LED lenser's are known for being of a lower build quality than their Taiwanese/Chineses and American made competitors like Fenix, Surefire, Nitecore etc. I don't own one personally, so I can't vouch for that, I'm just repeating what I have heard folks over on CPF saying. Ironically they are German made. I don't know what happened there. I do know that plenty of people on CPF have been let down by them in the past. Kinda like the Biostar of the flashlight community, if you know what I mean. Also, nice collection Herbicide! You haven't been listening to a word I've been saying, have you?
I don't know what problem they have with LED LENSERS tbh. They're far from bad quality actually as far as I can tell from my P7. I don't try to hammer nails into the wall with it tho, but only for getting light into the dark during the wintertime in Finland
The way I put it was kind of funny, I admit, and the comments just cracked me up. We live out on the country side, and during winter time she has told me that she sometimes feels, if not unsafe, so uncomfortable, when out walking alone. Not that I think the torch will be needed for self defence, but it could be used for that, and if it makes her feel better... I can see the headlines: "blond torch wielding damsel knocks out Elk" lots of wildlife around here you know. I had no idea, it was recommended to me partly because it was German made. The order was placed before I found this thread and both torches have been paid for, I will keep it and if the quality isn't up to par I may order one of the two you previously recommended, well, I may just do that regardless. I have been reading up on torches today which perhaps were a bit unwise, in ways most of you reading will understand, I'm sure. Lots to choose from. Thanks for your quick reply.
I had an LED Lenser a while back (probably still have it somewhere actually), I bought it mainly because it was one of the first I found from a quick Google search and it seemed to have good reviews. Compared to an old 4D Maglite it was very impressive, especially for its size and that it only ran on 3 AAA batteries. But compared to the Fenix PD31 I've just received, there really is no comparison. Build quality on the LED Lenser seemed OK, nearly on par with the Fenix. I can't remember if it was waterproof-rated like the Fenix lights are, but I would be comfortable enough dropping it in a shallow amount of water. In terms of performance and operation though, it's nowhere near as good. For a start there's only one level of brightness, so it's not very versatile. I love being able to use the PD31 at 2 lumens, which is perfectly fine for finding something in the loft or a dark cupboard, and not worry about running down the battery. The LED Lenser does have the ability to switch between a spot beam or flood beam though, which on the surface is quite useful, but you really have to choose between the two - you either have a very narrow beam which throws a reasonable distance, or a very wide one which doesn't throw very far, and has a massive 'donut hole' in the middle. With the PD31 you get both a good spot beam and flood beam at the same time, and can just ramp up the brightness depending on your needs (at max brightness it easily outperforms the LED Lenser, even though it's much smaller and lighter). The extra modes like strobe/SOS are nice to have as well, even though I doubt I'll ever use them. Overall I was so impressed with the PD31 I've just ordered an E05 to go on my keychain The above comparison may not be completely fair though, as I bought the LED Lenser a few years ago and the Fenix light is a brand new model, so it's much brighter (100-odd lumens vs. 300). However, they're still selling the same model LED Lenser for a little over half the price of the Fenix, so it's still somewhat relevant.
The donut hole in the beam that you meantioned is one of the reasons some people - lifetime flashlight enthusiasts - on CPF don't like LED Lenser flashlights much, and one of the reasons I haven't bought one yet. I really can't stand ringy beams or dark donut holes in the beam like that. I've sent flashlights back over it before. The examples of the D10, D11 and Extreme from Nitecore which I own all have perfect milky smooth, floody beams - which makes them perfect for EDC use.
Right, I currently have an LED Lenser. An older one, bought in the US in 2007. It runs off 1xAA and pocket sized but a little bigger than a keyring size. It has served me well on camping trips and in general EDC capacity, but hasn't really seen that much abuse. I also have a Mag 3D with the LED conversion which is extremely bright but gets kept in the glovebox for emergencies and car shows! I shall be leaving the country next month for 7.5mths and although I don't anticipate I whole lot of darkness (I'll be in the Canaries and it'll be summer!) I want something smaller than the Mag, but better than the LED Lenser. Can anybody help with suggestions? Waterproof would be nice, AA battery powered (a single one would be good, but I'm open to suggestions), well built and EDC-able. CPF just freaked me out, and none of the etailers I found had decent buying guides or recommendations, except by brand, which is useless if you know nothing.
