flashlights

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Blerv
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#41

Post by Blerv »

The quality of lights ramps quickly. Something like a solarforce for $25 is much nicer than something half it's price and (IMHO) not fractional to a Surefire 6p. The SF is twice the product but the price multiplies far more. American vs China and original vs knock-off I guess.

Lights like 4Sevens, Zebralight, Olight, Dereelight, Fenix, Nitecore (and many more) are terrific for the money. Customs are expensive but some like aluminum ones from Elektro Lumens or Macs Customs are very affordable, reliable and USA built. I'd rather have Mac's Tri-EDC than any Surefire.

My wife has a Streamlight Nano (pink) on her keychain. It's light and cheap so she can beat it up. The 10 lumens are pretty gross at a slightly blue cool tint but oh well. She uses it all the time and that's what matters :) .
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unit
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#42

Post by unit »

Surefire E1B is carried all the time. I probably use it more during the day than during the night. It is small, powerful and oh so useful.

It is perhaps MOST appreciated when someone drops something. It is surprising how much easier it is to find something that bounced into a dim corner (or is in the middle of the floor when you have some strong light. Lower the beam and pan around the room and look for the long shadow...works every time!
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DeathBySnooSnoo
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#43

Post by DeathBySnooSnoo »

Bert T wrote:"...but I prefer the tools of better quality, durability and endurance."

Jack

In my 75+ years I have learned that almost without fail dollar amount for a product determines quality, durability and endurance.

Bert
Usually this is true. However...in clothing and cars it is often not true.
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psimonl
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#44

Post by psimonl »

jackknifeh wrote: Also, my wife isn't worth much more than $7. :D Did I type that out loud??? :D I may be stupid (may be??? :) ) but I prefer the tools of better quality, durability and endurance.

Jack
Isn't this bad behavior???

I was raised never to talk badly about people if they couldn't hear...

Simon

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raggasonic
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#45

Post by raggasonic »

I always carry a Novatc 120 clipped on my left front pocket, a NS Raw or Wee on my keys (depends on which car I take).
I also have a yellow SF G2 in my backpack, and a another NT120 in bedroom that I use at night, when going to pee or something :D
And one more G2 in the glove box, in each car.

And few more sleeping in a drawer, of course :o
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angusW
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#46

Post by angusW »

psimonl wrote:Isn't this bad behavior???

I was raised never to talk badly about people if they couldn't hear...

Simon

Ps.: If this was a joke, sorry I didn't understand........
If you've read enough of Jack's post's you will know that it was a joke :)
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skatenut
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#47

Post by skatenut »

Received my HDS EDC Rotary flashlight today. Solid, well made, heavy, gives a very positive impression. Bought it from an Italian website since I became tired of waiting for it to become available again in Germany. They even sent me an invoice in German, someone is using his head there, well done! Luckily the Delghi Iris custom lights on this website were all out of stock, good for my wallet.

I'm having a **** of a time, busily clicking and press-holding away, may get a gorilla-like thumb or an inflamed tendon. :D

I'm leaving the options menu well alone until I become more familiar with it. A truly amazing little light which produces a surprising output for a single CR123 battery. I might upgrade to rechargeable 16340 batteries and a suitable charger soon. Now I understand why HDS lights are so popular in the CPF. Haven't decided yet if it was a late birthday or an early Christmas present.
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Echo63
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#48

Post by Echo63 »

skatenut wrote:Received my HDS EDC Rotary flashlight today. Solid, well made, heavy, gives a very positive impression. Bought it from an Italian website since I became tired of waiting for it to become available again in Germany. They even sent me an invoice in German, someone is using his head there, well done! Luckily the Delghi Iris custom lights on this website were all out of stock, good for my wallet.

