What is Your Choice of Personal Flashlight?

[CAPTAIN MIKE]

I see a lot of ads for Sure-Fire Flashlights and I know there are other competitors out there as well. I'm looking to get something new but want it to be fairly compact but not one of those key-chain types. I want something that is about the the size of my hand or so.

Any advice?

 

[taliv]

for the money, the surefire G2 is hard to beat. it's <$30 if you shop around

 

[CAPTAIN MIKE]

Good Place to Start Looking

Thanks for the input.
Any other suggestions I might compare it to ??
Are those lithium batteries as good as people say?

 

[Sberk1]

Surefire is the way to go. It’s the most reliable high performance light made. I’ve compared Surefire to the competition, and they are hands down better built. (IMHO) I can’t afford the best car made, or the best real estate, but I do own the best light.

 

[el44vaquero]

MagLite

 

[orangeninja]

I like the Inova lights. About 6 inches long and 82 lumens or 85 lumens of pure white light. LED white lights are like those car headlights that look blue-ish on the highway...you know, the ones that blind everyone? I think the Inova lights and pure white lights are the most blinding things available....it's like your eyes aren't made to process pure white.

 

[lawson]

I use a Streamlight Stinger. it's got sentimental value, it was given to me by my mentor who used it for 10+ years as a Homicide cop in Brooklyn.

it's not the smallest flashlight, but it's tough and reliable.

 

[clipse]

I don't really care for surefire. I had two P-60 lamp modules fail on me and I'm on my third. I don't use it much because I don't have much confidence in it.

My EDC lights are a Fenix L1P and an Amilite Neo T3

My "Bump in the Night" light is a Streamlight TL2 LED (2nd gen).

These lights, imho, are the best lights for my purposes, short of custom lights. The fenix is about as wide as my fist from nuckle to nuckle(3.5") and has a Luxeon 1 LED driven by a AA battery. The streamlight is abit smaller than a Surefire G2 and has a Luxeon 3 LED driven by 2x123 batteries. The Amilite is much smaller and i my favorite light. Its brighter than both of the other lights but fits really well in the pocket. It has a Luxeon 3 LED driven by 1x123 battery.

clipse

 

[MDG1976]

Surefire G2 is a great deal. I also have a Surefire E2 Defender. It has a "crenelated bezel" that makes it a good impact weapon. Streamlight is a good brand too. I have a Twin Task that switches between a 30 lumen xenon bulb and a LED.

 

[JMusic]

I like the Surefires and buy them for all my inspectors and maintenance people. My current favorites are the E1L Outdoorsman and the E2L. These are 3 watt LED lights so you don't have the bulb issues others have spoken of. I have used the streamlight models and see nothing wrong with them also. One person recomended the Maglight. I carry a 4 or 5 cell Mag all the time in my vehicles. They are a very good defensive weapon. My favorite during the late 70's and early 80's was a 3 cell Mag size d.
Jim

 

[Terrierman]

I like my Streamlight twin task. I also like my Coast or something that I bought at Lowe's for $40 - absolutely the brightest freakin LED light I have ever seen. It's a well made machined aluminum light with a rubber mounted pushbutton in the butt that won't get operated by accident. I HAVE had the streamlight's side mounted switch get turned on by accident. The Coast runs on 3 AAA mounted cylindrically in a carrier inside the light's housing. I do like the lithiums in the streamlight though - very good life in use and supposed to last a long long time in storage. But I use my lights a lot when I'm hunting my little dogs and go through batteries well before the shelf life expires. I've got several Mag Lites too. Good light, and they are tough enough to use for critter dispatch duty as well as seeing in the dark. A 3 D or 4 D model is best for that purpose. Plus they are inexpensive enough to keep in every vehicle.

 

[hksw]

I've since moved on from xenon to 5W LEDs.

 

[DigMe]

I like my Streamlight twin task. I also like my Coast or something that I bought at Lowe's for $40 - absolutely the brightest freakin LED light I have ever seen.

Wait till you see some of the REALLY bright LED lights!

brad cook

 

[DigMe]

My most used lights are my Surefire G2 and my Streamlight ProPolymer 4AA Luxeon LED. Both great lights.

brad cook

 

[Terrierman]

Bright is good and brighter is better. I found the package on the Coast. It's 1.25 Watt LED that they say generates 117.6 milliwatts of light whatever that means. hksw posted about a 5 Watt LED. If that means in real world terms that its four times as bright as this Coast that hurts to look at, I want one. Who makes them? Streamlight I presume? Others?

 

[Beren]

I'm fond of both Streamlight and Surefire.

The Streamlight Strion is a great general purpose rechargeable light, with 80 lumens for about an hour in a package I can fit in the palm of my hand. I'll own a handful of Surefire lights by midyear: an X200B, M3, G2, and a Millenium railmount weapon light of some type for my AR.

