Flashlight Experience and questions from a Retired Cop

Hwy115 · Sep 7, 2009

This site is amazing! I never thought there would be so much information regarding flashlights. When I was a NYC Rookie Cop in the 44th Pct in 1983, I worked in a 1.9 square mile area that had appx 80 murders a year. The NYCPD required a minimum 2 cell D Light. Needless to say, we had to have good flashights so off I went and bought my 3 cell Maglight. Soon after I was told that Alkaline batteries would keep the light running longer. Off I went and starting buying Alkaline D's. Soon after that, the "amazing" Kryptonite bulb came out and I got that. Not a whole lot of progress during my first 6 years. Soon after that my "then" Wife got me the SL20X Streamlight rechargeable for Christmas. Wow, was I impressed! That light stayed with me throughout the remainder of my career along with a SureFire 6P which I used a lot. I used both lights during 9/11 where I was a Hwy Patrol Officer and was assigned escort Duty for the remains of our heroes and escorts of high level officials in and out of the frozen zone.I was lucky enough to retire at the age of 40, 7 years ago. I am simply amazed at the array of new products out there. I want to buy some new lights. I have decided to throw out my Multi Million Candlepower Costco Special which blinds you for 12 minutes and then goes DOA!

Now for my questions: I want a good mix of throw and battery life.
1. What is the best 18650 LED light out there?
2. What is the best single AA LED light out there?
3. What is the best single AAA LED light out there?

thedeske · Sep 7, 2009

:welcome:

Check out HKJ's and selfbuilt's roundup reviews on AA and AAA. Both provide a wealth of knowledge on the lights.

links here - https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/133401

The Best is yet to come

Rexlion · Sep 7, 2009

The best? It depends. :laughing:

AFAustin · Sep 7, 2009

Welcome, Hwy115. :wave: And....the rest of the traditional CPF welcome greeting is....Hang onto your wallet!

Yucca Patrol · Sep 7, 2009

The "best" is always debatable, but I'll throw out some tried and true off-the-shelf models out there to start your research. Of course there are also a wide range of custom lights too. . . .

18650: Check out Deerelight DBS with the extension tube to allow use of two 18650 batteries for long runtimes. The nice thing about Deerelight is that they have a design philosophy which allows you to upgrade just the LED module in the future instead of selling you a complete new light. For instance, you can quickly switch from a smooth reflector and R2 emitter that will throw a very narrow beam for a very long distance or switch to a textured reflector and an quad-die MC-E emitter that will release an incredible floody wall of light with mega lumens.

AA: Check out the offerings from Nitecore, Fenix, or 4-Sevens. The Nitecore D10 is one of the favored lights here in the past year or so, and the new Quarks are very impressive. The 2xAA lights are generally much brighter, but some of the 1xAA lights can accept a lithium 14500 rechargeable battery for increased brightness in a small package.

AAA: Fenix LD01 is a good place to start for high quality and very bright.

Federal LG · Sep 7, 2009

Hwy115 said:
This site is amazing! I never thought there would be so much information regarding flashlights. When I was a NYC Rookie Cop in the 44th Pct in 1983, I worked in a 1.9 square mile area that had appx 80 murders a year. The NYCPD required a minimum 2 cell D Light. Needless to say, we had to have good flashights so off I went and bought my 3 cell Maglight. Soon after I was told that Alkaline batteries would keep the light running longer. Off I went and starting buying Alkaline D's. Soon after that, the "amazing" Kryptonite bulb came out and I got that. Not a whole lot of progress during my first 6 years. Soon after that my "then" Wife got me the SL20X Streamlight rechargeable for Christmas. Wow, was I impressed! That light stayed with me throughout the remainder of my career along with a SureFire 6P which I used a lot. I used both lights during 9/11 where I was a Hwy Patrol Officer and was assigned escort Duty for the remains of our heroes and escorts of high level officials in and out of the frozen zone.I was lucky enough to retire at the age of 40, 7 years ago. I am simply amazed at the array of new products out there. I want to buy some new lights. I have decided to throw out my Multi Million Candlepower Costco Special which blinds you for 12 minutes and then goes DOA!

Now for my questions: I want a good mix of throw and battery life.
1. What is the best 18650 LED light out there?
2. What is the best single AA LED light out there?
3. What is the best single AAA LED light out there?

:welcome: I´m sure you´ll gonna freak out around here!

In my opinion:
1. I dont know, sorry.
2. 4Sevens Quark AA
3. Fenix LD01 Q5

Hello from a fellow officer from Brasil! :thumbsup:

gilly · Sep 7, 2009

Welcome to CPF friend! You are in good company here. Lots of us LEOs on here who like to have the latest in illumination tools for the job. Of course opinions will vary on the answers to your questions, but here are my ideas:

1. 18650 - over the last few years and after trying out different brands, I have become very partial to JETBEAM lights. Their solid construction, good looks, effective user interface and excellent quality make for a great light. I recommend both the Jet III-Military and the RRT-2 Raptor. Here's a relatively new website that is run by two LEOs from PA (I have been very impressed by their excellent customer service):

http://www.tacticalleds.com/JET-III-M-Military-Series-Tactical-light-CREE-p/jetbeam-iii-m.htm

http://www.tacticalleds.com/JetBeam-RRT-2-RAPTOR-p/jetbeam-rrt-2.htm

2. AA - once again, I am partial to the JETBEAMS and really like the setup on this light - Jet I V3.0 R2

http://www.tacticalleds.com/JetBeam-Jet-I-Pro-p/jetbeam-jet-i%20pro.htm

3. AAA - Fenix LD01

http://www.tacticalleds.com/Fenix-LD01-Q5-AAA-LED-Flashlig-p/fenix-ld01.htm

**discount code of "cpf5" on checkout at this website gives you 5% off.

These are my opinions - have fun checking things out. It is an overwhelming amount of information. Also, if you haven't learned about a tremendous resource here on CPF, here is the link to Selfbuilt's reviews (he does an unbelievable job!):

http://sliderule.ca/flashlight.htm

:welcome:

M@elstrom · Sep 7, 2009

Hwy115 said:
I have decided to throw out my Multi Million Candlepower Costco Special which blinds you for 12 minutes and then goes DOA!

