best durable, multi-mode light for hunting/EDC?

manfred.n.1976

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Joined
Jul 23, 2010
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hello everybody!

i've been reading the forum for quite a while, trying to figure out which manufacturer sells top notch stuff, and what UI and features i'd like to have on my first real EDC/hunting flashlight.
so here's my feature guide:

1) How would you prefer to purchase the light?

____I would like to purchase the light from a brick and mortar store. I am located in ______________.
XXX_I will be mail-ordering or buying online, so this doesn't matter.


2) Budget: An easy question, but you may change your mind after answering the rest! :)

____Less than $25.
____Less than $50.
____Less than $100.
____Less than $150.
____Less than $300.
XXX_I have no limit.
____I'm flexible, tell we what you gotJ.
____Other, please specify ________

since i only want ONE flashlight for now (i know, blasphemy on CPF :whistle:) i don't mind if it's a little more expensive.

3) Format:

XXX_I want a flashlight.
____I want a headlamp.
____I want a lantern.
____I want a dive light.
____I want a portable spotlight.


4) Flashlight-specific format/size:

____Keychain size.
____Every day carry small (2-4 inches).
XXX_Every day carry medium (4-7 inches).
XXX_Holster carry.
____Big enough to need its own travel caseJ.
____I don't care.
____I don't know.
____N/A

what size approximately does holster carry mean? 20 inches?

5) Emitter/Light source:

XXX_LED
____Incandescent
____HID

no-brainer i guess?

6) Manufacturer:

XXX_I want to buy a light from a traditional mass producing manufacturer that is ready to go out of the box.
____I would consider getting a light that is pieced together (for example a "host" or flashlight body from one manufacturer, and a "drop-in" emitter from another source). Under the right circumstances, this option can provide more options to the consumer to meet specific needs.

i would indeed consider a custom made flashlight, if it has the reliability and quality control of a bigger company.

7) What battery type do you want to use?

____I intend to use alkaline batteries (AAA, AA, C, D) (disclaimer, while it does not preclude all choices, these are not recommended for many of today's most powerful lights)
____I intend to use rechargeable nickel chemistry (NiCad, NiMH, NiZn)
XXX_I intend to use lithium primary batteries (CR123, CR2, Energizer Advanced/Ultimate Lithium AA/AAA)
XXX_I intend to use rechargeable lithium (li-ion) chemistry. Feel free to specify a size if you know which size you want (14500, RCR123/16340, 17500, 17670, 18650, etc.)
____I want a light with an integrated rechargeable battery. (Note: these choices may be very limited unless you are looking at spotlights)

originally i only wanted CR123, but since the R17670 offer significantly better runtimes, i might consider going the recharging way.

8) How much genuine out the front (OTF) light do you want/need? Sometimes you can have too much light (trying to read up close up with a 100 lumen light is impossible).

XXX_I want to navigate a dark room or read a map (0-10 lumens).
XXX_I want to walk around an unlit rural area (50-150 lumens).
XXX_I want to illuminate my entire backyard or a campsite (150-300 lumens).
____I want to illuminate an entire field, the neighbor's front yard several houses down, impress my friends and neighbors, etc. (300-700 lumens).
____I walk ridiculous amounts of lumens (800+ lumens).

i'd prefer multiple options between 0 and something around 300 lumens if possible.

9) Throw vs. Flood: At what distance will you be most likely to use this light? Select all that apply.

____Less than 1 yard/meter (reading, other close work)
____Less than 5 yards/meters (looking for something inside a dark shed/garage/basement)
____5-20 yards/meters (check out a noise in the backyard)
____30-50 yards/meters (I have a big backyard)
____50-150 yards/meters (I live in a very rural area/farm with wide open spaces)
____150+ yards (I want maximum throw possible)

all distances apply here, f.e. when i'm out hunting there are large fields with distances up to 200 meters, but for EDC and every day use much smaller distances have to work as well.

10) Runtime: Not over-inflated manufacturer runtime claims, but usable brightness measured from first activation to 50% with new batteries (Measured on maximum output).

____Up to 30 minutes (I want the brightest [and potentially smallest] light for brief periods)
____30-60 minutes (I have plenty of batteries just ready to be changed)
____90-120 minutes (Runtime is moderately important, but still not critical)
XXX_3 hours + (I critically need this light to run for extended periods in between battery changes/charges).

when hunting in the woods at night, i'd really prefer the batteries not to wear out on me, as the hogs tend to be rather dangerous sometimes.

11) Durability/Usage: Generally the old phrase "you get what you pay for" is very accurate for flashlights.

