Need flashlight-gift help!

fulloflead

fulloflead

Joined
May 3, 2002
Messages
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What would be a good quality flashlight to buy as a Christmas gift for a tow-truck-company owner.

He's only used Maglights in the past and I want to upgrade him. I don't think he even knows that there's even anything better than Maglights out there!

His usage will be:
He'll be crawling under cars and looking in car windows at night.
He may want to leave the flashlight on while working under a hood or something for 10-15 minutes on some rare occasions.
It may be a good thing (my idea here) if he can shine the light in the eyes of someone who's angry (and potentially violent) about getting his car towed, or to disorient and/or spoil the night vision of, said, angry person to contribute to self-defense options.
It may be dropped on pavement on occasion.
It should be comfortable to carry on his body for 10 hours and not be harmed by cold temperatures or rain or snow.
The exterior should be somewhat resistant to oil/grease battery acid or other chemicals that someone who works around automobiles might have to work around at least if he wipes it down after working with it.
Be of a color/finish (optional) that can be found on the ground at night.

I'd like to spend $150 or less.

Help me out. Suggestions?
 
the arc lsh-p sounds like the perfect solution.

small, waterproof, holds up well to chemicals, good runtime, even beam, bright....

the l4 is a nice light, but it's a lot bigger and doesn't have the runtime.
the l5 is even bigger, and not really suited to up close tasks such as cars in my opinion.
 
Sounds like the SureFire G2 Nitrolon would fit his needs.

The nitrolon material is very tough so dropping it shouldn't be much of a problem. The yellow G2 should be relatively easy to find at night. It's bright enough for use as a self defense tool as well. The only thing is a relatively short runtime, which is about an hour.

Might want to look into this as well.
 
I would say a Streamlight TwinTask, as there's more variety in battery choice in addition to having dual levels of light.

Maybe a SF A2? Battery drain will be an issue, if left on for extended periods of time. Or you could get a KL1 head for an E2e-HA or similar that's been tricked out by one of the CPF modders.
 
I'd second the vote for the Sure Fire G2. You get Sure Fire quality in a package that won't break the bank.
 
I like the G2 yellow color suggestion.
albeit he'll have to fork out quite a bit for batteries if he's not careful, it's one of the best and a cheap, small size high output light.
You can actually up the bulb to slightly over twice the output, but the juice only last like 20 minutes.
 
I also think the yellow Surefire Nitrolon would be a good one.

See if you can get the LED head for it, would extend the run time.

Will need a belt sheath for it also.
 
Moving to Gadgets & Gear ...

If you get him anything that takes lithium batteries give him enough of them to last at least a little while and make sure he knows where to get them online.

You might consider something rechargeable....
 
With a budget of $150, you may want to add an LED Keychain light, such as ARC, Photon or Innova, they´re very cool and useful.
 
For $150 I would get him a Pelican M6, Inova X5, surefire battery carry case, and a 12 pack of surefire batteries.
 
Princeton Impact XL might fit the bill - a Luxeon LED-based light that runs on 4 AA batteries, and costs about $35 or so.

The other suggestions are excellent, and the Streamlight TwinTask is a great little light (I have a 2L & 1L - they are both great).

Sam
 
I would think that the flashlight in question will see a good bit if use. That being the case, I would definitely want to be able to use standard batteries and not have to rely on expensive lithiums. Most of the lights already suggested require lithiums. D cells are more economical than C cells and C cells more than AA.

I don't have a particular suggestion but I'd ask the question over a candlepowerforums.com.

Scott
 
For use in a tow truck, I'd get him a rechargeable with a 12V charger base. The best value I have seen lately is the S&W FL10's that are being auctioned on eBay. I bought several of them. They are as bright and nearly as tough as a G2 (which is also a good choice) but they don't have the CR123 cost and hassle. He can run it for an hour working on a car - pop it back into the charger base, and the next time he needs it it is fresh. There are lots of other good recargeables out there, in fact, for your price a G2 can be converted to rechargeable.

- Lee
 
First I thought of the LSHP and then since you want the stun feature, I think it's gotta be the L4. Compact, bright, white,intended for mid-range usage, robust led, good runtime, within the budget.:)
 
I'd get him a Streamlight SL-20X. It's about 3D Maglite size. They come with two charging sleeves so he can mount one inthe truck and one at his house.
 
If he is used to Maglights, why not a Magcharger to keep in the truck and a G2 to keep on him. If you shop them hard you should be able to pick up both for less thatn $150.
 
I got him a SureFire L4 and a 10-pack of batteries. It hit my price-range perfectly. Now, I just hope he doesn't lose it.:)
 
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