Light for Service Mechanic

I would like to get my brother in-law a nice led flashlight for use in his work as a service mechanic. I think he has a good re-chargeable for use when is working out of the shop but he needs something when working out of his service truck while on the road. His current light is apparently pretty weak and he takes no small amount of ribbing from his co-workers about it.

I'm thinking something about the size of the G2 or a bit smaller. AA or 123 batteries are probably ok. These guys beat the crap out of their tools so the light needs to be tough, particularly impact resistant. Clicky switch is probably most productive for this application. Throw is probably not that big of deal in this application as he will be working on off-highway equipment all the time.

Easy to use and predictable UI. Strobe and such is fine for comparing lights after work but I doubt he is going to want to cycle through a complex multi-level UI each time he uses it. I suspect low, medium, and high is what's required.

He likes shiny stuff, chrome on his cars etc, so something that had the capability of laying the smack down on his co-workers lights with regards to brightness And had some shiny bling would probably be good. And if it happens to work well for the particular application that would be a bonus.

Another thing that would be nice but maybe not required is a light that was made in the U.S. and preferably if it actually said that on the light. The crews he works with are big on using U.S. made tools and you just don't show up on the job site with harbor freight stuff on your truck or you might not be on that job site very long. As a practical matter I don't know how much this applies to flashlights so much as other tools such as wrenches, power tools, welding machines and the like but if the light was made in the U.S.A and particularly if said as much on the light, that would be a good thing.

Thanks!

Wrace- may be out of the price range, but a Nitrolon Surefire G2 with a lower -powered Malkoff Devices dropin meets most of your criteria. These can be made a clicky IIRC, with a switch kit from the B/S/T, the seller's name escapes me at the moment. It is a regular offering, however, not a one-off item. You can always get an Al. Surefire head and upgrade to a higher powered dropin if needed. In my experience, the Nitrolon bodies hold up well under abusive conditions, and the twisty is not really a hinderance. I think the lower powered Malkoff dropins are around 130 lumens or so, plenty bright at night. I run a Low Flood in mine, works great as a work light. Only a single level, but bomb proof. For what it is worth, I have been a mechanic for almost 25 years now, so there is some experience talking.

My cousing uses a 2D Mag P7 direct drive with D2flex switch and 3 NiMH C cells.

He needs a long handle because he holds the light with his neck/shoulder while his hands are free to work. He did have a skinny DX/ebay Romison type of light that uses 2 18650's but likes the bigger handle for neck/shoulder use.

And we though handles were for the hands only.I offered him a 6P and he said how am I going to hold it?

It's not shiny and it uses 3 AAA batteries, but the maglite xl100 is pretty nice. I've been using it to work on my volvo and it's been a champ. But if he really needs something tough, I don't think it gets much better than the Ra Twisty. I wish I still had mine...

these are made in az check out the close out page

http://www.em-mgt.com/LED/Specials.html

surefire G3, C3 or 9P. its longer. then get a malkoff drop in, or a MC-E or SST-50 drop-in. for more spill.

olight M30, its made in china, but it looks great, its pretty long from about 7-9 inches, has a very wide and bright spill, with a wide hotspot.

You could buy an entire light from malkoff I think. Probably cheaper than getting a surefire just to use as a host.

scout24 said:

I think the lower powered Malkoff dropins are around 130 lumens or so, plenty bright at night. I run a Low Flood in mine, works great as a work light.

Click to expand...

Like this one?
http://www.malkoffdevices.com/shop/m60lf-low-output-flood-to-fit-a-surefire-flashlight-p-23.html

Don't suppose you can buy the G2 body only for less than a G2 for a donor body?

Still looking for the clicky switch replacement guy.

I work at a repair shop and every mechanic there uses a rechargeable light that has a base/charger. The split is pretty much 50/50 between Streamlight and Maglite. Half of them have converted to LED and like them a lot. The latest purchase in the shop has been a rechargeable Streamlight. If I recall correctly it was around $120 for the light, base and 2 battery packs. It's very bright and very durable.

Keep in mind that the light will be dropped... A LOT.