Flashlights

[JRinFL]

I have used and abused streamlight strions, stingers and the folding “blade” versions of both, and micro streams for years both on the job and not. I use flashlights all day every day in the shop to make me money.

So naturally, I just picked up a streamlight wedge today. Anyone else have one they’ve used for a while? I plan to take it with me to work as well as in my pocket outside of work.

I'm curious to hear your thoughts after you get some time with it.

[prndltech]

1 work week in so far and I love it!

[Makunochimaster]

[Makunochimaster]

[Brock O Lee]

Fenix HL30, turned 10 years old in May 2023, and is still one of my favourite headlights!

2x AA floody light with a creamy warm tint. I replaced the headband this year.

[Makunochimaster]

Wurkkos TS10 Brass two month later

[abbazaba]

Just got my second TS10. I love my D4v2s, but the TS10 doesn't turn on I'm my pocket (always had to lock out the D4) and it's just as bright in use and less weight. TS10 hasn't left my pocket since I got one.

[Makunochimaster]

[Makunochimaster]

Sold Fenix HM61R, bought Skilhunt H04RC

[Makunochimaster]

native clip peels off the coating, i'll try for now from wurkkos

[engine]

I need flashlight. Should be strong, price up to 100 Eur/$, compact, rechargeable batteries. In my city you can buy Olight lamps, they are quite expensive, I don't know if the price justifies the quality? Maybe a model to recommend?

I saw Sofirn lamps on this forum, they look interesting and not too expensive, what do you think about them? Which link is the best to order (for Europe)?

[engine]

Any help?

[ImHereForTheMilitary2]

OLight baton 3

[aicolainen]

I need flashlight. Should be strong, price up to 100 Eur/$, compact, rechargeable batteries. In my city you can buy Olight lamps, they are quite expensive, I don't know if the price justifies the quality? Maybe a model to recommend?

I saw Sofirn lamps on this forum, they look interesting and not too expensive, what do you think about them? Which link is the best to order (for Europe)?

Yeah, it's that time of year.

I have 2 Sofirn right angled flashlights that I use as headlamps. Bought both last year so I don't have a ton of experience with them yet.


The smallest one (in the middle)is the HS10 and the one to the right is the HS05

They are good value no matter how you look at it; solid build, nice emitters with pleasant tints and (IMO) crazy low price.
They are not perfect though. The HS10 is a 16340 light with built-in USB-C charging, very convenient, but also with some quirks. The firmware sometimes gets in to a fluke and I have to disconnect the battery to get it back in shape. It's also a bit annoying that when you unlock the light it goes straight to medium output. Maybe it's something that can be configured, I haven't looked into it, but it's not ideal as a default setting and quite bad if it's a fixed feature. Now, both of these issues kind of solved themselves because of a third issue. It's my impression that this light has considerable parasitic drain - I haven't tested, it's just my gut feeling from unexpectedly running out of battery on a number of occasions. Because of this suspicion I unscrew the tail cap a couple of mm's instead of using the lock-out feature. This circumvent the parasitic drain issue, it resets the firmware every time I use it so the freeze problem doesn't have any opportunity to wag its tail and when I "unlock" it by tightening the tail cap it doesn't turn on directly, so I can manually turn it on in low/moonlight mode.

The HS05 is a 14500 light without internal charging, so it's a simpler flashlight with less fuzz and less to go wrong.
I don't think it has as severe parasitic drain, but I still use it in the same manner as the HS10 just to be on the safe side.

If you're not into right angled flashlights I believe there are straight versions of both. Or used to be. The HS05 and its cousins may be discontinued.

I do prefer the UI on Olight and some other brands more, but for the form factor (I prefer lower diameter cells for headlamp use) and the superior tint/CRI, I have no regrets and can easily live with a few non-critical quirks at that price point.

[engine]

OLight baton 3

Thanks for the suggestion.
And a little bigger?

[ImHereForTheMilitary2]

OLight baton 3

Thanks for the suggestion.
And a little bigger?

