Good, compact home defense flashlighlight

S

SPUSCG

New member
Had a small maglite that took 2 AA batteries, and thought it was great...hey been using the same batteries about a year (maybe that was bad.) It lit up bright and was small enough to be easy to pack when camping or what not. Earlier i tried to turn it on and it (popped, exploded?:confused:)

It popped, then hissed, then there was oozy stuff over the bulb. The batteries look fairly corroded and theres a mix of stuff on the inside. Powdery, and cakelike. Weird. Wondering what you've found to be durable, and if theres like, stainless steel batteries? I lost faith in this light. The abtteries may be my fault but the bulb exploding?
 
Dude AAmaglites aren't good for much beyond task lighting. If you want a decent inexpensive light get something with Cr123s. Cr123s store well. An inexpensive version is a surefire G2 at about $34. You can go up expense and lumen wise in the surefire lineup from there
 
The surefire G2 is a great choice. I have one I keep around. I also have some cheap Surefire knockoff that takes the same bulbs and lithium batteries. In a side by side test the G2 throws a better beam but the knockoff is still pretty good. I also have a Glock light that I can slip on the rail of my Glock if I want to, or I can use it like a flashlight. It gives me an option. If it had a laser too it would be the Buck Rogers shizzle. For more extended use like camping or Scout camp I prefer something with led bulbs due to the longer batery life.
 
You might want to look into Surefire E2 Defender flashlight. Not only a good flashlight, the outside bezel is "castle cut" which means it can inflict a far amount of damage to your assailant. Worth the $125 or so to acquire.
 
I like the surefire E2DL..... got a massive discount during CCW class

like 45gunner said, the castlecut is gnarly enough to inflict real damage

It's cut on BOTH ends of the light as well
 
It popped, then hissed, then there was oozy stuff over the bulb. The batteries look fairly corroded and theres a mix of stuff on the inside.
Click to expand...
If batteries are allowed to discharge all the way they can leak and cause the kinds of problems you describe.

Surefire is always a good choice, especially if you get one of the decently bright LED versions.

I've got a Fenix L1T V2.0 that I like a lot. It puts out around 100 lumens and runs for around an hour and a half on a single AA. If you need to conserve battery life and don't want that much light you can twist the head and bump the light level down to 16 lumens and the battery life up to 15 hours.

What I really like about it is that I can run it off a rechargeable AA battery which means I've saved a ton of money on batteries over the years I've been using it and basically given up nothing in terms of performance.

Here's a picture of it in my hand to provide some size reference.

attachment.php


I carry mine everywhere--dunno how folks get along without a flashlight.

If you look at the other Fenix lights, you should be aware that most of the other similar lights have a lot of digital modes that you select by using the switch. I had one of those for awhile and got tired of getting the SOS or strobe mode by accident. Also, the switches on some of the other models work sort of backwards. The lights don't come on when you press the switch--nothing happens until you release the switch and it clicks.
 
JohnKSa: Have you used the Fenix operating system that places the mode select up by the led on a 'mode selector ring' of sorts ? This leaves the switch to do regular momentary/on/off duties.

I was looking at a Fenix TK10 for outdoor duties, but I'm not sure about the tk10's mode selector ring. I don't like the button logic that you described and want to avoid that

I supposed i can try to find a Fenix retailer somewhere in the valley that has the TK10 and try it out.......
 
I'm with those that think Surefires are in a class all by themselves, but retirement left me with a tighter budget, and they do tend to be a little pricey.

I bought a Streamlight Scorpion a while back, and while I really like it (small, very bright, and reliable), I've found that, with high intensity bulbs, the CR123 batteries don't last that long. Also, when they die, they die quickly.

Last year, while wandering through Cabela's, I stumbled on their Alaskan Guide flashlights. I bought one on sale and I'm very pleased with it.

You can easily switch back and forth from high intensity to LED (your choice of LED color), but the feature I really like is the low battery sensor. If the batteries start to go, it will automatically revert to LED's and not allow the high intensity bulb to come on. It serves as both a warning and as a reserve to get you out of whatever dark place you're in.

