What flashlight should I keep at my bedside?

rksoon said:
Ended up going with the Surefire G2 LED, thanks everyone! Still keeping the 4D LED maglite in the living room though :)
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Sounds good. I have a 6P that never leaves my side(had it for 3 years). It had a Z59 "clickie" tailcap for a while(a great upgrade, I must say), but I accidentally dropped it directly end-down on a hard floor and the internal components exploded.:( It is somewhat understandable that the plastic parts would break from that much shock. It has the same concept as a ink pen that clicks, but obviously modified to work in the flashlight. I really loved the clickie, but I will survive with the standard tailcap until I get the funds to buy another clickie. The only bad thing about the standard tailcap is that the spring needs to be adjusted occasionally(takes two seconds when you change batteries) or it doesn't want to make contact well and the light flickers. However, this only happens with the rechargeable conversion kit. The end of the rechargeable battery is different from the regular lithiums and it "gets away" from the spring. Have to pull out the spring occasionally, but it's not a big deal. The lithiums fit in snugly between tailcap and lamp assembly, so there are no problems.

Recently upgraded with the P60L. Very impressed!:thumbup:

The only problem is that the beam isn't as warm as the incandescent and doesn't project quite as far, but this is offset by the increased lumen output and runtime.

You picked a good one, rksoon.:)
 
I had a humour failure yesterday with my G2. New set of batteries I put in 3 days ago didn't work.

Turns out the kids were swimming with it at night at their friends house and eventually left it on at the bottom of the pool. On off, throwing torpedoes........ No water ingression.

I am considering the LED but my wife has a point that it will just glow longer when left on. Well 2009 is a new year.
 
flashlightfreak9 said:
Sounds good. I have a 6P that never leaves my side(had it for 3 years). It had a Z59 "clickie" tailcap for a while(a great upgrade, I must say), but I accidentally dropped it directly end-down on a hard floor and the internal components exploded.:( It is somewhat understandable that the plastic parts would break from that much shock. It has the same concept as a ink pen that clicks, but obviously modified to work in the flashlight. I really loved the clickie, but I will survive with the standard tailcap until I get the funds to buy another clickie. The only bad thing about the standard tailcap is that the spring needs to be adjusted occasionally(takes two seconds when you change batteries) or it doesn't want to make contact well and the light flickers. However, this only happens with the rechargeable conversion kit. The end of the rechargeable battery is different from the regular lithiums and it "gets away" from the spring. Have to pull out the spring occasionally, but it's not a big deal. The lithiums fit in snugly between tailcap and lamp assembly, so there are no problems.

Recently upgraded with the P60L. Very impressed!:thumbup:

The only problem is that the beam isn't as warm as the incandescent and doesn't project quite as far, but this is offset by the increased lumen output and runtime.

You picked a good one, rksoon.:)
Click to expand...

Contact Surefire (by Phone!). They'll fix it. :thumbup:
 
Just a small iTP C9
Itp_c9r.jpg
 
WhitleyStu said:
Very impressed with the Fenix TK10 for the price and light out put...
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+1, but I have the TK11. It's only rated at 60 lumens in general mode, but it throws that beam WAY out there. It's bright enough to easily disorient with the reflector they have on it, and it throws a nice, broad white beam with a brilliant hot spot.

Awesome, awesome light.
 
flashlighfreak- Thanks :)
Tim-Gabz - great story, looks like the incan G2 waterproof enough for general use, I hope the LED is the same.:thumbup:
Ender - The TK11 does look good for the slightly longer run times at both outputs with the Li-ion batteries option. Might have to get that for my backpack edc, and the L2D for my designated hiking light :thumbup:

G2 LED is awesome so far, bright little thing, and lightweight. Hands down the best flashlight I've owned to date, though I admit I am new to the "good" flashlight world :)
 
Tim-Gabz said:
I am considering the LED but my wife has a point that it will just glow longer when left on. Well 2009 is a new year.
Click to expand...

Well, you'll get 3 hours of light higher than 70 lumens(80 on a new set, then slowly lowers to near 70 after 3 hours) and then it drops off and flattens out into a tail when viewed on a graph. This is because the LED becomes more efficient as the power being sent to it lessens. Instead of the filament bulbs that die pretty quick, the LED tails out for about 12 hours of total runtime. You can keep the partially depleted batteries and use them for when you don't need tactical level light.(walking to the bathroom in the middle of the night with 80 lumens can make it hard to go back to sleep!)

And yes, rksoon, the G2L is just as waterproof as the regular G2. The only difference between the two is a different emitter. And for some reason unbeknownst to me, Surefire put an aluminum bezel on the G2L. They say in their catalog that it is to dissipate heat better, but the LED puts off zero heat. If you turn on one of the incandescents and keep it near a sensitive body part(fingers, arm, lips, ears, etc..), you can feel the heat coming off of it. The LED has no heat coming off of it. Which is good because extended use in warm temps can shorten the life of the LED. And the incandescent too, for that matter.

Once you have had a real flashlight in your hands, you won't ever go back to the crap ones.

Enjoy that G2L!!:D
 
For me it's a Surefire C2 Centurion. NIce size, virtually indestructable, and bright enough to light up anything in the house.

- Mark
 
flashlightfreak9 said:
Well, you'll get 3 hours of light higher than 70 lumens(80 on a new set, then slowly lowers to near 70 after 3 hours) and then it drops off and flattens out into a tail when viewed on a graph. This is because the LED becomes more efficient as the power being sent to it lessens. Instead of the filament bulbs that die pretty quick, the LED tails out for about 12 hours of total runtime. You can keep the partially depleted batteries and use them for when you don't need tactical level light.(walking to the bathroom in the middle of the night with 80 lumens can make it hard to go back to sleep!)

And yes, rksoon, the G2L is just as waterproof as the regular G2. The only difference between the two is a different emitter. And for some reason unbeknownst to me, Surefire put an aluminum bezel on the G2L. They say in their catalog that it is to dissipate heat better, but the LED puts off zero heat. If you turn on one of the incandescents and keep it near a sensitive body part(fingers, arm, lips, ears, etc..), you can feel the heat coming off of it. The LED has no heat coming off of it. Which is good because extended use in warm temps can shorten the life of the LED. And the incandescent too, for that matter.

Once you have had a real flashlight in your hands, you won't ever go back to the crap ones.

Enjoy that G2L!!:D
Click to expand...

great info, thank you! :thumbup: That graph is excellent.
 
the badest hand held light of 2008 is OLIGHT M20 WARRIOR PREMIUM R2
that is for under $100 bucks!!! 250 lumens low med high strobe lots of battery options!!!
 
a husky 4W 2D from home depot...it's too bright and intense for indoors so i just bounce it off the ceiling.
 
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