Tactical Flashlights

"you get what you pay for"
Click to expand...
I agree for the most part, but with the results Ive been having with the "$20" Romisens, I have to wonder if I wasnt getting raped pricewise by Surefire and Streamlight for all those years. Same of better performance for a lot less money.

So far, Im not replacing the Romisens any faster than I did the others, and I usually get at least two or three to one when I buy them.
 
"you get what you pay for"
Click to expand...

I too agree, for the most part. Then again, there are some things people are just apt to pay too much for because of a name. I went through several Surefire and Streamlight xenon bulbs in fairly quick order early on before the change LEDs. At a replacement cost of $25 a piece, I did not think I was getting what I was paying for. I even managed to melt a Streamlight lens that wasn't supposed to melt after I ran my light too long.

If you bought a brand new high end Cadillac in the 1970s, you still got junk.

Equating all less expesnive products with each other as if cost was a company isn't exactly.

Surefires have problems as well...
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=188358
http://www.amazon.com/Surefire-E2D-...iewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending
http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=46059
http://forum.pafoa.org/general-2/42898-problem-my-new-surefire-g2-light.html
http://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html?b=3&f=20&t=521896
http://www.perfectunion.com/vb/handgun-misc/52465-warning-glock-surefire-problem.html
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?308339-problems-with-a-surefire

Google is your friend. This is just a small sampling of the number of folks with Surefire problems. Surefire makes a good product, no doubt, but just because it is expensive doesn't mean you won't have problems with it.
 
Awesome Lights

I'm from Gun Casket (www.GunCasket.com) and we were at a gun show in Las Vegas a few weeks ago working next to booth called "Sight For Sore Eyes Tactical". Their light/laser combo's were some of the best I've seen. You can see their lights at www.SFSEtactical.com. They had units that you could recharge, pressure switches for the lights, strobes and all sorts of cool stuff.

My guys and I spent some time at their booth and the quailty looked great. I plan to get a laser/light/rail combo for my Saiga 12 from these guys.

Prices seemed reasonable and I know they sold quite a few to a police department down there.

Hope this helps!
 
The only Chinese lights that are iffy quality are some of the cheaper ones usually found on DealExtreme. Let me put it this way, there are Germans (who are known for love of all things quality) who do mostly Chinese flashlight reviews on YouTube...
http://www.youtube.com/user/Dirkusgermany
http://www.youtube.com/user/Taschenlampentest
http://www.youtube.com/user/jojoselected
There are some newer brands like Sunwayman, LuminTop, Klarus etc that Im not too familiar with, but they seem to have nice lights.

Surefire = name brand but lower output, shorter run times, and costs more. Streamlight and Blackhawk lights are so unimpressive IMO, that Im suprised they are still in business.
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by Occam's Razor
Streamlight PT2L - $45 online. Just do google. 2 cr123's but has a low beam function as well to save on battery life. Very small with a high end output of 180 lumens. I own a couple.
Click to expand...

I agree, I have the same light and I like it very much.
 
Thanks for all the input guys.

I wanted the light for nightstand & glovebox use.

Choosing a light is 2X more complicated than choosing an HD pistol!

JB
 
Any LED flashlight that uses AA batteries.

I carry a Streamlight PT2AA, which may be longer than you want (6"), but my requirements are probably different from yours. It is very bright (brighter than my full-size, incandescent Streamlight) and the batteries last a long time.

LEDs are a welcome advancement in flashlight technology. :)
 
Another way to look at it: How about asking for what gun to buy on a flashlight forum? :p

Seriously though, check out Candlepowerforums. It's generally a good group of folks, and well-moderated for content (I'm a Mod there, so I should know, LOL)
 
I've got the new Elzetta with strobe and it's great. If you haven't checked out Elzetta yet, may be worth your time. You can configure them however you want (different bezels - standard or strike) and different tailcaps depending on your use and your preference. I love mine...and made in USA!!
 
+1 for candlepowerforums. I wanted to check out the same type of thing and they have great reviews of a million flashlights, not to mention more technical information that you can shake a stick at.

