New Member: Best LED Flashlight between $50-$70 and between $100-$120.

Hi, I just joined up today, and had a basic question about which LED flashlight to buy....

I just yesterday realized that the selection and quality of flashlights is as enormous as it is. There seem to be an endless number of seemingly higher quality manufacturers out there, who make an even more endless number of different flashlight models.

So I spent about 5 hours looking into it yesterday, and 2 more today, but I still have not begun to scratch the surface of whats available.:thinking:

I looked into a new headlamp back in 2007, because I was getting back into backpacking/camping again, and they werent around back in the early 90's when I used to backpack, so I had lots of research to do, and it took many hours to find the right one. I finally looked into a flashlight review sight that gave a good review for a little known headlamp called the LED Duet, and it had most of the same features of a Princeton Tech unit that costed 2.5 times more, so I bought it and it is great so far.

But the selection of LED flashlights seriously seems to dwarf the headlamps, and I simply dont have the time to spend 100-300 hours learning about every detail of every flashlight being produced, so thats why I am asking this simple question....

Which lights in the $50-$70 range and the $100-$120 range do you like best, with overall toughness, brightness, quality of beam, battery life, etc being the parameters to judge by?

I've looked into the Fenix PD-30 in the $50-$70 range, and the Fenix TK-35 in the $100-$120 range. They both SEEM to be pretty well made with good reviews.

I've also looked into Olights and Sunwaymans as well, but have seen a few not so great reviews for a few Olights. I've noticed that the Surefires are a bit more expensive than comparable flashlights as well, but with good reviews. I looked into Gerbers, because I've owned a few nice Gerber knives, but the Gerbers didnt seem as nice as the Fenix's of similar cost.

This is what I've figured out in the 7-8 hours I've spent so far.

What I'm looking for is a $50-$70 light as a smaller, lighter piece that can be carried on camping trips, in the glove compartment of my car, etc. But the $100-$120 model would be for around the home during a blackout and such, and therefore needs to be brighter, but can also be larger.

Hope this question wasnt against the rules or anything, as I'd spend the time to do the enormous research if I had the time. But I dont, so that why I came here.

Thanks in advance.........Patrick

for the 100 range check out the zebralight sc600. im a huge fenix fan myself and most of my lights are fenix but ive been wanting this light for a while now. if you dont mind the size the tk35 is a great choice

Sounds like you are on the right track with the lights you are considering. You might want to copy/paste this checklist and post it with your preferences. Do you care about tint, number of modes, battery type, throw, etc.?

You have done well with your initial research. I have a few of the lights you mention here and offer the following:

The Feix PD30 is a great starter light for Every Day Carry (EDC). The Tk-35 is also a great high power starter light for playing around and keeping at home for when there is a bump in the night. I find sometimes I get stuck in the "what is the best" line of thinking, rather than "is this a good quality light for the price". Sometimes we end up splitting hairs on little features here an there. My experience with some differnet vendors:

4 Sevens, Olight, Lumintop, Fenix, Jetbeam, Solarforce, Nitecore, Novatac: All very good quality at decent prices. I have these brands and would/do use them as my goto light in emergency as well as daily situations.

TyJo said:

Sounds like you are on the right track with the lights you are considering. You might want to copy/paste this checklist and post it with your preferences. Do you care about tint, number of modes, battery type, throw, etc.?

Click to expand...

I'm new here too--that checklist is a great tool ! I just bought my first 'serious' flashlight less than a month ago--a Fenix TK15. I love it. It's bulit like a tank, very solid,
has 4 brightness levels, 336 lumens max, plus strobe (activated by a button on the side near the head). I have already discovered I like clicky better than twisty. Anyway, this is my EDC light for now-the only thing I don't like about it is that it doesn't stand on it's tail, but I've found something to prop it up with to use as a candle. It can really light up a room and has good throw, too--advertised as 215 meters, but not very bright at that distance--more like 100 meters with decent illumination. I'm salivating over the TK35 now. I don't know that I really NEED it,
but I sure WANT one. I can only imagine what 820 lumens would be like!.

Go with ARC AAA on the keyring for EDC, Fenix for AA in the glove compartment/hand bag, SureFire for 1-2 x 123A walkabout.

TyJo said:

Sounds like you are on the right track with the lights you are considering. You might want to copy/paste this checklist and post it with your preferences. Do you care about tint, number of modes, battery type, throw, etc.?

Click to expand...

First of all: (1.) I have not physically checked out enough LED flashlights to be able to discern the differences in tint. 2. I have no previous experience with many of these newer(?) battery types that seem to be common in these LED flashlights, so I'm not sure which is the better choice. 3. As far as modes go, I'm mainly interested in the ability to have a low, medium, high and maybe a 4th power setting, and strobe. Apart from that, I have not really considered any other modes yet. 4. I assume throw means range. If so, that would be somewhat important too.

drow said:

Go with ARC AAA on the keyring for EDC

Click to expand...

With all the multi-mode high power AAA lights available now, the ARC AAA seems like a curious recommendation. Could you please give some explanation on why you made that suggestion?

I'm on the verge of purchasing an ARC AAA for my own reasons, but I don't think it would end up on my short list of lights to recommend to new members.

--flatline