____Not Important (A "night-stand" light).
____Slightly Important (Walks around the neighborhood).
____Very Important (Camping, Backpacking, Car Glove-box).
XXX_Critical (Police, Fire, Search & Rescue, Caving, Survival).
____I don't care.
____I don't know.

same as above, i need to see what's going on around me, to not get surprised by some pigs.

12) Switch Type and location (choose all that apply):

____I want a forward clicky (Helpful for momentary activation and signaling).
____I want a reverse clicky (For use with multi-mode/level lights).
____I want a momentary switch (Predominantly for use with signaling and short bursts of momentary light only).
____I want a twisty switch (twist head to tighten, and the light will stay on until head is loosened).
____I want a body mounted switch (near the head, like on a Maglite).
____I want a tail mounted switch (found on the majority of today's high end lights).
____I don't care.
XXX_I don't know.
____Other, please specify____________________.

well it should easily be operated under stress, on the other hand multiple modes will require some sort of advanced mechanism i guess to be easily accessible?

13) User Interface (UI) and mode selection. Select all that apply.

____A simple on-off is fine for me.
____I want 2 light levels. (Brighter/short runtime and Dimmer/long runtime.)
XXX_I want multiple light levels. (Some lights have 5-16 light levels.)
____I want a programmable light.
____I want a selector ring.
XXX_I want a strobe mode. (Blinks to show location.)
____I want SOS mode.
____I want a beacon mode.
____I don't care.
____I don't know.


14)Material/Finish/Coating

____Plastic/composite body (this may limit your choices significantly).
____Anodized Aluminum – either type II or III (hard anodized) (this is the most common for today's flashlights).
____Stainless steel (durable, but much heavier than aluminum)
____Titanium (durable and nearly as lightweight as aluminum, but can be moderately to significantly more expensive).
____I don't care.
XXX_I don't know.
____Other, please specify____________.

the light will be roughly handled, so it better withstand some abuse, waterproof is necessary as well. is titanium really that much better than aluminium?

15) Special Needs/extras: Is there anything else you want or need that hasn't been mentioned? Select any below.

____Red filter (for preserving night vision).
____Other filter colors (Amber, Green, Blue, _________).
____Dedicated R/G/B secondary LEDs.
____"Hybrid" light (bright incandescent combined with long running LEDs)
XXX_Pocket/belt clip
XXX_Holster
XXX_Wrist/Neck Lanyard
XXX_Crenulated bezel
____Non-sparking Intrinsically Safe (IS) for use in explosive environments

wow, pretty long list!
i'm really interested to see what you guys will come up with, if there even is a light that would fit my preferences.
thanks for sharing your thoughts with me!
 

John_Galt

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 20, 2009
Messages
1,831
Location
SW, PA
I would say that a Ra Clicky is a good fit. Might be slightly expensive, depending on your budget, but meets your requirements.

For the outdoors, consider getting the 100 lumen output High CRI model. Yes, it's "only" 100 lumens, but being high CRI, colors will appear more natural, and realistic, which can make navigating in the woods a lot easier.

The light is totally programmable, each of the four modes can be programmed from any of 22/23 outputs, 3 strobes (a "beacon" type, S-O-S, and a tactical strobe)you can program it so it always turns on at a particular output/mode (the force setting), or disable force setting, so it remembers the last mode you were using, and will turn on in that.
You can enable momentary, if you tend to use the light for a lot of short periods of time.

It has a variety of pocket clips available, and there are several people who make custom ones, as well.

I have a 140narrow, and I love it.
Ra's are extremely durable, user friendly lights. Some of the best I've had the pleasure to use.

They are also the best regulated lights on the market. Their stated runtimes are not to the 50% output mark. They will run dead-flat output for a minimum of an hour, and generally slightly longer than that, so no worries about being left in the dark.

Ra's also have built in Lithium ion battery protection, to keep unprotected li-ion batteries from over-discharging, and damaging themselves.
 

sniper66

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Joined
Apr 29, 2009
Messages
9
For exactly the same purpose I had to choose a hight quality flashlight lately and I bought the JetBeam Jet-III M. I could not be happier!! Sure, it has "only" 2 modes, but that is plenty enough for me - one user defined level + full power. I do not need strobe or beacon, but, if I have a need for it, just a few clicks and i can program whatever I want.

Should you absolutely need more than 2 output levels and strobe, i strongly recommend to have a sharp view on the JetBeam Raptor RRT-2.

JetBeam's are high quality, rock solid and well proven in harsh and rough environment and under the worsest conditions and will really withstand a lot of hard use.
 

manfred.n.1976

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Joined
Jul 23, 2010
Messages
4
the features of the maelstrom G5 indeed look promising, but i've heard about some problems of quarks with quality control, due to production in china?
are these problems still present?

the jetbeams seem to be really nice products, strangely i haven't really heard much about them before...^

edit: i forgot to mention maybe that i'm no real fan of bezel-twisting for changing modes, a simple clicky UI or a selector ring are more to my liking!
 
