I'm sick and tired of lousy flashlights!

I need to know more about lumens, how bright is 100 lumens for instance? When my AA mini Maglite was new how many lumens did it put out?
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~20 based on my experience. Still, lumens vs. perceived brightness isn't really linear.

20 is good task lighting. 50 is quit a bit brighter. 150 is really bright. It hurts to look at. 500 will light up the yard well. 800 is really too bright for indoor use.

A TK35 is the ultimate in flashlights! Reasonable size, but wow is 800 bright. Ask my neighbor. You think a herd of cops have you lit up when someone shines that on you!
 
Inova X5

Inova X5 hands down best general purpose flashlight ever.
http://www.opticsplanet.net/inova-x5-spotlight-lithium-powered.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&************=plusbox-beta&gclid=CJic55_Cuq4CFUJN4AodiAMgrA
If you just need a flashlight that is bright enough for every day situations and is good on batteries this is your light. It's small works when needed and the last time I had to put batteries in it was 10 months ago.

I love the Surefire line and they are my tactical choice when needed but they eat batteries like mad and the bulb life is short.
 
I've had them all!~

I think for a great price the new 5.11 series is a good buy. Also if you want try a coast L series. Those are amazing and last a very long time. Personally I hate surefire unless you're speaking of tactical weapon lights.
 
Maglight with this bulb

Just bought one of these to try in a Maglite .... amazing, a product that actually works as advertised! I'm buying more of them. They are Nite-Ize LED bulbs for flashlights. The same bulb works in all C & D cell flashlights with 2 to 6 cells. The bulbs actually have a DC-DC converter built in so the light is equally bright with all combinations (the 2 cell is slightly dimmer than the 4 cell is but not much). I did some performance tests that I'll post later (data is at home) but bottom line is for 8 bucks, I really like these bulbs.

Brighter than the Krypton, use a lot less current, and still focus from wide to spot.

http://www.fleetfarm.com/catalog/pr...nite-ize-led-flashlight-upgrade-kit-lrb-07-pr

Maglites are easily the best lights ever and these bulbs bring the old ones up to the new high power LED level. Very cool. :cool:
 
I try to buy Flashlights made in the USA, even if they are pricier.
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Amen! I try to buy American made any time I can. There are a handful of really good flashlight manufacturers in the U.S.

Surefire, Streamlight, Mag and a few others.
 
I sell tons of flashlights to mechanics through my store, and if anyone can abuse a flashlight, its a mechanic. Streamlight for rechargeable, or Surefire if you don't mind buying CR123A batteries. The Surefire product is arguably better made.

Streamlight Strion LED flashlights have been best sellers from my store, (a tool truck) and all routes around me, since the LED model came out. Everyone cries about the price, until they own one, and then they usually come back for another!
 
I bought a kill light. Its from elusive wildlife. Its called a kill light 250. I use it for night hunting coyotes. It came with a bracket for my rifle and one for a shot gun barrel. It also came with two switches for on and off. You can recharge the batteries. Its new but so far so good. Good price too.
 
As with scopes, holsters and just about any other tactical gear, you get what you pay for. If you.re buying cheap gear, be prepared to buy another one. Ifyou.re gonna pay for quality look into
Surefire (there is definitely a reason... actually many reasons... the army uses them)
Inova

If you're looking for something less expensive than a surefire look into Pelican. Theyre polymer, not aluminum, but they work decently. Streamlight too. I have a streamlight taclight for my pistol that ive owned for about 7years now. Maglite too: not sexy at all, but a total beast of a flashlight
 
I've got a Surefire and Streamlight flashlight. They do not perform as some of the other lights out there. fenix, FourSeven, Olight, Sunwayman, Jetbeam, Thrunite, and Klarus produce better flashlights for much less. I recently bought a Klarus ST20 for $42.00 shipped. It's the size of a Maglite 2AA. It produces 240 lumens on high mode running on 2AA batteries for 1.7 hours. It also has medium, low, super low(200 hours at 2 lumens), SOS, strobe, and beacon modes. This flashlight is brighter than my Maglite 3 D cell LED light which is only rated at 134 lumens. It's also waterproof to IPX-8 standard which is over 1 meter for more than 30 minutes underwater. This light performs way better than my Surefire G2Z or my Streamlight Stinger.
 
I have had good results with Fenix & Olight. Yes they are Chinese products, I can't bring myself to buy Surefire.

Yes, Surefire's are made in the U.S.A I get that, but so are Ruger/S&W firearms, but they aren't more expensive than glocks or XD's. :o
 
Another good flashlight is Zebralight. But the most bang for your buck are the Chinese brands like SkyRay, TrustFire, UltraFire, UniqueFire, Crelant, Small Sun, MarsFire, and a bunch of others that slip my mind.
 
Rj1972

Ok I'm a little late to the party perhaps, but you can see some pretty decent reviews (and others opinions) on candlepower forums: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/content.php

It's where I found reviews on my fenix pd20 (which I love).
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I followed a post about lathes over there, and that is how I chose my 4th gunsmithing lathe.

That web site has caused me to look beyond my maglite and surefire and Chinese (3) AAA (9) LED el cheapo, to Fenix and others.

It has also caused me to start carrying a better flashlight, along with my gun and knife.
 
I have two Surefires, but prefer my Fenix TK15. I work nights and like the throw on the Fenix better. It also seems to have a better battery life.
 
I've been really happy with my little TLR3 if you don't mind having strobe. always has turned on and off with no problem. and for being all plastic and the cheapest Streamlight it's very bright and seems pretty tough. But if you need it on a rifle or shotgun it doesn't have the option for a switch and wire.
 
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