Don't toss it out... convert it to a HID configuration! :thumbsup:

Armed_Forces · Sep 7, 2009

:welcome:

It's a rookie mistake to ask what is "best".
IMPOSSIBLE to answer!

You need to have some patience and do some "light" reading using the search engine.

..seriously, the search engine is your best friend! Use the "advanced search" for finding specific keywords.
Also check out the Reviews sub-forum for what's recent/hot.
You've got to narrow down the choices and 99% of the questions you have will have already been asked.

Hwy115 · Sep 8, 2009

Thanks for the input. I have done some reading and relied on the advice of you guys. I guess I shouldn't have asked what is best but asked which are the most sought out lights by the experts. Best can be relative but when the most informed people on this board are mentioning certain lights often in their posts it sounds good enough for me.
1. Looks like the Fenix LD01 for my AAA question
2. Looks like the Jet 1 Pro V3.0 for my AA question
3. Leaning towrds the Jetbeam Raptor RRT-2 for my 18650 Light
Selfbuilt is a Fountain of Information!
They should let him test Firearms!

CaseyS · Sep 8, 2009

If I had it to do over again, I'd get a LiteFlux LF2XT instead of a Fenix LD01 for a AAA light. After getting a neutral white Quark AA, I find that I like warm tints much better.

Also after carrying a AA light for a while, I don't really feel the need for a AAA anymore. The AA is plenty small enough for EDC.

streetmaster · Sep 8, 2009

Hwy115 said:
Thanks for the input. I have done some reading and relied on the advice of you guys. I guess I shouldn't have asked what is best but asked which are the most sought out lights by the experts. Best can be relative but when the most informed people on this board are mentioning certain lights often in their posts it sounds good enough for me.
1. Looks like the Fenix LD01 for my AAA question
2. Looks like the Jet 1 Pro V3.0 for my AA question
3. Leaning towrds the Jetbeam Raptor RRT-2 for my 18650 Light
Selfbuilt is a Fountain of Information!
They should let him test Firearms!

I would just like to thank you for your years of service.

Welcome to CPF.:welcome:

Sector7 · Sep 8, 2009

:welcome: 10-84 Stop the Clock

JeffInChi · Sep 8, 2009

I'm pretty happy with the Fenix LD01 for AAA. I have mine on a keychain and I use it a couple of times a week. Although it seems that the olive finish holds up better than the original.

Oh and :welcome:

marinemaster · Sep 8, 2009

For 18650 battery type I have a Pila G2. The light is way underrated. I paid about $40 for it with the Cree led from flashlightz.com. Now they have a higher output Cree led. I also have the Pila recharger which is very good quality.

I checked and it looks like they went up in price. You maybe be able to find cheaper somewhere.

Another light I like but don't have is the Jetbeam. They look great. From the reviews here they are good lights.

I did try to bore out a Surefire 6P I gave up on it, don't recommend it.

In my opinion Pila G2 for the 18650 type batt. It has a copper mix lining like the Surefire Nitrolon. Mine has survived a lot of punishment. Is built like a tank. The spill on mine is excellent. You can also use dropin in it. Even better Malkoff makes a lower voltage dropin so it will go perfect with the 18650.

As far as AA or AAA there are hundreds of models to chose from.....many hours of reading.

One recommendation for the AA is the Streamlight 4AA Propoly. Had mine for many years with Enleoop rechargeables is a great light with great spill.

ency · Sep 8, 2009

Hwy115 said:
2. Looks like the Jet 1 Pro V3.0 for my AA question
3. Leaning towrds the Jetbeam Raptor RRT-2 for my 18650 Light

As a bonus, if you prefer warm tints both of those JETs are available with a Q3 5A.

Hwy115 · Sep 9, 2009

What is a Q3 5A?

Ogg Vorbis · Sep 9, 2009

Hwy115 said:
What is a Q3 5A?

It's a normal Cree XR-E or XP-E LED (these are the names of the package it comes in) and Q3 describes the amount of output available for a given power, 5A describes the colour tint which in this case is a neutral or 'warm' light and are becoming very popular for outdoor and just general use.

Look for comparsions and you will see straight away, i personally won't look at lights that don't have a 'warm' emittor, unless they seem like a good deal.

:welcome:

Dan

pseudoblue · Sep 9, 2009

Q3 5A is the emitter type and bin. It's a warmer feel from the cool side.

I was searching for comparison and I stumbled upon this old post. Hope it's relevant

Hwy115 · Sep 9, 2009

So a warm side emitter is not as bright as a cool side emitter?
I am looking at:
1. Jetbeam JET-I PRO V3.0 CREE R2 LED Flashlight for $62.99 delivered.
2. JETBeam RRT-2 Raptor Cree R2 LED with Ultrafire 3000 Protected Battery+Charger for $140.00 delivered.
3. Fenix LD01 Q5 for $39.99 delivered.
Are these good deals?

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