Only buying one flashlight, which one?

Hey, I have been looking to get a solid flashlight for a while but the vast amount of choices has put me off from actually taking the plunge. Hopefully the following information will help those of you more experienced than I find a flashlight that fits the bill.

Use:
I am looking for a single flashlight which will have to serve many purposes. It will be my camping flashlight, my dog walking flashlight, and my flashlight for whenever I need some extra light. It will also be my bragging flashlight

Size:
I don't care too much about the size as long as it fits comfortably in my hand and isn't too heavy. I don't plan on carrying one around on a belt, but it should fit nicely in a backpack.

Battery:
I don't really care what battery it uses but I would like a decent runtime on the flashlight. Preferably 2+ hours on turbo mode.

Price:
I feel comfortable spending up to $300. Though I'm always willing to spend more for "the best".

So there you have it. What do you guys recommend. I'm sure I would be happy with just about anything you guys recommend as I'm used to the usual fodder found locally at Target =)

Hi, welcome here, you need a Zebralight or a Spark headlamp... Trust me...

i would strongly suggest 2 flash lights in case you loose one or it breaks

I'd definitely suggest a HDS light, if that's your price range. (HDSsystems.com)

Very versatile- user programmable for an amazing variety of uses. The Clickies are slightly tougher, and have better runtimes (on lowest outputs, at least, due to the current overhead of the Rotary as compared to the Clicky)
Very durable- hold one in your hand, and you'd think you're holding a solid bar of aluminum or steel. Potted electronics, dual contact springs, waterproof to 66 feet, very heavy duty all around.
Very efficient- The runtime on high is a minimum of an hour, at a flat output (unless, due to environmental conditions, the LED becomes too hot, then it will ramp down to protect the LED). So the output is exactly the same at 1 second as it is at 59:59+. The Driver also accepts rechargeable cells automatically: it senses them, and will begin monitoring them to make sure the light does not damage the battery. A lot of other lights are "regulated" but not in the same way as the Clicky. They may be initially brighter, but will slowly fade in output over time (although a much slower "ramp down" than an unregulated light.).

I like the Rotary, but have an older gen. Clicky 140. IF you want better throw, check out the 170 (unfortunately not an option for the Rotary), as it uses an LED with a smaller, more intense LED die than the 200's. So it will appear "brighter" than a 200 if shone one next to the other (the hotspot will appear more intense, and therefore throw better).

Get the HDS of your choice, and still have a good bit to spend on another light (or two).

If I could seriously only have one flashlight (boy would that suck!) it would be the Zebralight SC600w. The w (which means neutral in beam color) version should be out within a month. Or, if my needs were that it also needed to have a good amount of throw then I'd go with the 4Sevens X10.

But, opinions are like bad relatives (everybody has one...or 10)! And that's just my opinion.

I've thought about this in terms of "If I could only have one flashlight....." For me, if I could only have ONE it would be my SureFire E2DL.

The Two hours plus on turbo was what made this difficult.
I'd suggest the following:
1 x Fenix TK41
16 x eneloops
1 x Maha MH-C808M 8 bay charger.

That's what I'd get for myself if I were to only get one flashlight, and had the requirements you mentioned.
Also then you have one battery of cells in the torch, and another set on the charger.
You could easily pick all of that up for well under $300.
And all of it is top quality.

A lot of the suggestions already made above won't have anywhere near 2 hours runtime on turbo.

The Zebralight SC600 is another really good suggestion that has already been made, and should have the runtime on the right cell.
My combo there would be:
1 x Zebralight SC600
2 x AW or Redilast 2900 cells
1 x 4Sevens single bay charger.
Again well under $300 and all still great quality.

I forgot the location, but buried somewhere is the flashlight checklist. It is an excellent tool to help a CPF'er choose a light, and to assist others in the search.

Yeah, the 'two hours runtime on turbo mode' severely limits your options... If you drop that requirement to '2 hours runtime on a very usable amount of light', there are dozens of great options.

I'd also agree with the suggestion to get a couple lower-priced lights vs one $300 light.

You could get a couple Solarforce L2T hosts for about $13 each, a couple 3 mode XM-L drop-ins, 4 AW 18650s and a charger from a vendor such as Lighthound... without actually doing the math, should be just a bit over $100 for two very solid flashlights that are very versatile.

For something ready to go out of the box, a couple Fenix TK11s would be a decent choice, along with said 18650s and a charger. That would bump you up to around $200.

Only one? That's like only having one girlfriend. You will get tired of just one.

If I could have only one, it would be something from ZebraLight. Great designs, superb manufacturing for the money, great UI, great output and runtime.

Expand the budget a bit, buy a McGizmo Haiku, fall in love with it, and carry it everywhere. Brag to your friends that you have a custom titanium light made by a really cool guy in Hawaii.

