newbie recommendation

Hi everyone,

I'm still learning a lot from the great resources on the forums and I'm looking for a recommendation. Right now, I have a Draco on my keychain for fixing my PC, home wiring and plumbing. But I realized the short battery life is limiting me. I'm also looking for a good flashlight for camping so a larger more durable light would be great. So here are the specs I'm looking for (any help would be great!):

1) How would you prefer to purchase the light?
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 $300.

3) Format:

____I want a flashlight.

4) Flashlight-specific format/size:

____Every day carry medium (4-7 inches).

5) Emitter/Light source:

____LED (known for efficiency, longevity, and compactness)

6) Manufacturer:

____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 path can provide more options to the consumer to meet specific needs, and can often be easily upgradeable as technology improves.


7) What battery type do you want to use?

____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.)

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).

____I want to illuminate my entire backyard or a campsite (150-300 lumens). or more

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

____30-50 yards/meters (I have a big backyard) or more

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

____90-120+ minutes (Runtime is moderately important, but still not critical) or even more

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

____Very Important (Camping, Backpacking, Car Glove-box).

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

____I want a reverse clicky (For use with multi-mode/level lights). or
____I want a tail mounted switch (found on the majority of today's high end lights).

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

____I want 2 light levels. (Brighter/short runtime and Dimmer/long runtime.)
____I want multiple light levels. (Some lights have 5-16 light levels.)
____I want a strobe mode. (Blinks to show location.)

14)Material/Finish/Coating

____Anodized Aluminum – either type II or III (Hard Anodized) (Aluminum, specifically HA, is the most common material/finish for today's flashlights).
____Titanium (durable and nearly as lightweight as aluminum, but can be moderately to significantly more expensive)

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

____Pocket/belt clip if possible
____Wrist/Neck Lanyard if possible

I would check out some of the Zebralight models (maybe the sc31 or sc60). Most are available with some choice of beam tints plus flood or regular beam and are not extremely expensive in case you lose it camping....Robert.

There are quite a few lights that might meet your needs.

For putting together a light from parts, consider getting a Surefire 6P, there are tons of dropins and other parts for those; or a Solarforce for similar mods. Or if you just want to be able to swap parts around (called "lego" around here), 4Sevens Quark series is good for that.

Even though you specified you want Li-Ion, I'd suggest making sure that a light can also take primary batteries, for emergency backup. For instance, most lights that take a 18650 can also take 2 CR123 batteries.

Be sure to read up on Lithium Ion safety.

For the high lumens you say you want, one of the current crop of XM-L based lights would probably work well. Just poke around in recent reviews of such lights, in http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?19 or http://light-reviews.com/