Flashlight advice is needed.

[bh49]

Please, forgive my ignorance on this subject.
I always liked flashlights, but never felt spending money on them. I have few Maglites (3D cell in the car and 3-4 smaller ones in the house). May be I got bored with knives (just kidding), so I am thinking about getting a new LED flashlight. Something with power of 3-4D Maglite or better and size of 2 AA Maglite. I need flashlight for usual use, no extreme or SD use. I want aluminum body would like to spend around $50. I prefer to buy US made, absolutely no “Made in China”
I hope I didn’t hurt anybody's feelings.
Please, advice
Roman

[Lord vader]

Please, forgive my ignorance on this subject.
I always liked flashlights, but never felt spending money on them. I have few Maglites (3D cell in the car and 3-4 smaller ones in the house). May be I got bored with knives (just kidding), so I am thinking about getting a new LED flashlight. Something with power of 3-4D Maglite or better and size of 2 AA Maglite. I need flashlight for usual use, no extreme or SD use. I want aluminum body would like to spend around $50. I prefer to buy US made, absolutely no “Made in China”
I hope I didn’t hurt anybody's feelings.
Please, advice
Roman

The only american made model that i`m aware of is the mini-mag made by mag-lite.There have the led`s. Sorry i don`t have anymore info on this.

[Jonny8642]

I would check out sure fire G2 Nitrolon. Its one of there cheaper ones and it is a little bit bigger then the 2aa mag light but had the power of a 2d cell light. Plus they have a lifetime warranty and made in America :cool:
www.surefire.com

[GradeMaker]

Try the SF 6PLED - a little over the price point but I'm guessing not by "too much".

http://www.surefire.com/6P-Led

http://www.batteryjunction.com/surefire-6p-led-.html

[bh49]

Thank you for advise guys. I did some reading on Surefire website and learned that lights with Incandescent lamps can as powerful as LED, may be even more.
What is advantages and disadvantages of these two light sources?

[grunt0331]

i carry a surefire 6P LED daily. it is rated at 80 lumens, and battery run time is approximately 10 hours. they sell at Lowe's now. i am a flashlight junky, and have many. the 6P LED my favorite EDC. princeton tec also makes a very good light. they are less expensive and USA made.

[Jonny8642]

LEDs tend to last longer because they use less power but there is usually no sign the batteries are runing low, until they're all the way dead. Were as incandescents will create brighter light, but their battery life tends to be shorter, when in constant use. So it usually depends on what you're willing to sacrifice long battery life or bright light? But I have used surefires when I was working security and they seem to be the best of both worlds. But Pelican lights are just as good and most are water resistant. As well as Inova lights. I've used all three while working security and still use them while buried inside a machine
www.pelican.com
www.inovalight.com

[bh49]

grunt,
thank you very much for Lowes tip. I will stop by, to take a look.

Jonny,
Thank you for info. Are Pelican and Inova made in US? Can you recommend specific models?

[vito72]

EDC one 2 cell incandescent maglite was a gift i had from usa to my friend,but now i want buy a tactical led flashlight, so i searched around and in my research models i think the best products i like are fenix but they are China made if you want take a look...

http://www.fenixlight.com/

[rcbalt2]

I edc a fenix TK20 and so far its been a great light. 2 modes of output long run time on lower level and extremely drop resistant. It is china made but it works great and runs off of 2 AA batteries.

[asfaltpiloot]

Hi bh49

A few come to mind:

Fenix L2D / LD20
Olight T25
Nitecore D20
Eagletac P10A2
Jetbeam Jet-1 Pro EX ver. 2.0

A few exceed your $50 limit but are worth every penny.
Have fun looking them all up :D

The CandelPowerForum is a good forum for more info, nice guys.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/

Take care and of course a happy new year,
Robert.

[vito72]

I think TK series are very good products expecially TK 11

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA4FEq4P ... re=related

here one short comparition with Inova product.

[SimpleIsGood229]

The Surefire G2 LED is a great choice. However, if you want a pocket-sized light that is really, really, really bright, simply buy a plain-jane Surefire 6P, then buy a Malkoff M60 LED module. You can get a 6P on fleeBay for $55.00 shipped, and the Malkoff (from http://www.malkoffdevices.com) for $49.00 + $8.00 shipping.

You can also get a Cabela's clone of Surefire's 6P for $30.00. Malkoff even states that the Cabela's lights will work with their drop-ins. So, for around $90.00, you can have a flame thrower of a light

I have a Malkoff M60, and I must say, the quality is outstanding. The thing is really, really bright. It's more than twice as bright as a G2 LED. It has excellent throw and quite a bit of flood. You may be a bit leery about spending $57.00 just on the LED pill. Heck, I was. I finally got a Malkoff, and I absolutely love it!

http://www.candlepowerforums.com has a load of info on it.

[Domanfp]

I was going to suggest nitecore or fenix, but I think both are not US made.

[bh49]

I want to thank everybody for advises. So far Surefire 6P looks like a good choice. What about E2E?

[TheKnifeCollector]

The SF G2 LED is an awesome light. I am very fond of SF lights.

[jimbo@stn24]

Don't think you can go wrong with either. Would like to add that incandescent light has a "warmer" tint that makes colours appear more natural whereas LED has a harsher more artificial light, to me anyway. LED has the advantage of you will not require spare lamps. The 6P is a good model for dropping in LED modules if you require later on.

The E2E has similar output as a 6P with slightly longer runtime as per the Surefire catalogue. I know you have a budget but for a little extra cash you can get a 6P LED for a little more and get good output and a longer runtime. Surefire also has a number of models with dual output which will provide hours of useful light and a very bright high output when you require but they will definetly blow your budget apart.

If you go with a Surefire incandescent, I take it apart, remove the bulb, (and any spare bulbs I get) and wipe with a Q-tip dipped in alcohol and dry to remove the chance there is contaminants on the bulb that will shorten bulb life before first use. I had one fail with about 30 seconds use, Surefire replaced it no fuss, no charge, when called about it.

[tasmanH1salt]

Please, forgive my ignorance on this subject.
I always liked flashlights, but never felt spending money on them. I have few Maglites (3D cell in the car and 3-4 smaller ones in the house). May be I got bored with knives (just kidding), so I am thinking about getting a new LED flashlight. Something with power of 3-4D Maglite or better and size of 2 AA Maglite. I need flashlight for usual use, no extreme or SD use. I want aluminum body would like to spend around $50. I prefer to buy US made, absolutely no “Made in China”
I hope I didn’t hurt anybody's feelings.
Please, advice
Roman

By wanting an aluminum body, American made, and only wanting to spend 50 dollars puts a pretty big limit in the American made flashlight world. If you check out surefire they have the G2 which in LED is about 65 dollars and does not have an aluminum body. For 85 there is the 6P original LED which does have an aluminum body. So for a little more than 50 you can have a good LED that far far far surpasses the Maglites. Surefire is the best light I have owned and ever will need to own.

[clovisc]

fenix L2D

my leading choice in a light... :D

[Brad S.]

I know you said no made in China. But Fenix really is your best bet! Check out Fenixoutfitters.com I have dealt with the company quite a bit, and although its a chinese based company they are very well run. They actually remind me alot of Spyderco. Great people behind the company. Alas... I do understand the affinity to no chinese products. But I really dont think you will find what you want inside of an American product.

I think the Fenix LD20 would fit you perfectly.