All that said, I think this thread is better suited to our Gear & Accessories Forum than it is to T&T. Off you go.
 
Have you used the Fenix operating system that places the mode select up by the led on a 'mode selector ring' of sorts ? This leaves the switch to do regular momentary/on/off duties.

I was looking at a Fenix TK10 for outdoor duties, but I'm not sure about the tk10's mode selector ring. I don't like the button logic that you described and want to avoid that
Click to expand...
I'm not sure if I'm familiar with the "mode selector ring". The other Fenix light I used had about 7 or 8 modes. You would select which range of modes you wanted by twisting the head one way or the other and then pressing the on/off button would let you cycle through the modes. It didn't have any momentary on capability because of the way the switch worked. The light would only come on when you were releasing the button and the switch had clicked to the on position.

If you turned it off, then decided you needed it back on, if the off/on cycle was too quick, the light would think you were selecting the next mode. Then you'd get either a different brightness level than you were expecting or a strobe or SOS.

I don't mind being able to twist the head to get a lower brightness level if I want it, but the other was just too much of a pain.
 
The G2 is a good choice, but I would go with the LED version. In my area they sell them at Lowe's. In my case I added an after market upgrade to my G2, a Cree LED that gets it into the 220 lumen range, but that makes the price high and the original 80 lumen's is enough for most work.

Having said that, I am coming full circle back to LED lights that I can run on AA or C batteries. It use to be that the bright LED's were only available in CR123 format, now that has changed and they are available in the AA or C format. I tend not to like AAA because they usually use a carrier rather than direct loading. My latest purchase is an INOVA LED that runs on two AA at about 80 lumen's. I also have a Wolf Eyes tactical light that runs on re-chargeable lithium batteries, but it's initial cost is high.

BTW, one thing I do not like about protected 123's is that when they get low they just quit with no warning. Not a good thing for a tatical flashlight.

Also, when they die, they die quickly.
Click to expand...

Missed that. Anyway I agree.
 
Last edited:
I'm not sure if I'm familiar with the "mode selector ring". The other Fenix light I used had about 7 or 8 modes. You would select which range of modes you wanted by twisting the head one way or the other and then pressing the on/off button would let you cycle through the modes. It didn't have any momentary on capability because of the way the switch worked. The light would only come on when you were releasing the button and the switch had clicked to the on position.

If you turned it off, then decided you needed it back on, if the off/on cycle was too quick, the light would think you were selecting the next mode. Then you'd get either a different brightness level than you were expecting or a strobe or SOS.

I don't mind being able to twist the head to get a lower brightness level if I want it, but the other was just too much of a pain.
Click to expand...

hmmm, OK I see. I was reading reviews and I thought there was an actual separate ring below the head, not twisting of the head itself.

That is what i was referring to though, so you answered my question. I did not realize that the button was still mode-involved though, I thought that the head selected the mode and that was that. From what I read, on the TK10 you can select the mode (L/H/VH/STROBE) and then the switch is just a dumb switch without any logic involvement at that point.

Sounds to me like I need to find a Fenix dealer and clear up what's really going on before committing. As long as you didn't find the head selection a bother that was my main concern.........

I like my surefire E2D for indoors, but I'd like to throw a little more light outdoors, hence looking at the TK10. The Olight M20 also looks promising, but I don't like the idea of a low-voltage sensor interfering with my light.
 
ok i see how it works now. standard/turbo on the head.
thanks youtube.

Dealbreaker: no strobe

EDIT: Olight M21 now the front-runner. Light technology blows my mind.... i still have bulbs for my yellow plastic flashlight AND i still have my lantern w/6v cell.
 
Last edited:
+1 for Surefire stuff.

I had a E2E and finally replaced it after using it at work for several years. I found out the rubber switch cover on the tailcap doesn't like grease...

I replaced it with a 6P LED. This is an 80 lumem LED light with a decent run time. A little larger than the E2E, I find it's easier to hang onto. Yes, it's a little heavier than the E2E, too.
 
I'm a big fan of Fenix flashlights and now that Amaizon is carrying the the price has become even more reasonable.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top