Reccomendations - newbie

Hi I wonder if anyone can suggest anything. I am a newbie to this. Up to now I thought maglites where the best. How wrong was I?

I have looked a many different brands, from maglites to surefire.
What I am looking for is an alternative to the Surefire E2DL LED Executive Defender.

I have 3 pieces of criteria for such a light.

Firstly, I spend a lot of time working in dark cupboards looking at patch panels and cable risers, occasionally peering in to lofts.

Secondly I am interested in the defense side of it.
I do have to sometimes walk alone in dark areas and would prefer some defense options at hand rather than none.

A) A really bright beam to momentarily confuse and disable a would be attacker. The brighter the better.

B) A sturdy one piece body that can be used like a kubotan for self defense if that would be attacker wasn't phased by a bright light.
(I no longer carry my kubotan as they are now illegal and you are more likely to be done for possessing one of those than the attacker would for mugging you).

Its important that the body doesn't crumple or buckle if it was ever used in such a situation, which I would hope never happens.

Thirdly I am not looking for an ugly thing with a bulbus head on it.
It has to slip in to my pockets unobtrusivly.

I know there are some cheaper surefires around but even £60 GBP is expensive for what is ultimately a source of light.

Any suggestions?

There's also the Fenix, Nitecore, Olight, Novatac(might not be long enough), RA lights, Dereelight, Jetbeam, Lumapower, Liteflux, Kingpower, iTP, and some more companies you can look at besides Surefire.

For the size, I guess 2AA or 2 CR123 lights could work in terms of length and output.

Look for lights with a forward clickie.

What batteries would you prefer?
What is a good size?(I don't know how big a kubotan should be)
Runtime?

:welcome:

You would not be disappointed in the Surefire, but if you feel you're not ready to shell out that much for a light just yet, you might start with a Fenix. This is the brand of light that a good number of flashaholics started with.

Going by your criteria in order;

1 - You'll want something that has multi-modes and a broad beam, so that you can do both close-up work and also defense-bright lighting.

2 - Any of our modern flashaholic lights will be able to handle far more abuse than you'll probably ever encounter (search "abuse test" sometime if you doubt this).

3 - You'll want something with a basic tube design, no frills.

I'd say a Fenix LD10 would meet/exceed your needs easily, and for only £40. It has several modes from 9 to 120 lumens, is a slim tube design, and uses any type of AA cell available anywhere. See it here (with free shipping!): https://www.fenix-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_65&products_id=466

You might take a look at Wolf-Eyes, Jetbeam, or Fenix lights. They tend to run slightly less than a surefire. Another thing you might want to invest in is rechargeable batteries. Nitecore Defender Infinity might also fit the bill.

Edit: Looks like a couple people already beat me to it

You might want to re-define your definition of "expensive" too. I've seen lights sell for well over $1000 USD.

as for the Kubotans I know, a straigh 2 AA light is more-or-less the same size.
decent, robust makes: Fenix L2D / LD20. Jetbeam JET I models, ...

as for lights in that size class (2*AA / 2*CR123 / 1*18650),
one running on a single 18650 beats all the others, by far!
Not so much in brightness, but considerably in runtime.
Also, the 18650 Li-Ion route is cheaper - when You dont have a good charger and cells in size AA

2*CR123 or 1*18650 is thicker and shorter than 2 AA and thus not good suited as Kubotan.
(but what do I know)

Your decision

Thanks for your advice. I would probably put a £40 (GBP) ish limit on my spend.


Oh just incase anyone is wondering, about the Kubotan issue here, my preferred choice of defense is to run away from a potential problem as fast as I can in the opposite direction before the situaton escalates.

I'd recommend you get a Jetbeam Jet-III M. It's a 2xCR123 light with 2 levels. First is fixed max output at ~225 lumens. Second level is infinitely adjustable so you can set it to whatever you like. Body construction is very solid. It has a stainless steel bezel ring and a recessed clickie under a crenulated stainless steel tail which would help if you use the light in a hammerfist strike. Much more effective than trying to jab someone with a rubber tailcap You can find a review of the light here. You can get a stainless steel attack bezel for the light as well if you want something a bit more aggressive although I'm guessing that might not be legal in your area.

Maybe the Fenix Tk10? Bright, sturdy, slightly crennelated bezel but nothing too crazy.... 80 bucks.

Not really pocket size but,

A maglite 4D-ROP.

very bright light to blind/confuse a would be attacker

and a almost unbreakable host to "turn of the light" of a would be attacker

nice light but not pocket size!