What is your current favorite practical light?

In another thread a member mentioned in their view many lights today are not practical. Another member posed the question "what is your favorite practical light?"

It started out as meant for todays lights being ridiculously bright……too bright in the one person's mind. So what is practical for you the reader of this thread? Practical could mean what size it is, how powerful it is, what fuel it uses, the tint, the color rendition, or other reasons.

To me practical is one I can easily carry in my trouser pocket with a hi/me/lo and can easily light up a basketball court sized area.
How about you?

For me, its not even close. My #1 practical flashlight is my Zebralight SC64w Hi. Excellent battery life, intuitive user interface, easy access to the brightness I desire, amazing small EDC size, excellent moonlight mode (.06 lumens) with plenty of brightness at high. Also, in one year of carrying it, I've never had an accidental activation in my pocket.

It checks every box.

My most practical and most used light is a Malkoff MDC with a VME head to take Malkoff M dropins. I use it with a M61WLL. It's the perfect size for my hand, the clip is better than on any other light, forward tail switch, tail stand capable, 3000k hi CRI and 80 Lumens is a perfect compromise for close-up and area illumination. I carry it clipped to my belt, and it together with a MD2 always sits next to me on my desk.

If I need more light then that a Malkoff MD2 with a M61W or a Surefire Fury (400- and 500Lm respectively) is what I go for. I carry the MD2/Fury in a Vega brand leather holster on my belt. When carrying the MD2 or Fury, I usually dont also carry the MDC.

Good question Mr Fixer!

I think that my favorite practical light is my Niteye MSC20.
It is relatively old, in that it was produced when the XML led was the hottest led, and the XML2 wasn't produced yet. However the qualities of the XML is everything that the XML2 has, except the XML2 is a little more efficient and can be a little brighter.

subwoofer did an excellent review here:
For a short time the magnetic switch was all the rave!
I didn't pocket carry it much because it activated in my pocket a few times, and I didn't want to have to do a tail-cap lockout.

Today I glanced through subwoofer's review, and found that if I turned the light off by way of the tail switch, instead of the magnetic twist switch (which is really cool) then there would not have been any accidental activation.

My overall favorite practical light is the Convoy S2+

Practical does the job without fuss. I'm a similar boat Byk- 2-3 mode, easy to grab, bright enough. I think another thing that plays into my head is overall efficiency, I'll sooner grab a light I know that is more efficient as I feel like it is likely to have more battery (ironically I know this likely means these light have LESS charge b/c I use them but I digress....)

I can never just answer one, of course. First place I think to answer your questions, it's my Malkff Hound Dog XT 18650- I know whatever I want to see in my area, I'll see it. Inside or outside, and I can do it in my crowded neighborhood without too much flowing over the edges of what I'm looking at. I haven't yet needed the high output.

My most used "practical" light would probably have to be my Surefire C3 w/ W M61 LLLL and Tricap. Light sees more use than anything, 20~ lm is perfect for nighttime use, even outside walking around. It's just my most used light (mostly for late night bathroom or such 'bumps' in the night).

Honorable mention would have to go to my Zebralight H600c mkIV, headlamps are invaluable working on my car, guns, or other flashlights!

Yes, good down to earth question…

Modes- moonlight, med, and high, up to about 150-200 lumens.
Good battery life on a single AA battery
Easy pocket size around 3-31/2in

Thrunite T10 II


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

My HDS Rotary. Sometimes on the 1x123 body and sometimes on the 18680 tube. And sometimes with a diffuser on the front. So versatile and easy to use, strong and reliable.

Streamlight 1L-1AA.

350 Lumens. 4.25" OAL. Well built. Runs on a single CR123A or AA. (150L on AA Battery).

Practical.

Ah. I was that guy. Lol. I'll say the same here.
For EDC LED: Streamlight 1l-1AA. This is such a great light for so many reasons and is almost always in my pocket.
Incan EDC: A lumens factory e2e clone?(I don't know what to call this and it's far too good to be called and knock off) with 2x imr 18350 and lf ho-e2r. A nice solid around 100 lumen output of nice incandescent light.
Walking, carrying, led light: currently another streamlight. An older polystinger with the xr-e led at 180 lumens. This still has the best LED beam I've ever seen. That being said it's also powered by an old non-LSD Nicad battery. So I never know the state of charge unless if I keep it plugged in. And is slowly being taken over as my favorite by the Maglite ML50 LX. It can take 3C, 3x nimh AA in adaptors, 3x l91 in adaptors, and even an 18650 or 21700 in an adaptor. Blazing 700 lumen high for reaching out there but also a very useful 100l low and 20l eco modes. Great grip and feel. I really like this light.
And last.but not least. A walking/carry Incan: Another maglite. A pre serial number 3C with 2x 18650 in a home turned holder and a 5c maglite bulb. With a kaidomain orange peel reflector and air coated lens. I would put the output to around 150 lumens. With fantastic throw and spill. And will last about two and a half hours on a charge before any noticeable dimming. Because I'm over driving the bulb it's very white but also seems to be lasting a long time.

At this point I no longer have lights that have extremely high outputs. Even the 700 lumen of that mag light I feel is too much for my needs. But it sure is fun to point it at something.