I ended up buying a fenix Pd20 R2 for about $55. 190 lumens. It can light up my back fence (70 yards away) at night about the same as my dewalt flood light connected to the huge 18v battery. Very happy, great quality.
 
Protected Cell Issue

Watch out for protected CR123 lithium cells. They are great for shelve life and high current delivery, but most of the cells are protected. That means they have a built in circuit that shuts the battery down when it goes below a certain voltage setting. This is done to prevent high current that could cause a fire. The problem is that the shut-off occurs without warning. So if you are using them in a tactical situation you could loose light without warning.

Alkaline and ni-mh rechargeable don't have this issue. They just get dim and that's your warning they are getting low.
 
I have a couple of Surefires and several Fenix's. Surefire for weapons and the Fenix's go in vehicles, lay around the house, etc.
 
Yes, I also have Surefire. They are great lights, but the protected cells is an issue. I have had my Surefire go from on to dead in a second due to the cells cutting off. I now try to get lights powered by AAA thru D size.

Now I admit if you always make sure to keep new fresh CR123's then you won't have an issue, but I am cheap and try to get the most out of my 123 cells.
 
I have a handful of Fenix and 4Sevens lights.
Can't go wrong with either one, and they have a lot to chose from, depending on what features (size, output, modes, user interface) you are looking for.
You can get an awesome light for under $100.
For the uses you mentioned, I would make sure to get something that has a wide range of output levels. Also, you don't need crazy lumens, even for "tactical" uses (I hate that word). 300 lumens is SUPER bright, and a little overkill indoors.
Here's what I carry in my pocket:
http://www.4sevens.com/product_info.php?cPath=297_305&products_id=1599
I think something like that would make you more than happy, as well as make you buy more flashlights (you'll find other "niches" that need to be filled - although this is a superb all-purpose light).
 
General comment about run times.

I have tested run times on most of my lights. I am a flashlight geek so I have quite a few. Some are $200 plus down to some low cost Costco lights.

I find a good rule of thumb is to take about 70% the advertised run times and that's about what you will really get. Still not a bad number for most modern LED's.

BTW, I find some of the low cost lights have as good run times as the expensive lights. Of course now days most all are using some type of Cree LED.
 
tac lite

I bought a mag lite 150 (i think ) it is led cost $30. throws more lite then my surefire and uses 3AAA s. It has a hi and low setting and a strobe. its rugged. Just my 2cents worth.
 
Now there are two many good lights out there to name. When LED's first became bright enough to be useful there were only expensive lights using them, usually with CR123 batteries. Now you can buy low cost lights all over that have at least 150 lumen's and run on AAA or AA batteries. And they are mostly with good regulated run times.

You can go to Sears, Target, Cosco and similar stores and buy lights that would have cost you $150 plus just a few years ago for low cost, or order off the net.

PS, incandescent flashlights are dead. For anything up to 700 lumens LED's are the way to go, for more lumens then HID's are the way to go.
 
Last edited:
I'm surprised that no one really commented on features that you might want ... or if they did, I missed it in my scan.

Anyway, for a SD/HD light, my calculus is VERY different than for pretty much any other use. First off, I always look for a light that I can pulse on ... as in, carry off through the house or yard and with a semi-depression of the switch get a momentary pulse of light. Unfortunately, most of the lights mentioned in this thread click on and pulse off ... I don't understand why they would be designed that way, but it must be simpler (cheaper!) electronics that way. The second thing I look for is single mode ... at least from the switch. If you pulse off most multi-mode lights, they wake up in the next mode, so if you bump your tailcap you can go from a max light that you want to a strobe :eek: So ... for my SD/HD lights, the SOS and strobe functions are negatives, not features. I have a couple of great Fenix EDC lights and I'm thrilled with them ... but after trying many of the lights mentioned in this thread, my current SD/HD light is a SureFire 6P with a ~200 lumen drop-in single mode P60 LED module that I probably picked up at DealExtreme. The SureFire switch just seems much more reliable (than the imports) to me and I think that the prices on the 6P lights are falling due to the impending extinction of incandescent bulbs, so this combo is quality without breaking the bank.

Saands
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top