I'm having a **** of a time, busily clicking and press-holding away, may get a gorilla-like thumb or an inflamed tendon. :D

I'm leaving the options menu well alone until I become more familiar with it. A truly amazing little light which produces a surprising output for a single CR123 battery. I might upgrade to rechargeable 16340 batteries and a suitable charger soon. Now I understand why HDS lights are so popular in the CPF. Haven't decided yet if it was a late birthday or an early Christmas present.
Noooooo - look at the manual, setup your settings to make it your light, then put the manual away and enjoy the light.
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Blerv
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#49

Post by Blerv »

skatenut wrote:Received my HDS EDC Rotary flashlight today. Solid, well made, heavy, gives a very positive impression. Bought it from an Italian website since I became tired of waiting for it to become available again in Germany. They even sent me an invoice in German, someone is using his head there, well done! Luckily the Delghi Iris custom lights on this website were all out of stock, good for my wallet.

I'm having a **** of a time, busily clicking and press-holding away, may get a gorilla-like thumb or an inflamed tendon. :D

I'm leaving the options menu well alone until I become more familiar with it. A truly amazing little light which produces a surprising output for a single CR123 battery. I might upgrade to rechargeable 16340 batteries and a suitable charger soon. Now I understand why HDS lights are so popular in the CPF. Haven't decided yet if it was a late birthday or an early Christmas present.
Nice! I've always admired those from afar :) . Looking forward to my Peak Logan QTC as a very poor-man's rotary, hehe.
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#50

Post by syphen »

Always have either a Fenix e15 lately or a maratac aaa in either natural stainless or copper on me.

Blasphemer maybe but I'd sooner be without a knife then a little flashlight. It's winter and up north here that means its dark more often then bright!! :)
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Blerv
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#51

Post by Blerv »

syphen wrote:Always have either a Fenix e15 lately or a maratac aaa in either natural stainless or copper on me.

Blasphemer maybe but I'd sooner be without a knife then a little flashlight. It's winter and up north here that means its dark more often then bright!! :)
Agreed it's dark and damp here this time of year too. Those copper Maratac's look awesome. We gotta keep annoying Sal for a copper/brass Spyderco ;) .
DeathBySnooSnoo
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#52

Post by DeathBySnooSnoo »

I'm thinking of getting something much more powerful to compliment my E15. Was thinking either the Spark SL6 or the Zebralight SC600...
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Monocrom
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#53

Post by Monocrom »

For quite awhile it's mostly been my gold-colored iTP A3 EOS (AAA light) on my keychain. Along with a custom modded SureFire. (Milky-modded black KL1 head running Seoul P4 emitter. Good for about 220 lumens out the front. Mated to a black E2E body with E2D tailcap that is only available in black.)

My SureFire runs off of two CR123 cells. I'll soon be carrying another Milky-modded light. The current one was purchased used off of another member on Candle Power Forums. The new one is one I had Milky make specifically for me. A SureFire L1 extreme is what he named it. I've nicknamed it the Gemini. Basically two lights in one, instead of simply a light with a low and high mode. Medium mode is about 40 lumens out the front. Designed to be used constant-on by twisting the tailcap. Perfect for use as a regular light. High-mode is a screaming 200 lumens on only one CR123 cell. Designed to be used specifically with the momentary tailcap switch pushed down hard. An excellent tactical light for real tactical instead of tacticool applications.

Milky does great work. But I must admit that it took far longer than the ETA I was quoted. 6 weeks turned into 8 months. Usually with poor communication. Sadly, nothing new. I knew he was very busy when I placed the order. But apparently even I had no clue how swamped he is with custom orders. Don't get me wrong, like all of his customers I'm overjoyed at the finished product. He's a master of his craft with unbelievable skills. But he's clearly swamped with custom orders. I do know that others have waited even longer than I have.
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Azwaiian
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#54

Post by Azwaiian »

Monocrom,

Do you have any pics of your custom lights? It would be cool to see what they look like.
Thanks.
DRKBC
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#55

Post by DRKBC »

