Arc, fire~fly II, or... longbow micra?

Arc, fire~fly II, or... longbow micra?

I have been wanting an arc lsh-p or +4 premium, but i saw the fire~fly II and then the long bow micra.
Hanging here i have learned a bit about the ARC, but the FF II and micra sound like very good alternative's. ESP the LB, seem's to be as bright and well made, and haven't seen it have any issue's some of the other's have been through.
would this be a good highend EDC/123 luxeon for a first time buyer? I like reliability out of the box, and not have to do a lot of tricks to get an optimum light. discuss. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twakfl.gif VDG

Re: Arc, fire~fly II, or... longbow micra?

For out of the box reliability I think you're limited to the LB or the LSH.
Out of the package, the Arc4 will outthrow all of the others because of its reflector (if it even turns on that is /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin07.gif -- switch problems still seem to abound)
A reflector can be added to all of the others with the LB being the easiest to retrofit followed by the FF -- the LSH pretty much needs an experienced modder.
If you'd rather have a flood type light then the Arc4 might not be to your liking.
My personal nod would go to the LB with an added reflector (or without if you like flood -- I don't).

Re: Arc, fire~fly II, or... longbow micra?

I have all of these and multiples of the ARC LSH-P and the Fire~Fly.

I would not recommend the Micra because of its size and a less efficient converter board. It is well made and would be OK with a holster.

I EDC a ARC4x in a holster. I used to EDC a ARC LSH-P in the same RipOffs holster. If you are going to use a holster I would recommend a ARC LSH-P or a ARC4+.

If you are going to EDC your light in a pants pocket I recommend a Fire~Fly because of size.

I like the pocket clip on the ARC4 for clipping on a ball cap for a quick but temporary headlamp.

Other lights to consider that are about the same size as the LB Micra are:
Surefire E1e/KL1
Surefire E1e/KL4
McLux 1x123
Aleph 1x123

Of the lights you asked about I prefer the ARC LS and the Fire~Fly.

I have had ARC LSL-S, LSL-P, LSH-S, LSH-P, LSHF-P. Of these I prefer the LSH-P because of it's nice white beam with nice spill light. The LSHF-P uses a Fraen LP optic, which gives a large hot spot without any spill light. Any of the ARC LS lights are quite useable, but the LSL-Ss (3) that I had all had purple tints.

Don't forget to get a ARC AAA too.

Re: Arc, fire~fly II, or... longbow micra?

You might want to consider the Nuwai Quantum III as well. For 58, it's a great performer right out of the box. There are a couple of threads on it in BST and Reviews.

Re: Arc, fire~fly II, or... longbow micra?

[ QUOTE ]
Hoghead said:
IDon't forget to get a ARC AAA too.

[/ QUOTE ]

Believe me i won't that little darling is near the top of my list. just very back ordered right now.

As always good info! keep the opinion's coming.
yes the size of the LB micra is a concern, but as a long time mag user, i am not sure it's enough of one. I spend a long time on the CPF last night, (like 4 hr's,, sad huh?)and I really want arc +4 next up lsh-p, but after seeing so many posts about the problem's with the +4 in particular and the FFII somewhat also. thus my look at the micra.
Just ordered a terralux tle5 for one of my many MM's, and at this point my two infinity ultra's are my EDC, for carry, onstage off satge load up etc. love that light just would like a "brighter" EDC. As always HH, good logical point's!! VDG

P.S. my gov't ultra came it's great, it's 0-ring was pretty sticky hard to line up, a little WD40 helped ,only thing i hado on hand. What is best for lubing these, and please tell me i didn't ruin the 0-ring /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif

Re: Arc, fire~fly II, or... longbow micra?

The size of the Micra w/twisty is practically the same length as the Arc4. The fit and finish is top notch, plus it's modular so you can always change the setup such as adding a McCapsule.

As for the Fire~Fly, the only problem I see is mostly related to the two-stage switch. I just took mine out and now EDC the Fire~Fly. Add a Dr. Scholl's pad and it's a perfect little light.

Like Hoghead suggested, the SureFire E1e with KL1 or KL4 would also be a good alternative. Occassionally I'll still carry the E1e/KL1.

Re: Arc, fire~fly II, or... longbow micra?

I don't have an Arc 4 or Firefly, so I won't comment on those. But one thing that's nice about the micra twisty is that you can use it in either twist or pushbutton mode. I find myself switching between these modes a lot.

I recently made a spectra lanyard for it by just fishing the spectra through the lanyard hole (no clips). Because spectra retains it's shape well, and doesn't loosely flop around, switching between modes has never been more seamless. Just turn the light around, and the lanyard basically retains its shape, but just pivots through the lanyard hole. Clean, fast, and simple.

Re: Arc, fire~fly II, or... longbow micra?

How much "extra" kick (in lumen's if you got it) does the KL1 or 4 add to the E1e? VDG

Re: Arc, fire~fly II, or... longbow micra?

to directly answer the question i would go for the Arc 4. It has 3 main brightness levels witch are excellent. i use all three on a daily basis. i would rule out the longbow right now simply because it dosent have ajustable brightness levels. once you get them you wont be able to go back.

Re: Arc, fire~fly II, or... longbow micra?

