[Rave] Good Flashlight For The Field

Just throwing my 2 cents.

I'm in the USMCR and every month we hit the field. I take with me a SL Pro 7-LED w/red plastic lens that I made from a red water bottle. IMO, this is a great light for the field, it's inexpensive, throws a lot of light (flood), uses inexpensive AA batteries, lightweight, and long battery life.

What's another great, inexpensive, reliable light for the field?

ooh rah

First things first, thanks very much for serving in the military.

Secondly, it looks like you already have a SL PRO 4AA Lux which has good regulated runtime at about 40 lumens. I guess the answer all depends on your specific needs. I assume durability is a given... besides that what else are you needing?

You might be interested in Photon Light's Proton Pro as a backup: http://www.photonlight.com/Proton-P...ights-Headlamps-p/prpro-aa-led-flashlight.htm

It runs on AA batteries and features a Cree and a red LED. The previous model has a cluster of 5mm LEDs for floodier light as well as a red LED.

Offerings from Pelican Products ought to satisfy your needs for a durable yet inexpensive field light.

Can I suggest Surefire G2 or 6P with a beamcover? Maybe a M2 or M3 if you're not budget constricted and don't mind feeding them.

LightGrunt0311 said:

Just throwing my 2 cents.

I'm in the USMCR and every month we hit the field. I take with me a SL Pro 7-LED w/red plastic lens that I made from a red water bottle. IMO, this is a great light for the field, it's inexpensive, throws a lot of light (flood), uses inexpensive AA batteries, lightweight, and long battery life.

What's another great, inexpensive, reliable light for the field?

ooh rah

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Actually Streamlight makes the Propoly light like you have with a much brighter 1 watt luxeon led that shines quite a bit further. It has the same build except that the head is just a little bit longer. The fact that the bodies have the switches built in and that if one broke you could always switch bodies to the other one could come in handy in your situation. Though carrying two of these larger lights might be a bit impractical.

One easy to find light that might fit your needs, especially the red light part is the Energizer hardcase 4 led work light. Its an adjustable head that can go from angle to normal flashlight form. It has a red led mode, a green led mode and two levels of white light with decent throw and spill. It also runs off just two AA batteries and is priced around $35 at Lowes stores. I personally think that its build quality is on par with the Streamlight. There is also a tactical version that has an infrared led in place of the green led, but the only ones that I have seen use a 1 watt led module and are not nearly as bright as the hardcase work light. Its also priced a bit higher at ~$70.

There are also plenty of great Surefire and other Streamlight offerings as well as other good manufacturers, but I will leave some space for other members to fill you in.

Also, thank you for your service.

Hey Devil Dog! I would recommend the Surefire L1 Lumamax for the field. It has high/low settings and has several beam diffuser/colored lens options. It is a pricey light but if I were going to take something in the field or combat, I would definitely take a Surefire. If you prefer a light that uses AA batteries I would suggest the Streamlight 4AA luxeon series.

You may also want to consider a basic headlamp for when you need both hands.

We have come a long way from the "moonbeam" flashlights that were issued to us in boot camp eh.

light_emitting_dude said:

Hey Devil Dog! I would recommend the Surefire L1 Lumamax for the field. It has high/low settings and has several beam diffuser/colored lens options. It is a pricey light but if I were going to take something in the field or combat, I would definitely take a Surefire. If you prefer a light that uses AA batteries I would suggest the Streamlight 4AA luxeon series.

You may also want to consider a basic headlamp for when you need both hands.

We have come a long way from the "moonbeam" flashlights that were issued to us in boot camp eh.

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Moonbeam? LOL! Back in boot, I lost count of how many of those I broke! I was on firewatch one night and my kill hat didn't like the way I was carrying it (I had it clipped onto my warbelt) and he didn't like it at all so he took and threw it on the deck like a baseball. That thing shattered!! LOL!

The moonbeam is a POS IMO, it's hella bright w/fresh batteries but after 2 mins, it turns sickening yellow!! The moonbeam was great for hanging stuff though lol.

I was carrying the Maglite 2AA LED w/red lens in the field until it started flickering, even with new batteries!!

I already have the SL Pro 4AA Lux and it's damn nice. It throws farther than my Inova T2 ('07 version) and my SF 6P!! It's my EDC. But the 7LED version throws a lot of light for the application I use for. It's great for lighting up them dark roads during night humps (gotta hate night humps!!) or simply digging through your pack in the middle of the night/early morning trying to stuff your sleep system in the pack! It's also great for firewatch and making a head call at night!

"Jump from the rock in the middle of the night, I'd make a head call and I'm read to fight!"

Ooh rah, kill

Ah, LightGrunt0311 I didn't realize that you had the propoly lux too. I second Light Emitting Dude about the L1, with the filter options it can really come in handy. Though it doesn't fit the inexpensive part that you mentioned. I'm gonna have to start asking the Marines I see around Beaufort what they're carrying.