What is the best LED light? Opinions

I bought a '8 led light' on ebay a little bit ago , it's nice and small (about 2.5 long) , uses one AA battery , you would think with 8 led's that it would light up a room but it doesnt. The light isnt bad , just not what you think it might be , on the other hand I have a single LED photon and the green light from it is brighter than the 8 led one , so I guess you really do get what you pay for :D
I also got 4 little no name single led's at Nitropak's site , they are ok for the low price and how small they are , these are my little backup lights.
Led's can be realtivly expensive , I assume once the excitement dies down over them they will drop in price some.
 
I want to know this too. their is a SUREFIRE model that I am told lasts up to 50 hours of regular use. for camping this would be great. This is a good thread, hope to get some answers for my own kit.
 
I have been into flashlights for awhile now.I used to just buy Surefires,because I was amazed at the size and power.The biggest detraction was the very limited run-time,expensive batteries,expensive replacement bulbs are some of the few.

I now own a couple of Inova T3 Police tactical LED lights.This model has anodized aluminum body with checkering,4-way switch include lock-out,powerful (85) lumen, long service life LED bulb,special type glass lens(no plastic) lasts 2 hours or more on a set of batteries.Made in the USA.The light itself I got it for around $50-60.00.Best bang for the buck imho.
 
Surefires have limited run because they require so much energy to throw so much light. They are basically "pocket spot light " very good if you need maximum brightness and distance, however they are not necessary and "overkill " for campsite lighting. -not good for reading or washing up, too bright!!!! Surefire LEDs help for energy efficincy and they are excellent, but Inovas, Nightcutter etc is cheaper and " does the job." For general low illumination, ie if you dont need a beam I like Krill lamps, 100s of hours on 2 AA cells, thats all I need in a tent or under tarp, bright enough for reading or writing.
 
I've have several LED and NON led flashlight

Streamlight Twin Task 2 Lithium.
SurefireE2D.
Coast V2 Tactical.

it all depends on what you are looking to use the flashlight for..

1) Brightness (Eg Tactical uses, like blindling).. go for Surefire all the way
2) Mixed uses (Eg some bright, and normal uses) for the Streamlight
3) Normal uses (Ed just normal uses) go for the Coast..

Here are my observations

1) Lumen rating aren't worth the paper they are printed on .. to many differnt methods of calcualtion (Eg the Streamlight is 72, Vs the Surefire 60, and the surefire kicks the Streamlight's ButT for brightness and distance)

2) What goos is a flashlight that only lasts 90-120 mins?? again deepends on the uses, in the case where I use the Surefire, I always carry a tiny streamlight LED backup ( 1/2 inchs by 1.5 Inch)

3) Batteries and availability may be an issue (Eg the Coast uses 3xAAA while the others all use more expensive and harder to find 123A's)

4) Don't be afraid to wait until you can compare them hands on, and side by side..

5) I prefer the tail cap switch (with momentary on-off) but thats a personal prefrence..


6) Check out the candelpower forums (www.candlepowerforums.com)

7) the cheap LED flashlights are just that.. cheap (Read: you get what you pay for)

Good luck..
 
I prefer a flood beam from my LED lights. I carry incandescent lights for throw (Surefire E2E or G2). LED lights that I recommend:

Surefire L4
Inova X5T
Opalec Newbeam LED conversion for MiniMag
Petzl Tikka Plus Headlight.
 
I've gone from a Princeton tech aurora to a Petzl Tikka Plus in headlights. The Petzl has a few minor advatages over the PT;

Brighter
Better beam
Less 'throwback' of light into the eyes which I found to be a slight problem with the PT. The Tikka has a small lip at the bottom of the lens that shades the eyes.

I use the headlamp extensively. Fishing, kayaking, cycling, running and walking at night. I also use it as a reading lamp. Cool piece of kit.
 
I own the following:

(1) Inova X5 tactical LED floodlight. I like this one and use it a lot when I'd walking the dog.

(2) Inova X1 spotlight. I like this one, too. It's great for fiddling with the miles of cables and wires behind my TV/VCR/DVD player/digital cable box and for examing the Giger-esqe tangle of cables and wires behind my computer/minitower/cable modem/router.

(3) Inova XO3. Great all-around light. If I need to see what's making that rustling noise underneath that car across the college's parking lot, the XO3 will do the job easily. Great throw. Great illumination. Gives my SureFire E2e a run for its money.

(3) PrincetonTec Eclipse. Great little pocket LED. It's giving my Photon Freedom Microlight a run for its money.
 
A nice LED light that will surprise you is found at WalMart for about $5. It's the Dorcy AAA LED. Takes only 1 AAA energizer and because it's led, the battery lasts forever (it seems) but gives a pretty decent amount of light. It's got 1 LED, and a twist on/ click on tail cap.
Lots of guys on Candlepower agree. It's a great light.

Or Dorcy has a few other LED lights w/ more LED's and that use the AA or up to 3 AAA's. I like BrightGuy as a place to buys flashlights. They've got some of the best prices and their service is pretty good.
 
Here are some of my preferences for backpacking and camping.

I like the Petzl Zipka Plus for trips where I'll be doing lots of cooking in the dark. It puts a lot of light right where you're looking, and attaches to my head, which I'm almost always sure of having with me. I use this for fix-it tasks around the house a lot, too.

http://www.brightguy.com/detail_int.php?Sku=PETE48P

I always wear a Photon III or Freedom around my neck when I go to bed. It's my all-purpose nightlight for finding stuff or making trips to the trees. Green seems to be a good compromise between preserving night-vision and strength of illumination.

http://www.brightguy.com/detail_int.php?Sku=LRIFMW

For a bedside light used for self-defense purposes only, I think the SureFire G2 Nitrolon is a great value.

http://www.brightguy.com/detail_int.php?Sku=LASG2BK

For putzing around the house without using the G2, I like NuWai Q3, available a County Comm. (Hold onto your credit card before you to to County Comm. It's got lots of great gear at nearly irresistible prices.)

http://www.countycomm.com/TM303XLEDLIGHT.htm

The thing is, the technology keeps improving and improving, so it's like knives. You can only have a favorite for a few weeks, then something else catches your eye.

The only thing I feel lacking is a good source of single AAA-powered LEDs. After the demise of ARC, nothing seems to have filled the void. I just don't like the operation of the Peak LED Solutions versions, and the Gerber version of the Sonic (formerly a CMG design) just misses the mark.

Bear
 
Bear, check out the Dorcy in my post above. A lot of guys have gone to this one in place of the Arc's. BrightGuy doesn't have them yet, but WM does.
 
Thanks everyone. Much appreciated. I think I am going to buy a Surefire with one that has a changable dial to adjust light output. Again thanks.
 
Peter La said:
Thanks everyone. Much appreciated. I think I am going to buy a Surefire with one that has a changable dial to adjust light output. Again thanks.
Click to expand...

Good choice. Better have your $300 saved up.
 
Peter La said:
Thanks everyone. Much appreciated. I think I am going to buy a Surefire with one that has a changable dial to adjust light output. Again thanks.
Click to expand...

The Gladius also has this as well as strobe function for $250, but currently backordered. Odd how SF U2 (light Peter refers to) is the only one SF makes with proper bezel-down clip but bezel's too wide for pocket carry. Hmmm....
 
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