Flashlight Review

[Moonglum]

In the time I've been doing security I've gone through a bunch of lights (including the old D cell Maglight). These three are the ones I kept.

http://www.batteryjunction.com/fenix...FYSAaQodB1UFGQ

The first light is a Fenix E12. This the light I carried when I was working straight days and occasionally asked to stay over after dark. It has 3 settings 8 lumens, 50 lumens and 130 lumens. It runs off of 1 AA battery which is widely available and its small enough to fit in my pocket. Now that I'm working straight nights it's my back up. The one drawback to this light is that it doesn't "remember" the setting so you turn it on at the lowest setting and you have to click it up and sometimes you turn it off.

Cost 25 (ish)



http://www.thefirestore.com/store/pr...FZE0aQodldkD8w

Night Stick I carried this light when I worked nights at a petrochemical storage facility and I was required to use an "intrinsically safe" light.

This light is 130 lumens with a 100 yard "throw" it runs on 3 AA batteries (easy to find) and it lasts 14 hours on one charge. I still use this light as an emergency light at home.

Cost 35(ish)


http://www.thefirestore.com/store/pr...FZE0aQodldkD8w

Fenix UC 35 This is the light that's clipped to my vest right now. It's the only light I have that doesn't run on AAs (It runs on 2 CR123s or a rechargeable 18650 battery) but it IS rechargeable and it charges through a USB port which means I can recharge it with my phone charger at work if I need to.

It has 5 brightness levels and a strobe (that I never use)

14 lumens
50 lumens
180 lumens
480 lumens
960 lumens

This light "remembers" the last setting you put it on so I keep it on turbo and step it down if I need to.

I had to take a guy out of a car the other night and I BLINDED him from 20 yards away with this light. I could have turned it off and walked up to him and he never would have seen me coming.

According to the website it will run an hour and a half on "Turbo but since I almost never leave it on full for more than a minute or two I usually only have to recharge it once a week or so.

It's also regulated so it will run evenly until it hits about 30% charge then it steps down to the 180 lumens setting. It also light a red warning light to let you know it's time to charge.

Cost 89(ish)

 

[g.willikers]

My present favorite is the inexpensive ($30) Energizer 250 lumen AA model.
Everyone seems to sell them.
So far it's been more than enough for every situation.
Maybe not as impressive as the high priced spread, but for every day use it's been just fine.

 

[2damnold4this]

I find myself using an older Surefire 6p retrofitted with an EagleTac replacement bulb, the SportTac XM-l2 cool white.

 

[boondocker385]

I have an old streamlight sl20 with a fenix replacement bulb....works great

 

[Toney]

I got a e12, it's a great hunting light. I'm caring it all the time now, put my streamlight up.

Walk in and out a few times and the battery was spent in the streamlight. ..

 

[pgdion]

Personally, my favorite is the Maglite 2 AA LED light. It's been durable, bright, small, and the batteries are cheap, abundant, and last a very long time. Those are my most important qualities in a flashlight. USA made is,a big big bonus.

 

[Mannlicher]

I have stopped buying more flashlights. I am sticking with my two older Streamlight Stingers, a couple of Surefires, and a Fenix PD35. Between them, they do everything I need in a flashlight.

 

[lefteye]

Bow hunting led me to compact flashlights. My favorite among my small collection is a StreamLight ProTac 2L which is very bright for its size. It also has a strobe feature which was not a factor in my choice and which I do not use.