Flashlight for Everyday Carry ?

[madmag]

Originally Posted by ReserveCop

(for under $100 if possible and a flashlight that I can clip to my pocket)?

You are in luck.....at least compared to a few years ago. As you see by the above posts there are lots of good bright flashlights out there for under $100. All good suggestions above. You can also check out Target. They have a fairly large line of the Inova lights, including the X03 as Mike suggests.

Brightness is not everything. You want at least 80 lumen's, but for EDC small size and run time are as important. I would even add Mag lights new 3Xaaa LED for about $39.00. I think it is in the 80 lumen range. Also, Lowe's has the Surfefire G2 for about $60.00. And if you want to go wild you can add the aftermarket Cree R2 LED to the G2 for about $20.00 that will give about 230 lumen's.

Another good site.

http://www.lighthound.com/

And

http://www.maglite.com/maglite_xl100_led.asp

[jgcoastie]

I bought these Klutch flashlights for my shop a few months ago and they are absolutely great. They have a fairly sturdy clip for pocket or belt use. But I removed the clip and carry it in a kydex Surefire belt holster. The ones that fit the Z2 Combatlight will also carry the Klutch.

My Surefire Z2 stays in the drawer in favor of the Klutch for one simple reason: I can pop the battery in the charger overnight once every few weeks and it will never die vs. buying expensive CR123 batteries every couple of weeks...

[arizona98tj]

x2 on the SureFire Backup. It hasn't left my pocket since the first day I bought it. It is a great every day carry light, IMO. The two power levels makes it very efficient to use.

[zxcvbob]

I have 2 that I really like, a MiniMaglite 3-AA model with LED, and a Rayovac Highbeam 2-AA 3W (I don't really believe it's 3 watts.) The Rayovac is small enough and light enough to slip in your pocket without it being obnoxious. The Maglite is obviously bigger and heavier; it comes with a pouch to wear it on your belt.

Both cost about $20.

[madmag]

The flashlight world has really changed in just the last few years. For many years things were kinda flat lined. The standard was a 3D Mag light with krypton bulb @ about 40 lumen's. Then came Xenon bulbs and lithium batteries. Then came weak LED's. Then came expensive bright LED's. Now we have low cost bright LED's. You can get 500 lumen's for under $100.00, or you can get 100 plus lumen's for about $40.00.

Now there are so many brands and options it's hard to keep track. I have lithium powered lights, but I tend to like the "AA" or "C" powered lights....cheap batteries and they run a long time.

[Crosshair]

Take a look at Fenix brand flashlights. Everything a surefire does at a fraction of the price.



The one I now carry all the time is the LD10 model. (Around $50) Not every situation requires the illumination abilities of an arc lamp so you most often use the 9 lumen mode which also gives you a nice 34 hour run time on one AA. It is short and very compact, making it very easy to carry all the time. I have a couple of L2T models and the 2xAA design was just so much more bulky I often caught myself leaving it at home or in a coat pocket. With the LT10 I can easily clip it inside my pant pocket. It's also easy to hold in your mouth for those situations where that is necessary.

It also runs on inexpensive AA batteries. A major plus for many people as you can use rechargeable for everyday use. I talked with a factory rep at a gun show and was told they are designed from the start assuming that rechargeables will be used, and you can keep the high-end alkaline stashed for emergency.

For situations where you NEED LIGHT you crank the bezel to turbo mode and get 132 lumens, though this of course chugs batteries like frat boys and beer. With 123 Lithiums I was always "afraid" to use turbo because of the cost of batteries. With something that runs on AA or AAA's, especialy rechargeables, you don't give it a second thought and use it if it is needed.

If you need something in between there is the 50 and 105 lumen mode.

It also has an SOS mode which I actually used this last winter. I was stuck on a minimum maintenance road that had been passable a few days earlier, but which had blown over with snow, resulting in my vehicle getting very stuck.

The friend I called to come help was not familiar with the area so I gave him the best directions I could over the phone and told him to look for the flashing SOS. I then set the flashlight to SOS mode, put it on top of the car pointing in the direction he would be approaching from, then got back inside. A flashing light is a lot more visible to a person than a constant light for some reason and he saw it from several miles away, it was a clear but very cold night, giving him certainty that he was on the correct path to me.

[coldpointcrossing]

You could try a Streamlight Microstream "body" coupled to a Fenix LD01 "head". Awesome little bugger. Total cost is around +/-$50.00 if you eBay both lights. Runs off 1 AAA battery. Overall size is about equal to a AA battery. Great runtime, super bright for it's size and intended use as a EDC light. Had mine for about 6 months until I recently misplaced it. Will be replacing it with the exact same thing. It quickly became indispensable and I feel naked without it.