I'd recommend the micra: I've edc'd one with clicky for about a week now and dont want to part with it. My hands are quite big and the micra fits them perfectly. For me the arc-ls is too small to be comfortable.
I carry the micra in my front jeans pockets or in a selfmade kydex-Holster. With an additional 5mm-light like the arc aaa, or peak aaa I don't really need a two (or more) level switch.
Just make sure you have a reflector for the micra. It's easy to swap it out against the stock optic if you don't like it.

Chrisse

Re: Arc, fire~fly II, or... longbow micra?

I put a twoh and a reflector and a glass lens in my lsh
I love it
runs cooler
it is brighter and whiter
it runs a lot longer in regulation
moon mode is a lot brighter too

Re: Arc, fire~fly II, or... longbow micra?

Use silicone grease for o-ring lubricant.

Brinkmann O-Ring lubricant

Re: Arc, fire~fly II, or... longbow micra?

I'd say start with either a micra or an arc-ls 2nd.I edc my modded arc-ls and for me it's the perfect size.Not sure this thread is really helping you as it seems to be "6 of one,half a dozen of the other". /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Re: Arc, fire~fly II, or... longbow micra?

ElektroLumens is coming out with the "Zorch" very shortly at a very competitive price.

ElektroLumens Zorch

Re: Arc, fire~fly II, or... longbow micra?

[ QUOTE ]
coachbigdog said:
I'd say start with either a micra or an arc-ls 2nd.I edc my modded arc-ls and for me it's the perfect size.Not sure this thread is really helping you as it seems to be "6 of one,half a dozen of the other".

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah it's helping,,,, confuse me! no really, i like the points everyone is bringing up, all the new light's in this niche of luxeon /123's, and how many feel size and beam type, and what particular's are important to each owner.

I gotta say all are great light's some do thing's better, or should say better for the owner, but no dog's in the pack really.
As far as beam I wold like a great throw, but with some useful side spill.

let's postulate: "if" say my infinity ultra and inova X1 were the same "power" as the +4/nuwai/micra/zorch, i would want the beam about in the middle of the two. nowhere near as diffuse as the ultra, but no were near as focused as the X1. in fact when i called
ARC and looked on the sight at the same time, talking with mary (cute ph voice BTW /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif) I got the feeling the +4's beam was like the frein (sp) spot photo on there site. too tight to me.
So that right there with ya'll's help is got me from thinking only the ARC will do, to knowing i got some other thing's that may be better suited to me. i am a techno head, love my samsung cell phone (little bigger then a matchbox, mini PDA, global,great shedule mode, gps) got mini disc recorder's novelity blinker lights, yada yada) so the +4 with all those mode's appealed to me ,, till i saw the beam. I would like a high/low but the quality and beam pwr (and whitness) is just one above cool modes.
So I am thankful for the "six inch's of one half dozen of the other", from you guys' in the know. (girl friend says i can't judge six inch's away /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif )
Anyway the help is much appreciated, hell every new post I see a cool new light! (the zorch, and micra are kinda neck and neck at the moment for the non-ARC lights. like that FFII too.)
so keep em coming and thanks to all of you. VDG

P.s, HH, thanks for the lube answer!

Re: Arc, fire~fly II, or... longbow micra?

If the Arc4 is too tightly focussed then you will be unhappy with the Nuwai or any of the other reflectored lights.
That leaves the unmodified Fire~Fly, LB, or Arc-LS.
Of those three, FF is the smallest and the most expensive but two-stage light is possible.
The LS and the LB are close in size, close in price, and close in quality but the LS is easier to mod to a 2-stage light.

Re: Arc, fire~fly II, or... longbow micra?

Hmmmm, from the beams pic's i saw i don't come to that conclustion. i think the ARC site pic of the lsh-p narrow, which i was told, and could be mis-informed by the rep I talked to, is that the +4 would be narrow as that. (last pic) on that page. after reading many post's, and seeing many beam shot's now i think that is wrong. All of the light's I have researched, here, have had beam's that are acceptable some more, some less, but none were terrible.CPF member's beam shot's of the +4 are great, it's the ARC site pic, of a narrow LSH-p frein, that looked like ZERO side spill.my mistake! VDG

Re: Arc, fire~fly II, or... longbow micra?

Man,that is a hard decision to make without actually being able to compare beams,features,etc. in person. Beamshots help alot but don't capture everything. To me, the Arc LSHF and Longbow Micra beams are very close(also depends on the lux lottery to a degree)and the Arc 4 beam is a compromise between spot and spill.
A co-worker has been juggling between a used Arc 4 second and a almost new Micra for 3 weeks now and I think may end up buying both! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gifThe Micras look cool with one its 1/4-20 holes filled with glow-powder and clear epoxy or silicone.

Re: Arc, fire~fly II, or... longbow micra?

[ QUOTE ]
Phaserburn said:
You might want to consider the Nuwai Quantum III as well. For 58, it's a great performer right out of the box. There are a couple of threads on it in BST and Reviews.

[/ QUOTE ]

I second this...for the $$, the QIII out-performs the Micra, the LSHP, AND the Arc4+ as far as I'm concerned (...and I've owned them ALL!).