt. It must be bright enough and have sufficient runtime to look in the engine bay or fix a flat tire on a road at night with no street lamps. Adjustable brightness optional, but nice so your copilot/navigator/wife doesn't blind herself looking at a map.

EDC:
Most important factor is small size and it should be able to use rechargeable cells. Single RCR123 or single NiMH AA lights are good.

OK, so that's 5 total, but the 3 lights for home use can probably combined into one with multiple levels. Each light has specific requirements for brightness, ruggedness, batteries, and size.