I go walking nightly in my neighborhood at least 2 miles and up to 4 miles. During the walk there are a lot of great 'flashlight proving' dark spots of various ranges along with penetration style tests near bright street lamps. Furthest range is is a big unlit field backed by a tall hill and lots of scrub brush about half a mile in diameter (always the favorite light up spot at the end of the walk).
Over the years I have had a lot of flashlights to bring along with me from old Maglite incandescents to various generations of LEDs but I have pretty much stopped at the LD41 line. I own 2 of the versions, the original 520 lumen and now the latest 960 lumen. Although the newer one is obviously brighter than the original, the use stays the same.
The brightness is not the real selling point here, it is the form and function of the light.
Carrying the light like an ice pick you do notice its size at first but then that is quickly forgotten (I had gone from a Surefire E2D to the LD41). It fits the hand well and it is fairly balanced. What is best about this carry is the power and mode switch buttons. Being a forward clicky, turning on the light at a sound or just to light something up to do a quick check is easy to do. I find that forward clicky switches are my favorite for walks as I rarely turn the light on fully or use it for more than a few seconds here and there. Add to this that the mode switch (which is right above the power button) gives you easy switching to the primary (4) modes and is smaller in diameter which means it is easy to find without having to look. This combination of buttons has been so good that I found myself disliking other configurations even if those lights had better lumens/beam/features/etc. Case in point, I got the wife a Fenix E41 and we both hate it,... size and output are awesome, that button and mode format is so horrible that it is just a nightlight next to the bed now.
With the newer version the output is noticeably higher with a slight range increase of useable brightness but the real nice thing was how they redid the end cap area. They narrowed down and softened the area overall and they changed the build to make tail standing 100% useable. In the older version you could 3 point tail stand by using the extended power button but it was prone to wobbles and falls.
The beam profile is very nice in real life practice, if you light up the area in front of you it lights up everything. Pretty much your complete central view is taken up by the beam. While out there are hills 75-100 yards from the road and it is easy to light up the entire hilltop enough to see what is there. The newer version has a different/more focused hot spot than the original one but that is really the only noticeable difference.
I have been carrying the newer version for a couple months now and it has convinced me to purchase a few more as the primary lights for the house/cars. If something comes along and beats it out I won't be closed minded but I can't seriously think of anything that wouldn't be a direct clone which I would go for.
If you are looking for a (4x) AA light then take a serious look at the LD41 as a general purpose light that does almost everything well, is easy to get anyone using it and won't break the bank.
Over the years I have had a lot of flashlights to bring along with me from old Maglite incandescents to various generations of LEDs but I have pretty much stopped at the LD41 line. I own 2 of the versions, the original 520 lumen and now the latest 960 lumen. Although the newer one is obviously brighter than the original, the use stays the same.
The brightness is not the real selling point here, it is the form and function of the light.
Carrying the light like an ice pick you do notice its size at first but then that is quickly forgotten (I had gone from a Surefire E2D to the LD41). It fits the hand well and it is fairly balanced. What is best about this carry is the power and mode switch buttons. Being a forward clicky, turning on the light at a sound or just to light something up to do a quick check is easy to do. I find that forward clicky switches are my favorite for walks as I rarely turn the light on fully or use it for more than a few seconds here and there. Add to this that the mode switch (which is right above the power button) gives you easy switching to the primary (4) modes and is smaller in diameter which means it is easy to find without having to look. This combination of buttons has been so good that I found myself disliking other configurations even if those lights had better lumens/beam/features/etc. Case in point, I got the wife a Fenix E41 and we both hate it,... size and output are awesome, that button and mode format is so horrible that it is just a nightlight next to the bed now.
With the newer version the output is noticeably higher with a slight range increase of useable brightness but the real nice thing was how they redid the end cap area. They narrowed down and softened the area overall and they changed the build to make tail standing 100% useable. In the older version you could 3 point tail stand by using the extended power button but it was prone to wobbles and falls.
The beam profile is very nice in real life practice, if you light up the area in front of you it lights up everything. Pretty much your complete central view is taken up by the beam. While out there are hills 75-100 yards from the road and it is easy to light up the entire hilltop enough to see what is there. The newer version has a different/more focused hot spot than the original one but that is really the only noticeable difference.
I have been carrying the newer version for a couple months now and it has convinced me to purchase a few more as the primary lights for the house/cars. If something comes along and beats it out I won't be closed minded but I can't seriously think of anything that wouldn't be a direct clone which I would go for.
If you are looking for a (4x) AA light then take a serious look at the LD41 as a general purpose light that does almost everything well, is easy to get anyone using it and won't break the bank.