Anyway those are my most practical and favorite lights

Key chain: LED Solitaire (older, more throwy 37 lumen version)

EDC: Streamlight 1L-1AA.

General Purpose Lights: Mag AAA LED Mini Mag (older, more throwy 98 lumen version) , 2C ML25, 2 Cand 3C ML50 and 3D ML300.

Headlamp/multifunction: Stremlight Compact II – The Swiss Army Knife of lights.

Best Value: Maglite 2C ML25 (192 lumen dual mode version).

Some cheaper lights/Honorable mention:

Fulton MX991 angle head w/55 lumen Nite Ize LED – I have been using this a lot lately as a lantern with a 3D printed diffuser.

Defiant Armour Max Headlamp – Cheap but very rugged, no longer being made, unfortunately.

3 AA Life Gear 100 lumen Flashlight/Lantern – Not built to last a lifetime, but very useful for a cheap light/lantern.

My general dog-walking and initial go-to project lights vary between my Emisar D4's and my FW3A's.

Yes. Yes. I'm well aware that these are broadly known as 'pocket rocket' lights with an advertised ~4000 and ~3000 lumen respective 'turbo' output sustainable for mere seconds before step down. And I occasionally use such output with them, well aware of the heat being generated and typically reduce output well in advance of the microcontroller making that decision for me. But these lights' figurative 'day job' is as a <400 lumen sustained general-purpose flashlight, a role I find they perform quite satisfyingly.

One of the D4's and both of the FW3A's have the frosty optic, which I find most useful for short- to medium-range tasks: lighting up a room, walking the dogs (~2m fixed leads), performing tasks, projects around the house. More than 95% of the time I need to illuminate something no more than 10 meters away. The D4 with the original stock optic has a beam that's a tad too tight for my purposes. I also have a D4S whose tighter than the stock D4's optic I've been meaning to replace with something wider.

Some people like Anduril (and related), some hate it. I'm generally in the former camp, although I have my nitpicks. I'd rather the D4's had Anduril rather than being older models that run one of its ancestors (no stepped ramping), but that's not a big issue for me.

I'm back to carrying my ET 2014 D25C Ti clicky.

It's bright enough for limited usages, it has decent mode spacing and it's slender/light...disappearing in my pocket and it's tough as nails.

Chris

Water proof also plays a role in my terms of practical.
A IPX8 flashlight by PK in a snow drift.


This one…… to me is not practical

PK built the worlds largest flashlight a couple years ago.

Again, water proof is good.

My daily carry PR-1 in a thunderstorm

And it's gotta be tough

PR-1 = 1
Concrete = 0




Only question is which practical one to carry today

Practical for me is my HDS rotary, easy access to my set modes (so as to keep an eye on runtimes) and of course the rotary dial for in between those modes. In the city where there is tons of light pollution, I turn on to a higher level and than dial it down.
I have the NLT and have DC-Fix on it, blending the beam but having ability to increase the throw by taking the film off.

My next practical light is my ZL H52fw but ever since I got the H600fc it takes a backseat because I like the tint of the fc so much more. In practice, I used to carry the smaller headlamp more often because it's so small but didn't like the tint as much as the H600fc. I really would like a new cr123 version of the fc for added runtime and compactness.

"Another member posed the question "what is your favorite practical light?" "

Me again. My favorite lights are not practical. My practical lights are not my favorite.

My current edcs are D4V2 vn W2 and EC03. My current favorite light is GT94. 4 x 90.2. So exciting! Yay! So impractical. Oh well. Whatever. Nevermind.



My lights.

My favourite practical light is my Convoy S2 (not S2+, S2). It's a tube light with low profile, it sits well in my hand, the XM-L2 in it provides all the light I need and the deep reflector puts that light where I most often use it, a tight cone without wasted spill. The Biscotti driver means I can have whatever mode sequence and output limitations I need, and the 18650 battery is so fat and full of juice that even a 2200mAh cell goes for several weeks without seeing a charger. Oh, and the tail switch is completely encircled, so accidental activation is practically impossible, unlike my lights with thumb cutouts.

FourSevens Quark Mk3 16650 battery. It also has the best implementation of a pocket clip I have seen yet. Easily replacable, no non sense, and secure. I need to get one of their deep pocket clips for it too.

I love my NE KR4, but it has me appreciating my NC D11.2 more. Two things about the D11 make it my favorite practical light; ramping output and pocketable size.

GREENREBELLION said:

For me, its not even close. My #1 practical flashlight is my Zebralight SC64w Hi.

Click to expand...

Same here; it's the single best all-around flashlight I've ever seen.


That wasn't the question, though.
My current favorite, which instantly displaced my SC64w HI as EDC, is a Malkoff MDC HA CR123 w/4000K SST-20 emitter. While inferior to the SC64w HI in most ways, it has even better tint and color rendition, and a better clip. Basically the same size, and the modes and runtimes are more than adequate for my actual uses, so it's practical. I prefer the ergos and tailswitch, so it's my favorite.
Wonderful flashlights!

Current most grabbed "practical" light for me is a Streamlight Macrostream USB. Not my favorite flashlight, but my favorite do-it-all practical EDC light... especially if I know it's going to get dirty.