led lenser t7

for a beginner here....would the led lenser t7 from lowes at $65ish be the same as the led lenser t7 from brightguy.com eg for $100ish?

I believe there are the same. I don't believe there are different generations of T7...unless there are fakes out there

I purchased mine through UKsite for total with s&h for $70 that included a free Lenser K3.

From what I've heard, $65 seems to be great price in US.

There are better deals in that 65-100$ price range you know.
UNLESS you really really need that speed focusing thingy.

with the focus it seems like it would throw a nice tight beam. anything else do that (65-100 $ range)? need focused tight beam, like a spotlight not a wide angle thing.

How much throw do you need?
What kind of build quality?
What batteries?

There are some budget throwers that can throw pretty far, but they might be larger and run on CR123s or 18650s.

:welcome:

batteries - i like aa or aaa due to the convenience factor, can get them anywhere anytime. could live with cr123.

build quality - would use for work so sturdy is good.

weight - carry in a work bag so lightweight is good.

throw - want a nice tight and bright beam at 25m for sure. don't want the scatter. don't want/need to spread the light around. 100+m would be ideal.

not concerned about run time. used only for 3-5 minutes at a time, once per day maybe.

thanks for helping out a new guy.

25m is pretty easy for most lights discussed here. 100m is more of a problem but still doable with many lights discussed here. But if you don't want spill at all, then that cuts down the selection a lot. Is not having spill a personal preference or necessary for you job? Would the light be used in darkness or in relatively bright light? How much abuse will the light see?

IMO 3AAA and 4AAA lights are not that good mainly because of the lack of regulation and how hard the AAA batteries are pushed. Alkaline AAA batteries(the only ones LedLenser recommends) aren't meant to stand up the high current draw that the LEDs need so they drop in capacity and voltage pretty quickly. This means that the light on the higher modes will drop in output relatively quickly. Also the 130 hour runtime is probably till the flashlight stops producing light. But that doesn't seem to be a problem since you won't use the light often.

The LedLenser might work for your task since it has virtually no spill at full focus. The Ultrafire 007 recoil might work too but I'm not sure how good the quality is(for what I hear decent-good quality) and it uses CR123 batteries. The rechargeable CR123s can be used too along with the 18650 Li-ion battery.

Gunner12 said:

IMO 3AAA and 4AAA lights are not that good mainly because of the lack of regulation and how hard the AAA batteries are pushed. Alkaline AAA batteries(the only ones LedLenser recommends) aren't meant to stand up the high current draw that the LEDs need so they drop in capacity and voltage pretty quickly. This means that the light on the higher modes will drop in output relatively quickly.

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Actually, the extra cell in there providing the 6 volts gives a decent runtime curve, a far departure from the literal exponential initial drop of older LED Lenser offerings. The P7 will still have 50% of it's initial output after and hour and 20 minutes, on the high mode (not turbo-momentary). It actually holds it's brightness better than some flashlights that DO have circuitry in them (Inova Radiant 2AA for example)
P7 review w/ runtime graphs: http://www.messerforum.net/showpost.php?p=504265&postcount=13
Inova Radiant AA review w/ graph: http://flashlightreviews.com/reviews/inova_radiant_aa.htm
I think the T7 should be perfect for what you are looking for, compact, great build quality, extreme durability (a CPF member has dropped one of these around 75 feet onto rocks during caving, it lit up just like new, RIDICULOUSLY IMPRESSIVE imo, probably because there is no circuit board to break hahaha), tight bright beam with no spill, and you still have the option for a low mode as well as a flood, should you ever need them. Also, it's waterproof at a depth of 1 meter for 10 minutes. Everything else except the head is waterproof, and the head will still easily hold up to rains, just don't use the focusing in heavy rains, it might suck water into the head. I like the way they've made their tailcap, and despite what you would think, it's pretty waterproof. Just under that metal button lies a rubber O-ring and rubber boot, which is secured tightly to the wall by the retaining ring. The new LED Lensers are definitely worth a look.

There is still better "regulation" with rechargeable batteries though.

Do you have a link to that "drop test"?

I'm glad LedLenser improved their quality with their current lights. They should still make their runtimes less deciving though.

Fenix TK20 could be good choice too.
TK20 and Led Lenser T7(&P7) have roughly the same output, size, beam and runtime.

But considering the use that you need a flashlight:

batteries - i like aa or aaa due to the convenience factor, can get them anywhere anytime. could live with cr123.

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T7 uses 4xAAA
TK20 uses 2xAA

build quality - would use for work so sturdy is good.

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T7 build is simple
TK20, buy online from Fenix-store, they have lifetime warranty for Fenix lights

weight - carry in a work bag so lightweight is good.

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i wouldnt say TK20 or T7 are lightweight, AA or AAA is not the way

throw - want a nice tight and bright beam at 25m for sure. don't want the scatter. don't want/need to spread the light around. 100+m would be ideal.

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T7 has less spill?
TK20...

not concerned about run time. used only for 3-5 minutes at a time, once per day maybe.

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Conclusion:
Go for Fenix TK11 R2, better throw and beam than any lenser except X21 and uses 2xCR123.

Check out the LED Lenser T7 outdoor throw at 140ft.

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/214238

Not bad I'd say...

Egsise said:

Conclusion:
Go for Fenix TK11 R2, better throw and beam than any lenser except X21 and uses 2xCR123.

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B/S, the P14 stomps the TK11.

Sorry L.E.D, my mistake, you are right.
I should have added P14 to same class as X21, as they are definitely not lightweight and thats why they shouldnt even be compared to TK11.

L.E.D. said:

B/S, the P14 stomps the TK11.

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Stomp indeed. How many times heavier and larger is it??

Marduke said:

Stomp indeed. How many times heavier and larger is it??

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To answer your question literally,

TK11: 5.3" long x 1.4" head diameter
P14: 8.5" L x 1.8" head

1.6 times longer and 1.3 times wider in the head,

TK11: 5.6 oz
P14: 13.6

and 2.4 times heavier.

Egsise said:

Conclusion:
Go for Fenix TK11 R2, better throw and beam than any lenser except X21 and uses 2xCR123.

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Not better, T7/P7 and TK11 are equal in throw. And focusable beam is really great thing, almost priceless. When you want throw - you have throw (with almost no spill which is useless at longer distances), when you need flood, one move and you have one - 100% flood woth no hotspot.

But is the T7's voltage regulator better than what they normally use? I just found out they actually still use resistors, and you can only use alkalines because the circuit depends on the way alkalines output less power as they warm up. That information alone is enough to make me not want one, focusing or not.

deusexaethera said:

But is the T7's voltage regulator better than what they normally use? I just found out they actually still use resistors, and you can only use alkalines because the circuit depends on the way alkalines output less power as they warm up. That information alone is enough to make me not want one, focusing or not.

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I'm almost certain the T7 uses no regulator of any kind. Just drop resistors.

That's just a cheap trick. I still don't really understand how voltage regulators work, but I definitely understand what they're good for. There's no reason not to use them in a light that costs more than $10.

deusexaethera said:

...There's no reason not to use them in a light that costs more than $10.

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Except to make more profit, but that is the point of almost every company.

The lack of a regualtor might make a light toughter because of simplicity. But then potting the electronics in epoxy also makes them very very tough.