I need informed input on what to choose!

Hey there everybody. I've been a fan of the site for a long time and finally gotten around to registering cause I need everyone's expert help. I'm a plumber by trade and am looking into getting a new torch. What would you guys recommend? My requirements are: it must be LED, it must be rechargeable, must have decent throw to it, must be a decent size (nothing over 10", I have to wear it daily and I get into some pretty tight spots. I also would like to avoid a big head on it. And it must be as bright as possible. We sorta have an unspoken competition at work as to who's light is brightest. In terms of price I'm thinking $100 to $250 price mark. Any suggestions are welcome and if you have multiple suggestions that's great too. Thank you in advance for the help.

You might want to check out the Streamlight Strion LED; rechargeable, 5.9" in length, aluminum, 3 levels of light, runs for 7.5 hours (at lowest setting). I just bought one, and I really like it. Costs around $130.00 with home charger (more if you get both AC & DC chargers).

It's nowhere near as expensive as your $100 - $250 budget, but I have been EDCing a Fenix LD20 since this past Christmas in its belt holster and it's great for plumbing work. I bought it for plumbing, home repairs, automotive work, and general emergencies. It works very well for plumbing work because its non-uniform body shape makes it very easy to grip when my hands are soaking wet with ice cold water under a sink or toilet. (Yep, been there and done that!) It's *much* easier to grip in cold, wet conditions than a uniform outer diameter body flashlight like a 2 AA Mini-Maglite.

The Quark AA^2 is a *very* nice light in the same $60 price range as the Fenix LD20, but I was leery of getting it because of its uniform body shape. I thought that it would be a little more difficult to hold firmly when my hands are wet and cold compared to the LD20. In general I love 2 AA lights for EDC use in belt holsters because they last a long time on one set of batteries, yet are slim enough to EDC without getting in my way every day.

omegaRed said:

Hey there everybody. I've been a fan of the site for a long time and finally gotten around to registering cause I need everyone's expert help. I'm a plumber by trade and am looking into getting a new torch. What would you guys recommend? My requirements are: it must be LED, it must be rechargeable, must have decent throw to it, must be a decent size (nothing over 10", I have to wear it daily and I get into some pretty tight spots. I also would like to avoid a big head on it. And it must be as bright as possible. We sorta have an unspoken competition at work as to who's light is brightest. In terms of price I'm thinking $100 to $250 price mark. Any suggestions are welcome and if you have multiple suggestions that's great too. Thank you in advance for the help.

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Hi there and :welcome:

To have throw, you need a bigger head, that is inescapable unless you're using a light with TIR optics. However, if you're doing close up work on pipes and all, you'd probably not want a blinding hot spot which would dazzle you and prevent you from working.

I'd actually think that a decent flooder is more suitable as it would light up the entire room with an even 'wall of light' so to speak instead of having one intense hot spot with side spill. After all, i don't think you need a light that can hit 300 feet in a basement do you?

But be that as it may:-

My first recommendation is a headlamp as this may prove to be the most useful for you, its small lightweight and you may not even realise you have it on, it also makes it easier as you have both hands free as you crawl into spaces, or while on your back working on pipes etc. The headlam is Zebralight H501 headlamp, runs off 1xAA sized cell, can use standard alkalines (not recommended as they can leak), lithium non-rechargeables, NiMH rechargeables like eneloop or 14500s (AA sized lithium-ion rechargeables. 3.7v). It has 3 levels of light with the lowest at 3.3 lumens which is perfect for reading at night or navigating around a dark room, campsite with dark adjusted eyes, the highest level is roughly 96 lumens which is pretty darn bright for its purposes, if you need brighter, there are other options available there as well. They also have a warm tinted version which is better for outdoor uses as it renders colors more accurately but you do lose a wee bit in output. If you're having a 'brighter is better' contest then this may not be the one you choose, but as a hint, you might want to get both the H501 and H501W and compare them (it's still within your budget) to see the differences in color rendition.

So, having blown $108 (as zebralight has free shipping it's nett pricing that you see on the site) on 2 Zebralights (i will work on the assumption that you're gonna get both) we're left with $142 for another light (IMAGINE! your budget can get you at least 3 good lights ) what's next?

Having taken care of the close up needs let's examine the thrower requirements, less than 10", throws pretty well. Take a look at the Olight M20 Warrior Premium R2, there is a fantastic review of the light here, the figures on that review show that the Olight has a decent runtime and good throw too. 4 modes, low-med-high-strobe and a wide choice of cells to choose from, well not really, just your basic, CR123, RCR123, 18650. But more on that in a bit. It's also got after market filters and a diffuser so it's a pretty flexible light, if i am not wrong, a fair number of LEOs use this light as a duty light. And that light costs $99.95 (before using "CPF8" discount code when checking out, shipping is free too) which still leaves you some money you can get a charger and some rechargeable cells fr your light, i recommend one loadout with a spare loadout (total of 4 cells) and 2xCR123 non-rechargeables as back ups making a grand total of 6 cells. (this applies to your zebralight as well, carrying spares i mean).

Now the Olight uses different cells and if you do not mind buying CR123s (online is cheaper than getting them in stores) then its no issue. If you would like to stay with AA cells, then the only thrower that i can think of is the Fenix TK20 which is a 2xAA, 2 mode light which is a very decent thrower, it's also tough as nails. The thing is, the tint is not going to be your bluish white light. The TK20's tint is more neutral white as it is meant more for outdoors use but that being said, it still IS a thrower, 100 yards easily done.

There are too many threads on the TK20, just do a search and you will see type "Fenix TK20" and a whole long list of threads will pop up.

Now, cell time. Primary (non-rechargeable) CR123s can cost a fair bit so you might want to think about getting rechargeable cells (RCR123s), the Olight i recommended above can use either CR123s, RCR123s or 18650 cells. A 18650 cell is basically a cell taken from a laptop battery pack but is now commonly being produced and used in flashlights. There are many threads on cells here so i won't get too deep into it save as to recommend that you take some time and head over here and check out the threads on lithium-ion cells before deciding if you want to go the rechargeable route. I will say though, do not get overly paranoid,, just exercise some common sense, get quality cells from a good dealer and you will be fine.

Having common cells for your light is more convenient but as a plumber you'd have a toolkit with you, so carrying different cells won't be much of a problem will it?

Now finally, (as you can see i like talking about flashlights ) you need a backup light for all the lights, something simple, tough and reliable. I have this light which runs of 1xAAA for 10hrs at normal brightness (10 lumens) and another 11 in moonlight mode (which i havent seen yet as my E01 is still on its first cell). It's so tiny that it can go on a keychain or on a necklace and still be unnoticeable till you need it. At $15 (before discount) it's a steal. There are many many other AAA lights out there now, but i am recommending this as the simplest back up light of all. After all, you have the other lights for brighter light, this is just a light in case all else fails and you're left in the dark (10 lumens is a LOT brighter than you'd think, if you don't get any other light, just get this one to try in a pitch black room). If you do a search, you're going to see gripes about the purplish tint of the light etc, this is only obvious close range on a white wall but who the heck cares about the tint when you need light to get you out of a basement?

Okay, that's my 2 cents worth, hope this helps a bit, if you'd like more information, you can also PM me. Cheers.

Oh and I forgot to mention what I have currently is a Coast LED Lenser 7736TS ( I know it's not the greatest but it's worked so far) and what the competition is a Surefire Lumamax L7 (this is what I have to beat hehehe). Thanks for the info on headlamps but they're not really an option as they get in the way as odd as that sounds.