Tactical Light Brands

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Hunter125

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Ran across a few new names that I had never heard of when looking for a good EDC light. Ultrafire, Trustfire, and Rominson are the three new ones. These are supposedly massively powerful flashlights, especially for their size. In the 500-1200 lumen range for some of them, but are only about $30 for several of them. Anyone have experience with these? What kind of quality are they? If they are decent quality, why is anyone still buying Surefires and Streamlights?
 
All those are from Dealextreme. I don't think the quality control is good enough there yet for a true tactical light, partly because the demand there is mostly from people who don't necessarily care as much about reliability as they do getting a very bright (though some of those lumen figures are a bit inflated) inexpensive light.

Shame because the bodies are pretty decently made. They would still make good stocking stuffers or gifts to people who don't expect them to function in a true tactical light role.

However, I've had really awesome luck with the fairly new Chinese brand Klarus. Their two cell XT2C has a very smooth, large floody beam from an XM-L emitter cranking out close to 500 (real) very usable lumens, and a dedicated (tactile) strobe button right next to the momentary on (non strobe) button. It really performed well for me in a force on force class. It's a whole different animal than the more focused beams - it's MUCH better for indoors. And I am a big believer in using strobe for a tac-light (over-done claims about efficacy aside, it's disoriented used properly) and love the dedicated MOMENTARY ONLY strobe button.

The XT1C (one cell) is also good - not as bright, more "throwey" (tighter hotspot, which is necessary when you have a light with less absolute brightness), but much more carry friendly and I would not feel under-equipped with it, either.

At $49-60 both are also incredibly wallet friendly.
 
I still buy Surefire because I think they are the best and will last. I ordered 2 PX2 Furys from LA Police Gear yesterday for $108.50 each, which is a deal to me for 500 lumens in a known-quality light.
 
I just ordered an Olight M20 Warrior and a Lumapower LM21 from batteryjunction.com. Both are decent inexpensive brands, the M20 was $50 on their black Friday sale and the LM21 was $25 on sale. Nowhere near the lumen range those other cheapies boast but I'll bet they're better overall lights.
 
I am not a big fan of Surefire. There are equal quality lights out there for less money. Plus any company that says they strongly recommend only using their batteries in their product is just money hungry.

I use a Novatac 120 lumen light that is as short as a .50 brass. A similar Surefire or other "top brand" would have been much more I was willing to spend.
 
So if the bodies are of decent quality, what makes them unreliable? Bad circutry or just a bad apple now and again?
 
Ive EDC'd my Fenix LD10 R4 (1 AA)for several years now. Its $50-$60 range . . . I know its pricey but I find the value to be very high. It has alot of features and I would buy again. .. except the new models. They have a button on the side and I dont digg that.
 
surefire for me all the way. Not only do they have a great product, they give back to the shooting comunity. They usually step up big on prize tables in many matches, not to mention there people are first rate. The price you pay doesnt just stop at the product itself
 
I use some trustfire lights. The only issue I have had is with the click switch in the tail cap. One thing you generally need to do is tear then down and cleanthem up. So far they have survived in my shotgun, ak and caving trips (which is probably harder on a light then a gun). I also run rechargeable 18650 batteries.
 
For me, “IF it absolutely must work when I need it, it’s a SureFire”. I’ve never had one fail yet. I've had a 6P since they came out, it's now been upgaded with their LED and it's still going strong.


I’ve got Insight, Streamlight, Pentagon, Fenix and Princton Tech lights. All are pretty well made, but I count on my SureFire handhelds and weapon lights.


Chuck
 
Elzetta, baby! John Shirley did this review.

I own one that I'm pretty happy with. not cheap, but probably better than Surefire for the price.

(I own some surefire gear too.)
 
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