Anything from Fenix or Surefire should do you well. But you should narrow it down a bit more. output? multi mode? side or rear button? Will you be weapon mounting it?
will be used by hand, dont need lots of modes but maybe at least full and half power. Also do not want it too long and heavy. Got to be able to run with it on my belt. Dont care about the button. looking for high as possible power, but don't want it to last 5 minutes. So good build quality is a must. focus and wide beam adjustment would be good also. Been though a lot of the cheap china cree stuff that give great first impressions but literately burn out and die within days of regular use.
I know you've said you have had the LED Lenser but I thought I'd just +1 it. I have the P3 which I use for inspections at work, brilliant little torch. I also bought a P7 for our Security team which has had some serious hammer over the last year or so but still works flawlessly.
Hmm I disagree I keep a fenix ld22 in my car and it's much easier to get ahold of AA batteries than to find somewhere to charge the torch, personally I like the option of both Sent from my SM-T325 using Tapatalk
How bright would you like it to be and what batteries would you like to use? The P7 you mentioned was powered by 4 AAA batteries and was rated at 200 lumens. One thing to keep in mind when you're looking at these torches is that unless the brightness rating technique uses the ANSI FL1 standard, don't trust it. If you're comparing torches and they're all rated using FL1, you'll be comparing apples to apples. FL1 also covers the runtime too. Non-FL1 ratings tend to be optimistic and/or are the maximum capabilities of the LED and may not take into account the design of the reflector (some people refer to the actual output as out-the-front (OTF) lumens). If you don't mind losing the spot-flood focus mechanism, I would recommend almost any AA powered Fenix or Klarus torch, such as the Fenix LD22 which was mentioned in an earlier post or even the E21. The LD22 has quite a few modes (brightness, strobes) but the E21 is a simple two-mode torch where tightening the bezel switches to the brighter mode. The Klarus P2A is also worth mentioning - 2 AA and 20 lumens low (33 hours), 245 lumens high (1 hour). Almost anything from Nitecore or Sunwayman is worth looking at too. 4 AA torches like the Nitecore EA4 and the Sunwayman D40A also fantastic too - they'll be within your budget if you don't mind importing them from Hong Kong. The EA4 is 860 lumens and the D40A is 980 lumens - both of them have a series of lower brightness modes too. The catch with these is that the maximum mode will 'step down' after a few minutes for power/heat reasons but you can get back into the maximum mode if you need to. Foursevens (used to be 4Sevens) is another manufacturer to look at too - their Quark series tends to get good reviews. All of the torches I've mentioned are rated with FL1. I don't have any experience with using Li-Ion batteries, such as 18650s, but if you're using decent rechargeable AA or AAA (I prefer Sanyo/Panasonic Eneloops), you'll get great runtimes. My only real experience with LED Lenser is a P14. I'm not sure if things have changed with them recently but their torches never had the current regulated well or efficiently. The P14 had a simple resistor. A good torch regulates the current to the LED resulting in a (mostly) constant brightness until the batteries are drained. A non-regulated circuit would cause it to become slowly dimmer and dimmer like a boring old incandescent torch. Their 2 cell torches (<= 3v) had to have some regulation to boost the voltage but I don't recall ever being convinced that they were all that efficient. Don't get me wrong - they make great torches with good build quality but you will definitely get better value (brightness, modes, efficiency) with some of the manufacturers I've mentioned. The speed-focusing feature is very cool, though. I haven't gone into the weird and wonderful (or possibly dull) topics of tint (cool/neutral/warm) and the beam profile (tight beam = throws far, floody beam = covers a wide area). Apologies for going on and on or covering something you already know but... I like torches.
This has been done Can we get a merge? The title of this thread is probably more appripriate for the topic than the original one. My thoughts on LED Lenser have already been expressed in the other thread, but I don't rate them at all. The quality, output and beam tint of anything I've seen from them is nothing compared to the likes of my Fenix, Surefire and older Nitecore lights.
