Need help picking two LED lights as gifts for my non-Flash-a-holic friends

Ok guys, I need your input on this one. I have two friends, a young husband and wife, who aren't into flashlights at all. They are impressed when I come over and show them my lights, but otherwise they are complete newbs. I want to give them some quality LED lights they will really appreciate / use / think-is-cool. They won't need them for any particular purpose, just general use around the house and out-and-about... I know that's vague but remember these guys will be happy with much less than it takes to please a serious CPF-er... they are use to plastic EverReady $1 Wally World flashlights. I think they do have a 3D Mag however so a drop in might be a possibility there.

With that in mind, here's the parameters which we'll shoot for...

For the HUSBAND...

1. Has to be really slick / cool / tacti-cool looking. (a pocket clip would be cool, too).

2. Must be at LEAST 150+ lumens OUT-THE-FRONT (or 200 emitter lumens).

3. Must use 1 or more common AA primary batteries. (I'm going to give them some Energizer Lithium AA's to start them out, but I think going with any rechargable system would be a bit too much for them... remember, casual use for novices).

4. Fairly simple UI. No programming (even set and forget is out). Simple easy operation... hopefully one-handed operation too.

5. No preference on tint, throw, flood, OP, Smooth, etc.

6. Probably a rear tail-cap clicky will be best, rather than a twisty.

7. No more expensive than around $50 (roughly)

For the WIFE...

8. Either a purse or keychain LED light of decent output (around 100 or more lumens, maybe?)

9. Must look nice / pleasing to a woman (aesthetically stylish more so than a hard tactical look)

10. Can use either AAA or AA primaries. (pick one or the other)

11. 2-mode limit with very simple UI.

12. No preference on tint, throw, flood, OP, Smooth, etc.

13. Probably a twisty would be better (to avoid accidental turn-on while in her purse). Or clicky if it can be "locked-out".

14. No more expensive than around $30 (roughly).

So the total should be around $80 give or take for both lights. I'm trying not to go with cheap DX-style lights, but I may have to at these price points.

Let me know if I missed anything, or if you need more info. When you quote my parameters, use the number to reference which you are talking about.

Thanks in advance for all the input!

My Suggestions, for what its worth .

For Him:
The older 4Sevens Quarks are on sale right now...
Quark R2 AA = $48.45 (before CPF discount)
http://www.4sevens.com/product_info.php?cPath=297_365&products_id=2073

Quark R2 AA^2 = $50.15 (before CPF discount)
http://www.4sevens.com/product_info.php?cPath=297_365&products_id=2074

For Her:
4 Sevens Preon Your Choice of Color for $37 (before CPF discount)
http://www.4sevens.com/index.php?cPath=297_332_366

Wow... I thought I'd have more responses / help than this. What's happened to CPF? In the "old days" I would have had like 10 replies by now. I guess nobody likes me.

him:

really slick cool and over 150lm and AA driven and still just under 50$ and simple to use. and to get that lumen amount you must have 2 batteries.

to get that lumen amount and keep it under 50 it gets tricky. real tricky. (cant think of any worthy that fit your demands)

quark 2AA tactical is nice option BUT it doesnt fit to this " No programming (even set and forget is out)" it has to be programmed atleast once.

eagletac.. hmm the p10a2 is gone.. the newer models are more expensive.
p100a2 dont have a clip.

fenix tk20.. too little output.

her:
2 mode limit? ugh. preon and mini are out. so is itp a3. maybe nitecore ezaa? (women (and men) i know do seem to like the itp a3.. it starts on medium so it is plenty for most tasks) and for 21 dollars its hard to beat.

For him, around the house, how about the 2*AA Solarforce L2r? In stock form, it looks a bit tactical, can be had with a Hi-Med-Low clicky. And for the price, you will not feel bad if it is ignored, mistreated, or lost. Feed it with Engergizer Lithiums and it should be bright enough to impress the non-flashaholic.

