Christmas Gifting Ideas- Thoughts Greatly Appreciated

Alright, I have decided that this is the year I finally "enlighten" the rest of my family to brighter than normal flashlights. I have a plan in place, however, it involves a new EDC which I will need your guys help in picking out

*L2D-CE I got for my birthday last year (still almost mint condition) will go to my brother who is a Boy Scout and frequently goes on outdoor camping trip and the like (Right now the best he has is a cheap Coleman 2AA incan)

*P3D-CE so generously donated will go to my father who works in a woodshop and also does some tech stuff at home. The best he has right now is a 2AA mini-mag and thus he often complains about how he needs a better light. He does not use it that much(at least not as much as I would ) and thus I am sure a pari or two of CR123A's would last him quite a while.

*My mother is perfectly content with the Photon I got her for her birthday althogh I might try to sneak something in (which could be hard with little to no funds ) However, in return for gifting to my other family members, a new EDC could be waiting under the tree for me. I of course am stuck... which is where you guys come in :devil:

I will post a list of my expectations and requirements and feel free to chime in

*Should be 1XCR123A - I already have an awesome 2X CR123A(shoutout to Divine ) and thus unless it is really on the small side for a 2X (like a PD30 or something), I would rather carry around my OlightM 20 (Just a little to big to EDC every day)

*Should be multileveled- I love being able to choose the intensity of light appropriate for the situation

*I prefer a clicky- although this is not a requirement, I have quickly fallen in love with the forward clicky on the Olight and find it really convenient to use.

*Must be bright on highest setting (I am expecting at least a Q5 or R2 in it with the ability to push out 200+ lumens if need be (for short periods of time only of course). I frequently find myself out at night a 1/2 mile away from my dorm with only my EDC because a meeting ran over or something of the sort. My Jil was able to put out 70 lumens running a Lux III at 1 amp off a little 300mah cell so I expect similar performance (or better) out of a larger AW RCR123A (Just with higher total output becuase of the newer emitter...)

*The choice of a low low is big too because I sometimes go to bed after my roommate and I don't want to wake him up accidentally.

*Did I mention I will be running it off of AW's RCR123's? so being able to take 3.7 volts is big (well 4.2 but you know what I mean )

*Looks aren't really that important (most nicer quality ones look nice anyways) and I don't want TI or Gold or whatever as it just costs more

*I am in love with GOTD tailcaps now /tritium although this doesn't really matter and if I wasn't tired as I was typing this I probably wouldn't bore you with this fact

*Price isn't too large of an issue although anything $200+ is almost most definitely out (even though this will be "the" gift for me this year from my parents, it is still an EDC and if I lost it I would be ... whoops... meant :mecry:although that hasn't happened in the 2 years I've been EDC'ing... yet)

If you made it this far I congratulate you on making it through my post and please feel free to throw out lights to consider

Sounds like a nice light. I'd say surefire E1B or new E1L.
Do it yourself route is to modify your own light. What I carried for ever was a modified QIII with two way switch glass lens and GITD o-rings and new Warm Cree emitter. You should see this warm emitter, it's fantastic. I showed it to my brother and he said "LEDs have come full circle and look incandescent now"

Thanks for the input

I was thinking about a Surefire too as I have always wanted one and this sounds like a good time to finally receive one, however, I'm not sure if I could do better with my parent's money with any other company. (My life will most likely never depend on this light and failures with any light above $50 are very rare).

I really only started getting back into lights in the past 2 months or so when the days started getting shorter and I was walking back in the dark a lot more As such, when I was last "up" with flashlight technology, especially with LEDs was when R2's were rumors and the Q5 was brand new. Evidently not that much has changed in a year (not as much as I hoped for at least), however, it seems as though a boatload of new manufacturers have popped up.

Although I have read quite a few reviews concerning some new names in the busisness, you guys know a heck of a lot more thn me.

So far we have the SF E1B in the running(although I would prefer something a little brighter (sounds weird but a 10 minuite runtime doesn't bother me in the slightest as I would only need the max for short periods))... time to add to the list.


One I have looked at - NiteCore Extreme

You might check out the JetBeam Jet II IBS - a 1x123 with a max output of 250 lumens on RCRs (and the same lux/throw as your Olight running an 18650), minimum of 2 lumens, and all possibilities in between thanks to infinitely variable brightness control with three modes/memories, Mil-Spec anodizing, sapphire crystal lens, removable head/reflector assembly for bare-emitter use, and it's < $70, and that's not counting your CPF member discount..

See it here: http://blackforce.stores.yahoo.net/jetiiibs1.html

StarHalo said:

You might check out the JetBeam Jet II IBS - a 1x123 with a max output of 250 lumens on RCRs (and the same lux/throw as your Olight running an 18650), minimum of 2 lumens, and all possibilities in between thanks to infinitely variable brightness control with three modes/memories, Mil-Spec anodizing, sapphire crystal lens, removable head/reflector assembly for bare-emitter use, and it's < $70, and that's not counting your CPF member discount..

See it here: http://blackforce.stores.yahoo.net/jetiiibs1.html

Click to expand...

Wow, very interesting... I will certainly look further into this one as it sounds appealing. 4am here and a class at 8... I will consider it more later

Nitecore Extreme or Dereelight C2H with a Q3 5A LED would be my top picks.

After some much needed sleep I got around to reading Selfbuilt's CR123A comparison page

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/201117

I found a lot of very useful info on a number of lights. I still really like the NiteCore EX as being able to configure the levels to what I like is a plus, as is the forward clicky. It also appears to have a more efficient circuit because on max it lasts for a much more reasonable time than the Jetbeam II, even though the Jet only puts out a little bit more light.

From Selfbuilt: "If you want a solidly-built, continuously variable, forward clicky 1xCR123A/RCR light with good throw, very high overall output, and excellent runtime, then this light could be the one for you. "


Still looking around but right now this guy is leading by a bit (I appreciate everyone's suggestions so keep them coming )