 

[DigMe]

Bright is good and brighter is better. I found the package on the Coast. It's 1.25 Watt LED that they say generates 117.6 milliwatts of light whatever that means. hksw posted about a 5 Watt LED. If that means in real world terms that its four times as bright as this Coast that hurts to look at, I want one. Who makes them? Streamlight I presume? Others?

You can choose 5watt LED lights from a number of makers. Surefire has the L4 among others, which I believe is a fiver. Streamlight probably does make one and I'm pretty sure Inova does too. Then there are a number of different ones from cheaper companies too. There are also 3 watt LEDs which are also very bright.

brad cook

 

[cslinger]

Surefire A2 Aviator for around the house. HDS EDC Basic 60 or Ultimate 42 for in the pocket.

The A2 with the SIG P220

The HDS is the little tiny guy on the end.

 

[f4t9r]

Always used Mag Light and worked well and good price.
I am going to get a Stream light next time (next gun show)

 

[black bear]

I have a bunch of Surefires that I like and that I have used at one time or another as my main lights and EDC's.

I have been in love with the E2e for a few years I carried a E2E CJ "camo jungle" for a while, and also I like my L-4 digital Lumamax.
I have some modification of Surefires to output double the lumens, E2e plus, E2e -E2C- 120 lumens in the incandescents and I have some with PR T's heads 917 driver Luxeons III's that are courting 100 lumens.



For EDC in the summer I have used the E1e's and a E1e with a KL-4 head with a Mc Gizmo Bad Boy 600 driving a Luxeon I. (Collector's item now)



BUT NOW IS 2006 !!!! AND I AM USING A FENIX L1P FOR EDC AND VERY HAPPY WITH IT.
AND MY REGULAR LIGHT NOW IS THE SUREFIRE AVIATOR A-2

When I need 200 lumens I go with a custom body with E2c and Z-44 bezel with the P-91 lamp, but I know that the bigger C-3 or the 9-P will do as well.



If I need more than 200 lumens I'll go with one of my modifications on the Maglite body, I have them from 300 lumens to 951 lumens in all body sizes, 1 D, 2D's 3"D's and even 3 C sized.


They are GREAT defensive torchs, they blind and also good for club duty, and with the new Crenalleted bezel that I am bringing in, they can take guys like this:





With glow powder to locate the torch in the dark



I WILL SAY THAT FLASHLIGHTS ARE GETTING BETTER THAN EVER !!!
Best regards
black bear

 

[hksw]

I've been getting my torches from Amondo Tech and haven't had any issue with them. The ones I have are the (1) ALX-253L and (2) TM-301X Nuwais. IMO, the stated 120 lumens is probably optimistic but they are brighter than my Scorpions and P6s. And they have a sharper blue tint to the beam. They use the Luxeon V.


blackbear, what are the prices of your modded Maglite® torches?

 

[Terrierman]

Thanks for the link. I'm leaning towards the ALX 253L. The description in the review of this light as a "retina scorcher" sounds good to me when taken along with the other aspects covered in the design. The TM 301X looks like a nice enough unit too. Which do you prefer and why? Have you had any instances of either light getting turned on by accident? That's happened to my Streamlight and I'd like to avoid that if possible. In the reviews linked from the site you gave us, that also happened with one of the Nuwai lights. That eliminated that particular model.

 

[black bear]

hksw,

blackbear, what are the prices of your modded Maglite® torches?

Thank you for your interest, I have several versions, please click on the link under my signature.

Best regards
black bear

 

[DigMe]

Thanks for the link. I'm leaning towards the ALX 253L. The description in the review of this light as a "retina scorcher" sounds good to me when taken along with the other aspects covered in the design. The TM 301X looks like a nice enough unit too. Which do you prefer and why? Have you had any instances of either light getting turned on by accident? That's happened to my Streamlight and I'd like to avoid that if possible. In the reviews linked from the site you gave us, that also happened with one of the Nuwai lights. That eliminated that particular model.

If you're looking at cheaper LED lights you may also want to take a look at this:
http://www.axshop.com/details.aspx/sku-1262

It's not truly a 7watt LED, it's an overdriven 3watt lux but all accounts are that it's one damn bright light. There've been a few guys talking about them over at www.candlepowerforums.com

brad cook

 

[Darth Muffin]

My EDC light is a Surefire E2e with an L4 head (5W LED, 65 lumens) and an Aleph 2-stage tailcap from Lighthound. With the 2 stage tailcap the flashlight is usable for everyday things without a) blinding you (it's TOO bright!) and b) worrying about chewing through those expensive lithium batteries.

Other lights I use are an Inova X1 for carry when space is tight (shorts in the summer, etc), a mini-maglight with a Niteize LED conversion (bright and the batteries last over 10 hours) is frequenly used when "working on" something like computers or cars, and then there's the good 'ol 4D mag light which still finds use.

I'm drooling over that Fenix posted above though, that looks very nice!