Cree XRE R2 Emitter, Orange Peel/Stipled reflector.
Solarforce 3 Mode with memory. 250+ Lumens at the emitter on High Mode. .8-4.2V

• Modes: 100%, 50%, 10%
• Memory saves the last mode used. Next use of light starts at this mode

IF he likes this, next year you can upgrade him to an 18650 host and a serious drop-in.

I'd go for the Fenix TK20, check it out on ebay, theres some really good deals on it atm.. it may not quite hit 150 otf lumens, but the warm white and incredible toughness of the light easily make up for that in my opinion.

You might also want to check out the new Romisen RC N3 from shiningbeam with XP-G R4, or even the RC-G2, the new driver really means it's putting out a lot of light for it's size.

For her, I would go for the iTP A3, or A2 if you want another aa light. If you go for the A3 then you can get it in a variety of colours she's bound to like more than a plain black or grey one.

yalskey said:

Wow... I thought I'd have more responses / help than this. What's happened to CPF? In the "old days" I would have had like 10 replies by now. I guess nobody likes me.

Click to expand...

yalskey you have been around to know what is reasonable. I feel that your original request is not.
If you want the latest and greatest lumens you will have to put up with the latest and greatest UI - multimodes and or programmability. Worse you will have to put up with the latest and greatest batteries 2*R/CR123A or 18650. Not exactly for non-flashaholics.
To go with common batteries and simple UI you will have to go back a couple generations of lights. Things like the Fenix E-20 or L1/2T v2.0. Then your lumens top out at ~100 lumens.
Yes there are reliable 2AA lights that go up to 200 lumens. But they start at $70 and up. More than the near DX budget you have.
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My gut feel is go with bclark1's suggestions before they are sold out.

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Some time ago Sasha commented she always buy 2 identical lights and give 1 to her hubby. That way they never have to borrow from each other.
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My 2nd gut feel is to get 2*Preon 2s (2*AAA). 160 OTF lumens on max. A blue one for him, a red one for her. (Pick 2 different colours!)
They have more modes than you ask for but
1st click - close in work such as reading menus in dark restaurants.
Click, click - good for indoor use.
Click, click - good for outdoor use.
Just under your budget after the CPF8 discount.
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You may want to mention if they accidentally enter one of the secret modes (unlikely), just click off, wait 3 seconds, click back on and they are back in low again.

Hi there !

I am new to this forum, but i would really like to try to give you an input.

I am not sure what to propose for the wife, but i wondered if you have checked out led lights from Led Lenser.
A friend of mine recently bought a P7 from that company. This is his first led light, and he was extremely satisfied. It has a very strong light, and nice finish.
I have seen it at E-bay for around 60$. If you are lucky you could get it even cheaper ! I had never heard about this brand before my friend bought it. Hope this might help you a little bit, even though it does not answer your specifications all the way! I found your specification a little hard to fulfill.
When it comes to the woman, i think the other has answered it very well.

Good luck !

For Him

TerraLUX LightStar220 or the 180 or to save more money the 3 mode 100 version.


For Her

ITP A3 in a colour.

2 decent lights,he will love the Terralux,rugged nice looking and well built.She will adore the compact and bright ITP in a nice colour.

Thrunite Tikey Made from Titanium alloy also a good choice for her as they are on an offer price for just £8.95 instead of £29.95 from a vendor in the EU.

Plenty left over from your budget for batteries.

This is my Lightstar 100 version which is the cheapest of the 3,have more expensive and brighter lights but really enjoy this light a lot.

The mainstream would be fine here. The tk20 is plenty bright but a little tough on pocket carry. Or the Quark mini aa at $39 is a good choice. for her I have given a total of 5 eos a3 to women and they all use them or carry them in their purse. Fix the week links in the key chain and you have a winner. The mini has to little output the tk20 is very nice especially outdoors. I like te javelin but it is pricey. You could get the host which was $28 when in stck and a p60 drop in like this and for $43 and $21 you have both. Or you could splurge a little on her and get the ss a3 for $33 and $43 for him and be at $76. There you go.

