SHOPPING ADVICE PLEASE

OK, so here's the deal... My parents bought me a bunch of clothes that i would never wear for christmas, and i'm going to return them and get about $100 back. Now i'm a new flashoholic and i am looking for a flashlight that will be my constant companion. I want something that is pretty bright, will throw kinda far, will last for awhile and will fit in my pocket and run on cr123a. I've been looking at the Fenix P3D Q5 and it looks awesome, also i've been looking at the Olight M20 Warrior it looks awesome too. i just don't know if it will be too bulky to fit in my pocket and if it is worth the $40 more than the P3D for the better throw. I would appreciate some advice and i'de also appreciate other suggestions that fit those criteria and is under $100.


Thank You
~WES

wesinator said:

OK, so here's the deal... My parents bought me a bunch of clothes that i would never wear for christmas, and i'm going to return them and get about $100 back. Now i'm a new flashoholic and i am looking for a flashlight that will be my constant companion. I want something that is pretty bright, will throw kinda far, will last for awhile and will fit in my pocket and run on cr123a. I've been looking at the Fenix P3D Q5 and it looks awesome, also i've been looking at the Olight M20 Warrior it looks awesome too. i just don't know if it will be too bulky to fit in my pocket and if it is worth the $40 more than the P3D for the better throw. I would appreciate some advice and i'de also appreciate other suggestions that fit those criteria and is under $100.


Thank You
~WES

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I've been so curious why people still talk about the P3D Q5 when the PD30 Q5 is out.

I would get the PD30. I've got some beamshots of it in my house. I haven't done any outside but the throw is ridiculous. It's comparable to what a P3D looks like if you have seen them in pictures. All I can say is from my experience, it's brighter in real life.

Here's my post where I have some pictures of the PD30. Light and beamshots.

Note* I couldn't find beamshots of the PD30 so I made my own. Only ones I can find.

However, when I go in my backyard, the low setting reaches about 50-60 yards (hot spot does). Medium pretty much lights up the trees at about 75 yards. High shows almost my whole backyard(30 - 40 yards wide, 65 - 75 yards long). Turbo lights up this whole area plus some and I can see into the field about 125 - 150 yards back.

I would say anything over 175 yards ish this light wont do but.. it's more than enough for anything I need. My 4-cell Maglite goes the same distance but the PD30 matches it and it lights up a LOT more area.

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/2756137&postcount=422

I will give you some of the best shopping advice you will ever get. For about $50 more then you want to spend you could get a surefire E1B. Compared to the two lights you mentioned, they will seem like total crap in comparison. It is very rare you hear people talking about how their surefire does not work. Very common to hear about a broken fenix.

Save your money and purchase the surefire. TIR optic, single cell cr123 incredible throw. Check out the reviews for that light. You will have this light the rest of your life and save tons of money because the quality is amazing and it will not fall apart on you. They also have great customer service. Use the telephone, don't email them. For some reason they don't like emails.

If you pay attention on this forum, you will notice many people wishing they just spent the money the first time. Gets expensive purchasing lesser quality lights just to replace them because you are unhappy with them. So save your money and do it right the first time.

E1B is 99 at la police gear, under snooze and loose deals.

ok, i think i've got it narrowed down to either a P3D Q5 or a PD30 Q5. I just don't know which one to pick. does the PD30 really have better throw than the P3D and the specs say it has less battery life on turbo than the P3D. I'm just too split, i want my first real flashlight to be a good one.

medieval said:

E1B is 99 at la police gear, under snooze and loose deals.

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Great deal. P3D is nice. E1B is fantastic, especially if you get it with a SF diffuser (~$14). Then you can go from spot to flood, all in a great little host.

Is there a reason you must use cr123a batteries? It sounds as if you are on a limited budget and you might really enjoy something that can use rechargeable batteries so that you won't have to worry about burning up expensive primary batteries.

Howdy wesinator and welcome to CPF,
My advice ......... don't be in a hurry. Spend some time reading about all the various lights that are available. You will also want to consider the possibility of using rechargeable batteries, so a bit more reading.

Don't limit yourself to CR123 batteries. Keep an open mind. Look at everything. After a few weeks you will begin to see which lights fit your idea of a good EDC (every day carry).

When you're ready, consider buying your light from a reputable dealer.

In case you haven't seen it yet... be sure and check out the CPF Welcome Mat. It is an excellent resource to help answer questions that will undoubtedly arise during your search:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/172991

I like the NiteCore Extreme.

A P3D/PD30 is not designed to be a good thrower. If you're expecting it to come anywhere close to an Olight M20 you're gonna be sorely disappointed. Olight M20 with smooth reflector will throw nearly twice as far as P3D/PD30. In fact there are many smaller 1xCR123 lights that will out throw the P3D/PD30.

Derek Dean...you always offer great advice to newcomers!! Thanks.
But where were you when I first came?

primox1 said:

Derek Dean...you always offer great advice to newcomers!! Thanks.
But where were you when I first came?

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I might add,thanks for pointing out the CPF Welcome Mat,so many newcomer's answers could be answered there.