It has that effect on a lot of people - it's an extremely technical forum and most of the members are people who go into every single tiny detail about a product that most people would just pick up, switch on and say "Oh, it's a torch. Cool. It's heavy. And bright." so you have to know the lingo and the numerous things that those guys consider when buying/designing/building flashlights. It can seem overwhelming but if you spend a few days there reading the guides for beginners then you eventually pick it up. There are some incredibly talented electronic engineers on CPF who have revolutionized the LED flashlight market in recent years and as with every technological advance, when it gets well established and proven effective in one industry it trickles over into other industries as well. It may seem hard to believe just by flicking through a few pages on the forum, but CPF is responsible for many of the great LED flashlights that are available today from large companies like Nitecore, Surefire and Fenix. The first stop for feedback on a new product from any of those companies is the Candlepower forum and the comments and opinions given to them by CPF members has a direct effect on the features and specifications of their next product. As a case in point, Nitecore took over Jetbeam last year and in the middle of the takeover things obviously got a little hectic with them moving factories etc, and they made some screw-ups with one of their most popular product lines, the "Piston Drive" or "PD" series. Many, many people called them on it using CPF as a platform to get the message across and most people got the issues with their new lights sorted out in a matter of weeks. That's one of the largest flashlight manufacturers in the world taking advice from an Internet forum - because one bad flashlight review is all it takes to put someone off a brand for life. I only visit CPF maybe twice a week at the most - I limit myself because every time I go there I see another light or accessory that I want Anyway, sorry for rambling. So you want a waterproof single AA LED flashlight? Look no further than the Nitecore D10. It's not just a geat single AA LED light, it's the best single AA light in the world. It's predecessor, the Defender Infinity, defined the AA form factor so it's got "famous roots". I wouldn't go with the newer D11 because they changed the shortcuts on it and you don't really need strobe or SOS at the push of a button, what I assume you want is shortcuts to different brightness modes. The D10 SP (original D10 is discontinued because of the D11) has 3x brightness modes: 2, 35 and 130 lumens. That's a whole lot of light from something that fits in the palm of your hand and you can hardly notice in your pocket. I guarantee the D10 will make your Mag and LED Lenser seem like toys - it's an incredible light. I've parted with a few flashlights over the past couple of years through CPF marketplace for one reason or another, usually to make room and money for new models but I will never get rid of my D10. It's just too damn good! If you don't like the look of it for any reason, let me know and I can make other suggestions. It can be bought for £50 including batteries and UK delivery from nitecore.co.uk which is a site owned by flashaholics.co.uk.
Built a little something for a friend of mine: The idea was to make a proper bicycle light, but it still isn't finished.. It's just a 4000 mAh Li-Po battery, 1 A driver and the 4-led thingmabob taped to a wooden stick. Bright as hell, but not too practical.
Thanks Unicorn for that wonderfully informative post. +rep. I've been away and looked at what Piston Drive is, and it seems very cool. Could you please tell me what the alternatives are and their pros and cons? The waterproof thing is very interesting and potentially useful. Another thing, if I were to say that was too much money, what would you say? What options does that leave me? Similarly, if I was to say that was too big, what would a AAA unit look like like and how powerful would it be by comparison? Finally, what about Fenix?? Thanks in advance.
Yeah it really was my moment of genius I first thought about a circular GF6600 heatsink, but it was a touch too small.. Maybe for the next version. And stick light? We dubbed it the CUDGEL! I wouldn't be surprised if some people felt rather uncomfortable when we went to test that thing one night Two men moving in the dark on a deserted beach, loudly talking about THE CUDGEL.