For him: How about the Romisen RC-N3 R4 from shiningbeam? Cheap with plenty of power and you can get it in either 2-mode or single mode.

For her: I agree with any color you want of the ITP A3. I know its three mode, but it should work nicely.

yalskey said:

Wow... I thought I'd have more responses / help than this. What's happened to CPF? In the "old days" I would have had like 10 replies by now. I guess nobody likes me.

Click to expand...

Just my sarcastic side coming out, but you have four years and five hundred posts, and you've got no ideas? While the several other posters who have been around only a few months with few posts between them, all have great ideas.

I admit I've started threads to get attention, and been disappointed when responses are lacking, but "nobody likes me"?? Come on.

Come on now just because he has been around awhile does not mean he doesn't need help, I still ask questions about stuff all the time and remember he is looking for lights for people that seem to be pretty much newbs to lights so the OP may need some help taking a step back and looking at simple AA light's or something he may not have looked at for awhile. I think getting a light for a non-flashaholic is much harder than one for a flashaholic.

I will take a stab at it and say for him one of the Eagletac AAx2 models. There is the older P100 that's less expensive and the new P20a2 MKII with the XP-G. Linked below

http://www.eagletac-usa.com/products/productList.aspx?uid=1-4

A "for her" light is not as easy to get right as I have found out with my wife trying to find the right balance of price, easy to use, harder to activate in purse and looks.

The activation in purse was always the biggest concern for my wife's light and we started with the Fenix L1T and then the L2T there was never any problems with it and the two output modes was easy for her to use just twisting the head. She actually preferred the L2T because she found the extra length helpful trying to dig it out of her purse in the dark. Hope this helps.

http://www.4sevens.com/index.php?cPath=22&osCsid=1300d6a163d65b0c5c931cc3cbb7c595

jhc37013 said:

Come on now just because he has been around awhile does not mean he doesn't need help

Click to expand...

True for all of us, I apologize for my knee-jerk reaction to his knee-jerk reaction. It certainly wasn't up to CPF standards.


My vote is a Quark taactical for him and a red Preon I in red, as it's a lipstick-like container.

I would go for a 2xAA Quark for him, probably a regular,or an Eagletac 2xAA P series. And an Icon Modus 1xAA for her.

I just go for one brand only. ITP
For the husband: SA1/2 (depend 1xAA or 2xAA) Eluma. for SA1 eluma to reach 150 lumens you need 14500.

for the wife: like the other said, go for A2 / A3 eos.

and that's it. i think those two meets your criteria.

150+ lumens on a single AA will be difficult, but I'm betting that the Nitecore D10 gets there as I believe it may be brighter than the reported 145 lumens output. I got one recently and love it but from what I've read on these forums, this light is not recommended for non flashaholics...but maybe others could chime in on that. Also, the cost with a clip (including CPF discount) would be $54 to your door...slightly above your budget.

I say go for the RC-n3 R4 that Bryan is carrying now.....versatile when it comes to cells and you may never know he might even edc the light. An Olight T10 with T15 tube is nice as well.....as it runs off one AA and one cr123 or 16340.

bclark1 said:

My Suggestions, for what its worth .

For Him:
The older 4Sevens Quarks are on sale right now...
Quark R2 AA = $48.45 (before CPF discount)
http://www.4sevens.com/product_info.php?cPath=297_365&products_id=2073

Quark R2 AA^2 = $50.15 (before CPF discount)
http://www.4sevens.com/product_info.php?cPath=297_365&products_id=2074

For Her:
4 Sevens Preon Your Choice of Color for $37 (before CPF discount)
http://www.4sevens.com/index.php?cPath=297_332_366

Click to expand...

I was going to suggest that.

oh oh ....most importantly....
Is this gift for a calender event? If it's NOT time sensitive and you can be patient to wait and wait until the gift will have the most impact and usefulness, it may be best to wait until winter when it gets so dark so early. If you give it during summer and they're the early to bed early to rise type, it may be months before they "have to" use their shiny new lights and may have completely forgotten them by then.