Hi we have a dealer here who carries these brands; 4Sevenss, Onlight, Fenix, Surefire. All good I think I am hoping you could narrow down the search for me.
I am looking for one thats fairly compact about +/- 5", good batt life, reasonably high Lumens etc. I gues the SD side would be a bonus. Looks like you have all done a lot of research on this any suggestions?
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Azwaiian
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#56

Post by Azwaiian »

DRKBC wrote:Hi we have a dealer here who carries these brands; 4Sevenss, Onlight, Fenix, Surefire. All good I think I am hoping you could narrow down the search for me.
I am looking for one thats fairly compact about +/- 5", good batt life, reasonably high Lumens etc. I gues the SD side would be a bonus. Looks like you have all done a lot of research on this any suggestions?
What I initially did was go to a site like goinggear, knifeworks, or cutlery shoppee and check out the lights there. The specs for the lights are always listed per light, and they normally include length, weight, lumen output levels and time for each level.

I would then go to youtube and watch videos on the light I wanted to buy. If it looked like it was good to go, cha-ching, it was mine.

Not knowing all of your needs for a light, or the dollar amount you wish to spend, I would suggest visiting goinggear.com. They are have very good prices on their lights and also a wide variety to choose from. The plus side too, quite a few of the lights also have videos to go with them. You'll see how the lights function and also be shown how they throw their beams out to 100 feet. Some of the videos will show you how the lights throw their beams out to 100 yards.

I do own lights from the brands you mentioned, in various sizes and lumen outputs and I love them all. Hopefully this helped a little. Happy hunting.
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Blerv
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#57

Post by Blerv »

Of those brands I really like the Olight M20. The Quark Tactical is another great option. They are thin, light, and take normal batteries. These have nice throw and do 300-350 lumens OTF.

What batteries do you want to use and what do you feel is decent runtime? With low modes even a 500 lumen light can give staggering duration. The 4Sevens Maelstrom x10 is less conventional and kinda squat but it might be the ticket.

As a general note a single recharable lithium camera battery sized (rcr123 or better yet imr16340) will give you generally about 20 mins on max at 500 OTF lumens. Two of these in length typicially power a 5"+/- tactical light for a conservative 40-50 mins. A single 18650 battery is the same length and has the capacity of three of them. If 20mins on max (or multiple times that on low/med) is fine you can get by with a tiny edc 500+ lumen light.
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knife nut404
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#58

Post by knife nut404 »

DRKBC wrote:Hi we have a dealer here who carries these brands; 4Sevenss, Onlight, Fenix, Surefire. All good I think I am hoping you could narrow down the search for me.
I am looking for one thats fairly compact about +/- 5", good batt life, reasonably high Lumens etc. I gues the SD side would be a bonus. Looks like you have all done a lot of research on this any suggestions?
look at the fenix ld20.
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DRKBC
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#59

Post by DRKBC »

Blerv wrote:Of those brands I really like the Olight M20. The Quark Tactical is another great option. They are thin, light, and take normal batteries.

What batteries do you want to use and what do you feel is decent runtime? With low modes even a 500 lumen light can give staggering duration. The 4Sevens Maelstrom x10 is less conventional and kinda squat but it might be the ticket.
Thanks very much Blerv,
Unfortunately we have dealer in BC but they are a long way away from where I am so I will need to order over the net. The Brands that you mentioned are the ones I was considering.
At first glance I liked the Olight M21-b Warrior (I haven't looked at the M20)and the 4sevens Maelstrom and Quark 2Turbo X. I think I would prefer if I could run rechargeables in whatever I end with.
Run time is hard to say but it seems the Quark is better as there is maybe more variety in the output level? I do like having the option of being able to run it fairly low Lumen's to preserve battery life. Any thoughts or preferences?
DRKBC
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#60

Post by DRKBC »

knife nut404 wrote:look at the fenix ld20.
Thanks, I will take a look.
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