A light that beat your expectations...

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If your in the CPF you're either an enthusiast or a hardcore collector of lights.

There are occasions when a light just doesn't live up to all the hype, in endless threads/posts.

~ Have you ever bought a light that beat your expectations and quietly becomes one of your favorite lights?
Sure, there can be more than one...:thumbsup:

Re: A light that beat your expectations

Very easy: NiteCore D10, Fenix L2D / L1D, L0D Q4, LF2X, Zebralight H50 Q5. These are top of the line lights and each in their own way blew me away with its feature set / size / output.

There are also a few lights that did not meet expectations, and consequently they are no longer in my collection. You can see which ones I kept and which ones I got rid of in my sigline.

Gerber LX1 despite few mention here, its green tint does wellilluminating indoors &outdoors well, decent runtime of 10hours on a set of alkalines & most importantly runs without thermal issues!

it bugs me to have lights that rate 1hour+ of regulated runtime but gets too hot to hold in 10minutes. i don't need a hand warmer in Singapore!

The single and 5 mode AA MTE Seouls! The single mode has been my EDC for 8 months and has been perfect. I did not think a $15.00 light would ever meet my expectations!

My Nitecore D10, even with all of that hype I was still pleasantly surprised with this light. It's my first light with a truly low-low and I use it often. The UI is easy, the beam is gorgeous and it'll do just about anything I need it to do.

For an inexpensive light my Streamlight Microstream. The MS, more than most, is a light that I find myself grabbing quite often. The beam quality, tint and output on mine are all beautiful...........just perfect for a pocket light and it throws just as far as my LOD on high so has taken over AAA duties. Mine gets around 4:50 (regulated) runtime on a lithium primary and with the superb clip and a price tag of $15 it's a must-have for torch lovers!

I have to say my Nitecore EX10/D10, Zebralight H50/H30, and Dereelight DBS V1/V2.

Photon Microlights.
Nothing beats the original.
They always make me smile.

LF2 SSC.
Proton Pro.
Malkoff M60.
Lumapower M1 w/ SSC flood kit.
Wolf Eyes Sniper w/ P7.

Kiessling said:

Photon Microlights.
Nothing beats the original.
They always make me smile.

Click to expand...

Oh HELL yeah! I've had a Photon on me since the original Microlight came out. I mean the one that just snapped together and only came in yellow and red. I'm guessing that was around 12-13 years ago and I've never had one fail and I've had one on me ever since.......:twothumbs
I think my current white one is a GS and I run it on a single 2032 battery because the 2-2016's are actually a bit too bright for my uses.

Truly a classic and the light that got many of us started I'm sure

I would have to say I agree, the Nitecore D10 was hyped up alot but it is as nice as people say, not the brightest or the best just really well made and I love the UI. Another light that was as nice or better than I thought it would be is the Surefire E1B, that thing throws great even on low. The optics seem to give the best of both worlds,,,

The Surefire M6 Guardian w/ MN21 U-HOLA.

It beat my expectations in both size and output.

The one thing that i like are the countless after-market battery and bulb combinations available.

Very versatile light IMHO.

Malkoff M60 and M60L.
Surefire E2L

superflytnt said:

My Nitecore D10, even with all of that hype I was still pleasantly surprised with this light. It's my first light with a truly low-low and I use it often. The UI is easy, the beam is gorgeous and it'll do just about anything I need it to do.

For an inexpensive light my Streamlight Microstream. The MS, more than most, is a light that I find myself grabbing quite often. The beam quality, tint and output on mine are all beautiful...........just perfect for a pocket light and it throws just as far as my LOD on high so has taken over AAA duties. Mine gets around 4:50 (regulated) runtime on a lithium primary and with the superb clip and a price tag of $15 it's a must-have for torch lovers!

Click to expand...

I agree, even though I have plenty other lights, the Microstream is always in my pocket and always ready to use. It throws extremely well for 20 lumens.

If only it were completely waterproof :sigh:

Are there any mods to waterproof it?

Other lights that beat my expectations were the Gladius and my new DX-1 P7 (even though I have a slight donut in the beam :mecry:.)

Nitecore Extreme - never thought I could find a light that fit my needs/preferences so well
Nitecore D10 - a lot of hype but still I am amazed by it
Zebralight H50 - powerhouse of performance in a tiny package. An innovative light which I never would have dreamed up on my own yet I find so many uses for it.
Glo-Toob Lithiums - a niche product, but the only light I own more than 2 of (besides fauxtons). They just make so much sense to stash in kits and even though I already have a few, I'm always pleased to get a new one in the mail

For the money, only $25, the MTE - 5 Mode Q5, absolutely blew me away. It has the smoothes Q5 beam of any light I own that are far more expensive.

For features, beautiful beam, and build quality the LiteFlux LF5XT is much better than I expected, for what it cost. I think it compares favorably with the Novatac p120 for half the cost.

Yes, the Coleman 530 lumen LED spotlight. It is so incredibly bright and powerful it competes with my POB to some extent. I never thought LED's could be that powerful with so much throw!

I'll second the Liteflux LF2 - I was looking for a light that would potentially replace a Photon Microlight (even my Arc AAA didn't do enough more than the Photon for me to take on the additional size/weight) - and the LF2 more than met that qualification. Really versatile, great floody beam and nicely sized it more than exceeded what I was looking for in a key ring light.

Runner up would be the Dereelight CL1H v3.0 which was surprisingly well made for the price point, upgradeable and the 2SM Q5 module puts out a ton of useful light on an 18650 and runs for 20+ hours on the low setting. All I really wanted was an LED thrower to replace my Streamlight Strion in the higher power throw slot in the arsenal, and it more than does that plus leaves room for future improvements without buying a new light which I REALLY like!

My Leef-bodied Surefire M4.

When it finally came together, it was a thing of sheer beauty. :twothumbs

Hands down... easy no-brainer...

nite-ize 3-LED drop in for the mini-mag. nite-ize takes a TON of beating/bashing by just about every CPF member. I love this light for its ~12 Lumens of night-vision preserving , near-pure flood while on night hikes and general use around the house. Its long run times are an added bonus. Its blue color tint is my only complaint, but that seems to be a common flaw with all the nichia-based designs. I'll probably replace it with a E01 some day.

Nitecore D10. Haven't been on this site in awhile but when I found out that there is a AA based PD type flashlight, I had to try it out. Add to the fact that the reviews have been nothing but good also piqued my interest. So far, it's exceeded what I expected a single AA could do.

Because of this and other reviews, I ordered a Zebralight H50. Between eneloops and AA powered lights, I think I can cutdown on CR123 usage quite a bit.