Last edited:

notsofast

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Dec 27, 2009
Messages
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Location
Vagabond
Of all the light you read about only a few are made in the U.S. Most are made in China.

Quark has a good reputation every company sends out a problem light from time to time.
 

the.Mtn.Man

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Joined
Oct 3, 2008
Messages
2,516
i've heard about some problems of quarks with quality control, due to production in china?
No. The majority of lights 4Sevens sends out are high quality products, but like any company, a dud occasionally makes it past quality control; however, they have good customer service and will get you squared away if there's a problem. There's a lot of vocal dissenters on this forum because they're such popular and low-priced lights, so a lot of people own them, but those experiences represent the minority. I've owned several 4Sevens lights and haven't had a problem with any of them.
 
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somename

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Joined
Feb 22, 2010
Messages
143
Location
Texas
You mention hunting and there are hogs in the area, thus my opinion.

With hogs and other animals around you want a decent amount of light to be able to see, but not so much it alerts other animals to your presence when walking to your hunting location in the dark because it can scare off animals before the sun rises and then your left with a hunt with little to no animals around.

This past fall I was walking to a location in very very thick cover and you had to use a flashlight to stay on the 3ft wide path cut through the brush. So I had to use a flashlight.

In the past I would always walk to hunting spots by the light of the moon since the terrain is usually fairly open in west Texas, but this area had many trees and was close to water.

The first time I went in with a flashlight (turned on only to get through the thick areas) immediately I noticed the birds in the area started 'sounding the alarm' that a human was in the area. As expected the hunting after sun rise was very uneventful with only a few squirrels to watch. No hogs or other animals came by.

After that lesson I started using a cheap hat light with 5 Green 5mm LEDs to light my way through the brush. The colored light never alerted the birds in the area as the white light did.

OK, back to the point. I think based on this finding you may want to consider using a Green (shines furthest) or Red filter during your hunting and you can remove the filters when using for EDC.

My choice is EAGLETAC for 3 reasons.
- You can take the light out of the holster with the filter already on and put it back in the holster with the filter on. With Quarks lights you must find a filter (i.e Fenix modified) and when you pull the light from the holster the filter gets pulled off.
- With a RED filter on the 15 lumen low is about as low as you need. Any lower and you will not be able to see much out of the filter for it to be useful. Also 15 lumen outdoors is about like using a 3AA-LED maglight.
- Quick access between 3 modes Hi-med and then 2 twists and your in low. No reprogramming needed and you still have the momentary on so you don't make a 'click' noise when turning on a light to investigate a noise in the dark.

The T20C2MKII, the P20C2MKII both can use the CR123 and rechargeables are available. The P20C2MKII is smaller so it would be easier to EDC. Both models have a Neutral white tint available at 190 OTF lumens and both should throw well with the T20 being slightly better.

The P20A2MKII is also available using 2xAA cells and the neutral tint is available so it becomes a matter of which battery type you favor.
 

black kamagong

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Mar 22, 2007
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Location
Philippines
For exactly the same purpose I had to choose a hight quality flashlight lately and I bought the JetBeam Jet-III M. I could not be happier!! Sure, it has "only" 2 modes, but that is plenty enough for me - one user defined level + full power. I do not need strobe or beacon, but, if I have a need for it, just a few clicks and i can program whatever I want.

Should you absolutely need more than 2 output levels and strobe, i strongly recommend to have a sharp view on the JetBeam Raptor RRT-2.

JetBeam's are high quality, rock solid and well proven in harsh and rough environment and under the worsest conditions and will really withstand a lot of hard use.

we love the JetBeams ourselves, we shot a RRT-2 and a Jet III M with a 00 buckshot twice and they still kept runing:twothumbs video coming soon
 

fishx65

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Nov 17, 2005
Messages
936
My deer hunting settup is a Solarforce L2 5 mode Cree R2 run with 18650's. I carry a spare 18650 or 2-123's for extra runtime. Pretty sure there are L2 packages available that come with everything including the charger and 18650. I also like my bored 6P for hunting duty but prefer the Solarforce when using a multi-mode dropin.
 

manfred.n.1976

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Joined
Jul 23, 2010
Messages
4
as i mentioned previously, i'd prefer a setup with selection ring, so i just came back to the Fenix TA20, as i find the TA21 to have somehow too many settings, and the TA30 to be too long imo.

any thoughts on those?
 

sniper66

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Apr 29, 2009
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No suggestion on your mentioned Fenix Models, but if you prefer a selector ring, then have really a look at the JetBeam RRT-2. It has a great stainless steel selector ring and everything else you were opting for....
 
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