Then, realize that buying just one flashlight is impossible, and buy another one...or 20.

:welcome:

I will recommend Cool Fall Tri-V and ruin all other lights for you.

:hahaha:

Fithos said:

I am looking for a single flashlight...

Click to expand...

That's what we were thinking too when joining this place....

Nap.

At least get two,
one powered by common batteries - Zebralight SC51 or H51 with eneloop AA batteries
another powered by lithium CR123 and 18650 capable. - 4sevens Maelstrom X7 or any light from Surefire.

Zebralights and 4sevens are very versatile lights capable of running on days with single set of batteries.

Howdy Fithos and welcome to CPF,
With your budget you have a lot of choices. The keywords I picked up on in your post were:
camping
dog walking
bragging
comfortable
2 hours on turbo
"best"

It sounds like many of your uses will be for outdoor activities. Up until recently, most LED flashlights used cool white LEDs because they tend to produce the most light per watt (the most efficient), but now that we're getting to the point that we have enough light, many manufacturers are offering LEDs that have a more natural tint, often listed a "Neutral" or "Warm". These new neutral and warm LEDs can make outdoor colors, browns-reds-greens, seem more life like, and can give more dimension to the scenery, making it easier and more enjoyable to navigate outdoors at night, so I would recommend that you investigate those types of lights.

Something else to consider...... there are many types of beam shapes available, from a tight spot, to a very wide and even floody type of beam, and many in between. It sounds like you would benefit from a good combination of both, so keep your eyes open for descriptions of beam profiles.

And VERY important, consider the UI (user interface). How the light gets turned on/off as well as how it changes the levels can vary widely from light to light and can make a big difference in how enjoyable the light is to use.

Some use a side switch, some use a switch on the end cap, and some twist the front back and forth. Some start in the low mode and advance to the brighter levels, while some start in the highest level first. Just one more thing to consider.

You will be reading a lot about batteries here. We tend to like rechargeable batteries, and there are some things you should know about those. Some of them (lithium-ions like RCR123, 18650, 14500 etc) can be a bit tricky to use, so here is a site which offers lots of great info about most of the available types:

Battery University:
http://batteryuniversity.com/

Also, here are some excellent flashlight review sites to help you sort through the many recommendations that you will receive, so that you can compare their features (do note that some of these reviews are a bit dated, but often still quite helpful):

http://www.light-reviews.com/reviews.html
http://www.sliderule.ca/flashlight.htm
http://www.lygte-info.dk/review/Reviews%20UK.html

And try to learn how to use the Google Search box located at the top left of most CPF pages. Leave it check marked for "CPF Only" and will just search through CPF threads. This is very helpful for locating recent threads about a particular light you are interested in.

Mainly, try to not be in a hurry. Plan on spending at least a week or more browsing around CPF and learning all you can, as this will help you spend your money wisely and get exactly the light you are looking for.

Have fun!

Hi Fithos :welcome:

As other suggested I to would choose the Zebralight SC600 it fits your needs well, 750/500 lumens for walking the dog/ camping and a nice low for up close stuff with medium modes in between. I would also highly suggest a nice lightweight headlamp like the Zebralight H501, it runs on a AA and has pretty much the same UI as the SC600 to keep things familiar.

With your budget you can also get a few high quality 18650 battery's like AW or Redilast (2900mah) and a great charger like the Pila Li-Ion charger.

Get some Eneloop AA's for the Zebra H501 and a good quality charger for them like the Maha C9000 or La Cross BC-900 and then wait for the postman and you'll have one heck of a great day.

If I would have known at the time when I got each of those things how great they would end up being and especially if I got them all at one time it would be like Christmas morning but better.

Now seriously... Turbo modes are designed to sacrifice everything else for maximum output. Generally manufacturers target 1 - 1.5 hours on "turbo" or "max" mode. If you lower your expectations to 1.5h you will have way more options.

If you insist in getting 2 hours of max output (a plentiful 800 lumens) and don't mind spending a fortune on batteries (6xCR123 at a time) then I know of one light that might fit the bill - Sunwayman M60R T6.

Nap.

Some good advice earlier I think regarding the Fenix TK41.

Get yourself some Eneloop XX cells and a Maha C808M charger.

The lot comes in under budget and gives you a very bright versatile setup.

The twin switch system is very good I think and the light goes from pretty low with huge runtime to a good high with over 2 hours.

I have used those cells and that charger for some time and found both to be very good.

You also have a charger that can do all your future NiMH cells too.

Light is a nice medium size which sounds like what you are after.

Great all round package.

Like others mentioned, I would also go with a Fenix TK41 + 2 sets of batteries and a charger. This thing throws like an absolute beast, and can go low enough to read a map if necessary.