Didn't we have some flashlight snobs on here? Help me pick out a new flashlight

Lord Tin Foilhat

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I have a bunch of old 18650 powered cree bulb flashlights that are years old and funny enough 2 MagLights 3D cell ones from ULine that I put LED bulbs in. One of The mag lights lights is using 3D cells. The other one is using rechargeable AA’s with D cell adapters so it’s nice and light but still looks the part. Also a 3 bulb horizontal layout LED flashlight. Ohh and a head torch that has an external battery pack with a brick of 4 18650 cells that I also use on my bicycle with a lens that converts the beam to a flat wide pattern.

I have to stay out of this thread as my will kill me if I buy more flashlights. LOL!
Ohhh that headlight with a battery pack sounds interesting
 

Flyn

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But takes 4 rechargable 18650s :rofl: fucking $25 in just batteries
Holy crap! Just one 18650 does a good job. I can imagine what 4 of them do.

The light I posted above has like 5 different power settings (plus strobe) which is nice for picking whether you want super bright for 3 hours or super dim for 25 days or anything in between. Plus it remembers what power you set it at. Magnetic charger is cool, too. I think most lights in the $50-$100 range are going to be adequate.
 

Pewter-Camaro

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Ohhh that headlight with a battery pack sounds interesting

I bought it a few years back on amazon and was listed as a bike light and had an optional lens for it for a horizontal beam. When I got it it had a handlebar Mount but to my surprise it also had a headlight strap and belt loop pouch for the battery. I have no idea The brand or anything.
 

Pewter-Camaro

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Ohhh that headlight with a battery pack sounds interesting

found it.... the wide lens is separately on the page.

 
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FESTER665

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once we find this guy a flashlight is also like some suggestions if someone has experience with 90* flashlights. Looking for something for night time walking.

I saw some shit that you wear over your clothes that has a flashlight on the chest and a red
What features do you want other then an adjustable beam? Magnetic tail? Side switch? Tail switch? Strobes?

You want throwy or floody?

I have about 8-10 flashlights now :rofl: all range from $20-80.

A few on turbo mode will start fires like starting paper on fire or burning a hole in your pants :rofl:

I have a couple that have some really cool modes and menus, moonlight mode, lightning storm, candle light, slow mo strobe, tacital strobe and will also give you battery life in little flashes.

I listed them all. My yard is smallish, and I don’t need to flood the whole yard with light and piss off the neighbors, I just do a quick check to make sure there’s nothing back there before letting the dogs out so they dont get sprayed or anything.

I want the adjustable beam so I can quickly use it as a spot light to check for animals, but then also use it as a flood light if needed.

it would be nice to have settings for less lumens, other then that, just adjustable beam, usb rechargeable.
 

FESTER665

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This is the one I had, it worked okay, I just wanted something a little nicer that might last longer....

The Olight I bought for my Glock is much nicer, I just want the adjustable beam like this one has....

33E5FA35-EA51-4FDD-B556-BDAA05B2535B.png


39C519F4-A062-4B4B-9F7D-DD7AC71D762A.png
 

Ron Vogel

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For $125, you could have 5 of these. These are super solid, take standard batteries. I killed one by running it over with a fork truck by accident. Nice and bright with a long throw for scoping out a backyard. Will throw a spot for 500 feet.

This is the one I keep in the garage, not as bright, or long of a throw...but you will never unintentionally break it
 
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Bob Kazamakis

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I saw some shit that you wear over your clothes that has a flashlight on the chest and a red
Maybe I’ll make my own thread later. I want something that’s not insanely bright for my wife to use walking to pick up my kid. The days are getting longer so it’s less of an issue
 
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DanJ

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I have a couple that have some really cool modes and menus, moonlight mode, lightning storm, candle light, slow mo strobe, tacital strobe and will also give you battery life in little flashes.

That Anduril UI takes a lot of getting used to, but once you figure out the click pattern to get to what you want it to do its pretty easy. I still have the flowchart on my phone just in case.
 
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Lord Tin Foilhat

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As far as normal use, changing the standby led colors, lockout and batt check it’s not bad. In the off chance I need a candle light strobe and want to adjust its intensity id be back in the flowchart.

View attachment 47772
Flowchart for anyone wondering what the hell we are talking about.
Yeah mine just doesn't have the aux LEDs since it has none.
 
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Lord Tin Foilhat

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Its about 50 feet to my driveway.
The tree is about 250-300 ft.

Here is the Lumintop FW3A

20200103_195718_Burst01_stripped2.jpg

And here is the Sofirn Q8...but IMO still doesn't do justice. I need to take a video over the lake. Someone made one on YouTube showing an apartment building lit up by the same flashlight.

20200103_195804_stripped.jpg

 

Lord Tin Foilhat

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You can actually make out the cloverleaf LED pattern in the second picture.

Also the color differences... The FW3A is a neutral white SST20 LED with a 95+ CRI (LED color accuracy rating), while the Q8 has a cool white XPL Hi LED which is only 75+ CRI.

If the first picture was a little more focused, it actually is showing more truer to life colors although the Q8 adds a bit of dynamic color to the picture and makes colors pop.
 

Ron Vogel

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From my back door, across the yard, across Ogden (4 lanes with median) to the trees in the backyard in the adjacent neighborhood with my $20 Dorcy flashlight. My son bought one of those 1250 lumen lights and though it’s slightly brighter it’s typically less reliable. Only a year in and he’s occasionally hitting it to get it to turn on.

if it’s a cheap LED light, it’s using a resistor to lower Ma to the bulb, and relying on a heat sink to keep the solder traces from flowing. The better lights are PWM controlled. After trying lights of different price points general purpose lights should be like 200 - 300 lumens or less since the get more or extended use IMHO. Otherwise they are much less reliable.

I took a high performance light apart for a project, I could not believe how hot it got. I imagine the more expensive lights are putting the money in heat control

893A7AA3-8C1A-4422-89F7-D571E4DABC90.jpeg
 
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Lord Tin Foilhat

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Yeah that is probably plenty for his application.

Hell yeah they get hot! I can start a small fire when I leave a couple of the models on turbo mode.

2-300 lumens is a good spot for sure, but I also think the 400-700 has it's uses. Anything higher and we are just measuring dicks or basically turning them into search lights at that point ?

Plus the difference between lumens falls off greatly as it gets higher. 2k vs 2500k is very little difference. While 100 vs 500 is quite a bit of a difference in brightness.
 

Bob Kazamakis

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My most used light is probably the skilhunt H03 right angle headlamp. I use them so much I have 2. Magnetic tail, 18650, easy UI, ip68, nice and floody for up close work.

And looks like they have a rechargable model now.

View attachment 47788
And looks like it could have a diffuser attached. :fy:
 
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Lord Tin Foilhat

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