My beloved EDC needs an upgrade

fortunesfool · Oct 7, 2017

After reading many reviews on this site a few years back, I decided to go for a:[h=1]DQG Ti V3 XP-G2 R5 Titanium Alloy EDC Mini LED Flashlight[/h]
It fit my needs well and was an excellent key chain flashlight. After 4 years of bashing about in my pocket and a LOT of use, it finally stopped working and now I'm left with a question...

Should I just purchase another one? Or has technology increased enough since then that it is now outdated and there are other better flashlights for me to purchase? I know it's a push, but I really am a fan of titanium, so if you can recommend a better flashlight that is also made of titanium, then you will be my best friend.

Gunner12 · Oct 7, 2017

I had similar one! (DQG Tiny in SS, instead of Ti, gave it a to a friend a year and a half back)

As for light output, from what I've noticed, LEDs have gotten brighter but the bigger thing for me is that good color rendering LEDs are also more available (Nichia 219 being the big one).

For Ti lights, Thrunite has their Ti AAA light (a few years old), Lumitop has their Tool Ti (A bit longer since it has a clickie), Maratac has a their REV AAA light in Ti as well (also a few years old). None of them are that much better in terms of output than the DQG Ti.
Unless you plan on moving away from AAA flashlights, you could probably stick with another DQG Ti V3... If you don't mine non-replaceable batteries, the Nitecore Tube or Nitecore Tip both are nice. They both have a micro USB port for recharging, no Ti version though.

fortunesfool · Oct 8, 2017

Gunner12 said:
I had similar one! (DQG Tiny in SS, instead of Ti, gave it a to a friend a year and a half back)

As for light output, from what I've noticed, LEDs have gotten brighter but the bigger thing for me is that good color rendering LEDs are also more available (Nichia 219 being the big one).

For Ti lights, Thrunite has their Ti AAA light (a few years old), Lumitop has their Tool Ti (A bit longer since it has a clickie), Maratac has a their REV AAA light in Ti as well (also a few years old). None of them are that much better in terms of output than the DQG Ti.
Unless you plan on moving away from AAA flashlights, you could probably stick with another DQG Ti V3... If you don't mine non-replaceable batteries, the Nitecore Tube or Nitecore Tip both are nice. They both have a micro USB port for recharging, no Ti version though.

I actually still have a functioning DQG Tiny in SS. It's just a little bigger than I want on my keychain, otherwise I'd go straight to using that (also I was foolish and didn't purchase a clip for it). As I like having a flashlight that uses the readily available AAA batteries in case of an emergency.

So... questions. Nichia... What makes the colour rendering better? Because the ones I've quickly looked at seem to have less lumens than a straightforward Cree (I could be wrong). I know Nichia seems to have a yellowish tint to it, which one could argue is better for preserving night vision compared a cool blue tint. Is this the only difference?

Gunner12 · Oct 9, 2017

Sounds like another DQG TI might be the best choice. Not many lights that small unless you go for a custom light.

Yeah, the higher CRI lights do have less output than the normal Cree LED lights. The better color rendering comes from a more even spectrum of light:

F21-10%20Electroluminescence%20spectra.jpg

It's a bit more than tint. Think of the normal LEDs as the original florescent lights, with a cool, blue, and odd looking tint (to my eyes at least) and the higher CRI LEDs being the more modern warm/soft white CFL lights. You could have a cool white LED with good CRI, or a yellow light with bad CRI (think the yellow low pressure sodium street lamps, warm but bad color rendering). Cree also makes higher CRI LEDs, and some Nichia LEDs aren't high CRI, so you'll have to look at the flashlight specs.

My beloved EDC needs an upgrade

fortunesfool

Newly Enlightened

Gunner12

Flashaholic

fortunesfool

Newly Enlightened

Gunner12

Flashaholic

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