Where do you start?

First Post, a little background.

I have been shooting handguns for several years (Glock, S&W, etc). Have purchased some Knives (Benchmark).

But just recently realized I should have an LED tactical light. And as is with the above, you can't have just one.

So I made a fairly quick purchase of an off brand light (ebay), Palm Blaze 57K22L Luxeon 6W LED ($30).

I am very impressed with it. But I think it just started my curiosity into this new world.

I have a Surefire Catalog, very nice stuff, but expensive, unless convinced otherwise.

So as I look at the many various Flashlight options out there, how do you choose?

My current need is for General Purpose, Home Defense, and Car Emergency.

Thanks, rob1261

General purpose I'd recommend a fenix L2D or Nitecore D10. The fenix is generally considered the best 2xAA light, while the D10 is a really good single AA light. Car emergency would be something larger, possibly a mag drop-in (check out gene's site for some sweet ones- google gene malkoff). As for home defense, a fenix TK or a SF would be the first things that spring to my mind.

The Fenix L2D is a good light, BUT for what you are looking for, I would very much recommend the L2T v2.0. See link below.

https://www.fenix-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_69_71&products_id=335

The SF 6P with a Malkoff M60 would be best for use with CCW (it is what I carry anyway), but I would HARDLY consider it as best for general purpose or car energency (an SF G2 with a M60LL would be my best for use for those).

My .02 FWIW YMMV

rob1261

welcome to cpf. I would take some time and do some reading for a while.

The choices of lights available can be overwhelming to some.
The opinions on which are "best" are just as plentiful.

I would say, think what your most common use for one would be, and go from there.

Many people, like me, buy lights that are not our ideal light just because we want to "check it out".(not that there's anything wrong with that:naughty

In my opinion, I would consider the following:
1.purpose/usage for the light
2.battery type
3.price range

I'm sure others will post with more info. :welcome:

+1 for the L2T, I have one and I love it! While you're checking that out, also check out the Fenix E01, a aaa powered light that's 9 lumens and runs for a long time.

Just keep it simple and buy a Surefire G2 LED. It will also accept rechargeable CR123 batteries.

Plain cheap G2 and a Malkoff M60L.

I say you need two lights, one for home defense and another one for general use/car use(EDC, every day carry, should work).

You have lots of choices for both. List what you would like the light to have(throw, output, runtime, size, battery, modes, so on) and we'll see what we can find.

There are a lot more good companies then just Surefire.

You can double the output(with the same runtime) of your current light by swapping in a current gen LED for the last gen one. I'm guessing it uses a none TFFC K2.

:welcome:

Well, I could post an extensive list of recommendations for those purposes, depending on how concerned you are about price, what kind of durability you need, etc., but I'll try to keep it simple, with my top picks for your three categories.

General Purpose (perhaps EDC?): NiteCore D10. I'd recommend using it with lithium AA's if possible, but it still permits you to use regular alkalines that you can find anywhere for cheap.

Home Defense: SureFire E2DL if you want to buy a single, ready-to-go light, or SureFire 6P with Malkoff M60 drop-in.

Car Emergency: SureFire G2 with Malkoff M60L or M60LF. I prefer the beam pattern (floody) of the M60LF (which would also serve well for close-up repairs), but you might want a bit more throw in a car emergency, to use as a signal or whatever else, which would require the M60L. Also, although not quite as bright as the M60, the M60L is no slouch, and you could very easily use it for home defense as well.

Now, if I were to recommend a single light that you'd be carrying around in your pocket all the time, one that would cover all three purposes at the same time, my vote would go for the SureFire L1. It's compact, easy and intuitive to use, reliable, durable, 2 levels of light, and possibly my favorite flashlight I've ever used.

If you just want a light to leave in your car, maybe a lower priced but decent-good light would work. I'm thinking of something like this.

The D10 could be a good EDC light.

As for home defense type, a Surefire 6P or similar with a good LED drop-in like the Malkoff M60 would be a good choice.

Do you have Maglites? If you do, this thread might help you upgrade it.

go for the "general purpose" light first. for me it's the D10 at the moment. i use mine every day because, it's always with me. this light will do everything. i am constantly amazed at the super lower rage and how useful it is. before thw D10 i thought more was better..... wrong!
i have in my day acquired many pistols as well as knives while chasing the next best thing. i carry and use a knife every day and i have a drawer full of the latest and gratest. the knife i carry every day is probably the most pedestrian. it's either a swiss army officer or a recruite. should either of these be found lacking (which is rare) then i have to make a trip to the truck.
anything beyond general purpose is up to you. the other lights i use are suited to a specific task. i recomend that whatever you choose from that point be compatible with a p60 assembly. i.e. a G2, 6P and so on. at this point you're talking surefire. it begins there........ and never ends....
ooooops...... i hit the wrong button... how do you get that goofey popcorn munching.....crap........
how do you get rid of that...... that....... orvil reddinbacker guy?

Seems like lots of fans of the NiteCore D10s here.

If you can't afford Surefires, but want decent quality at a more reasonable price, try Inova lights. A 2008 Inova T1 would be a good start. 100 lumens, 4+ hours runtime, forward clicky, good chance of getting a warm tint l.e.d., perfect form factor for holding in hand, and great grip. Uses 2 123A batteries and has a TFFC K2. Decent efficiency, good color rendition, and no Cree rings. The T1 is about $50. The T2 isn't much more.