After my unenlightened purchase many years ago, I don't think I'd buy another one. I do find the 'wall of smooth light' in the flood-modes quite nice but that's pretty much the only positive I can think of. Nice to hear you prefer Fenix and Nitecore too. I see you prefer the older models - anything in particular? I liked the D20 (the one with the R2) but never played with anything else before or around that era.
Lots of people claim LED Lenser to be fantastic lights, but that's usually before they try something like a Fenix, Nitecore, Jetbeam, Surefire or a custom. I love the older Nitecores and am not so keen on their newer offerings. From the reviews of their recent products that I've seen, I think they have ironed out most of the issues they had with quality just after the merger with Jetbeam, but the older models still kick ass. I still carry my R2 and GDP Plus Extremes (NEX) more than any other light, closely followed by a good old fashioned D10 with a 14500 lithium cell. I also have an SR3, D20, a couple of other D10's and a few EX10's in various flavours including various mods and emitters
The D11.2 is a great light, thankfully they fixed most of what was wrong with the D11 which is the only "high end" flashlight that I've owned which has failed and let me down. Between the parasitic drain, the poor quality construction, mismatched anodize colour on the head and tail and generally the fact that it fell apart after a couple of months of light use, it's the product which took Nitecore from being my favourite manufacturer to not trusting their new products. Like I said though, I think they've got their act together since then
This is an honest question - what exactly am I getting with a high end torch? I don't really begrudge anyone for laying out $200 for a torch - I'll spend more than that on a drill press, and I have this hypothesis that everyone has at least one expensive hobby. But considering the OP of the new thread (pre-merge) hasn't exactly identified any real requirements nor intended uses, I wonder if he really needs something as esoteric as a high end torch. I understand that within the torch enthusiast culture Maglite is laughed at as a consumer toy, but my relatively inexpensive LED mini Maglite has served me without fail for probably a good decade now. My previous Maglite survived my entire scouting career without a hitch, and now enjoys retirement in my garage as a rarely used utility light. I'm genuinely curious how the average consumer would benefit from a $200 torch.
That's a question I ask myself all the time supermonkey, and the answer isn't as simple as I'd like it to be! I often try to narrow my collection down to one light that I'd keep if I had to sell all but one. For the record, that figure now stands at 28 but I have two or even three of a couple of different models, all with various emitters and modifications for performing in various situations. Bottom line, I can never decide which one I'd want to hold onto if the other 27 had to go, because in my experience they all have different POUs. For the average consumer (that is, not a flashaholic) a $200 flashlight had better be the only one they ever buy, but even at that it's too much. There are literally dozens of sub $100 lights to choose from which will last the average consumer a lifetime and do all they need it to. What you get by spending more than that is advanced emitter technology, more complex and efficient drivers with multiple modes resulting in increased runtimes and most of all, you get quality. I could put any of my Surefire or HDS lights through the worst torture tests you can think of and they simply would not break. I could hammer nails with them all day long and they'd still work. When you buy someting like a Surefire or HDS with the premium price they carry, you're buying something that will live longer than you. You don't even need to go that expensive to get the same sort of durability. The very first high end light I bought was a Fenix TK11 which has been thrown in rivers, the ocean, tossed off buildings and thrown as high in the air as possible to fall on concrete, and it still works as well as the day it was bought. It's not the most advanced torch in the world with only two brightness settings and a fairly poor (by today's standards) regulation circuit, but it was £50 and one of the better models that sort of money could buy you in 2008. It has been my toolbox light for the past 4 years, and in that time I estimate that it's been used for an average of 2 hours per day, 6 days per week. Guess what? It still works like new. You're right, the average consumer doesn't need to spend big bucks to get something that'll do the job they need it to. I will post pictures of the TK11 and some of my other lights tomorrow; I've promised them in this thread for too long without delivering!