The one on the left is a stock Microstream and the one on the right is the "Lego" Streamlight.


Fuzzy pic was supposed to demonstrate how well fitted the head and body are but as you can plainly see, I failed.

[wingspar]

Lots of good lights out there. Fenix seems to have the most options, and Surefire seems to have a large audience. I went with a couple of Fenix lights. The LD-20 and TK-20. I’ll be adding one or two more lights in the near future. My days of using the common flashlights found in stores is gone. These lights are awesome. 4Sevens also makes good lights.

I did a review on my two lights when I got them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjONxls_mN0

[Crosshair]

My days of using the common flashlights found in stores is gone.

There are some good cheapo lights. There are those single AAA lights at Walmart. Top one in this pic.



They put out a decent amount of light. Enough to see where you are going and enough to use as a utility light. The beam is rather narrow, but very consistent output. They run about $3 each so it's great to grab a dozen just so you have plenty of flashlights available around the house/car. These actually make good borelights in my experience.

If I need to put a light down a cable shaft to see what's there, one of those gets put on the string and lowered down, not my $50 Fenix.

[(BH)]

I have been exclusively using Soarforce L2's and L2M's that I've ordered from a TFL member by the name of Jimdo. Check him out.

I think that they are just as good as Surefires, and they only cost $30. I have them weapon mounted, around the house, in the car, and on my person. They are durable, waterproof, bright (300 lumen) and cheap. You could get 3 for your price range.

[THORN74]

I carry a surefire 6p where ever i go durring coat weather and have a inova in my car.

[Double Naught Spy]

I too have been have with my Solarforce from Jimdo.

Back when I got into "tactical" lights, there was Maglite, Streamlight, and Surefire. Now there are many options and the options seem to get more numerous every year and the quality across the board seems to be higher and higher especially with the LED lights.

[Rinspeed]

I think that they are just as good as Surefires, and they only cost $30. I have them weapon mounted, around the house, in the car, and on my person. They are durable, waterproof, bright (300 lumen) and cheap. You could get 3 for your price range.

I've heard the L2s are a great light for the money but just so you will know there's no way they are putting out 300 lumens.

[geetarman]

I have a couple of Novatac T120 lights. One with a tactical switch on the back for the range bag and one with recessed switch for carry. Nice lights but not cheap. I think I paid $130 for the first one and bought the second from Botactical for about $100 even.

The light has three light levels and a strobe and uses a single SF123 batterie.

What I did notice about the tactical switch, was that if you clip it to the pocket of your Levis, you sometimes turned it on when sitting in a car or truck. That was the reason for buying one with the recessed tailcap.

The light is very well made and pretty much bullet proof.

Geetarman

[darkgael]

I have a Surefire G2 that I like very much but I found it too large to carry on my belt most of the time. I picked up a little single C123 cell light - the Romisen RC-C3 Cree LED. It stays on my belt or clipped to my pocket always.
Very well reviewed, it cost me less than $15. I have had it for a couple of years.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.6103

Pete

[LinuxHack3r]

A very long time ago, I bought a G2 Surefire. Not exactly an EDC lightm but I bought it to set on my desk at home and also keep in my vehicle. I Love this light. I love it so much I decided to buy the E1B. Compactm brightm feels great in my hand. For the longest time I carried this light in my pocket. One day I couldn't find it. Eventually after looking and looking, I decided it HAD to be replaced. I started looking on the Surefire website again....and this time decided to go with the E2DL, this happened right after they upgraded it to 200 lumens. Man this thing is BRIGHT!!!!!!!!!!! Iluminates trees 100+ yards. Truth being told I found my E1B...in my jacket pocket. I must have had it in there when it was cold, and then stopped wearing my jacket. Now I have about 30 batteries stored and 3 Surefire flashlights. The E1DL is a little big, probably too big for EDC unless you have a pouch. I know others have suggested these lights and that they are a little out of your price range...but moral of the story is I've spent 500+ on 3 Surefire flashlights/batteries and I don't regret it at all. The are just that great of a light. Once the pocket clip on my E2DL got bent to hell by being caught on something, so I called Surefire later that day. He was going to send me a replacement clip/shim for free. I simply asked if maybe he could send two of each just in case it happened again.....he replied with "Oh of course I can do that". A week later I had a small envelope in the mailbox waitingg for me...Didn't cost me a thing. I absolutely Love the brand!

[LinuxHack3r]

BTW...for what you are wanting I think the E1B fits what you need.I still csrry this light, and can be found on Ebay for not too too much over $100. It is well worth the money. Carry it everyday of the year and then it's only 30 cents a day or so. That's not including batteriesm but my point is it's not that expensive when you consider it will serve you from now until forever (or you lose it)(or you subconsciously misplace it so you have an escuse to buy another