light for a friend

i sold a friend a flashlight and it broke down within 2 months. it was an ultrafire c3 (2aa cree) for $20 (non profit sale)

i'm gonna give him 10 bucks for the body towards the purchase of another light. i'd like a light that would prove to be a little more reliable. i've offered him a fenix 2aa but he said that's a little out of his price range. is there anything i can get him new with a warranty for around $30. he prefers 2aa, some modes (sos and strobe not a must have item) quality and a warranty. i'm thinking of the lumapower for $30 (i forget where). what else do you guys have in mind besides shaking him and saying spend the money on the fenix!

Shake him and say spend the money on the Fenix!

Toaster said:

Shake him and say spend the money on the Fenix!

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+1

lol... next!

i need a $30-40 dollar light.
will the lumapower cut it?
or is that more equal to the ultrafire than the fenix?
somewhere in between is fine.
available in 2aa is great.

the luma power lm31 is not a bad choice. Otherwise, I would maybe give up on the multiple modes. The fenix e20 is in your range and is a great light. You could also get a q5 romisen from shiningbeam for this price.

jasonsmaglites said:

lol... next!

i need a $30-40 dollar light.
will the lumapower cut it?
or is that more equal to the ultrafire than the fenix?
somewhere in between is fine.
available in 2aa is great.

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i have no experience with Lumapower lights but i do have some experience with Ultrafire lights, i have an old single mode Ultrafire C3 with 2xAA extension tube that has served me well for over 2 years. I think with these lights, there really is a lot of luck involved, perhaps i got one of those from a great production run.

My advice would be to advise your friend to pay a bit (or a lot) more and get a quality light that would last. You wouldnt want to be out somewhere, drop the light and find that it doesnt work after that (yes, i know we carry spare lights but not all others do).

Get a Fenix, Eagletac, Olight or even a Mag 2xAA with a mod. Check out flashlight reviews HERE to see the reviews on quite a few AA/14500 lights.

EDIT: i recently sold off almost all my DX/KD lights in order to upgrade and i am retaining only better quality lights that i know i can rely on.

Fenix L2D CE with code 'PRIORITY25' comes to $37.56 shipped.

I don't know the "cheaper" flashlights, I only know the general rule : Who buys cheap, buy a few times.

Fenix has a lifetime (limited) warranty, which means that IF a Fenix quits working, you get it fixed or replaced for free or for a few bucks. Just keep the bill and buy it at dealer which is known to provide good service.

The only Fenix i had problems with until now is the LD01ss which had flickering issues, I'll get a free replacement soon.

If money matters, buy some rechargeables wih it if you don't have any yet (you should...). Same thing : You spend money ONCE and feed your light for free over the next years. What's more, LED-flashlights just like rechargeables and will reward you with log runtimes on high!

The difference between the CE and the Q5 is not THAT big and the CE is available much cheaper, as it is probably discontinued. Another idea is to have a look on CPF marketplace. :thumbsup:

Try the Akoray 3-mode (it's listed as 5-mode, I think) 1AA/1x14500 on DX. I haven't played with one (yet) so I dunno about build quality, but those who got it seem universally happy.

cool link. i tried the discount code and you're right. is there shipping on top of that or is it included?

4sevens/Fenix Store has shipping included in the price.

Toaster said:

Fenix L2D CE with code 'PRIORITY25' comes to $37.56 shipped.

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Jason PMed me asking for my suggestions for this thread, and I have to say I agree with this choice.

I've picked up a number of extra Fenix lights over the years - when they've price-dropped on promotions, etc - as I find they make great gifts. The L2T and L2D series are particularly recommended in my books (not so crazy about the E20, since I find its single-stage too high for most indoor uses).

Otherwise, I find shinningbeam seems to carry a good selection of low-to-mid range lights at good prices. His QC seems to be a lot better than the discount deal sites.

But the L2D at $38 is definitely the best deal I know of right now.

ok, i'm either gonna recommend to him the fenix l2d ce (which bin are they by the way?) or my q5 bin for a few bucks more or the e20 if i can get one for $10 less than the l2d.

IIRC the L2D-CE is either P4 or Q2 bin.

p4 is the original cree right? does anyone remember how many lumens per watt that is. maybe 75 or 80? q5's about 100 so i'll have to talk to him and let him know what he can get for his money.

There are many bins below P4. P4 is one of the first few that doubled efficiency.

Lumen/watt depends on drive current.

The L2D-CE is around 120 lumen on Turbo, 65-70 on high, 30-35 on medium, and around 10-12 for low.

p4 and q2 are almost the same anyways right?