OK I'm hooked, Where do I start?

After finding this sight and seeing the lumen rating people are getting from modded flashlights I feel under lighted, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. The following flashlights are carried by myself in law enforcement. So I am looking for LOTS of Lumens but also a decent run time that can get me through an 8hr but I have in car chargers for the stinger and maglight. Here is what i got

1. Streamlight Poly-Stinger, Incandesent Bulb

2. Streamlight TL-2, Incandesent Bulb

3. Streamlight TL-3, Incandesent Bulb

4. Maglight 4 D cell, rechargable, Incandecent bulb

5. Pelican M1 LED

6. Streamlight DS Poly C4 LED (approx 220 lumen?)

My main concern is getting rid of the incandesent lighting and getting a bright white light. (If they can't see me, I go home safe motto) sorry about the typos

Corey

problem i see is that magcharger and streamlight stinger, although great lights, are of older technology. torches have advanced so much in such a short time. another problem is, if your light dies, you need to place it back on the charging station. i feel batteries are the fast, easy and better way to go. if your batteries are drained, just pop in a couple of new ones, and your ready to go. (also having a backup light is something to consider, especially being a LEO)

surefires are ideal for LEO, and military use. but are pricey, for quality at a more econominal price, check out jetbeams, quarks, olight, fenix.

check out the...
surefire - LX2, E2D Led, E1B, C2, 6p, there are more, those are a few i really like.
jetbeam - jet lll M, M1X, RRT-0, RRT-1, RRT-2.
olight - M series.

another thing, surefires are great for modding! just becareful, you can spent ALOT of time and money, on all the great mods available.

Well, if you have plenty of money, just start shopping. If not, apply for loans immediately and/or as many credit cards as you can get your hands on and that's about it.

Pretty simple, huh?

If you want to start playing around with LED's, I would suggest buying a Surefire 6P with the intention to replace the included P60 module with any of a wide range of interesting options. This and clones (Solarforce, etc) are a lot of fun to play with. . . .

Jetbeam M1X + battery extension tube + quality lithium 18650 cells (make sure they're not the flat-ended type) + a good charger.

When the bezel is fully tightened it will be on max brightness (700 LED lumens). Set the secondary mode to a moderate brightness, probably about equivalent to your current incans. Should have no problem lasting through a shift, but you could keep spare CR123s in your car just in case.

skyfire said:

another thing, surefires are great for modding! just becareful, you can spent ALOT of time and money, on all the great mods available.

Click to expand...

How true. I stayed cleared on Surefire for over a year in the last 3-4 months, I have 3, one of them bored to 18650, considering getting a second one bored, getting 2 more drop-ins in addition to the 2 I have now. Have changed bezel ring, the tailcap, etc. It's an addication. I'm probably on the low-end of the spend compared to what I've read/seen others have done on this great forum but it's hard to stop....

For what's worth, if I would have known what I know now when I got started, I would probably advise myself to pick up a good P60 host based on the battery type and start with the drop-ins. Given the advancement in LED with brighter lights being released every 6-12 months, I think it's more cost effective to change drop-ins versus buying a new light each time. There will be exceptions depending on need.

There is a thread on P60 hosts which will help get you started: https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/186661. But from my limited experience, I have the Surefire C2 (18650), Z2 (currently just cr123 but will likely get it bored to 18650), and G2Z as well as Solarforce L2P (18650) with the Dereelight Javelin (2xAA) on the way. I think anyone who gets into P60 host lights eventually end up purchasing a Surefire C2 so perhaps save yourself a few bucks now and commit to it now . However, I think the Solarforce L2P (a Surefire 6P clone) is a very good host for the price. The benefit is that it is 18650 battery compatible already so no need to get it bored.

As for the drop-ins, there are a few great members here who sell P60/D26 drop-ins with great reputation for quality products. You can find them here: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=40

Good luck and if you are married, keep a seperate account for the lights that you will end up purchasing

Check out the Jetbeam III M or the Eagletac T20C2 MKll both can use either CR123 batterys or one 18650 rechargeable. The Eagletac comes with a holster and you can buy the large Jetbeam holster at the same website as listed below if you use nylon gear. You can also find rechargeable 18650 batterys and charger at both websites if your interested. I almost forgot my favorite Jetbeam the RRT-2 it's very nicely built and has wonderful throw and the metal output selector ring is extremely nice. The RRT-2 also uses 2xCR123 or one 18650 battery and can be carried in the large sized Jetbeam holster.

Jetbeam RRT-2 http://www.bugoutgearusa.com/raptorrrt2.html

T20C2 MKll- http://www.eagletac-usa.com/products/product.aspx?pid=1-3-6861

Jetbeam III M- http://www.bugoutgearusa.com/jemi.html

I would suggest starting in the middle.

Get one or two legends/industry standards that allow you to compare if the next one you get is better or worse. And there will be lots more.

A Fenix LD20 with spare 1xAA tube.
A perfect example of the typical AA multimode, some will be better a lot will be worse.

Surefire 6P
Classic P60 host , play around with drop ins, cells, incans, switches.

Romisen RC-N3
Classic China light, use to compare a lot of worse ones and the odd better one.

Thanks for all the great response, I am looking forward to getting some lights in the future. I am looking at a Terra-lux upgrade for the older stinger and i see that they make a 700 lumen drop in for the maglight does anyone know if i can get LED drop-ins for the TL-2 or TL-3??

For in car rechargeability, look at the Pelican 8060. 6 hrs on a charge and you can drop in 4 C cells if you need longer between charges.