No, it's the only police-quality flashlight I've found that's so compact. It's very tiny! OLight did make larger ones though and they're a great company

[horzuff]

I need flashlight. Should be strong, price up to 100 Eur/$, compact, rechargeable batteries. In my city you can buy Olight lamps, they are quite expensive, I don't know if the price justifies the quality? Maybe a model to recommend?

I saw Sofirn lamps on this forum, they look interesting and not too expensive, what do you think about them? Which link is the best to order (for Europe)?

Take a look at Convoy's offer on AliExpress. Official Store: https://www.aliexpress.com/store/330416

You will have to wait for shipping, but lately it's been pretty fast, about 2,5 weeks.

Plenty have charging ports, pretty easy UIs, decent drivers, plethora of LEDs to choose from etc.

If You specified some more requirements we could point You toward particular models instead of just manufacturers.

What's the intended use? Indoor or outdoor? How far do You need to reach and what's the proportion of close up to far out work? What color temperatures do You prefer (if any)? Should it be a conventional "linear" flashlight, a right angle or even a pure headlamp? Do You want the cell to be replaceable? If so, do You have any preference regarding cell format? 18650 is most popular still but many people are strong proponents of 21700 (and they are getting more popular and cheaper all the time still while offering many benefits over 18650). Any preference regarding switch position? Some special needs like specific strobing functions or anything else?

[Brock O Lee]

I don't see myself as a flashlight AFI, but I know enough to spot a good light when I see one. I have a bunch of Olights. They may not be the very best on the market, but they are pretty good! They are for me in some ways the Spyderco of the flashlight world.

I started with a S1A Baton, probably 7 years ago. I have 3 of them. It was (and still is) an exceptional AA light. Some things I really like:
-Class leading AA output at the time
-Fantastic economy (with NiMH rechargables and Li primaries)
-Efficient current controlled circuit (no PWM modes)
-Intuitive user interface with side switch
-Reasonable output level mode spacing
-Sub-lumen moonlight mode
-Nice form factor
-Magnetic tailstand
-Pleasant emitter colour temperature and tint
-Smooth floody beam profile.

Olight has hit the sweet-spot for me since then. They continued for the most part with the winning formula above. The quality, reliability, availability and value for money continued to be excellent over the years in my experience.

What really bugs me about flashlights in general are the vast differences between UI's. There is nothing more frustrating than having to fumble through a slightly different UI and blinding yourself in the middle of the night while searching for moonlight mode. I decided to stick with Olight because they have kept their UI's consistent over the years. I can grab any one of them and it works the same as the others.

One critique I have is that their emitters are sometimes a hit or a miss regarding colour temperature and tint. I have some really pleasant creamy warm examples, and one with a nasty green cool-white tint, and a few in-between.



Left to right: Baton 3 Pro Max, Warrior Mini 3, Baton 3 Pro, Baton S1A, Baton 3, Perun 2, Baton S-Mini Cu, Baton S-Mini Ti

[aicolainen]

I haven't had a ton of Olight's, but I can fully get behind your point about UI, Hans.
Olight's UI is the most intuitive I've tried and they've been very consistent over the few years I've used them.

What has pulled me away from Olight lately is the tint. I've found I'll rather have a slightly less intuitive/more annoying UI if I can get high CRI and a warmer/more neutral tint.

If I were more into cool white and max lumens I'd definitely own more Olights. They appear to be a innovative and consistent company, and have well thought out features that I'd like to have if only they went with more neutral/warm color emitters.

I've heard and read much good about Zebra lights, but EU prices and availability has held me back from getting one. In the between time I've been pretty happy with chinese budget brands like Sofirn, Wurkkos, Lumintop, Astrolux and Reylight. Not as consistent in quality, features and UI as Olight overall, but solid build quality for the price and way more emitter options.

Most of these are used for outdoor and work lights, for EDC I've been very happy with the smaller lights from FourSevens and Prometheus.

[Brock O Lee]

What has pulled me away from Olight lately is the tint. I've found I'll rather have a slightly less intuitive/more annoying UI if I can get high CRI and a warmer/more neutral tint.

Yes, this is a concern for me too. I've been able to mostly side-step this issue by being very selective, and by focussing recently on their neutral-white offerings. I usually wait before I buy for a positive review where the colour and tint were confirmed to be acceptable.