Well if you wanted, you could wet your appetite with a cheap Li-Ion flashlight from one of any number of Chinese e-tailers. You will likely be amazed at the amount of light that can come out of such a small flashlight, but later frustrated as you have to deal with the sub par build quality. My personal favorite is my old Pelican (can't remember what model). It served me well for many years, and one day I had an opportunity to snag some hand picked CREE XR-E emitters from a premium bin and swapped out the LED. Now it continues to light my way with even more light I have several of the cheap flashlights from China, but in the end you get what you pay for and unless you want to do some electrical work, you are best off spending the money on a good product in the first place. As for your question about too big, there are some nice small lights that run off of the CR123 cells. Ideally you may want to look for something that can use the rechargeable versions (often referred to as 16340 cells) so you don't have to spend so much on batteries. If that is still too big there are some flashlights that use the CR2 cells and they are small enough to comfortably fit on a key-chain. There was a user on the CPF who made small batches of CR2 based lights known as CR2 IONs. His flashlights were highly sought after by the members of CPF and usually ran ~$125-$200 each I always wanted to get one myself, but alas I have been unable to track one down that the owner wants to part with at a reasonable price.
Thanks. So what you're saying is, the unit suggested by Unicorn is pretty much as cheap as it gets for decent build quality? If that's the case, so be it. I want this thing to last and do a good job. Are CR123s as widely available as normal AAs? I thought AAs would be easier to pick up anywhere in the world. Plus I'm assuming the Lithium ones from Energizer are really good in flashlights?
Generally, a torch that runs on (R)CR123s will be brighter than one that runs on AAs, due to the voltage difference. (3V/cell against ~1.5V/cell) To use your example, single Energiser 123s are available from (say) wilkos for £4.28, or ~£1.98 on ebay, though if you buy in bulk and buy a cheaper known-good (generally, avoid ****fire (surefire excepted)) brand, you can get them for ~50p/cell. Depending upon how much use you get out of the torch, you may want to move from 'primaries' to rechargeables (RCR123s), but let's not go there just yet. Lithium cells (be they primaries or rechargeables) have a flatter discharge curve than Alkalines (this means they provide roughly the same voltage for longer), have lower internal resistance and can provide more current than alkalines, but you're still talking at least £4/2-pack for AA lithium primaries. A note on (nominal) voltages - CR123 - 3.0V RCR123 - 3.7V Alkaline AA - 1.5V NiMH AA - 1.2V Lithium AA - 1.7V TL;DR - Lithiums are better but really expensive, rechargeables are an option, but you need to be aware of the (possible) dangers.
This is simply not true (even nearly 2 years later than your post...). LEDs are STILL less efficient than HIDs, and your argument is poor - those HID flashlights DO produce a lot of heat, but it has a 35W lamp in it, so proportionately it will produce more heat. 35W of LED in the same casing would produce more heat and still not match the light output of a 35W HID lamp. Remember the lumens per watt figure stated for LEDs is with a peltier cooled emitter at their most efficient operating point (usually around 350mA) - Drive the LED at higher currents and the efficiency drops rapidly! The lumen maintenance of LEDs is also generally poorer.
^THIS! If you were to go the rechargeable Li-Ion route you would need to make sure that you get batteries that have onboard protection circuitry to prevent over charge or over discharge in addition to having a good reliable Li-Ion charger that has auto cutoff. Peculiar thing about Lithium based rechargeable cells, is that they have a tendency to go BOOM if they are over discharged and then charged again (the actual explanation is more in-depth so I left you with a short version) One disadvantage of the protected rechargeable circuits vs a non rechargeable cell (secondary vs primary cells) is that a protection circuit will cut power the moment the battery reaches a certain threshold. Which can unexpectedly leave you in the dark, so make sure you keep a spare on hand. CR123 cells are commonly found in film based cameras along with other high drain devices. They are used for their high current discharge capabilities and long shelf life. But as has been mentioned, they are expensive. I have a set of rechargeable cells that I use for my pelican. I keep one cell in the light [torch] and one in a compartment on the flashlight holster. When I exhaust the cell in my flashlight I just swap the cell for the one in the holster. Once I get home I swap out the exhausted cell for a freshly charged cell and charge the exhausted one. I have been cycling my 3 cells for over 5 years now and they still work great, granted their runtime isn't quite what it use to be. Though they have more than paid for themselves given that I only spent ~$7 on the cells and another $15 or so on the charger.
Nope, depends on useage pattern. If you're not allowed to carry a nightstick, but you are alowed to carry a piece of scaffolding tube with lead in it, providing light shines out one end, then 6-cell Maglite's explain themselves.
